Tech and Techno: Robert Babicz at The House April 30

DJ and producer Robert Babicz was born in Poland, but found himself growing up in late-1980s Germany just as the old world of East and West collapsed. One of the curious side-effects of the fall of the Berlin Wall was that it laid the foundations out of which sprang Berlin's all-conquering electronic music scene, and Babicz was there at the right time. His style has changed over the past two decades, but he's as passionate as ever, and this weekend plays The House to show Beijing what he's all about. We caught up with him as he prepared for Gongti's North Gate.

You moved to Germany in 1980 – why did you leave Poland?
My parents decided to move to Germany, when I was just 4 years old, hoping to get better jobs there.

Did you return to Poland often before things changed in 1989?
Oh yes, as a lot of my family was living there. I loved this different world. We lived in a small village with a lot of animals, a very simple life.

You’ve evolved with electronic music, seeing the rave era through to the present day. What still excites you musically?
Yes, good question, but I am still so in love with electronic music, as for me it's the most global way of communicating peace and love over the world. Music is evolving all the time, and I'm still very curious about what's going on.

Describe in less than ten words what you think the sounds of 2020 will be like.
I have no clue, but I hope it's a full mind and body experience. (Hmm, 14 words ... - Ed.)

Whose head would you most like to get inside? What do you think it would sound like in there?
I really don't have any heroes, but it would be interesting to hear what's going on in my own kids' head. I think of great ideas and sounds.

What does it sound like in your own head?
Oh my own head - I'm always full on, like 20 radios at once, my thoughts are surrounding me like bees.

Do you get bored of interviewers asking you tech questions about what kind of equipment you use?
Haha, sometimes. Interestingly, most of the press guys have no clue about technology, but they have read something, and just ask what they already knew.

Let me ask one tech question. I read you’ve got a bunch of audio and recording equipment that was used by the East German secret police. What kind of sounds do you get from those?
I have a unit that was used to change the character of the voice, so if you have an interview, nobody could recognize your voice. It's not a vocoder, it's a strange pitchshifter thing, were you can enter codes … It can sound like your mum if you like.

Robert Babicz plays The House this Saturday, April 30. RMB 80. 10pm.

Photo: courtesy of Robert Babicz