Interview: Robot Koch

RBMA: Hi Robot, how are you... and where are you?

Robot Koch: I'm good. I'm in my studio, like almost everyday.

RBMA: Congrats on Project: Mooncircle reaching 10 years and 100 releases. When did you first become involved with PMC? How did that relationship start?

Robot: I've been involved since 2009 only, my first album 'Death Star Droid' dropped on PMC in 2009 and its been a good working collabo since. I think since I joined the team, the label re-focused and signed a lot of new fresh artists I brought to the label - or at least recommended - like fLako or Graciela Maria, also Pavel Dovgal, Krts and Long Arm are great PMC artists. Gordon (who runs the label) and I are good friends by now and he asks for my opinion on music and new releases, and I trust his opinion too.

RBMA: What have been some of your most memorable moments with the label?

Robot: Rocking shows with Gordon and the crew is always mad fun. We had some crazy nights in Poland, crazy train rides with many laughs, so it's always fun. The fun bits are the ones we can always remember and laugh about even months or years later. I guess the best show last year was at Satta outside, which was massive.

RBMA: You've seen quite a few changes in the music industry. Do you pay much attention to changes in formats and distribution?

Robot: Yes I pay a lot of attention to it and I think many changes are great, I see the whole change in the music industry more as a chance than a threat. Its more democratic with online releases, bandcamp etc. People don't have to wait for a label to pick them up to make their music heard in the first place. The downside is that the Internet allows a lot of really mediocre stuff to come through. It feels like there is more quantity than quality out there sometimes, but there are of course always gems and great things coming out. It's just a bit harder to discover them sometimes, so now again it's become difficult for emerging artists to stick out from all the rest. But in the end I think quality stuff will always get heard, sometimes it takes a bit longer I guess.

RBMA: You've also seen some stylistic changes over the years, particularly with the emergence of the global beats scene, and different mutations of musical styles. Do you keep things like current trends in mind when you're making music, or choosing tracks for 'Robots Don't Sleep'? Or are those decisions more intuitive?

Robot: First of all, 'Robots Don't Sleep' is not just my label in the sense of a record label. It's a concept which keeps transforming, it's my blog, it's been a digital label, and now I think I might start a band called Robots Don't Sleep. It's a brand name associated with me as an artist, but its not exactly defined what it is. And that's exactly how I want it to be - flexible, flowing, in motion but always about quality stuff related to my creative output.

As for stylistic changes, I've always been open to what's happening, but not in the sense of jumping a trend but more in the sense of what inspires me. It might be a surprise to many people that I don't see myself part of the global beats scene, at least I don't wanna get stuck in that drawer. I made music way before that trend and will make music once this trend is over, so it's an impulse which has an inspiring effect on what I do, but it's just one out of many inspirations I draw my ideas from. To be honest, I think there is a lot of mediocre beat maker stuff out there and the whole thing is getting kinda old for me. I'm also really bored by the discussions in the youtube comments for my song 'Death Star Droid' where people debate whether it's glitch or dubstep. I made this tune without even thinking about these genre issues, so I think people should just enjoy it and not try to pigeonhole it.

I still have kids writing to me, "'Death Star Droid' was such a dope beat, when are you gonna make another one like this?" I try to explain them that music is not about repeating yourself, at least not for me. I love every single track on my first record and it's exactly what I wanted to do when I made it. I still play out the songs and 'Hard To Find' is like a timeless piece to me, but still... I would not wanna make another 'Hard To Find' or another 'Death Star Droid'. I wanna keep moving and yes, I wanna make the decisions on which music I make all intuitively, outside from expectations and trends. In the end, I make music that I feel, and it's always autobiographical. So if people feel it and can relate to it - then that is beautiful. But I have to disappoint kids that just expect this one type of beat from me. I don't make music to fulfill other people's expectations.

RBMA: Why is the artwork important for a release do you think?

Robot: Artwork is mad important to me. I see music very visually when I make it and it needs its visual counterpart. It makes it a round experience for me if the music and the artwork are from the same universe.

RBMA: Who does the art work for Robots Don't Sleep by the way?

Robot: Mostly my friends from 44flavours, an artist duo from Berlin.

RBMA: Do you make music on the road? Do you find your environment informs your music much, or can you tune out quite easily?

Robot: I make a lot of music on the road, I tour a lot and I made many rough arrangements and song ideas on trains, airports or in hotel rooms. Even in soundcheck it can happen, if you already are hooked up to a big system.

And yes, as I said music is always autobiographical. So the places play an important role in my tunes. If I feel inspired by a place, I translate that into my music, like Mexico is a place where I made lots of music already. The whole 'Listen To Them Fade' EP was composed on a kitchen table in Mexico City, some of the vocals were recorded in the closet. I use a lot of found sound / field recording as well.

RBMA: How about your own productions? You're always busy, what have you been working on recently?

Robot: Recently I've been working for other people as a producer mainly. Some major artists too. I'll receive my first gold record tomorrow for the work I did on the 'XOXO' album for Casper, which went gold in Germany. It's cool and exciting to work with and for other artists as a producer, I love it. Also, mad love for the people who supported me in the past years, the most beautiful thing is to receive feedback from people from all over the world that say that my music touched them in one way or another. This is why I do it. So I give thanks.

I'll start writing some new original material for myself soon too, I'm full of ideas already, just need to find the time to let them out.