In music industry terms, it's been a long, long time since Dpat (David ) broke into the public eye with his Grammy-nominated collaboration with Wiz Khalifa and The Weeknd. One EP and almost a year and a half later, the 23-year old Houston producer is preparing the next step for his musical project."Since "In Bloom" dropped we've been rehearsing with a live band all the time… I definitely want to travel and play more shows, but we want to make the set longer first," David admits via Skype over a choppy Internet connection. "I also want to produce for more people—more vocalists. I'm a fan of melody and I definitely align more with singers."I would have never guessed that his catalogue could even be translated into a live performance at all. Like Australian band Movement or esteemed duo Darkside, David's songs just seem too perfect to work anywhere but coming from an mp3 file. Nonetheless, when he performed his debut live show at Soulection's 2014 SXSW showcase with OkayPlayer, the tracks were every bit as composed as if they were streaming straight off of his SoundCloud. Though David and his guitarist are long time friends (he credits him for his introduction to Radiohead), when pressed, David reveals he and his drummer "…actually met a month ago. He catches on super quick, he's awesome. We actually only rehearsed two or three times before the show."Starting out making beats in Garage Band before learning Logic and Ableton, David says the decision to grow Dpat into a band came from thinking about what a fan would want to see. "Of course Sango and all these people kill it by themselves, but I think my tracks are more slowed down. It just made sense," he says. It's no coincidence that he uses Sango as his point of reference either. The two have been good friends for over two years now, and it was their relationship that introduced Dpat to LA beat hub, Soulection, in the first place.Between hours of rehearsals, Dpat is keeping busy on the production front with remixes here and there (including a favourite of ours, River Tiber) and a collaborative EP with Michigan producer, Atu. When asked what the feedback has been on his demos, David's response was startling: "I don't really send unfinished demos to anyone. I'm self-conscious about that, so I only want people to hear something final. Recently, I've been sharing rough ideas with Atu… it's breaking me out of that habit."It's clear that the next year will be instrumental to Dpat's success, and if we've learned anything from this industry it's that hard work, creativity, and an open mind are key. Our chat only lasted 15 minutes, but it's clear that David has what it takes to go the distance.Ziad hates raves and loves Instagram. Follow him on Twitter: @bluuuuueeeeeee
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