RamonPang embraces the cringe
An interview and DJ mix from LA producer and lover RamonPang.
RamonPang. Photo by @plutonsage.
HEADS KNOW TAPES is our mix and interview series that introduces you to the most interesting selectors and tastemakers in the world.
RamonPang is sitting in front of his record collection when he hops on the Zoom call. The physical presence of the music is a source of inspiration, and he's honored to place his own albums in the mix. Being a music lover comes first for the LA-based producer—it's the reason he quit his government day job, and it's the reason he's obsessed with creating his own. "I feel sick if I go a week without making music," he says, chuckling through his seriousness.
On April 5th, Ramon released his third studio album, Life Cycle Waves, and it's his most personal yet. Finally comfortable with his craft, he gracefully navigates being in an ambiguous in-between, sandwiched by commercial-leaning EDM and the more experimental IDM at both ends of the spectrum. In his latest full-length, he incorporates both in the sonic reflections of recent life changes.
To follow his career is to follow his growth as a person. Three LPs in, RamonPang presents as his most vulnerable, yet most assured. He holds up his body of work proudly, and he's as motivated as ever to keep sharing his art.
While RamonPang remains confident, he's not afraid to give credit to those who've influenced him. If you've followed Ramon on socials for even a day, it's no secret that Four Tet has made the biggest impact. This HEADS KNOW TAPE is an homage to Kieran Hebden, where Ramon delves into his deepest cuts for 60 minutes. Listen to the mix and read on for our interview.
ARIELLE: Hey, Ramon. Thanks for doing this! What have you been up to today?
I'm trying to get into TikTok more, which is really silly. I'm just trying to translate my Twitter voice over there because Twitter is straight up dying lowkey. Also, you can't really be that funny on Instagram. It just doesn't love that, so I'm thinking I just gotta get used to the TikTok language while it's still available.
Speaking of Twitter, Four Tet just followed you.
He did, which is so crazy to me. I have mixed feelings because, like you [once] said, whenever someone big follows me, I'm like, "Oh, God, I can't embarrass myself in front of them. I can't keep making these insane takes and sarcastic shitposts because he's gonna totally read it and unfollow me." And also, this is my fucking idol, you know what I mean? I respect everything he does. In a way, he's a mentor to me from afar. I just worry if our personalities would clash if he really got to know the funny side of me, but at the same time, maybe I shouldn't be worried.
He's probably seen your tweets regardless of him following you or not.
He doesn't say anything, though. He's mysterious about it. That's what scares me—the silence of not knowing.
He seems like a silly guy, though.
No, yeah, that's true.
You pride yourself on being the biggest Four Tet of all time, so what was your introduction to his music?
I found his music in 2015 when I was in college in Riverside. I was looking for music to study to and that's when I was really big into Flume, who had a playlist called "Flume and Friends" or something like that—that's actually how I discovered most of the experimental electronic music I like—he had people like Knxwledge, Flying Lotus, Arca, Caribou and Bonobo. I don't remember what [Four Tet song] it was, but I just remember I listened to it over and over and over. Eventually, I got into the rest of his music.
What I liked the most about Four Tet's music was that it was really choppy in an American way, kind of like DJ Shadow. Entroducing… is one of my favorite albums of all time. But Four Tet was doing it in a way that was very experimental, using melodic samples, folk samples, jazz samples—and it was done in such a way that really gelled with me at the time. It influences my music a lot too.
People don't credit Flume for being one of the best tastemakers in electronic music, but it's why everyone—even outside of EDM and electronic music—respect him so much.
I agree. Flume was taking all of the big EDM opportunities like EDC, but I always felt like he was way more into the indie electronic scene, especially with Future Classic building him up. I think he said Arca is one of his biggest inspirations, and it makes complete sense when you listen to his new stuff.
Do you feel now that Four Tet is in his little EDM phase, you feel more validated in your position being in the middle of EDM and the underground?
Yeah, definitely. He was almost the perfect person to kind of do it for me. Because EDM is a little cringe. I think anybody who works in it for long enough will admit that it's a little bit cringe—even the big DJs who enjoy doing it all the time. But there's a lot of fun in that cringe. And when you look at Four Tet posing next to the EDC mascots and riding the ferris wheel, you can tell he's just having a grand old time as a 40 year old man. That's how I want to be when I'm 40 years old. Still having that childlike wonder. Personally, I'd rather look a little cringy and piss off a lot of older people than be someone who's really like a techno oldhead.
I see that and it's honestly inspiring. I'm sure we'll talk more about Four Tet later, but let's talk about you now. You recently released your third studio album, Life Cycle Waves. I've known you for almost five years now and I definitely felt like it was the most true to you. What prompted you to make the record?
