Patrik Ukiq, now in the mood for love (and Moodymann)
From growing up on Talking Heads in Taslixhe, to curating music, to running a restaurant and audio bar, our Patrik talks about love, community and the chaos of creating new cultural spaces
Patrik I always listen when it comes to music. Always.
A few weeks ago, we were at the Kala Festival with our crew when he casually said, “Let’s go to that beach — there’s this interesting DJ playing.” Next thing we know, we’re dancing to Egyptian Lover from Los Angeles, spinning LPs and rapping the most obscene lyrics, all of us under the spell and under Albanian sunset, in the best possible vibe. So “interesting” is never “average” with Patrik Ukiq, the co-founder of Servis collective, Servis Fantazia audio bar and his latest project, Juliette of the Spirits restaurant/brasserie.
Patrik you’ll see always wearing black - black t-shirt, black jeans, black shoes, black baseball cap, unless it’s summer, because then he always has a white t-shirt. So Patrik is the dark prince of night-time Prishtina, but his range of references and “interesting” advices is really wide and deep and global (he once heard I was in Tokyo and told me to go to Shelter audio bar - again a typical “interesting” Patrik-style tip: underground, hard to find, tiny — but with huge sound and heart.)
This summer, Patrik’s also in love. And in this summer of love, we thought he was the perfect person for our TenTen interview — to talk about what makes him, and this city of ours, tick.
Hello Patrik, what is your first childhood memory of a song that you really liked?
I don’t have a specific song in mind but I do remember clearly from my childhood Talking Heads, which was played on repeat in my childhood home in Taslixhe.
Many of your projects, music, sound, drinks, spaces, seem focused on community-building. What do you consider are the spices for a cool cultural hub in Prishtina?
In short: Community. What is really “a hub” if it doesn’t have community or it does’t serve the community? And then Inclusivity. Energy. And Chaos, just as an additional spice. I don’t see ‘Servis’ or ‘Juliette of the Spirits’ as physical spaces, more like living experiences of real people, shaped by the energy and spirit of the community, where openness brings the fun and that feeling of togetherness.
Who are your heroes?
Hmmm. I’ll turn to music heroes and I’ll try to think outside of box so I’ll say Robert Johnson, one of most important blues musicians, but he had only few photos taken ever and his recordings were released after the death. But you know what they say? Johnson sold his soul to the devil at a crossroads, in exchange for his extraordinary guitar-playing skills.
What bothers and what inspires you nowadays?
Oh man. These fast trends in music have been really annoying me. Probably because of social media, but lately, the underground scene has really fallen victim to this. What was once, you know, a space for genuine and personal musical connection, is increasingly being reduced to an aesthetic or just very superficial showing up for the sake of selfies.
What inspires me? Ahhh. Love. Of course. In the last few months I’ve fallen in love. Nothing has inspired me or driven me more than this very specific state of being in love and the person I love and the feeling of love.
If you could spend an evening with three people, living or dead, from history, music, culture, who would those three people be?
Princess Diana, Jeff Mills, and Albert Hofmann, the guy who invented acid.
If a documentary would be made about all your projects and initiatives, what would its soundtrack sound like?
What’s the word... eclectic? :) I imagine the soundtrack melodic, deeply immersive, with spacey atmospheres, fluid analog synth sound and also rhythmic beat.
How do you spend an ideal 24 hours in Prishtina?
I hate to admit it, but the first thing I do when I wake up is check my phone. Then it’s off to Juliet of the Spirit, my new beloved restaurant, and Servis Fantazia. After that, I’m out and about, seeing what the city has in store for me that day. I try to “accidentally” run into Riona, my girlfriend, and from there, the day is beautiful and can go anywhere, and end at any time. Then I have this on repeat the next day.
What do you prefer: a night in a small audio bar with few people - or in a great, big music festival with thousands of music lovers?
Unfair question. I really prefer both of them. I'm always there for the music most of all but it depends on the mood, and the type of crowd I’m with. Small is often kinda unplanned, which is also often best type of night. Bigger the event, more planning you need, but some festivals are worth all the planning.
When curating music for Servis events or Fantazia sets, what do you look from DJ’s and music selectors? And how do you keep the energy fresh?
We just try to keep the music as diverse as possible. People think we’re all only about electronic music but I try not to stick to one electronic genre and we always try to get fresh faces with fresh music.
Then I have a follow up: what’s the freshest song you have now on the repeat button?
Lately I’ve been listening to “Lyk U Use 2” by Moodymann a lot with my loved ones. The song is really soulful and has of course a Detroit techno sound, a signature of Moodymann. It’s fresh, funky, mind blowing, freaky and sexy song. Just how I feel nowadays.
