Simon
2004-07-28, 04:36 PM
"I only made Problems d'Amour back in the 80s because someone suggested to me that I write a dance tune in that genre because there was a lot of money to be made. He told me even crap electro-disco tracks would shift 10,000 units then ironically Problems d'Amour sold exactly 10,000 copies, a pure coincidence that convinced me the track was crap after all. After that experience I decided to leave dance music completely behind, also because I couldn't speak English."
20 years after he first released Problem's d'Amour avant-garde electro artist Alexander Robotnick still prefers to do interviews in Italian though his English is much better and Problems d'Amour is finally acclaimed as an italo-disco classic. He's also a fast-rising name on the still-growing global electroclash circuit, in marked contrast to his earlier 80s electro-disco career.
"I remember a few friends coming back from London and New York City back then told me that they saw my track in the shops, but I never quite believed them at the time," he admits.
"Don't forget I'm a very provincial guy from Florence, who sung Problems d'Amour in French only because I couldn't speak any English; I lived a very provincial life and never took any risks. It wasn't until 95, when I started using the internet, that I realised what impact that track actually had. Before that I had no idea whatsoever."
Appropriately, the track appears on his critically acclaimed new mix CD 'The Disco-tech of Alexander Robotnick' which mixes 80s anthems from the likes of New Order, Yello and Visage with cutting edge electro tunes from FPU, Miss Kittin and Bangkok Impact.
"The critics seem to like the choice of tracks and the sense of continuity I've managed to create between tracks that were written twenty years apart," he points out, "that's what I wanted to achieve and I feel I've fulfilled that goal."
Skrufff (Benedetta Skrufff): When did this new cycle in your career actually begin?
Alexander Robotnick: "Everything started last September, when I was approached to do the mix CD though initially I was reluctant to accept the offer as I had previously made a decision never to record or do any promos. My attitude at the time was if people wanted to hear me, they should come and see me playing live, which I also wanted because when I perform live I manipulate and remix absolutely everything I play."
Skrufff: Though you've also started DJing recently. .
Alexander Robotnick: "Yes, last year I finally decided to let go of my dislike towards vinyl. Someone sent me an email asking if I was still DJing which was something I'd never actually done before, but on this occasion I decided to respond differently for once, to not refuse the offer. So I said yes I'm still DJing, though with a laptop, then immediately went out and bought a laptop straightaway. Fabrice Guarnascione of the French label Grossomodo was the first to book me to play at the club Spartacus in Provence (France) where I ended up playing with Kiko and The Hacker. The club was packed, I felt great, people liked my set and my career has taken off since then. Even now I'm very busy with DJ gigs."
Skrufff: How does the DJ role compare with producing, are DJs the new rock stars?
Alexander Robotnick: "As a DJ I need to keep my musical knowledge constantly updated whereas a producer I never really had to care about it before. Because doing that takes up a lot of my time I consider it the least appealing side of the job, also because I don't like going to record shops though luckily I have people who help me out and others who send me promos. I've also tried to minimize the distance between being a musician and a DJ, by completely manipulating and layering the tracks I play in my set. On top of the vinyl I use a keyboard and a laptop, I sing, do voiceovers and perform a little though I always try to keep my equipment to a minimum because I usually play in tiny spaces that I share with pints of beer, bottles, people and so on. As far as being treated as a rock-star is concerned, my audience is into electro, electroclash, and italo-disco and is not really into commerciality, it's a smaller scene, but in my opinion it's an amazing one. The artists are extremely talented and friendly, respectful and helpful, which is something I've never experienced before. There's a constant desire to share and collaborate with one another, which I initially found almost shocking. "
Skrufff: How surprised are you by italo-disco's comeback?
Alexander Robotnick: "I'm not really surprised because I believe that in music there is always a twenty year cycle. Personally, I was lucky to meet younger musicians from the scene to keep me in check and to share my experiences with. I have been part of so many scenes throughout my career that it'd be easy for me, whilst I'm writing a track, to unwarily slip into other styles of music."
