German DJ Robot Koch is no stranger to Indian music. “I know of Indian musicians, especially classical maestros, like Pandit Ravi Shankar and other such popular musicians. But I don’t know much about the indie music scene in the country and was really excited to find that there is an electro as well as an indie scene here,” says the musician, who is in the city for SoundLad, a workshop by Border Movement being conducted along with T. L. Mazumdar. After conducting a similar one at Dhaka, Bangladesh, the musicians will interact with sound enthusiasts and young producers at this fourday workshop, which is on till December 8.
Koch says that he was quite impressed by the response to the workshop. “The participants were very interested. Some of them were familiar with my music and were eager to see how I made a particular song. I got both specific and general questions, like how to mix a song, maximise the sound. We had a music production tutorial and beats workshop and we explored subjects, like mixing and mastering,” says Koch, who is known as one of the finest DJs of the beat generation.
Koch, who is in India for the first time, will be headlining the Magnetic Fields Festival in Rajasthan from December 13 to 15. “I am looking forward to going to Rajasthan — that is one region of India that I wanted to explore,” he adds.
Koch describes his music to be ‘like Motown but with lasers’, the beat is at the heart of it, embellished with electro. He grew up listening to Motown music. “That’s what my mom listened to — artists like Stevie Wonder and many others. Then I got into rock music and was a drummer for several rock bands. It was in the late 1990s that I got into the pop scene, first DJing then producing music,” explains the artist is also the producer behind the critically acclaimed band, Jahcoozi (Bpitch Control), as well as made remixes for the likes of Bassnectar (Child’s Play), Hurts (Sony) and King Cannibal (Ninja Tune). So, how different was the role of a DJ from that of a producer? “DJing is the art of selecting the tracks for the party and mixing them in a beautiful way. Producing is making music from scratch.” Having played at festivals like Sonar Festival in Spain, Mutek Festival in Canada, Lightning in Bottle Festival in the US and many others, Koch concedes that the biggest challenge is to find the right vibe. “It is hard to find the right vibe for the moment.
Somebody who merely plays the tracks isn’t a good DJ. You need to react to the moment, see what the audience wants and be a crowd pleaser. At the same time, you have to introduce new music to people — making them listen to what they haven’t heard before. So, it is walking a fine line between the two,” he smiles.
Music undoubtedly occupies a large space in his life. But Koch says that he loves to spend some time away from the turntable. “I like to spend a lot of time with nature, especially when I’m not in front of my computer. I find a lot of inspiration there. There’s peace and tranquillity. I also love food and watching movies,” he says, in parting.
