Trip Hop in Fargo

Sovereign Sect is a group that strives to be different. The dedicated group even follows a mission statement of sorts. “Standard rock live instrumentation with electronics, favoring group rhythm over individual solos.” This assures there will be no one who succumbs to the dreaded “crazy musician ego disease.” Their dedication really shows when they make some of the best hybrid electronic/ live instrumentation music in Fargo.

Sovereign Sect is a local trip hop group that consists of Chris Patano aka Djbaktatar on turntables, Seth Holden aka Ratafattat on drums, Theil aka Ct Shomaker on keys and synth, and Dillon Marchus aka Dylander on bass. Sovereign Sect may be relatively new to the local scene, but everyone in the group has been doing the music thing for quite a while.

They evolved from a previous group named the “it project.” The it was the brain child of Chris Patano, who asked Seth if he would play drums during live shows while he spun records. It was then decided they would need more electronics than turntables, and that is where Theil came in with the keys and the synth. Once Dillon finally became involved the it project evolved into Sovereign Sect.

Everyone in the band has musical experience all over the United States. Most of the members had a passion in bluegrass/jam music that evolved into a passion for electronic music. Theil, the oldest member of the group, spent some time going to college and playing in various bands in Michigan and Washington State. Seth played in some bands in California. “I moved to California where I realized I was a drummer and a guitar player. I ended up moving back here three years ago, bought a drum kit and started playing drums.” Chris grew up in the Fargo Moorhead area and has done a lot of solo spinning, quite a few raves. SS really came together on Halloween when Dillon, also the bass player from Gypsy Foot, played with the guys for the first time. Dillon comments on what attracted him to electronic music as opposed to his other role in the jam band Gypsy Foot. “I just like all the tones you can do with electronic music, It is what I’ve built the sounds on my peddle board to be able to do.”

The SS sound is very distinct.One band member who chose to be unnamed for this quote described it as almost “crunk” This caused some disagreement among the group. It is however, pretty easy to see the similarities to the sect of southern Hip-Hop known as “crunk” with its high energy, club-oriented beats, and heavy bass lines. Along with the “crunkness” though there is the inclusion electronic experimentation and Dillon’s almost Les Claypool-ish bass playing.
All this put together gives them a truly different sound, one that is not as frantic as lot of other electronic music, a slowed-down vibe as opposed a lot of the incredibly fast electronic music out there. Then there is of course the inclusion of live instruments, a bass guitar, drums and keys.

Sometimes there is even an emcee. They tend to prefer lyricists with something intelligent to say. “We want someone who’s speaking intelligent stuff. We are positive people. As much as I like girls and 40s I don’t like people rapping about it on stage” says Seth describing their preferred style of emcees.

As for the sound of the group itself “We want to rely more on our tones and not have it so busy all the time.” Seth says describing why the group likes to slow it down. The slowed down tone gives the other musician’s time to shine, and not rely so heavily on constant pulsing beats.

Sovereign Sect likes to differentiate their music from other electronic music in Fargo. “I always try to bring the dark almost angry aspect to it, really heavy bass lines, and really harsh tones. Then the rest of the guys make it more dancey” Says Chris on their darker tone.

Seth goes on to say “There is enough music out there that is light, We might as well step up and be the ones that scare people a little bit and remind them how good things really are.”

When asked if their music has gone in any unexpected directions since first playing together Chris was quick to respond “It’s defiantly going where we want it to go, but we are still evolving, and who knows what we will sound like in two years.”

If You Go
WHAT: Sovereign Sect
WHERE: Dempsey’s
WHEN: Sat, Apr 12, 8pm
HOW MUCH: $6
WHO: 21+ID
INFO: (701) 235-5913