Get to know Satori, the Dutch artist leading Ibiza’s nomadic movement

For Djordje Petrovic, better known as nomad sounds producer Satori, surviving the Amsterdam dance circuit meant refusing to sell his soul to the devil. “Raising the BPMs and doing lots of fist-pumping,” Satori laughs; “when you do that your musical career is over. You become just another DJ doing exactly what everybody else is doing.”

Performing live in Amsterdam for ravers more accustomed to melodic deep house and techno, Satori had to learn fast. “I needed to survive playing lower BPMs,” he explains. “But in the beginning I was killing parties. There was always a guy before me playing much faster; I realised that I needed to find a way to communicate my music without having to raise the tempo. In the beginning it was pure survival.”

Satori found the answer hidden in the sonic structure of African music. “That’s when I found about the third,” he smiles. “I realised that the BPM of African music is super low, yet it feels super energetic. And it’s all down to the way they combine the third and fourth beat, which creates so much energy. This is how I create what I call the dynamic illusion of tempo.”

There’s always been a misconception in clubland that bigger crowds require a higher BPM rate. But in Ibiza, where Satori got his big break at Heart in 2015, and later for WooMooN at Cova Santa in 2016, the Dutchman is busy proving that a myth. “Not only can I play after a techno DJ dropping 130 BPMs, I can make my music sound even more dynamic,” he says.

For standard DJs relying on two CDJs, implementing Satori’s trick would be impossible. “But when you’re playing live, tempo becomes a relative thing,” Satori explains. “If I go straight from 118 to 105 BPM, people will fall asleep. So I have to drop all the way down to 70 BPM and then climb back up to 105 in one minute. When I do this the performance becomes super-uplifting. The crowd have the illusion that I’m getting faster, but they don’t realise I’ve actually dropped the tempo massively. Then, when I release the kick, suddenly you get hands in the air. Get it right and tempo becomes an instrument in itself. It’s psychedelic!”

If you haven’t seen Satori live, prepare to have your mind altered and your consciousness expanded. “I run two laptops,” he continues. “The first contains sample and stamp clips I launch with Ableton. The second has a library of sounds I’ve recorded myself and play via keyboard, drum computer, flute and synth. This is what makes my show super-live. Every night is a blank canvas; nothing is pre-programmed. I love the fact that there’s so much risk in my sets. For me and for the crowd it’s nice to be adventurous!”