A revered name in the global underground house and techno community, Robert Dietz has carved himself a glorious path. Starting off on the hotbed of talent that is Frankfurt, his edits, tracks and notorious sets have ensured that he has been held in high esteem by both artists and fans alike. Ellie Hewitt was lucky enough to have a Skype chat with the man himself, where he told her about Green Sauce, his thoughts on DJ polls, Arkitekt's very first compilation and the tunes he accredits to each situation. Read on for more words of wisdom, from one of underground dance's most integral and lauded figures.
Firstly how was Cable the other night? It was really good, really fun, a good crowd. I was at Jaded a while back for the afterparty which was a really great crowd. Cable's such a cool club, really great.
Did you get to spend much time in London? No I flew in late and left pretty much the next day. I did pop down to Fabric to see Ricardo Villalobos' Ten year anniversary set but he wasn't playing till 8:30am so unfortunately I missed him as my flight was at 11am!
What's special about Frankfurt? Frankfurt is a very special city to me, I always wanted to move there. I grew up in the capital of Hessen, Weisebaden which is smaller, pretty. I live right in the centre of the city now. It's an international city and very diverse but at the same time small and cosy. It's very beautiful and you can get everywhere with in 10 minutes of bicycle. I can't cycle in the winter though it's so cold. I haven't seen sunlight in about 2 weeks here now it's kind of depressing, I need some Vitamin D.
Arkitekt 01 is great, are you pleased with the finished product? Yeah very pleased. I'd never done a compilation digitally before. It was hard because there were so many things I wanted to put on there, old and new and there was the time constraint. It took about two months and unfortunately some things didn't get in there that I wanted them to but I like the finished product. The Ben Neville track was a very old track and another one had to be recorded off the vinyl and remastered because there was no original vinyl anywhere. I love the packaging though and the artwork, overall it's very slick. It was a great project to do.
What do you do when your not DJing/producing? I get bored very easily so I go to the gym alot, I run, I do cross fit. Other than that hanging out with friends, cooking.
Are there any special things that you cook that's native to Frankfurt? Yeah, it's like a seasonal dish with eggs and boiled potatoes and a yoghurt and herb sauce called Green Sauce. It's delicious, loads of herbs.
I read this article you posted on twitter about dance musics creative crisis, do you think that's also contributing to alot of music becoming disposable? Absolutely, the lifetime of music is so short now. You release something, even if it's amazing it has a maximum expiration date of 1/2 weeks on Beatport, if that. The sheer amount of music being churned out is insane. Ten years ago, if you were a DJ and you heard a track you liked it would have to be in a club and you would either ask the DJ or track down the record buy the record or perhaps have to order it, the process would take a couple of weeks. Now there is so much music at your finger tips it's insane. The concept of DJing has totally changed. You can't just DJ anymore you must produce and the rate of production has to be many releases, it's diluting talent. Also so many DJs out there are having stuff ghost produced, I mean that's nothing new, that's always happened in music. But DJing now you have your marketing team, your network of people, it's a lot more complicated than it used to be. The entire clubbing scene has changed anyway, it's nice when you go into Panorama bar and people can't take photos of you - they actually have to dance!
You've released on so many amazing labels, how important is it to have a good relationship with them all? I'm close with all the labels I release on, that's why I do it. They are all my friends, it's great.
Do you have plans to start your own label? Maybe, I mean I put out something earlier this year. A bootleg thing. Me and Reboot, 500 hand stamped pieces of wax. Just two bootlegs, it was great doing that. Mine was a Jamie Lidell track Gypsi Blood. It was called No Hit Wonder. [Laughs]
Any artists or producers to watch that are forthcoming? Yeah you guys need to watch out for this great new collective Hard Work Soft Drink, great producers, artists, DJs doing brilliant things. And Hansel from Romania, he's great.
What are your views on GEMA being thrown out by the German Government? It's a serious problem you know. It's silly because 30% of the music played in German clubs are GEMA registered artists, and even those, I'm not sure if they see the money. It's a backwards step for Germany, it'd be foolish to do it but they have such old fashioned distribution laws. If it happens my favourite club in Germany will shut Robert-Johnson in Frankfurt. You have to go there. Have to!
What are your plans for Christmas and New Years? I saw with a heavy heart that I won't be with my family like I normally am, I'm playing Christmas eve in Malaga, but hey it's my job! Then I'm off to Brazil for a bit and then the US and finally I'll be at the BPM festival in January. It's my first time, the line up is insane I am really excited.
How much would you say DJ polls really matter in the industry? I think a lot of the polls aren't really accurate just because they cater to their own readers. It's not a universal thing necessarily, it's nice but it's not important. I doubt I'll get on RA this year. There are so many DJs who have a great career who aren't even featured on it.
Do you have a phrase you live your life by? Like mine everything is a 'storm in teacup'. What's yours? [Laughs] I'm not sure I have one.
Well maybe if you get one you will do better in the RA polls! [Laughs]. Okay well I'll think of a good one for next year. And for now - don't copy and paste!
What track would you like to hear....
At the afterparty? DJ Skull - Don't Stop The Beat
Peak time in the club? Leonel Castillo - Natural
In a bad mood? Kendrik Lamar - Hiiipower
In a good mood? Nosaj thing - IOIO