Robot Koch – Sphere Outtakes

By starrymag | July 17, 2019

By: Jamie Steinberg

 

 

Q) What is your song writing process? Do you need music before you can create lyrics? 

 

A) It´s very intuitive. Sometimes I improvise on a synth or on the piano until I find a musical idea I like and then I start building things around it. Sometimes it starts with a visual idea that I wanna create music to. Sometimes it´s just a feeling or a happy accident when dabbing with a sound. There are multiple entry ports into the creation process.

 

Q) How much of hand do you have in the production of your music? 

 

A) I produce and mix it all. Some of it I also master myself. Writing wise, it`s a mix between writing things on my own or also collaborating with other artists, which I really enjoy as well.

 

Q) You’re headed out on tour in the fall. What can fans expect from a live Robot Koch performance?

 

A) It`s a trip. Mickael [Le Goff] and I created this full dome show with 360-degree visuals and surround sound, which we`re touring in planetariums worldwide. The shows are really well received so far. We already had several sold out shows in Berlin, San Francisco, Montreal, etc. and are performing more shows all over Europe, the US and Russia this year still.

 

Q) Talk about working with Mickael Le Goff to create the visual aspect to your performance.

 

A) Mickael and I exchanged ideas early on in the process of creating the show. He´d show me a visual he created and I composed music to it or I showed him a musical idea and he´d create visuals for it. Little did we know how time consuming it would be to make this show happen. It was uncharted territory for us. A single minute of the visuals in 8K resolution for the dome rendered more than a week. So, we rendered the whole show in almost 50 weeks on 40 computers. It was pretty nuts, but so worth it!

 

Q) What songs off your Sphere Outtakes EP are you looking forward to performing live?

 

A) “Data Religion” and “Contact.” These two have really special moments in the show with crazy visuals. Don`t want to give away too much, it`s something to experience.

 

Q) What do you hope listeners take away from listening to your new EP as a whole?

 

A) I hope it inspires them one way or the other.  Inspiration is an input/output process and it´s about communication. We inspire each other and we grow like that as a species.

 

Q) Where are some of your favorite places to perform and what makes those locations so significant to you? 

 

A) Performing in a Planetarium is my new favorite location to perform in, it´s fully immersive. Unlike a VR experience it´s not you alone in your goggles but you with 300 other people in a room, being fully immersed in sound and visuals, it´s a communal experience.

 

Q) Who would you most like to collaborate with on a song in the future?

 

A) I`m a big fan of intelligent Science Fiction Movies, like Arrival, Annihilation and Under the Skin so working with directors like Ridley Scott, Denis Villeneuve, Alex Garland and Jonathan Glazer would be great at some point.

 

Q) What album/band are you currently listening to and why do you dig them? 

 

A) I listen to Pavilion of Dreams by Harold Budd, an amazing ambient album from the 70s produced by Brian Eno. Also loving everything Lorn puts out. Loving the new releases by singers Josin, who I met at SXSW this year and Delhia de France (who I also work with). And then there is this psychedelic death metal band called Rivers of Nihil, which I LOVE.

 

Q) You are a part of social media. Why is that such an important way for you to connect with your fans?

 

A) It´s a curse and a blessing. I don´t love social media for many reasons, one being that´s it´s addictive and portrays a totally warped image of reality. But it is a great way to interact with the fans so I try to minimize the time I spend on social media just for direct communication with my fans.

 

Q) What would you like to say to everyone who is a fan and supporter of you and your work?

 

A) I´d like to say a massive thank you. It means the world to me that you´re listening and keeping track of what I`m doing. Knowing that there is an audience out there that`s resonating with what I`m doing is a huge inspiration. After all music is a language and I love that we can communicate nonverbally on this frequency that goes deeper than the conscious mind.