Skrufff: Have you always made a living as a musician?
Alexander Robotnick: "For almost all my life, yes. I worked briefly as a civil servant before Problems d'Amour first came out, then I gave up my day job and disappointed my family. Ever since then I've lived off my music through highs and lows, composing film soundtracks and for a while also bits of music for theatre, for fashion shows and so on. I've been though some very difficult times financially, in fact, just recently I went through another one, though right now it seems like I'm entering a happier phase."
Skrufff: You seem to have been very much living the life of an artist . .
Alexander Robotnick: "Well, so far I haven't reached a level of fame which would allow me to live with no worries, though having said that I've met a few very famous artists who've also been through difficult times financially. Fame doesn't exempt you from worries forever. It comes and goes very quickly."
Skrufff: Which other instruments do you play?
Alexander Robotnick: "I started out playing jazz guitar, towards the end of the '70's I had a quintet and played standard jazz, then in the '80's I was captivated by electronica, left the guitar behind, which now I have completely forgotten how to play and took up keyboards which I still play today. I studied music but I'm mainly a producer so I don't really need to play instruments for what I do. Though knowing how to read music is always very useful."
Skrufff: Was Problems D'Amour a big success when it was first released?
Alexander Robotnick: "Under certain aspects it was, but not for me personally. I did it only because someone suggested that I write a dance music track since in that field, he said, there was a lot of money to be made. He also said that even a crap track could have shifted 10,000. Ironically Problems d'Amour sold exactly 10,000 copies, a pure coincidence that meant I always considered the trackto be be crap after all. After that I decided to leave dance music completely behind also because my English was awful. Thinking about it, I should have moved to America, since the track sold well in Detroit, Chicago, New York and San Francisco but it did absolutely nothing in Italy, which left me disappointed."
Skrufff: I was under the impression that at the time you were part of the Italo dance music elite, hanging out with Moroder, Grace Jones, Donna Summer and people like that. . .
Alexander Robotnick: "Definitely not. Don't forget I'm a very provincial guy from Florence, who sung Problems d'Amour in French because I couldn't speak any English. It was only around '95, when I started using the internet, that I realised what impact that track really had. I had no idea whatsoever."
Skrufff: How did you proceed after giving up electro?
Alexander Robotnick: "I went to work with a multimedia group called Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici who initially made their name by drawing cartoons for the Italian cult magazine Frigidaire. We threw ourselves fully into the art world by doing some beautiful work; we travelled, did video installations for events connected with contemporary art, but essentially we were moving into a very difficult and closed scene, and eventually we got burned. We were the first at doing something that today is a standard, but back then it was almost considered sci-fi."
Skrufff: Are you still part of the world music scene today?
Alexander Robotnick: "Yes, I still play in a group called The Third Planet with an Algerian, a Curd and a Sardinian musicians, we've recently released a CD in India and we are well known in the States too, but even that hasn't been an easy ride because in the World music scene you are judged by your political stance, so if you don't align yourself with certain ideals that go from general protest to green issues, you are not taken into consideration, even if your music is the best in the world. This is especially common in Italy, and since I still live here it's a problem."
Skrufff: Do you disagree with these political issues?
Alexander Robotnick: "Not at all, it's just the way they try to brainwash you that I don't approve of. To me it's ludicrous to judge art from a political angle. Music is the expression of an individual, we should learn from history how political regimes have often annihilated artistic expression in the past."
Skrufff: You said in Time Out recently that we're now living in post-modern times, what did you mean by that?
Alexander Robotnik: "I meant that realities don't die and get replaced by new ones any longer in the way it used to happen. Our societies are now layered, they tend to overlap each other and co-exist, a little like in Phillip Dick's Bladerunner where the old and the new live side by side. I find that India, and especially cities like Bangalore and Mumbai, offers the perfect example of the ancient blending with the futuristic, in a well integrated manner that shows no contradiction. That to me is a post-modern society, where there's no longer the illusion or the utopia of continuous progress. For something that progresses something else regresses, effortlessly, and that's the reality of the world nowadays."