My first album, Nature System, was about me being really excited and wanting to show people what I could do with my style. In my second album, [Third Places], I was a lot more confident in my music and playing it out, so I was trying to make big dance floor like bangers that can still work in my sets but still had my general sound palette of harps, new age samples, Filipino samples and jazz samples. For the third album, I found myself wanting to make an album that I could sit in as a listening experience. I wanted to put a more traditional, downtempo listening experience [album] under my belt while still using the sounds that I really love. I was also going through a lot of personal stuff at the time, and I physically couldn't listen to music that was too exciting or too loud. I could go to like the club and be overstimulated. I almost felt uncomfortable at that point. So if I tried to make it, I would feel even weirder. So I felt like, it's just what I wanted to listen to at the time.
Music is just a big part of my life. If I'm feeling really happy, I'll put on a big party record, but if I'm feeling really sad about something I'll listen to a ballad or a heartbreaking record. It really heals you, especially when you're really sad. But when you feel like, "I don't know how I feel right now," it leads to some of the coolest, most vulnerable and also relatable stuff. I definitely listen to this third album and I do understand the mix of emotions I was going through in a weird way.
I definitely understand. There are times where I can't really listen to high-energy music because I'm in a down or anxious mood. Like you mentioned, Life Cycle Waves explores a lot of your recent life experiences, from dealing with heartbreak to quitting your job in pursuit of music. Have you had any epiphanies during the album-making process that have helped you process what you're going through?
One of the big pillars on the album is called "Nothing to Figure Out." It's a 190 BPM bass song, but it's also really spacey and atmospheric. What I love about that song is that there's a skittering anxiousness in the drumbeat to keep things moving quickly, but underneath it, there's all this instrumentation that's really floaty, beautiful, and slow. I named it "Nothing to Figure Out" because sometimes in life, when things happen to you, you try to find deeper or hidden meanings to stuff. And you can make a lot of really wrong and unhealthy assumptions about yourself and the people around you. [When you do that,] you invalidate past happy experiences you've had and it's just not being present—It's living either in the past or the future.
I watched a YouTube video and they said: "Just remember, there's nothing to figure out." It stuck in my mind to take things for, for what they are and to move forward as it is. The things you've experienced in the past, and the emotions you did experience in the past are real. But you have to understand what's going on right now to continue moving forward in the future.
I find that a lot of artists wait until they have a large fan base before putting out their debut album, but I find your prolific approach refreshing, to be honest. What's the logic behind approaching your music career this way?
The way that I deeply connect with an artist has always been through albums. I own a lot of records and the idea of my album sitting next to all my other albums, in my digital library or my physical library, is the most exciting thing ever to me. Just the idea of my album sitting next to all the other albums is extremely crazy to me because I look at these other people's albums, and it's their story and their ideas that they wanted to put out to the world.
I'm addicted to making music and I make music that tends to only make sense in an album form. Personally, I think the more stuff I have out there, the better. It also makes me a little bit less afraid of putting my crazy ideas out there. I think the reason a lot of people hold off on releasing a first album is because they want to make a humongous impact statement, and that's perfectly great. But I think for me, I want to document exactly how I put ideas together in an album format. The album format is so sacred and just the most perfect way to not only listen to music, but to get deeply invested with an artist you really care about. I hope and I think the people that listen to my albums deeply care about me. I have people who tell me that they see the evolution through my albums, and it means so much more to me.
That got me thinking about Caribou, who you mentioned earlier, and how he released five albums before releasing his "seminal" album. As a writer, I feel like I'm pretty prolific too, but sometimes I wish I just took my time on something that would be considered a masterpiece instead of publishing all of these smaller features that aren't my best work. I wouldn't say I ever regret anything, but I do know that if I spent more time on something, it could be even better. Do you feel the same way?
It's really interesting that you feel that way. I definitely have small regrets. I'll put something out really quickly or release a tiny remix and I'll be like, "I could have done this a little better. This isn't how I would do it now." But at the same time, it's just what I decided to do back then. And I think that's why releasing albums is so important. People don't mind if you spend a lot of time working on an album or a single project. What's important is that the albums and my general style shines through. And I feel like it shines through with you. The general things that you cover and what's important to you is very, very clear. And I think you're a fantastic writer.
Well, thank you! Maybe that means I need to write a book or something as my "album." And maybe you can relate to this, but I compare myself to others and sometimes it feels like I'm screaming into the void. It gets me into a spiral of negative self talk, but what helps me through it is reminding myself why I do this. What's yours?
