Better known as Raleigh-based cross-over synthwave artist Animalweapon, Patrick Cortes has been making glitchy, electro beats layered with soft, melodic vocals and playing eclectic live shows that cross genres from hip-hop to industrial to techno for a decade now. Recently playing a live set on Spin Magazine’s Twitch channel from The Pour House Music Hall & Record Shop stage in downtown Raleigh, Patrick is quick to share how much he misses the connection with in-person audiences and how hard it has been to battle the endless depressive desolation so many musicians and artists have been left with in the wake of COVID-19.
Animalweapon spent much of the pandemic working on a new EP to follow up his latest full-length album, Tyrannosaurus on Nashville’s Polychromatic Records, headed by TV, film and music producer Scot Dunlap. In 2020, Cortes also found himself composing the mysterious otherworldly theme song for the hit podcast The Hidden Djinn that debuted this past fall on iHeartMedia and is co-produced by Aaron Mahnke, writer of Lore on Amazon and produced by the team from The Walking Dead. The podcast explores centuries of tales, traditions and beliefs about the supernatural beings and the source of genie mythology and quickly reached the Top 20 on the iTunes history podcast chart. Hosted by attorney and New York Times best-selling author, Rabia Chaudry, Animalweapon had worked with her on the award-winning true-crime documentary podcast Undisclosed. Cortes won a 2017 Webby Award for Best Sound Design/Original Music Score for his work on Undisclosed, which was covered heavily in outlets including NPR, Rolling Stone and The Washington Post and more importantly led to major developments in Adnan Syed's wrongful-conviction case as well as several others. Emmy winner and vocal Syed supporter Jon Cryer joined the Undisclosed team for Season Two.
In his home state, Animalweapon has been a festival and showcase favorite for both day & afterparties for events such as Hopscotch Music Festival and Moogfest, starting back with his EP release in 2015, Flares and Signal Fires and driven by his constant collaboration with artists from other genres while continuing to putting out remixes of his earlier releases, going back to his first LP, Good Luck and single Mexican Standoff. He recently released a four-song Ambient split EP with New Orleans-based artist, Neo Obsidian and was added to New York-based Reybee’s PR Roster, who also represent Bauhaus, Gunship, The Cranberries, Azam Ali, 4AD artists such as Dead Can Dance as well as many others. Rey Roldan of Reybee was intrigued to take on Animalweapon due to the intricate sounds and textures that Patrick creates and his passion for soundtrack work on podcasts, TV, Film and Video Games.
Animalweapon’s newest single, Summer’s Over was inspired by the pain of the COVID-19 pandemic, the distant void most of us have felt for so long and the civil unrest the world experienced this year in addition to the protests to bring real progress to finally eradicate racial injustice.
Quotes from Animalweapon on the single, “Summer’s Over”
When asked what inspired him to write Summer’s Over, Animalweapon’s Patrick Cortes explains,
“I was visiting a close friend in Texas a year ago who was undergoing chemo for breast cancer and I was sitting outside late at night after everyone had gone to bed… there were a lot of interesting sounds going on - cicadas and clicky little bugs that almost felt percussive in a way. I recorded a bunch of nighttime ambience with a handheld stereo Zoom recorder, sometimes getting shorter, more intentional clips, and then at one point I just kind of let it run to capture the atmosphere. I always travel with my MacBook and a small MIDI keyboard so I was able to go inside and start working on a piano melody right away to put alongside it."
What do you want people to get from Summer’s Over?
"It’s reflective and melancholy. This past summer we saw the world finally organize against racial injustice in a way we haven’t before which is hopeful, but obviously there is a lot of growing and pain that comes with that process. This past year’s events, the endlessness of this pandemic, and the overwhelming division fueled by politics, people want this time to be over. With Summer’s Over, I would hope that you think about the state of the world when you hear it, and also your loved ones. There’s a sort of longing I hope it conveys."