My Favorite Robot is the duo of Jared Simms and Voytek Korab, two Canadian DJ/Producers who in a space of a few short years have become a central part of the global electronic music scene.
This weekend the duo will be playing at Crossing Wires at CODA, along with Canadian electronic music pioneer Kenny Glasgow, eclectic French DJ/producer Chloé, and of course My Favorite Robot. On Sunday July 23, Crossing Wires heads to Northern Canada to Piknic Électronic, which will showcase Chloé and My Favorite Robot. Here’s a little chat we had with the guys prior to this busy weekend.
Electronic Groove: Hey guys, we are excited to chat with you! Let’s start by talking about your label showcases Crossing Wires, what was the inspiration behind then and what can fans expect from them?
My Favorite Robot: Thanks for having us. Our Crossing Wires began as DJ compilations, the first one being compiled by Timo Maas. We then decided to carry the name and develop the brand as our label showcases, the idea is to bring under one umbrella all the diverse artists that appear on our label and showcase them to our audiences around the world. Our fans can definitely expect some cool and diverse lineups at every showcase. We try our best to have something a little bit different every time and so we are looking forward to developing the Crossing Wires showcases through 2017 and beyond.
EG: You’ve been nominated for “Best Newcomer” for the DJ Awards, did that come as a surprise for the both of you or was it something you had been working towards?
My Favorite Robot: Well, we’re not exactly newcomers so it definitely came as a surprise but hey, we’ll take it. We don’t really work towards being nominated for anything but this year has definitely been quite humbling with the DJ Mag’s best North American label nomination, the Mixmag label of the decade nomination and now this one for our act. We’re very grateful.
EG: 2017 has shaped up to be quite a productive year for you guys. Can you give us some highlights of your year so far?
My Favorite Robot: We’ve kept busy this year mostly working on new material. Our ‘Want Some’ EP came out earlier this year and we’re currently finishing up another couple EP’s so we’ve been productive to say the least. On the gig front we’ve had another cool Crossing Wires showcase at Off Sonar with some great artists, a few Berlin gigs that were perfectly messy, great one at Bootleg in Tel Aviv, and the best gig so far has to be at Mosaique in St. Petersburg, Russia. Fantastic crowds there and a really special vibe to the parties and the city. Definitely a highlight of the year so far.
EG: There is always a focus on genres when it comes to electronic music, what’s your take on them and does MFR fall into any one particular genre?
My Favorite Robot: I would say we fall mostly into the indie electronic genre of things but then again our whole concept has been to avoid getting trapped in a particular genre. We just produce and release the music we like and feel at the moment. These days we’re tinkering more with the 90’s electro vibe but also many other genres that inspire us. The whole genre thing is kind of a pointless debate really so we just do our thing and try not to worry about it too much.
EG: Your latest EP ‘I Am The Night / Tintan Terdel’ features Jori Hulkkonen who has been a regular on the label. Can you tell us a little bit about the EP and how you came to work with Jori?
My Favorite Robot: We’ve released Jori’s music for a while and so needless to say we’re always excited when he chooses to release with us. His new album coming later this year is incredible to say the least.
EG: What sets the Canadian music scene apart from say, the European scene?
My Favorite Robot: There isn’t much of a difference anymore as the Canadian scene has made quite the leaps in recent years. Hard to find a difference as we have amazing parties and festivals here now too just like in Europe. I’d say a small difference is in the feel of the events. In Europe, there’s still a bit of that much welcomed and special chaos in parties and festivals where as here it’s all very neatly organized. Even though we gravitate to the chaotic side a bit more, both sides have their charms and we love playing at home just as much as abroad.
“Even though we gravitate to the chaotic side a bit more, both sides have their charms and we love playing at home just as much as abroad”
EG: Festival season is upon us in full force, could you give us your top 5 festival picks, top 5 artists to watch out for and top 5 venues you’ve enjoyed playing at or would like to play at?
My Favorite Robot: Our festival picks would have to be the Off Sonar Week in Barcelona, Oasis in Morocco, Piknic Electronik in Montreal, Electric Island in Toronto and Kappa Futur Fest in Turin.
As for 5 artists: One should always watch what Jori Hullkonen is up to, Rework are coming to our label this year with a 4 track monster, Fango always rocks, Loicc’s techno is the bomb and Rodion still delivering masterpiece after masterpiece.
5 venues we love are: The Garten/Uberhaus in Beirut, Mosaique in St Petersburg, Coda in Toronto, Circoloco at DC10 in Ibiza and Rex in Paris.
EG: What does a typical day in the studio look like for MFR? What is your favorite piece of studio gear?
My Favorite Robot: We’ve worked a lot more closely in recent months. Since we live in different cities we usually tend to send sessions back and forth and work like that. In recent times, we’ve actually gotten together more and worked in the same studio in Toronto to develop our tracks. Couple pieces of gear that stand out in recent times are the OB-6 and the Oberheim Xpander which we used in one of our new, more electro geared tunes that will be done very very soon and which we can’t wait for everyone to hear. Our Jupiter 6 is still our favorite baby though and we always try to incorporate it into our tunes since almost the very beginning of our project.
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