RROSE Interview: The best audience is ready to lose themselves in the moment

An artist who leaves his mark on the spectator’s skin in each of his performances, one of the most conceptual artists of the Medellinstyle family, the DJ who creates stories through sound and gives form to the waves. With his hypnotic Techno proposal, we have entered an artistic and transcendent conception of dance music, and at BlackDance Indra 2.0 he will take it to its highest level alongside Substance, DisX3, Steve Bicknell, Vci, and other true protagonists of the underground stage.

Read this exclusive interview below and get ready to dress your body and soul in black.

• You have visited Colombia on several occasions, performing in clubs, at festivals, and in different sonic formats. You are also a backpacker and trekker around the world. What is the essence of a good audience that you think has made underground survive through time, in our case: 3 decades without losing the content for the pleasement of the industry of the masses?

For me, the best audience is a focused audience who are ready to lose themselves in the music and the moment. As long as people are willing and able to gather and dance together, there will be room for underground movements to flourish. 

• “The heartbeat itself is already Techno,” and you spoke about your desire to continue exploring the concept of psychoacoustics in order to develop a deeper understanding of pulse and its connection to our minds as a fundamental element of the genre. Have you made further progress in developing this idea through the years? How has this concept helped Rrose shape a distinctive and personal definition of Techno? What are your latest findings or experiments in this matter?

I have thought about writing a proper essay on the topic. For now, I have put a short version on my website

RETROACTIVE TECHNO: A MANIFESTO (IN PROGRESS, 2020-present)

I consider it a work in progress…

• Do you believe it is important for an artist to integrate different forms of creation and perception, or is this simply an expression that you do as you feel you want to? We guess sometimes it is good to be focused on just one thing, while other times require you to explore many formats and slopes…

I generally try not to limit the definition of what an artist, or art, can be. I prefer to expand it, to include the listener (or the observer, in the case of visual art) as well. To be an artist, you only need to experience the world as art. That, in and of itself, is an act of creation. But taking the more narrow example of a “techno artist,” I do believe that the most interesting techno will be made by artists who expand their horizons and influences beyond the immediate scene that they operate in. And now that I think about it, the same applies to any kind of artist.

• What limits art nowadays? We see things that change, evolve, and transform our way of seeing life, while also some washing occurs when people with strong aesthetic production are bought to make ugly things beautiful…

I’m not exactly sure I understand the question here, but when we decide what is “ugly” and what is “beautiful” for others, we are surely limiting art and how it can be experienced.

• Do you think it is better (not necessary) for audiences to educate and prepare themselves, or just be sensible before engaging with any act that precedes the connection to an object, installation, or performance? Or should art place no demands whatsoever on its viewer?

I hope that I make music that can be enjoyed by people with no prior knowledge of it. I want the initial sensory experience to be exhilarating and spark curiosity, but I also hope that when that person educates themselves, they can experience the music on an even deeper level. There are some works of art that require specific forms of knowledge in order to be appreciated. In that case, the audience needs to educate themselves first in order to understand the intention of the artist. So it really depends on the kind of artwork. But sometimes a misinterpretation of an artwork can be just as valid as an informed “correct” interpretation.

• Although the interpretation of art is inherently subjective, I find in your sound a constant invitation to venture into the depths of darkness. Does your project have any connection with the ideas of philosophers such as Nietzsche, who wrote: “You must be ready to burn yourself in your own flame; how could you become new if you have not first become ashes?”

That’s a great quote! I don’t make any conscious connections to philosophers like Nietzsche, but I welcome any connections that people may make on their own.

• To end add a word in front of each concept:
  

PSYCO: HOLE
LOGY: QUESTION
MINDTRIP: LOST
MINIMALISM: ENDLESS
BLACK: GREY
WHITE: VOID
GREY: BLUR
RYTHM: NOISE
MODERNISM: WHITE
COLOMBIA: ALIVE
FREEDOM: FOR  WHO?

Interview by Daniel Tamayo Mendoza

Photo credit to David Visnjic