Beatport Presents Objekt at Eleven, Tokyo

Beatport Presents Objekt at Eleven, Tokyo

6 September, 2011 | 8.59AM

• Written by: Beatportal
• Filed under: Music News: beatport presents, objekt, tokyo

Beatport prides its ability to bring together artists, labels, DJs and listeners across great distances. And now, in the first of a new series of international projects, Beatport is bringing Berlin’s Objekt to Tokyo for his first appearance in Japan. The event kicks off a new initiative whereby Beatport will shine a spotlight on rising talent and crucial artist collectives in select cities, with parties, special events and editorial features.

Drawing influences from dubstep, techno, house, drum ‘n’ bass, and more, Objekt’s music is the most thrilling kind of hybrid—restless and irreverent, yet remarkably focused in its pursuit of the groove. Balancing old-school values with future-focused sound design, Objekt sketches out multiple lines of flight for forward-thinking club music, as though his bass-heavy rhythms were evolving outward and circling back to their origins all at once. And while he has only recorded two EPs for his own Objekt label, he is quickly becoming one of the most eagerly watched artists on the scene, with SBTRKT and even Radiohead tapping him for remixes.

The man behind the Objekt alias, T.J. Hertz, was raised in the U.K. before relocating to Berlin, but he was born in Japan. Now, Objekt will return to perform for the first time in the country of his birth, bringing things full circle—a fitting metaphor for his own rolling, evolving music.

We spoke to Hertz to find out more about his bunker-busting, genre-obliterating approach; in addition to his massive talent, he also turns out to be one of the more thoughtful and humble artists on the scene. Read on for the interview and his current Beatport Top 10. And if you’re in Tokyo, catch Objekt on September 10 at Eleven alongside Alex Smoke and Ernesto Ferreyra. Japanese speakers, find out more here on Clubberia.

Objekt, “The Goose That Got Away” [Objekt 001]

Tell us a little about your musical background—how long have you been producing, and what kind of stuff were you making before you launched the Objekt project? (Ooh look, that rhymes.)

I started making dance music in 2006, mostly techno since 2007 or so. Before that, I was playing in bands, doing some location recording and the odd bit of studio engineering work. And before that… my mum was a composer and had this Atari-based home studio with some sound modules and a Soundcraft desk, which I learned how to use quite early on. It was all pretty amateur, obviously, as I was only a kid – but that was my introduction. Instrument-wise, I started on piano, replaced it with the drums aged 12, and later taught myself rudimentary guitar and bass to write songs. I took drumming really seriously for quite a while – I was playing a lot in my late teens and doing a lot of jazz and big band gigs, not to mention the endless succession of dead-end unsigned bands – but haven’t played properly since I was about 20.

What kind of music did you grow up on? From the sound of your music, it sounds like a healthy (unhealthy?) dose of hardcore and drum ‘n’ bass; were house and techno also part of your regular diet?

Not at all. Early on, I was listening mostly to the kind of session muso bollocks that only other musicians listen to. My parents listened to stuff like Steely Dan and Weather Report, which was all right, but as for the rest, generally the basic criterion was tight musicianship, usually at the expense of the music itself. I remember a lot of jazz-fusion ensembles called “The Trio” or some terrible pun on the bandleader’s name.

Between 14 and 19, I was listening mostly to guitars: initially the obvious teenager bands (Radiohead, At The Drive-In...), then gradually drifting into noisier territory via punk and post-punk, then Shellac, Lightning Bolt, Boredoms, Sonic Youth. I got into electronic music at around the same time (probably through Aphex Twin and IDM) but I essentially rejected “club” music as a bit brainless until I was 18 or so because my only exposure to it was chart hits and MTV Dance.

I eventually got really sick of being a drummer and all the shit that goes with it. I took a break, started going clubbing more, and then one way or another ended up learning to DJ—I think when it comes to music I struggle to remain a spectator. I guess it actually wasn’t that long ago—2005 or 2006—that I started exploring where dance music had come from and progressed through, so I’m definitely making up for lost time; it’s not like I’ve been listening to club music since I was old enough to dance.

Objekt, “Tinderbox” [Objekt 001]

What brought you to Berlin? Do you find it more amenable than London to the kind of music you’re making? Or were you just searching for a more brutal winter atmosphere to inspire you?

I’m never sure how to answer this. I think I’d make the same music in London, I’d just be poorer and more stressed. If anything, Objekt #1 happened when I got tired of being in Berlin and listening to mediocre tech-house. The list of things to love about Berlin is long and well-documented, and to a large extent that’s why I came, but I do have a job out here (which I found before I moved, and still enjoy very much).

