The German deck genius lays down the foundations for the fabulous new Arkitekt series
Welcome to DMCWORLD Magazine Robert. We have to ask; whatever happened to the sacred tape your neighbour gave you at the age of 13 that contained Sven Vath playing at Clubnight? The tape that changed your life! You must have worn that little bugger out with all the plays…!
“First of all thanks for the warm welcome Dan and this interesting opening question. This tape actually still exists somewhere in a moving box deep down in the basement. I remember it was something so special to me as it was one of my first experiences with techno music as a whole. The tape had a self-made psychedelic drawing on the cover and I kept it in my Walkman for half a year, listening the hell out of it almost every morning going to school. I should go downstairs right now and find it!”
You bought your first decks a few years later after this first introduction to electronic music. What did your parents think of this extravagant purchase, which was obviously going to take up a lot of your creative time?
“They didn’t really know or realise what was going on at that time as I bought the DJ-set up with a friend of mine and we build it up at his place. I took a job as a temp in a supermarket to finance my part of the purchase and didn’t really speak with them about it. Only a few years later, when I asked my mother to help me out with my savings from my past to buy my own turntables they started realising that this is something which could bring the domestic peace, especially with the neighbours, into serious doubt and they didn’t really understand why I wanted to spend so much money on a set up to mix with old fashioned records.”
Your first love was hip-hop and you spent a lot of your youth hanging around skate parks. Who were the important bands that decorated your life back then?
“:I can’t really say today that hip-hop was the first love or the main influence during my youth but it definitely played a big part in it. We got introduced to this music by Public Enemy, Run DMC and Ice-T and witnessed over the following years the golden 90s with all their outstanding and idolized artists like Wu-Tang Clan, Gangstar and NAS. At the age of 13 I didn’t understand a single word what these guys where rapping about but their rough beats, the way they sampled funk and soul music and the flow got me totally hooked. I mean… DJ Premier for example, this guy is a genius.”
What was the record that changed your life?
“The record that definitely changed my life was Isoleé – Beau Mot Plage on Playhouse Records. Ata, the former owner of the label played the track as a closing track in a radio DJ set. I can’t really describe with my own words what I felt at the moment I tuned in by coincidence but it was like another dimension was opening in my head. Of course I heard techno, drum and bass and house music way before that day but this track actually made me go to my friend and buy those two decks to start DJ’ing as I realised there is so much special and fantastic music out there only available on vinyl which needs to be discovered and mixed. From there on the journey began…”
You have just unleashed a very cool compilation ‘Arkitekt 01’ – your first mix album brought to us by the Renaissance crew. Why did you feel Geoff Oakes and his brand were right for your first venture into this market…?
“Thanks for that. I have to confess that Geoff wasn’t on my radar before. The label Renaissance of course was but not him in particular. From the beginning though I really liked their idea of starting something completely new, with a white blank page on our both sides. This project was a debut for them and me and I felt it is the right move to work it out together.”
Talk us through the two sides of the album, one is underground and tech led, the other flips deeper. What are the tunes you are excited to have included on the release – and what was the aim you set out to achieve with both sides?
“From the very first contact Geoff and me agreed to do a double mix CD, to give a wider insight into the spectrum of the music I like to play and hear. So for me it was pretty clear to separate the CDs into a dance floor oriented mix and a mix that is more laid back, deeper and relaxed. Of course I was excited about all the tunes we got licensed for the compilation but the ones, which aren’t available on vinyl anymore, were the ones I was really happy about. Ben Nevile’s ‘Awshashen’ was one of these gems we were able to get on board.”
How much of an influence has Ricardo Villalobos been to you and why?
“He has had a really big influence on me as during the last ten years he has helped me to discover a vast number of extraordinary and mind blowing records. I would even say that he and his endless DJ sets educated me a lot while going to nightclubs during the early 2000s.”
London loves you! Where have been some of your favourite places to play over the years – and who are the London DJs you love to spin alongside?
“Is it so? I’m flattered to hear that, it’s a mutual feeling! London was my first love, I could say as I had my very first international booking there in 2007 at the famous T-Bar. During the last 5 years I had plenty of opportunities to get to know this city, its clubs and after hours better and better and there have been plenty of great parties and memories but some of the real good ones are the nights at Fabric of course, the Mulletover parties with Geddes and the Fuse afterhours with Enzo Siragusa, who is very talented and a great DJ too.”
What is the current top 10 you are spinning?
