After more than 2 years of silence following their forming in 2015, German noisy shoegaze alt rock act RYT have finally released its debut record ‘Bipolar Love”, a surprising DIY record that darkens the sound of your favorite pop love songs and crafts a scenic record wholly influenced by Robert’s experience and musical explorations. He recently moved from Berlin to Szczecin, Poland (yes, he did!) to find some more peace and quiet, and return to his family roots. Berlin is great, very dynamic and all, but serene it is not. Weย spoke to Robert about his story, inspirations, and how all these led to the creation of this new interesting band.
The aim of this interview was not to hold a position of the magazine that conducted the very first interview with the next great thing in rock music, but rather to keep the DIY spirit alive, maintain a solidly varies blend of styles covered on IDIOTEQ and gain some insights into how independent artists operate.ย
Hey Robert, thanks for joining us here on IDIOTEQ. How are you? and what youยดre up to recently?
Hey, thanks for having me :)
Iยดm fine, existential angst is down to a minimum and iยดve just spend 2 weeks in my hometown of hamburg with friends. I also released my first album incidentally. Now Iยดm home in Szcecin preparing to travel to Berlin tomorrow to see my friendยดs band klez.e on tour. Iยดm being a busy bum :)
How did you end up in Szczecin? What made you escape from Berlin?
Wellโฆ I actually never really โescaped” Berlin, but I needed a break from it at the time. My Berlin is a dark place. Underneath all the hedonism, partying and pretend-openness I find that Berlin attracts mostly unsophisticated, nihilistic assholes who wanna do drugs and pretend theyยดre special somehow. (thatยดs how i ended up there in the first place, obviously :)
Also, Iยดve always wanted to live in Poland at some point in my life.ย My parents are Polish immigrants, and Iยดve been keen on properly learning the language and understanding the culture. And I was in love with a Polish girl, so I had to go with the flow :)
Poor you. Havenโt you heard about more interesting places to live in Poland?
I know, Szczecin isnยดt LA, Warsaw or Tokio :) But I’m in Berlin every week almost. So I get my necessary share of metropolis then. When it comes to Polish cities, I’ve only been in Krakow a few times, and Mazury as a kid, but Iยดll try to see most Polish cities when playing my music there in the future, and Iยดll let u know how they compare ;)
Traveling-wise, can you share one of a few crazy encounters or stories that you just never get tired of telling?
Hm, the best stories usually have some incriminating details, and should remain unwritten therefore :)
Ask me again in person with drinks in hand ;)
Will do! How did your experiences shape your style of music and your songwriting?
Oh my god, thatยดs a complicated question :) I believe everything influences everything – so all we do is shaped by our experience. Thereยดs a strong philosophical argument for the idea that experience and counciousness create the world. Iยดve probably seen and been through some darker and weirder things than the average joe. On the other hand, I feel like I notice meaning and beauty where otherยดs might not. All of that influences who and what I am. So itยดs complicated to say how exactly my experiences shaped my music, but iยดm sure they did profoundly :)
Thatยดs a long ass way of saying โI really dunno”.
Haha, sure! What is it that gives you inspiration when writing lyrics and working on a new track? Is there an underlying theme when writing new music?
Hmmโฆ. another question thatยดs hard to answer :)
I think that all the music is already there, in the ether so to speakโฆ and I think inspiration is a moment when our antennas somehow pick up on whatยดs in the ether. When I meet my muse, itยดs usually for a very brief moment, and Iยดm often not even aware of her presence. Iยดm just like a shitty radio that happens to pick up a signal for a moment. And then i try to transcribe it somehow. sometimes it kinda works, usually it doesnยดt โฆ
I canยดt be more precise that this. I have no system, no plan, it just happens. Because music is magic. Literally.
So how do you balance creative aspirations with a need for huge commercial success? For hw long do you think youโll be able to stay DIY before you become abominably rich and famous?
:) I donยดt believe Iยดm in for huge commercial success, and even though Iยดd like to make some decent money playing music, I donยดt think an artist should and could plan for (financial) success.
I think the task is to be in union with your muse, and look for truth, meaning and beauty in the world.
If youยดre true to your covenant, maybe people might notice you. chances are they wonยดt. But itยดs okay. As long as the muse looks you directly in the eye from time to time.
How does a new act like RYT go about PR and general promotion? How do you plan on telling the world about your work? How important is that part for the project?
This is my first interview ever, and some of my friends probably donยดt know about my music. Iยดm horrible at PR and promotion :)
Iยดve been around and working with music half my life now, and Iยดve spent the past two years with a man whoยดs been hugely successful in the music business before. I hope iยดve picked up a few things here and there.
Promotion and PR is very important, maybe the second most important thing in music besides being uniqueโฆ
Personally, I ยดve always struggled with this side of the business. and I know many talented artist who canยดt figure this shit out eitherโฆ but what Iยดve learned recently is that if you have something to say, you gotta say it repeatedly!
It might take 1,10 or 100 years for someone to listen to you, but if you give up too soon, nobody gets to hear you.
I donยดt really know what specifically I gotta say, but as you can tell by the length of my answers- I canยดt shut up about things.
Can we count on some live shows in the coming months?
Yes, definitely! Iยดm working on bringing this shit to the stage. RYT isnยดt a normal band, itยดs mostly me by myself, and a couple of friends who feature more or less regularly. RYT has members in Canada, China, Poland and Germany – I canยดt fly everyone in to play in Kolobrzeg or Potsdam :) but I need to be on stage regularly, and I will be :) youยดll be on the guestlist when we come through your city :)
Awesome! :) Ok, so whatโs next for you? What are your plans for the near future?
More rehearsals, finding ways to be fully independent and still able to gig, annoying people with my music a lot, and Iยดm already working on my second record, wich will be way better of course :)
Great, thanks Robert, thanks for your time and take care! The last words are yours.
Once again, thanks for having me. This is like interview NR 789 for you, but itยดs interview NR 1 for me, and thatยดs special :)
I really like what you do. You never belittle anyoneยดs creative attempts here, you donยดt seem bitter, you donยดt focus on the negatives.
You seem to be doing this for the love of it, and thatยดs something I find very cool and admirable :)
Thanks Karol
