MDC Interview#56 " Rudi Ratte "

Rudi Ratte
https://www.facebook.com/rudiratte666/
https://soundcloud.com/gabbaassault
An incredibly versatile DJ, no genre is out of bounds for Rudi Ratte. Making a name for himself as a DJ and promoter in South Tyrol, Italy, since moving to the Netherlands Rudi Ratte has honed his skills as a PRSPCT resident, performing at clubs and festivals throughout Europe. Active in the Dutch free party scene and part of the Chewbakka Soundsystem, Rudi Ratte has brought his underground selections to stages at some of the world’s leading hardcore events, including Dominator, Decibel Outdoor and Hardshock Festival. With his signature fusion style of heavy, obscure music, and a waywardness with BPMs, Rudi Ratte sets are always wild, funky and unexpected.

Q. You are currently based in the Netherlands, where are you from? How long have you lived in Netherlands?

I am from a village called Auer in Southtyrol, Italy and I live now for over 7 years in Rotterdam. I come from a pretty, rural region with lots of wine and apple farmers. Tourism is the main source of income for our province, but unfortunately that doesn’t include dance music culture. Never the less there are some organisations, like Culture Assault Records, who have been fundamental for youth culture in the region.

Q. How did you first become interested in music?

I was already interested in music from a very young age. I loved to go with my mom into town to do her clothes shopping, cause most of the time we also passed by the record shop to buy a CD. I started to play the electric guitar at the end of primary school (but never became very good at it), and even earlier than that I was doing little disco parties in my living room.

Then a brother of a classmate introduced me to Drum N Bass around 2008 / 2009. I liked all the hard Limewax / Current Value / Tech Itch stuff that was popular back then… I learnt to DJ at a youth centre named POINT in the village next to mine, luckily they had CDJs and a mixer. Soon after we started to give our first little parties there. 

Q. What was your first Rave experience? And what kind of Rave or Club Night was there in your hometown?

The first time I think I was in a real club was in 2009 for a Tekno night, which were pretty popular in our city. I was 15 and not even allowed into clubs… After that I joined the Culture Assault Crew and started Djing out at various venues in the region at Culture Assault events. I also played for other organisations, like I Love Electro Festival. In 2011 I was experiencing my first gigs and parties outside of Southtyrol, in Innsbruck with the Bassintoxication Crew, who ran regular Drum N Bass events.

Q. When did you start DJing? What genres did you play at first? When did the name Rudi Ratte start?

I started DJing when I was around 13 years old at house parties in the beginning. Soon after I was introduced to Drum N Bass I started organising parties and Djing for other local organisations / promoters and venues. At first I was mainly playing hard Drum N Bass around the year 2009 – PRSPCT, Therapy Session, Nekrologic 1 stuff – but I was also getting into other genres like Hard Electro, Dubstep, Tekno and Techno.

I played my first Techno gigs with my friend David Grenzemann, often all night long in the smoker’s area. We played lots of b2b sets together of all sorts, also as the Terror group The Blokk Squad. Before that, I had two other Dj collectives (Torbkore & Subdudes). Then I started my solo act Rudi Ratte. The name started around 2012. It was given to me by a dear friend from collage, who sadly passed away. He always said: when I am stoned, I looked like Rudi Ratte (an Austrian children’s TV gangster from a series called Tom Turbo) … so I thought it’s a good one to keep!

Q. What was your motivation for DJing at the time? Did you have any clear goals?

I would say the motivation to DJ was that it was in the first place something fun to do with friends and to go to parties for free and drink for free ;)

I don’t really think I had any clear goals than I just wanted to get better and better at Djing and show it us much as possible to the public and meet like minded people.

