A short talk with Rrose on the tools provided by repetition and automation, different ways of commanding a listener's emotional attention, and Hymn To Moisture.
Diogo: I got to know your work through the compilation Rotterdam, from 2019. A post-industrial landscape seen through the lens of Techno emerges from the music of every single artist on this album. The atmosphere builds on repetition and automatization, just like the Alienated human being living in the cosmopolis during the Digital Era. Don't you agree?
Rrose: The title of my Master’s thesis was Automation Is My Salvation :) I give credit to repetition and automation for providing tools for transcendence, alienation, destruction, and rebirth. I’m interested in the fixation humans seem to have with a very specific notion of liveness — equating it to human limbs accomplishing some physically demanding task in real-time. I believe the connection between live performance and the human body is much more complex. Sometimes the ears and mind are enough.
Diogo: Is it possible to create art that distances itself from the spectator? Bertolt Brecht developed a concept called "V-effekt", where strangeness is used in order to separate the observer from emotional involvement.
Rrose: Yes, but I think it’s possible to command a listener/spectator’s emotional attention in such a way that it is both enveloping and provides critical distance. This might differ from Brecht’s view slightly. My approach is to completely take over the listener’s senses, but not in a specific way that says “you should feel happy here” or “you should feel scared here” which is how a lot of narrative work functions. I want to overwhelm the listener’s senses in a way that forces them to ask “what am I feeling?” or to think “this feeling is incredibly powerful but I don’t quite understand it.” I try to elicit the same type of response in myself when I am generating the material.
Diogo: Hymn To Moisture is your first solo album. It's an organic work, full of different textures and rhythms. What was the creative process behind this exercise in Atmosphere Avant-Garde Techno? Where did you get your inspiration from?
Rrose: There’s no magic creative process to reveal here. Making an album is usually a very slow and non-linear process for me. It involves going back through all of the music I’ve made in recent years and trying to decide which pieces speak to each other, which feel more significant, distinctive. Invariably, I will need to make new material to connect the dots together. There are always last-minute changes, The aim of the album, being the first proper Rrose solo album, was to make a collection that felt like the culmination of my work up until that point, refining the processes of gradual, interconnected transformations of material, with a heavy emphasis on creating forms and textures that feel in some way related to liquids and organic matter. At the same time, I want the material to have a strong connection to the body, to feel physical, and inspire physical movement.
Diogo: Is there some sort of "revolution" taking place on dance floors? Do you believe that this state of hypnotizing hyperactivity in which people seem to live nowadays has a direct impact on the type of music they choose to dance to?
Rrose: There is no revolution. That word is much too loaded to apply in this context. For sure, society’s habits and the technologies that surround us affect our taste in culture. I like to think that I operate on the fringe of this influence, but I’m not immune.
Part 2 | Alienation Through The Lens Of Art
Diogo: It seems to me that culture became more homogeneous with the arrival of the Digital Era. Everyone is connected via social networks and tastemakers control the direction of trends. Is this a real threat to micro-niches, DIY culture, and the old habits of music sharing? In what ways?
Rrose: The digital era has provided threats to DIY culture, but it has also provided new avenues for DIY culture to flourish by making it possible for instant worldwide distribution and collaboration. There is a negative impact on the ability of local cultures to thrive and develop independently, but at the same time, I find it inspiring to observe the rapid cross-pollination of ideas and sounds. I think the threat of “monoculture” exists mostly within the mainstream. Micro-niches will always exist.
Diogo: Oscar Wilde once wrote, "Life imitates art far more than art imitates life". May I have the benefits of your thought on this quote?
Rrose: I agree. It’s hard to elaborate because the statement is so beautifully concise as it is.
Diogo: I believe art is the grandest form of expression. I can't see it as anything other than a reflection of the human spirit. Where do you think this visceral necessity of creating art comes from?
Rrose: I think of art as a desperate attempt to make life meaningful. My favorite art stays on the outer bounds of our understanding, repeatedly leading us to the edges of that threshold. I often find the same kind of inspiration from nature.
Diogo: Do you think that the creation of art has somewhat of a practical function in a community? How so? If the production of music reflects the human spirit, listeners will be able to recognize themselves in it, turning this form of art into a communal experience.
Rrose: If there’s one thing the 20th century taught me, it’s that art can literally be anything. Or nothing. Many forms of art have practical functions, other forms have none. Dance music certainly is the former, and playing with that “communal” function is one of the things that makes it fun.
Diogo: Speaking of "community", what's your favorite album of all time? And what about your favorite album released in 2021?
Rrose: I find it incredibly hard to name favorites. But if I was stranded on a desert island and could only listen to one artist, I would have to choose Eliane Radigue. Hopefully I would be allowed to bring her whole discography!
Comments