Petter B

Petter B (Petter Borg) is a Gothenburg based DJ and producer. He started out behind the decks back in 1996. In 2012 he re-launched his solo career after having been a part of the famous techno duo “Hertz” for five years. Adam Beyer immediately signed Petter’s solo material to his well-known imprint Drumcode. His first appearance was on the compilation “Swedish Silver vol.2” together with the most prolific artists within the Swedish techno scene. Adam has heavily supported Petter’s tracks in his recent podcasts and gigs and more material will be released on Drumcode during the year.

2013 was the year Petter launched his own imprint Bond. Bond is the result of the way he plays and thinks of music as a DJ. After leaving Hertz, Petter made the decision to put DJing first and producing secondary when it comes to describing himself as an artist. This influenced his way of thinking about his productions. According to Petter all music has a purpose and makes out building blocks in a DJ performance. The driving idea behind Bond is therefor to create those blocks, rather than complete full-on productions with all the classic elements such as a break, hook, groove and peak present. When using these blocks the perception of a track can be changed every time it is played depending on how the DJ combines them. The unique bond that is created when a DJ combines tracks, loops and sounds is something that always has fascinated Petter.

In the beginning of Petter’s DJ career he was influenced by the 90s house sounds. The way into techno was rather straightforward. In a way he saw techno as all the best parts of house exaggerated to the extreme. The purity and less-is-more approach he found within techno appealed to him in contrast to the house music’s sometimes overcomplicated arrangements of vocals, leads, bridges and chorus. Techno was somewhat closer to the core of what he was looking for in music, skipping all the excess. He felt that techno gave him the biggest potentials to express his own creativity and character as a DJ. After finding techno at the end of the 90s a huge interest in learning about its origin began. He wanted to learn about what drove the first pioneers of the scene, which started the legacy. Knowing your past is essential in order to be able to understand the present and to be part of creating the future, to quote Petter.

The heart of Petter B’s studio is digital but many of its veins are connected to hardware effects, synths and drum machines. The possibility to do what’s not intended is a great benefit of using hardware compared to a solely digital environment. Adding imperfections and dirt are some of the keys in his way of producing. Limitations are also something that Petter finds rewarding from a creative stand point. To be forced to make a decision on how a sound should be and then record it, without the possibility to redo it a week later, can be a good thing. It brings focus to the present and necessity of formulating the idea in the making of a track. Trusting his ears and constantly questioning what he hears has made experimenting more rewarding over the years. According to Petter, such things as “good luck” comes more often to those who train their senses to be sensitive enough to spot the openings when they appear. Some people might just never realize they’ve already missed them.

Over the years Petter has gained worldwide respect as a DJ and producer. Example of people that has supported, charted and played his work are Carl Cox, Adam Beyer, Mauro Picotto, Marco Bailey, Sasha Carassi, Umek, Secret Cinema, Alan Fitzpatrick, Laurent Garnier, Dr. Motte, Mark Knight, Eddie Halliwell, Tom Hades, Danny Tenaglia, Slam, Technasia, Truncate, Gary Beck, Alan Fitzpatrick, Ben Sims, DVS1 and Kevin Saunderson.

Up until today Petter has released lots of tracks and remixes under different names and on different labels around Europe. For example Drumcode (SWE), Defected (UK), Underwater Recordings (UK), Sway (SWE), HzTrax (SWE), Abyss (SWE), Atom (SWE), 1605 (SLO) and Patterns (NE) to name a few. His success in the industry has led to frequent gigs at different events and clubs throughout and beyond the borders of Europe.