It's almost obvious to me. I'm just so fascinated and excited by music. I just have this general need to make music. Sometimes if I don't make music for more than a week, I physically get sick for some reason. I think having anybody listen is great. Everyone feels that they're screaming into the void to some extent because of the idea of screens and connecting to millions of people. When you see a TikTok that has a million impressions, can you even fathom how many people is a million? Do you think our lolos and lolas knew a million people in their lives? Even if you like reach a million people, that's screaming into the void.
The reason I do it and put it out is because I want to, and also I just want my friends to hear it. I want the people who respect me and follow me for what I'm doing to really hear it. The reason I quit my government job is to have more time to do this stuff because I want to spend more time making stuff to share and to put myself out there a little bit more. I think that's the most important thing. My love of music and just the idea of the album and sharing it to me just trumps like anything else. If I'm in a period where it stresses me out too much, or if it doesn't feel right to me, I'm just not gonna do it. Music is my reason for doing it. It's just because it's so fun, albeit a little silly. As my business partner Jozef White from Tabula Rasa Records says: "You gotta be a little crazy to get involved in music." It’s kinda funny isn’t it; there is no money here and no one listening but also there's so much money and so many people listening.
Now onto some fun questions: What is the most powerful race and why is it Filipinos?
Let's see. Let's see. Filipinos are the most powerful race because we're so emotional. Actually, it's interesting. I was reading about racial ambiguity and fluidity with Filipino Americans. It went into how Filipino Americans interact with Hispanic culture, Black culture, White culture, and other Asian cultures because Filipinos have gone through colonization by the Spanish, then the Japanese, and then Americans. And now, China. Filipino Americans almost inherently find ways to chameleon themselves and adapt to different cultures. [It] especially [works] in a world like electronic music where genres intersect with each other like crazy and all the time. I also think about the emotional sensitivity of Filipinos—that's just inherent in the culture. And we also just love to entertain. All of these things add to a very cool kind of melting pot of people that are really good at what they do, but also know how to make it work in different cultural contexts that dance music and electronic music requires. Yeah, that's my real answer. I bet you didn't expect that.
I really didn't. That was a really good answer. Other than swag, what else are you proud that Filipinos have invented?
We've done so much, but I'm going to go with Filipino food.
If the dancefloor clears, what's the song you use to bring everyone back?
That's a good question. If you asked me this in college, it would be Sage The Gemini - "Red Nose" because Riverside loves Bay Area music. Now, for a headier crowd, Aphex Twin - "Windowlicker" really gets an underground crowd going.
Tell me more about the mix and how you found these Four Tet cuts.
During lockdown, there was a period where I made it a mission to listen to every single Four Tet song ever recorded. Every single song that he's produced, every single album that he's been involved in, even under, like different aliases. There's a lot there. There's even some unreleased songs in this mix that he kind of leaked on Twitter, and then later deleted. They're on YouTube so people can still find them, but I have the files, because I know how to get them. This is just a result of me being a super fan. All these records are loose things he's releasing either as EPs or random singles that were only put on Twitter. So I think people who only listened to Four Tet for his albums will actually be really pleasantly surprised by this mix, because they'll hear ideas that may have led to other ideas on his other albums. There are also interviews he's done that are really inspiring to me that I've interwoven into the interludes.
You're going to make me a Four Tet fan after this.
Then, mission accomplished.
Then he'll follow me and unfollow you.
NOOOOOOO! You can leave this in here.
I probably will. Is there anything I haven't asked you that you want to talk about? Anything you want to promote?
I just want to promote the album again, Life Cycle Waves. I'm really proud of it. And shout out to Four Tet for always being a musical kind of guide to me. I definitely want to keep making music into my 40s. I don't want to become like some senile old man who's afraid of looking cringe. I'd rather be like Four Tet—someone who's still having fun, still prolific and still highly respected. Maybe he's not for everyone, but he's definitely for me.
Follow RamonPang on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok. Bandcamp, and SoundCloud. Plus, check out when he'll be in your city via Resident Advisor.
This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.
TRACKLIST
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Four Tet - Kool FM (Bliss Mix)
Four Tet interview excerpt 1
Four Tet - I’m On Fire (Part 1)
KH - 101112
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Four Tet interview excerpt 2
Four Tet - I’ve Got Viking In Me
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Four Tet - Cload
Four Tet, Designer - Mothers
Percussions - October 2011
Four Tet - Wing Body Wing
Four Tet - 23mins36sec BoilerRoom
Percussions - January 2014
Four Tet, RocketNumberNine - Metropolis
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