Artist(s): Rumah
Release/Type: WOLF037 A View to the Sea EP
Label: Wolfskuil
Release date: 27/01/2017
Rumah is a young London-based techno producer with a new EP on Wolfskuil. We’ve got an exclusive track from the A-side and a quick catch up from the Blueprint-released artist.
Monument: Do you feel like your music is political?
Rumah: My politics don’t connect to my music, although they do connect to me. At the moment it’s something that I struggle with. I have often puzzled with how to connect my political outlook with an artistic one. The best artists are able to do this effortlessly (Test Dept, Peaches, M.I.A).
My music is made for dancefloors and it’s not lyrical, so it’s harder to do this. Especially without pages of explanation notes like with DJ Sprinkles. I almost always open my DJ sets with a speech from the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement. It sets a tone. I try to avoid any sponsorship, or organisations who have corporate sponsors. I show support with the BDS movement by not doing anything involving Israel. So, I’ve made choices surrounding my music connected to my politics but it has less of an influence on my artistic vision.
I would love to play more benefits and to incorporate a political visual language more into the work. This is something I am constantly wondering how to succeed at this. It’s inspiring to see more artists being overtly political. The Siren collective is total breath of fresh air, to give a local example to me.
M:Â How do you view the London techno scene and how it connects to the rest of the world?
R: I’m not so involved in the scene, I certainly don’t go out as much as I used to. Clubbing in London has always been more diverse than the rest of the world. More sounds and more small scenes. I think this sets it apart from the rest of the world.
I try not to go to just techno nights. I listen to so much techno and play so much of it that sometimes I want to see something else. The techno scene seems to be very male in the UK as well – it’s sometimes a bit too much “bro culture”.
There are of course amazing gems – Night Moves last year was the best party I’ve ever been to. Very diverse, very strange, very broad musical outlook. These kinds of odd parties happening in small places and not in traditional clubs are keeping London going at the moment. I have been meaning to get to Siren’s parties at Rye Wax for ages!
M: Your previous release for Blueprint was great – what are your goals for the future after this EP?
R:Â Thanks a lot! To make more music, to focus on my own music and my own sound and let that take precedence over my collaborations. I am a slow producer, and I get rid of things. So I need to make more all the time.
M: Where did your journey to become a techno artist begin?
R: Well, I have been tinkering around with producing since I was a teenager. I was making drum and bass for a long time, then it was house or UK style techno. I wasn’t really finding my feet with it.
I had been listening to techno for a long time and started going out more: long nights at the Blueprint parties back at Cable before it closed. From there it started to click in the studio a bit more. Working with Progression helped a lot too.
M: What does your artistic process look like? What inspires you?
R: I have recently moved into my first real studio. So at the moment, that’s inspiring me. I can use equipment in a more intuitive way.
Now, I have everything patched into a desk; then, into the computer. It means everything has speeded up. There’s no need for any rewiring. I normally record a set of loops at the studio; drums, synths and so on. Then from there I can basically finish a track anywhere.
I use headphones a lot, this was first out of necessity from living in apartment buildings, but now I find it essential. In terms of inspiration to start or finish tracks, I think it is a mystery. Sometimes I want to write so badly but nothing happens. Other times, I’m messing around and I’ll finish two tracks all at once. A proper focused workflow is something I envy of other people. When Carl [Progression] is on a run he’ll do 4 a week!
Get A View to the Sea EP
We’d like to sincerely thank Rumah for taking the time to speak to us.