The Disco-Tech of Alexander Robotnick is out now on Yello Productions.
20 years after he first released Problem's d'Amour avant-garde electro artist Alexander Robotnick still prefers to do interviews in Italian though his English is much better and Problems d'Amour is finally acclaimed as an italo-disco classic. He's also a fast-rising name on the still-growing global electroclash circuit, in marked contrast to his earlier 80s electro-disco career.
"I remember a few friends coming back from London and New York City back then told me that they saw my track in the shops, but I never quite believed them at the time," he admits.
"Don't forget I'm a very provincial guy from Florence, who sung Problems d'Amour in French only because I couldn't speak any English; I lived a very provincial life and never took any risks. It wasn't until 95, when I started using the internet, that I realised what impact that track actually had. Before that I had no idea whatsoever."
Appropriately, the track appears on his critically acclaimed new mix CD 'The Disco-tech of Alexander Robotnick' which mixes 80s anthems from the likes of New Order, Yello and Visage with cutting edge electro tunes from FPU, Miss Kittin and Bangkok Impact.
"The critics seem to like the choice of tracks and the sense of continuity I've managed to create between tracks that were written twenty years apart," he points out, "that's what I wanted to achieve and I feel I've fulfilled that goal."
Skrufff (Benedetta Skrufff): When did this new cycle in your career actually begin?
Alexander Robotnick: "Everything started last September, when I was approached to do the mix CD though initially I was reluctant to accept the offer as I had previously made a decision never to record or do any promos. My attitude at the time was if people wanted to hear me, they should come and see me playing live, which I also wanted because when I perform live I manipulate and remix absolutely everything I play."
Skrufff: Though you've also started DJing recently. .
Alexander Robotnick: "Yes, last year I finally decided to let go of my dislike towards vinyl. Someone sent me an email asking if I was still DJing which was something I'd never actually done before, but on this occasion I decided to respond differently for once, to not refuse the offer. So I said yes I'm still DJing, though with a laptop, then immediately went out and bought a laptop straightaway. Fabrice Guarnascione of the French label Grossomodo was the first to book me to play at the club Spartacus in Provence (France) where I ended up playing with Kiko and The Hacker. The club was packed, I felt great, people liked my set and my career has taken off since then. Even now I'm very busy with DJ gigs."
Skrufff: How does the DJ role compare with producing, are DJs the new rock stars?
Alexander Robotnick: "As a DJ I need to keep my musical knowledge constantly updated whereas a producer I never really had to care about it before. Because doing that takes up a lot of my time I consider it the least appealing side of the job, also because I don't like going to record shops though luckily I have people who help me out and others who send me promos. I've also tried to minimize the distance between being a musician and a DJ, by completely manipulating and layering the tracks I play in my set. On top of the vinyl I use a keyboard and a laptop, I sing, do voiceovers and perform a little though I always try to keep my equipment to a minimum because I usually play in tiny spaces that I share with pints of beer, bottles, people and so on. As far as being treated as a rock-star is concerned, my audience is into electro, electroclash, and italo-disco and is not really into commerciality, it's a smaller scene, but in my opinion it's an amazing one. The artists are extremely talented and friendly, respectful and helpful, which is something I've never experienced before. There's a constant desire to share and collaborate with one another, which I initially found almost shocking. "
Skrufff: How surprised are you by italo-disco's comeback?
Alexander Robotnick: "I'm not really surprised because I believe that in music there is always a twenty year cycle. Personally, I was lucky to meet younger musicians from the scene to keep me in check and to share my experiences with. I have been part of so many scenes throughout my career that it'd be easy for me, whilst I'm writing a track, to unwarily slip into other styles of music."
Skrufff: Have you always made a living as a musician?
