Pattern Language

Pattern Language is the project of Chris Frain based in Boulder, Colorado. Chris dabbled in indie-pop and prog-rock bands until a chance viewing of the BBC4 documentary “Synth Britannia” that lead to his falling back in love with his first love, the sound of the synthesizer. 'Total Squaresville' features six instrumental tracks inspired by the likes of Kraftwerk, Cluster, Harmonia, La Dusseldorf as well as influences from Chris' childhood, including The Art of Noise, Eurythmics, Thomas Dolby, and the 1980s iteration of King Crimson. Of particular note is the use of pre-Roland 808 sounds for the drum machine parts, placing this version of synthwave closer to the late 1970s than the mid-to-late 1980s sound.  The debut release from Happy Robots features simple, infectious melodies, motorik-beats along with a splattering of more esoteric instrumentation including melotron strings and bongo-heavy percussion. 

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Coverage for 'Total Squareville' include plays from Steve Lamacq and Gideon Coe on BBC 6Music and spins on Resonance FM. The album also charted on college stations in the States. It was reviewed and featured by the likes of Electronic Sound Magazine, Spill Magazine, Overblown Magazine, The Electricity Club, The Joy of Violent Movement and Westword Magazine. During his time on Happy Robots Chris supported Laetitia Sadier and played the Echosynthetic festival.