Q. You have a "Tekno" background. How did you first encounter the Tekno culture?

I would not say that I have a real Tekno background, although one of my earliest party experiences where at Tekno club parties and some of my first gigs were at little illegal after party raves. I’ve always had a real love for the sound and mentality of Tekno culture – especially when I moved to The Netherlands. I started to love the music even more the first time I heard proper Dutch Mental Tekno. One of the first acts that made me fall in love with it was Stefan Zmk & Li-Z playing at the Hit N Run Stage at Qbase, dressed up and in a white cube full of blood writings and strobe lights. I was just blown away and wondered what kind of amazing style of music was this was… the perfect mix of techno and hardcore, distorted bass and groovy drums. Some years after I became good friends with Stefan and we went a lot of gigs and had some crazy adventures together. This is where I discovered lots of great music and had lots of great experiences ;)

Q. What was your experience of Tekno culture? Did you share the background (ideology) of the culture? Or just purely as music?

The Tekno scene was always fascinating for me as it was something totally different. What I really love about the scene is the DIY mentality: that a bunch of people create something together, just because they want to do it! And then they share it with as many people as possible, just for the love of it. As for the music, I really appreciate that at Tekno or free parties, the music doesn’t get into boxes like at clubs events. You are more likely to hear different types of musical styles from the same Soundsystem or the same DJ in one set.

Q. Were you involved in organizing the Free Party? If so, what kind of Free Parties did you organise?

Back in Southtyrol we organised little illegal forest raves and also some illegal private parties in apple fields, but that was not really on a big scale… When I moved to The Netherlands I helped organise a few parties with the HBR Soundsystem and Chewbakka Soundsystem, and in recent (coronavirus) years organising the free parties with PRSPCT and DKH together.

Q. You have been involved in several illegal Raves and Parties. Were there any political stances involved in those? What do you think it means to be "illegal" when you intentionally run an illegal Rave/Party? Of course, there are cases where it is unavoidably illegal. But what is the attraction of an intentionally illegal Rave/Party?

In a way illegal parties are always somehow political because you do something outside the norms of the law. But what I would say the biggest attraction for most of the people to go to an illegal party is that you are mostly responsible for yourself… nobody tells you to do or not do things as long as you respect your environment and yourself. This unfortunately is totally different in ordinary society of now a days.

Q. About Culture Assault Records. What is the history of this label/organisation? How long have you been a part of it?

Culture Assault Records is a label started by Philip Kieser – the man, the legend that introduced me to Drum N Bass – who has also started lots, if not most other collectives and initiatives involved in electronic music culture in Southtyrol. I’ve been part of Culture Assault since the beginning. Unfortunately we’ve not been as active in the recent years, although we had some great releases and organised some amazing events like May Day Mayhem at the Halle28 but also collaborations with PRSPCT and HKV or Final Collapse a combination of Bands & DJ’s where we also booked The Hard Way.

Q. What do you particularly like about Culture Assault Records' catalog?

What I like about Culture Assault is the diversity. The catalogue has quite a wide range of quality music from IDM to Dubstep to Drum N Bass to more ambient sounds. But what I love the most about Culture Assault is what it means for the whole electronic music community in South Tyrol. It brought together lots of like-minded people and not just in the time we were active giving parties, but also inspiring the next generation of collectives (RITUAL, MIK, SPEKTRUM) currently active in Southtyrol. There’s also the interdisciplinary cultural festival HOSPIZ, which takes place every year in an old monastery since 2018, which I’ve been involved in from the start.

Q. Your DJ style is very unique. I think you have a very underground feel to you. What do you value most in your DJing?

I like to challenge people on the dance floor but also make them smile. A DJ set is an opportunity to create new experiences… 

Q. If you had to categorise Rudi Ratte's DJ style, what would it be? Hardcore?

I would describe my Dj sets as dark, melancholic, energetic with trippy grooves and a hint of breakbeats. And lots of surprises ;) I could be considered hardcore as my mixes are usually pretty intense with almost no breakdowns. I am very much inspired by DJ’s like Manu Le Malin, Liza N Eliaz (RIP), Laurent Garnier, Stefan Zmk and Stranger, amongst others… 

Q. You are a member of PRSPCT, how did you get involved in PRSPCT?

I got involved at PRSPCT as soon as I moved to The Netherlands. In my second year at (Erasmus) University I had to do an internship. I did mine at PRSPCT – and I never left. I work across all his aspects of the organisation – Label, Agency, Events. And of course, PRSPCT Radio!