Alexander Robotnick: "For almost all my life, yes. I worked briefly as a civil servant before Problems d'Amour first came out, then I gave up my day job and disappointed my family. Ever since then I've lived off my music through highs and lows, composing film soundtracks and for a while also bits of music for theatre, for fashion shows and so on. I've been though some very difficult times financially, in fact, just recently I went through another one, though right now it seems like I'm entering a happier phase."
Skrufff: You seem to have been very much living the life of an artist . .
Alexander Robotnick: "Well, so far I haven't reached a level of fame which would allow me to live with no worries, though having said that I've met a few very famous artists who've also been through difficult times financially. Fame doesn't exempt you from worries forever. It comes and goes very quickly."
Skrufff: Which other instruments do you play?
Alexander Robotnick: "I started out playing jazz guitar, towards the end of the '70's I had a quintet and played standard jazz, then in the '80's I was captivated by electronica, left the guitar behind, which now I have completely forgotten how to play and took up keyboards which I still play today. I studied music but I'm mainly a producer so I don't really need to play instruments for what I do. Though knowing how to read music is always very useful."
Skrufff: Was Problems D'Amour a big success when it was first released?
Alexander Robotnick: "Under certain aspects it was, but not for me personally. I did it only because someone suggested that I write a dance music track since in that field, he said, there was a lot of money to be made. He also said that even a crap track could have shifted 10,000. Ironically Problems d'Amour sold exactly 10,000 copies, a pure coincidence that meant I always considered the trackto be be crap after all. After that I decided to leave dance music completely behind also because my English was awful. Thinking about it, I should have moved to America, since the track sold well in Detroit, Chicago, New York and San Francisco but it did absolutely nothing in Italy, which left me disappointed."
Skrufff: I was under the impression that at the time you were part of the Italo dance music elite, hanging out with Moroder, Grace Jones, Donna Summer and people like that. . .
Alexander Robotnick: "Definitely not. Don't forget I'm a very provincial guy from Florence, who sung Problems d'Amour in French because I couldn't speak any English. It was only around '95, when I started using the internet, that I realised what impact that track really had. I had no idea whatsoever."
Skrufff: How did you proceed after giving up electro?
Alexander Robotnick: "I went to work with a multimedia group called Giovanotti Mondani Meccanici who initially made their name by drawing cartoons for the Italian cult magazine Frigidaire. We threw ourselves fully into the art world by doing some beautiful work; we travelled, did video installations for events connected with contemporary art, but essentially we were moving into a very difficult and closed scene, and eventually we got burned. We were the first at doing something that today is a standard, but back then it was almost considered sci-fi."
Skrufff: Are you still part of the world music scene today?
Alexander Robotnick: "Yes, I still play in a group called The Third Planet with an Algerian, a Curd and a Sardinian musicians, we've recently released a CD in India and we are well known in the States too, but even that hasn't been an easy ride because in the World music scene you are judged by your political stance, so if you don't align yourself with certain ideals that go from general protest to green issues, you are not taken into consideration, even if your music is the best in the world. This is especially common in Italy, and since I still live here it's a problem."
Skrufff: Do you disagree with these political issues?
Alexander Robotnick: "Not at all, it's just the way they try to brainwash you that I don't approve of. To me it's ludicrous to judge art from a political angle. Music is the expression of an individual, we should learn from history how political regimes have often annihilated artistic expression in the past."
Skrufff: You said in Time Out recently that we're now living in post-modern times, what did you mean by that?
Alexander Robotnik: "I meant that realities don't die and get replaced by new ones any longer in the way it used to happen. Our societies are now layered, they tend to overlap each other and co-exist, a little like in Phillip Dick's Bladerunner where the old and the new live side by side. I find that India, and especially cities like Bangalore and Mumbai, offers the perfect example of the ancient blending with the futuristic, in a well integrated manner that shows no contradiction. That to me is a post-modern society, where there's no longer the illusion or the utopia of continuous progress. For something that progresses something else regresses, effortlessly, and that's the reality of the world nowadays."
The Disco-Tech of Alexander Robotnick is out now on Yello Productions.