Techno Vinyls Records ’ series of interviews, we talk to producers who have releases on our label.
Interview with Roby M Rage
What does producing mean to you? When did you start your music career and what motivated you?
- Producing is the simplest way to express and shape thoughts, feelings and sensations. My music is very influenced by what surrounds me, which touches me, with music I can find balance, despite it’s a very strange universe. I started producing music many years ago, in the late eighties and I took part in various projects where the main catalyst has always been experimentation and I soon discovered that electronic music is the one that manages to give me something more than the others genres, it’s my mother tongue and I don’t struggle to understand it.
How have your releases inspired you throughout your career?
- I always try to reach new goals, I get bored easily so with each release I look for a new challenge, each production is a different story and needs the right container (label) to be exhibited, so the inspiration comes from wanting to do better trying to express more and more clearly what is inside me and find the best channel to be able to give it the right space. Then there are the results that give you strength, in recent years I have been in the charts with hundreds of different tracks and my songs have been played at festivals like Awakenings or by internationally renowned DJs, it’s cool when you hear your name announced in a Podcast made by one of your idols, don’t you think?
Do you like to collaborate with other artists? What do you think about remixing? Do you like to remix or do you like to have your music remixed?
- I love to collaborate with other artists, every time I learn something fundamental and I am thrilled when I hear what comes out at the end of the path, it is something unexpected and I like surprises. Lately I collaborated with Atze Ton for a new EP and I think the result is remarkable, I can’t wait for it to be released and see the reaction of the ravers.
The speech is similar for remixes and I love doing them more, unless I choose who remixes my tracks but it doesn’t happen often, usually it’s the label that decides the remixers.
How do you choose a title for your tracks? Do you think a well-chosen track and EP title matters?
- It is always difficult for me to find the title for a track, although it is a very important thing, but I often overlook it. I have to work a little more in this regard.
Is a well-designed cover important to you?
- Yes it is! Sometimes I see covers that I just don’t understand. I believe that any project needs the right dress, music too. A thoughtful graphic design can make the difference.
How do you choose record labels (what is a good label for you and what are your expectations)?
- I think choosing the right label is a very important thing, there are several factors that push me towards one or the other. Some labels release tracks, period, and do nothing more when there are many aspects to take care of. I personally am cutting many labels and I try to collaborate with those that seem to work best, those who believe in it and you can see that they are following a path.
How do you see track sales in the digital millennium data flood (for example: how do you see the digital sales, promotion tracks, illegal downloads etc.)?
- I think this is a complicated speech, there are many illegal ways to get music, which I don’t understand right now as you can listen to pretty much everything for free from legal channels. But here another discourse would open on how much artists, indeed small artists earn from these musical giants … Once it was normal to buy music, you would go to the shop and take your record, cassette, cd or listen to yours favorite program on the radio and at least you got ready with a tape recorder and recorded your favorite songs, there has always been music piracy but now it seems easier to access music but it seems not to matter to many, but we struggle to live in this way and especially now with Covid-19.
What are your future plans for making tracks?
- Right now I am doing many remixes including one for Felix Bernhardt which will be released on Techno Vinyls Record, after these I plan a series of tracks that will be produced mainly with analog gear, I want to return to a more raw sound but at the same time a warm sound, it’s winter after all.
Thank you for accepting our interview request, we wish you much more success in your producer work!
- Thank you! Cheers.
VINYL ► Roby M Rage – Hard Times EP
