Clubbing is back, and with it an extensive US tour from one of the scene’s most beloved house and techno artists, Sacha Robotti.
Robotti has been keeping busy during the lockdown and has been releasing some of the most exciting tracks of his career to date. Last month he dropped an electric reinterpretation of Peaches’ ‘Fuck The Pain Away’, while this July his collab with Dantiez Saunderson, ‘Power Of Choice’, lands on Kultur. Now armed with his usual explosive blend of house and techno, Sacha is back on the road again, embarking on an extensive US tour at some of the country’s finest clubs and festivals.
Today, we sit down with Sacha Robotti to break down his latest creations, talk about inspirations, wellness and mindfulness in these uncertain times, and discuss his upcoming US tour.
Electronic Groove: Hi Sacha! It’s a pleasure to have you down for a chat with us. How are you doing? Where are you based right now? What’s the scene looking like over there at the moment?
Sacha Robotti: Hi Electronic Groove team and everyone reading this! The pleasure is all mine. I’m doing great thank you. Currently I’m based in Los Angeles, since we’ve ‘re-opened’ on June 15th the scene is having an explosion of sorts!
Electronic Groove: What have you been up to lately? How did you decide to spend your time during the pandemic? Did you pick up any new skills?
Sacha Robotti: Lately I’ve been touring in the USA and working in the studio – almost feels like business as usual, really. It’s nice to see actual faces and bodies again in LA and at my shows. During the pandemic, I took care of a lot of ‘life things’ that I probably wouldn’t have if we hadn’t been forced into this break. I tried to stay healthy, exercised a lot, went sober for a while, kicked some habits, detached from unhealthy things and people, and did a lot of shadow work. I moved home twice and finally found a sanctuary in the city, that I may or may not stay in if I stay here.
Also I invested in my label and apparel company Slothacid and brought some dope new music and clothes through his outlet, to entertain myself in this uncertain times, but also to simply show that life goes on, like having blind faith in the future. I kept playing music since this is my job and the reason for me to be in the United States, but I stayed low-key at the same time because of how toxic social media had become, taking shows that were safe & legal throughout the States. I even rented a van and drove to 5 gigs, in Pennsylvania, Chicago, Minneapolis, Austin, Dallas, over 9000 miles while ticking some of the boxes on my bucket list, like the Grand Canyon. What an adventure! 2020 was not one of the easiest years of my life, but also not the hardest! I feel that since I’ve had some challenges in my life prior, I was somewhat prepared for this pandemic.
Electronic Groove: Was it hard to create with all that was going on? Or were you able to just shut it all out and ‘isolate’? What are the things that move you?
Sacha Robotti: Honestly, it wasn’t easy to create and just keep trucking. The ‘isolation’ part was the most challenging part for me – even though I don’t mind being a lone wolf and creating in a secluded way, which I’m used to. I need feedback on my creations and people to exchange ideas with. The uncertainty, loss, sadness, and fear that the world felt during the pandemic (which seems over for many people in the States but is still raging on, here and on a planetary level) was the hard part: creating music and art despite these conditions ultimately meant healing and growth for me.
Electronic Groove: Speaking about inspiration, you’re riding on the back of your new version of ‘Fuck The Pain Away’, your latest release. How has the reception been so far? What was it about Peaches’ original version that captured you?
Sacha Robotti: I love Peaches, her music, her art, and what she stands for. I met her in Berlin a few times about ten years ago as we have some common friends, I’m not sure she remembers. She was very sweet to me. When I heard her song ‘Fuck The Pain Away’ in around 2001, I was 21 years old and immediately obsessed with it. I hadn’t heard a lot of music as raw and dirty before, the song always stood apart from everything else. It was just a natural thing for me to remix it at some point in my life so I could play it out during my sets. I premiered my remix at Desert Hearts Festival 3 years ago and played it a lot since, big festival crowds. Whenever I played this version, people went nuts on the dance floor. We tried to clear the original sample but unfortunately couldn’t. So it happened that my friend and vocalist BabyGirl had fun recording her own interpretation of Peaches’ vocals, with a performance that sounds similar to Peaches’ performance on the original ‘Fuck The Pain Away’. We released my track with BabyGirl vocals as a cover on Thrive Music. I’m stoked that we made it happen this way!
“Whenever I played this version, people went nuts
on the dance floor”
Electronic Groove: What was the process for this one like? Did you know straight away which elements you wanted to keep and how the narrative would develop, sonically speaking?
Sacha Robotti: I basically just tried to create an instrumental that keeps the raw vibe of the original production, but in a 4×4 dance floor format, 130 bpm.
Electronic Groove: And you’ve also got two very special collaborations coming up, right? What can you tell us about these ones?
Sacha Robotti: Yes I’ve worked with Dantiez Saunderson on two cuts last year. Both will be released soon, stay tuned! We met at CRSSD in San Diego in March 2020, as we were both playing sets there. We celebrated life not knowing that this would be the last event many of our friends would attend for over a year! I love Dantiez and am honored to be working with him.
Electronic Groove: What was it like collaborating during the pandemic? Were you guys able to do things in person?
Sacha Robotti: Unfortunately not, I would have loved to fly to Detroit for this one! But thankfully nowadays collaborating via the internet isn’t too hard logistically anymore.
Electronic Groove: And the big news keep coming with your US tour, congratulations! How excited are you about this? What can your fans expect this time around?
Sacha Robotti: Thank you! It’s so nice to see faces again. It’s lovely that people here are feeling more positive about the future again. It’s great to be able to travel openly and safely again, and not to have to hide my job anymore. I’m also very excited to test out the new songs I made in the last few months! You can expect lots of happy people catching up on the year of gatherings that they missed.
“It’s so nice to see faces again. It’s lovely that people here are feeling more positive about the future again“
Electronic Groove: What else is in store for 2021? What are you looking forward to? Any new milestones to aspire to?
Sacha Robotti: I’m looking forward to the world to heal. I feel we are a long way away still from globally going ‘back to normal’, if ‘normal’ can ever be restored. The pandemic changed things everywhere and lots of people suffered losses, which we all have to process collectively now. My goals for this year on a personal level are to continue to be getting fit physically and mentally, killing it at my shows, making meaningful connections, bringing love with music. I would also love to visit my family in Europe, it’s been a couple of years by now.
Electronic Groove: Thank you for sitting down with us Sacha! We wish you all the best!
Sacha Robotti: Thank you for having me! Much love to you!
Sacha Robotti’s ‘Fuck The Pain Away’ is out now via Thrive. Purchase your copy here and find tickets for Sacha Robotti’s US Tour dates here.
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