Q. What is Thrasher like to you? What is your first impression of him?

Would say that Thrasher first of all is very good friend of mine who I went trough quite a lot of stuff. My first impression of him was that he just wants to be seen like a normal dude and not so much as rockstar. So that’s why I think we understood each other from the beginning.

Q. You are still playing at the big Hardcore Festivals to the Free Parties as well. I think large festivals and Free Party are conflicting cultures. Is there a distinction between the two in your mind?

There is definitely a big distinction between big Hardcore Festivals and Free Parties. Lots of Hardcore Festivals are pretty profit-orientated, which of course effects their choices when it comes to the booking, drink prices, stage designs and so on. Free Parties are usually organised for the love of the music and the joy of creating something together. I prefer Free Parties over big Festivals, but there are also some amazing big Festivals out there, such as Bang Face in the UK or Astropolis Festival in France.

Q. What are your thoughts on the 2020 pandemic? PRSPCT started PRSPCT radio and had seated events. Please talk about that year.

Corona times were difficult times for all of us, but some exciting and refreshing things happened to me personally in that period, and to PRSPCT. We stared the 24/7 PRSPCT Radio station, got rid of all the sub labels and marked a new vision for the future: to be more inclusive and to represent all styles of good electronic music under one wing.

Q. PRSPCT radio has several great sets. Which of them do you particularly recommend?

There are lots of great sets on there but some of my favourites are: Panic and his Turbulentie Radio Tribute Set, Bleaching Agent playing a Disco Set from his basement and ofc all the 3025 SpanjaardGhetto FM Shows ;) I also recommend DJ Hidden’s Imaginarium, Magnificent Music by Klaus Boss and Doc Ok A’ Versions as they all feature a variety of different music styles. It’s also worth mentioning that PRSPCT Radio might have gotten retired legends like Doormouse and Loftgroover back into doing what they do best!

Q. This year's PRSPCT XL is not divided into areas by genre. How did this happen? How do you think Hardcore fans and Drum'n'Bass fans and Breakcore/Jungle fans felt about this? 
DJs who mix all genres have become popular in recent years. (Up to 140-220BPM) You are close to those styles. What do you think are the positive and negative effects of this movement?

As we also don’t have any sub labels anymore we also didn’t wanted to split up the areas in genres anymore. The goal now is to have on every area a different style playing so people also need to walk around and experience different areas and music styles. This also creates a more mixed crowed on the dance floor we believe. Dj’s who mix all genres in their sets is a positive trend as it gives ravers the opportunity to discover different kinds of styles and maybe discover something that they didn’t knew before…

Q. PRSPCT has released R-Zac "Trailer Trax", how did this LP come about? How do you think this release affected PRSPCT and its fans?

The whole R-Zac adventure started in corona times when they called Gareth up on Kingsday to tell us they would look for a partner to look into the future and that they think that we would be the best choice. So we stared to manage them and also helping them to get their music again out into the world.

The R-Zac Trailer Trax LP is just the beginning of more R-ZAC release that will come out over the following years.

PRSPCT fans received this very well and it opened us again another door to a new audience.

Q. Are there times when you feel like you are in the music industry(Even in the Underground) and lose your pure passion and love? Profit, attracting customers, play counts, trends, etc., it is important to always be aware of these things in the DJ/label business, but it is possible to lose the purity. How do you keep yourself?

I think it is important to always stay yourself maybe look at trends but not necessarily follow them if you don’t feel them. Sometimes its a bit strange to see or understand that people that are doing stuff in the music world sell out venues in no time and others that are doing it for decades struggle… but this might also just be for a while. Like I said before it is important to stay true to yourself but also evolve and don’t stand still.

Q. What are your favorite artists, labels, or movements/collectives these days?

Favourite Artists: Cuften / Rotor Militia / Stranger / HEISA / Charlton

Favourite Crews: Tar Hallow / Cult Collective / Ampheminine / Move Around Sound

Q. What is your schedule for the future?

I hope to get some more gigs abroad in the upcoming year and to be able to organise a few more parties myself. Playing in Berlin and touring with PRSPCT through Japan would be some big milestones!