RB Deep Exclusive Interview with Sacha Robotti: On the Rise and Having Fun

Coming in for his very first summer camp experience ever, Sacha Robotti hit the stage early on in the weekend at Dirtybird Campout, but his groovy set was a perfect start to a perfect weekend. There wasn’t a single person standing still in the crowd while Sacha Robotti had control of the decks. The booty house power he wielded that Friday afternoon perfectly captured the essence of Dirtybird. It isn’t surprising that he was given the task of being one of the opening acts of the weekend, his set brought the spirits up and got it off to a great start.

While he does perform as one half of Robosonic, he also takes on stages on his own. His releases on Dirtybird have been classic mainstays in other Dirtybird sets, such as his collaboration with Kill Frenzy “Go To The Mo” and one of his more recent releases “Shaky”. Sacha Robotti’s productions really translate that not only does he love music as work, but he also has fun with it too, something that was very evident at Dirtybird Campout, as he smiled brightly throughout the entire set.

Claude VonStroke Presents The Birdhouse 004 by Claude Vonstroke on Mixcloud

Claude VonStroke Presents The Birdhouse 004 – with Sacha Robotti

In the excitement of Sacha Robotti being in the States again, I got a chance to chat with him about his time at Dirtybird Campout, as well as what he’s got in store for the US.

RB: I saw that you just got your visa approved to stay here for three years, that’s so exciting! What’s it like DJing, playing shows here in the US versus playing shows in Europe?
Well, I haven’t played that many shows here, but, like just the sound that I make and that I play, it’s received better here, I feel, than in Europe, you know. In Berlin, it’s very serious techno and for me, this here, it’s more about having fun and the people understand my music better I guess, you know?

RB:Since we’ve got you in US for the next few years, do you have any special plans for a tour?
I’m moving back here in December actually, so I’m going back to Berlin and moving here and, yeah, I’m just going to move here to LA and work on lots of music and then play a lot of, as many shows as I can and I’m going to aim at, you know, getting another release on Dirtybird and hang out with everyone more, which I can’t do in Berlin, I can only do it here, so that’s why I came here, you know, to meet with everybody.

RB: So I know you also work and perform as one-half of Robosonic, is your creative process different from when you work by yourself to when you’re working as Robosonic?
Oh yeah, yeah, for sure. Because when you work in a team you cannot, it’s not fully your thing, you know. Also that sound that we make with Robosonic, it’s maybe more like classical house music, you know, and this is more what I do is more like Dirtybird sound. More like tech-y, funky.

RB: You’ve mentioned having more of an urban sound, are there any more urban influences that you have that might be surprising?
I grew up in Belgium and really, like Dancemania records from Chicago, all that stuff, like DJ Funk and stuff, that was played a lot in the clubs when I grew up, this is how I grew up, with that kind of music. So when I found that again here, I tried to bring that to my sets here as well, that element, so I make edits of these old records. I sampled DJ Rush for my first record on Dirtybird and this kind of stuff. I feel like, not necessarily hip-hop, but it’s more like booty house, ghetto house, that is like the big influence on me for sure.

RB: And that makes sense because you have a great collaboration with Kill Frenzy and he seems to have the same influences too. 
Thank you! Yeah and he grew up in Belgium too, you know. For sure. And we actually made those tracks in Belgium, I actually flew over there. And there’s another track we actually made recently, I think he’s going to play it tonight.

RB: So what other sets are you looking forward to?
Obviously Kill Frenzy, Claude VonStroke, J.Phlip, you know I love those guys. I’m a big fan. But I’m looking forward to the whole thing actually.

RB: Have you ever had a summer camp experience like Dirtybird before?
Nope, never. I mean, I’ve been camping, but I haven’t been to an actual summer camp.

RB: So what has been your favorite part about the summer camp experience here at Dirtybird?
How everyone is going crazy, dressing up, you know, and just having a great time and just going crazy!

RB: In Berlin, do they go all out and get dressed in costumes like here?
Not like that, not as much. Like here, everyone is going crazy. And I feel this is something that’s, well I was in SF recently and I went to the Folsum Street Festival and to Super Hero Street Fair and I just feel like people in SF were like when there’s a chance to dress up or go crazy with clothes, just do that and they don’t take themselves too seriously and put a lot of effort in it, you know.

RB: So I got a chance to catch your whole set and it was really cool to see everyone go crazy and dancing, what were some of the great things you saw from behind the stage?
From the stage it was great to see that when I started it was empty, kind of, there was not a lot of people and it was really hot, but gradually you saw people coming in, joining, and just going crazier and crazier and when I left the stage to the next DJ the party was really starting. For me, that was the start of the night. It was great, just people smiling and having fun and I like that. I like to smile onstage. I don’t like DJs who don’t smile and are super serious.

RB: And the pictures look better!
[Laughs] Yeah, yeah! And it’s fun! After all, why do we do this?

Connect with Sacha Robotti:
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/sacha.robotti.music
Twitter: www.Twitter.com/sacharobotti
Soundcloud: www.Soundcloud.com/sacha-robotti