Lovers Audio Mix: Phatness

March 21, 2025

Welcome to the Lovers Audio Mix and Interview series! We're thrilled to kick things off with dub masterminds Phatness. The mysterious Swedish duo just released their brilliant debut album 'FillerKiller' on Studio Barnhus and we can't wait to hear what they do next. Learn more about Phatness and enjoy their mind melting mix for Lovers Audio. A perfect way to prepare for summer.

Lovers Audio: Who is Phatness, and how did this collaboration come to be? (I’m not expecting you to reveal yourselves—have fun with this one!)

Phatness: We met through work and we started to talk about dub sirens.

Lovers Audio: Your debut album FillerKiller has been on steady rotation at Lovers Audio since its release. Is the title FillerKiller simply a mission statement of quality control, or is there another meaning?

Phatness: Exactly! “Just killers no fillers” has been our goal, both for the tracklist on the record, and for the record itself, which we didn’t want to be a space holder in a collection.

Lovers Audio: We love the constantly shifting, intricate rhythms and effects. How did you go about recording this record?

Phatness: The tracks foundations are always jams. Once we feel it’s a hit we record it. We then route everything to an analog mixer that becomes our main instrument. Here we can bring in fx or elements that eventually are missing, classic dub mixing style.

Lovers Audio: We especially like some of the filter, delay, and tape effects. Are you willing to share some of the tools you used?

Phatness: It’s mainly digital and analog echos, analog filter king tubby style, spring reverb, and EQs. The rest is a vintage version of logic running on an even older macbook pro.

Lovers Audio: "Black Palm Tree" seems to be the centerpiece of the album, with a dub reprise at the end. It’s really fun. Can you tell us about the vocal and why you chose to use it?

Phatness: It's an old classic tune one of us used to dj around the late 90s, early 2000s. A friend brought up that a jungle version of that song would have been a perfect fit. A dub mix of it was crucial.

Lovers Audio: How did you choose Studio Barnhus as a home for this record? What made you decide to work with them?

Phatness: It feels more like they chose us: we knew Axel Boman (from Studio Barnhus) because of another project, we shared a couple of tracks with him and he loved them.

Lovers Audio: You both seem to be involved in several other projects. Considering FillerKiller was such an artistic success, do you see yourselves continuing to work on new Phatness material in the near future?

Phatness: Without any doubts.

Lovers Audio: Have you discovered any especially influential music from one another?

Phatness: Every time we hang out we listen to a shit ton of records, discovering new stuff bought at flea markets, internet or traveling. you never expect what to find and what the next step will be. Cumbia, dub, tango, disco…we both buy stuff and contribute to this discovery/exploration moment

Lovers Audio: You were kind enough to introduce us to Vesto Comodo, who shared some details about the Stockholm scene with us. What’s your take on the Stockholm scene? What should locals and visitors be getting hyped about?

Phatness: Let's highlight the summer in Stockholm: a lot of outdoors bars and venues, raves, and good moral. For the other seasons, the surface doesn’t look alive at all, but if you have enough patience and energy to dig into it, the underground could bring you unexpected joy.

Lovers Audio: Which of your contemporaries are you most excited to watch?

Phatness: Attending the Aba Shanti sound system at Notting Hill carnival is an annual ritual. More than specific artists we follow the releases on these two labels, Sneaker Social Club and Nyege Nyege records.