The apprentice. The protégé. Padawan: A portrait of Mikkel Ravn!
No matter what he calls himself, the musician formerly known as Padawan, Mikkel Ravn, is the Danish underground music’s version of the millennial generation.
A generation which often is characterised by not ‘fitting’ in. A generation which tends to lack both meaning and actual purpose.
Exactly because of this, Mikkel Ravn left his childhood home at the early age of sixteen in order to get to know himself, but also to try and understand who he is.
Since then, his path has been a troubled one. He has experienced having to live for months on beaches in Denmark and Greece, while also uprooting his life in order to move to Amsterdam in the name of love.
Yet, at the age of 22, when he participated in a rave at club KB18, he felt, for the first time in his life, home!
At this very place, he instantly developed an affection and love for techno, electronica, raves, and everything related! Yet, as all good things, there was a backside. His love for the underground eventually resulted in a severe substance abuse, which eventually led to years of therapy and rehabilitation.
At the age of 26, by encouragement of a close friend, he took up DJing himself.
Eventually, the Danish duo The Huntstook him on as a protégé, a padawan, if you will, which helped kickstart his career.
With bookings at KB18, Culture Box, ‘Ved Siden Af’, Banana Club, the Jazz Club at Christiania, ‘Folkets Hus’, ‘Dragens Hule’, Damhuskroen and the SenSun Festival, and at the lastest; getting signed by Fleye Records, Mikkel Ravn has slowly but safely become a name one pays attention to. Why? - The music, of course.
He’s music is characterised by his generation. The deep, dark, and despair-like tones, which at times lack their individual purpose in the grander scheme of things, while at the same time managing to gather the beat, the bass, and the melodic upheavals to create something that leaves one with the feeling that at least thismakes sense – and maybe, just maybe, everything is not as bad as it seems.
He’s music is a reminder that we must exist in the present, through thick and thin, and that in the end, everything will be alright.
Mikkel Ravn’s story is one that many can attest to and recognise from their own lives. While gloomy and at times sad, it is also a story that reminds us that, much like his music, we canfind purpose, and we canfind our way in the darkness, and he’s unique take on the underground techno is exactly this: A path through the darkness of our melancholic and depressive existence.