Hmmm, let’s see…
1. Super Hero – New York (Nic Fanciulli Rmx)
2. Elegato – Zone (Hansel Edit)
3. Macromism – HootHoot
4. Schubaq & Verveine – Ness
5. Ricardo Villalobos – Handsup
6. Illyus – The Rescue
7. Cynical Dogs – Freaky Spray
8. Ramon Tapia – 441
9. Egal 3 – Remastered
10. Jovon – Get Up
An interesting thing you said recently; you have been putting too much pressure on yourself in the studio, thinking too much about which route to take. Discuss…
“Good research! Well, it is true that with the success came the pressure and I haven’t been that free anymore with my work flow and ideas in the studio like I was five years ago when everything just kicked off. It got very difficult for me to find the right balance between the touring over the weekend and the creative work during week. Others collect inspiration on that; I’m just loosing the focus. I don’t want to complain at all, I just realised I need time to arrive in my studio, switch of the head and just go with the flow”
Talk us through the split wit Cadenza…if split is the right word…
“It wasn’t really a split. I just left the agency two months ago to take another road. The last three years I have been with the label and the agency have been very successful years for all of us. Luciano and his brand took the next step and I benefited a lot from that which I’m very thankful for. But sometimes you just feel like you need to make changes in life, head in another direction and be a little bit more yourself again.”
You grew up just outside Frankfurt, an incredible city for the world of dance music – what is the city like in 2012 and how much of a blow was Sven’s Cocoon Club going into administration last month?
“This city had and still has a huge influence on me. It is still fantastic to live and go out here even though the nightlife isn’t as thriving anymore as it was ten years ago. Which might also be a reason for the fall down of the Cocoon Club and its vision. But to be honest it wasn’t that much of a blow to all of us as everybody recognised that somehow their nights unfortunately lost their vibe and glamour over the last few years. It’s still very sad to see that a project like this no longer succeeding though.”
What has been your summer anthem?
“Anil Chawla – ‘Bells’.”
What is your guilty pleasure record?
“A Tracey Chapman Edit of Markus Fix.”
What is coming next from the Robert Dietz studio…?
“I hope something (laughs). No, there is a track by the end of December on the 5 years compilation of Cecille and I’m currently working on a new EP for Saved Records.”
It’s your birthday – who are the 5 dead or alive celebrities you invite around for dinner and who plays at the after party?
There would be Anish Kapoor, to design the chocolate fountain, David Lynch for the surrealistic atmosphere, Agyness Deyn to jump out of the cake, Larry Clark to take pictures of the wasted guests in the morning, Nietsche to talk some sense into the people, …and DJ Premiere is of course spinning on the after party.”
And finally, who are the artists that you listen to away from the studio to chill out to?
“There are so many different ones from all kind of genres but right now its Robert Glasper, Kendrik Lamar and Flying Lotus, all of whom are on heavy rotation.”
http://www.myspace.com/robertdietz
Arkitekt 01: Robert Dietz – AKT001CD
Ministry of Sound / Universal Music
Out now
“The idea behind the mix is to present two different insights into my musical repertoire. Tracks I like to play in the club and tracks I like to play at home. From old school to new school.” Robert Dietz – 2012
Tracklisting
CD 1 – Club Hours
1) Butane – A Rave Mistake (2012 Mix)
2) Trickski – Brazzavillage Dance Commando
3) Tobias – Girts (Ricardo Villalobos & Max Loderbauer Remix)
4) Markus Fix – Lonely
5) Pele & Shawnecy – Savago
6) Dub E Us – Blood Red (Lyin Beats Remix)
7) Davide Squillace & Philip Bader feat. Big Bully – Good Luck On The Romance Thing
8) Pele & Shawnecy – What’s Up
9) Tapesh & Maximiljan – You Chose Me
10) DJ Foxx & Dj Sensé – Hill Street Blues (Master D’s Casa Mix)
11) Loopsize – Retrospective
12) Sascha Dive – Underground Railroad (Willie Graff & Tuccillo Remix)
13) Viudez & Rudolf – Carl Tribute
14) Sound of the Suburbs – Beautifly
15) Antislash – DCL (Moritz Piske Remix)
16) Ben Nevile – Awshashen
CD 2 – After-Hours
1) ZPH – Popshit
2) Matías Valdmont – Egun
3) OCH – Sophisticated Animated
4) Boo Williams – Peaking Point
5) Ivel Tax – The Church
6) Dale Howard – Bubbzz
7) Egal 3 – Remaster
8) Adam Marshall – Holding Down
9) Leonel Castillo – 1974
10) Dario Zenker – Hassel
11) Lil Tony – Employee Only