Back to your productions—can you tell us a little about how you make your music? What’s your studio like—or are you mostly just working with the computer?

I don’t have a studio, unless my bedroom counts. I have a laptop, a pair of monitors, and a few MIDI controllers which I don’t often use. I have a reel-to-reel which I use occasionally for tape echo, though I’ve been using it less frequently ever since I developed a software emulation instead, which is a lot less hassle. (It’s going into Kontakt 5 if you’re curious.)

That’s it really: 90% of my music is made with Ableton instruments with a shit-ton of layering and processing; the rest is Native Instruments plugins, mostly Guitar Rig effects. I have a huge amount of love for the analog crowd, and most of the records I buy and play are on the fairly raw side—but for one reason or another, that seems simply not to work for me in terms of the music I actually make. I had a 303 on long-term loan and barely ended up using it. (There’s also a big difference between “analog sound” and “what people think analog sounds like,” but that’s another story altogether.)

Objekt, “CLK Recovery” [Objekt 002]

Your own music draws from both dubstep and house/techno, to varying degrees—two scenes that used to be quite separated, but that have increasingly drifted together over the past couple of years. Why do you think that is? And as a DJ, do you feel like you have more freedom to experiment in terms of style or tempo than in the past? Or do you even think consciously about genre when you’re playing?

It’s just about stagnation, no? I mean, dubstep, in its original incarnation, isn’t really going anywhere; is it that surprising that people are moving on? (I realise that Objekt #1 was very much a “dubstep” record, but I wrote those two tracks as an exercise, a pastiche even, and I don’t really listen to very much 140bpm “proper” dubstep.) Tastes are going to shift, and it makes sense that various subgenres of dance music with audiences of a similar demographic (let’s say… predominantly middle-class, left-of-centre, maybe a bit hipster whether they admit it or not) start to overlap.

As a DJ, I try not to think about subgenre too much, by Berlin standards anyway. I generally like there to be enough genre continuity that it doesn’t feel like you’re playing a mash-up set, but it’s totally not about purism to the extent of complaining about techno DJs playing house or vice versa.

What was the thinking behind the name and overall aesthetic for Objekt? It definitely hews to a certain, shall we say, “Hard Wax vibe” the rubber stamps, lack of info, and unassuming alias.

Yeah, I see why you would say that. I’m into a lot of those Hardwax 12"s, sure, but people forget that long before the current crop of trendy anonymous techno releases, artists put out stamped white labels because they were the cheapest and simplest option. I never wanted to run a label; I never planned on putting out my own record—I didn’t even think my music was of releasable quality. I was offered a P&D deal (which removed the element of financial risk, otherwise I would never have done it) and my reply was basically, “I’ll do it if it doesn’t involve lots of stress or risk.” (Jack came back to me with “Don’t worry mate, we’ll press 500 and I’m gonna sell them all”; he wasn’t wrong.)

So we did it as a white because it was cheap and easy; it’s convenient that the aesthetic actually did fit, because I find few things more tiresome than the average DJ bio, especially from those with nothing on their CV. I hate writing press releases; they rarely contain any information that’s not totally redundant. It’s not that I’m super secretive—my website had my name and city from the very beginning—I just don’t like writing lots of bullshit. I actually find the anonymous techno thing a bit clichéd and fundamentally quite vain; not many of the artists who choose to keep their identities secret are actually well-known enough that anyone would actually care. (As a sidenote, I find it dubious that people see the faceless techno thing as anti-image: of course it’s got an image, and there’s nothing wrong with that.)

Objekt, “Unglued” [Objekt 002]

Is it true that you’re a distant relative of Heinrich Hertz, after whom the unit of measurement for radio and electrical frequencies is named?

He used to sing lullabies to my granddad. Had a tremendously deep voice, apparently. Some actually say he invented the Reese bass while trying to sing a sine sweep in the shower, though I’m skeptical. But really, aren’t we all Hertzes in the spectrum of life?

Finally, what’s next for Objekt?

Some DJ bookings – I’m working part-time and playing about three gigs a month, which is basically ideal for me. My Radiohead remix is coming out soon, and I’m currently finishing up a single for one of my favorite labels. After that I’m putting all remix and release offers on hold so I can spend some time writing without a deadline in sight.

SBTRKT, “Wildfire (Objekt Remix)” [Young Turks]

Objekt Beatport Top 10

Get the chart on the new Beatport here.

Objekt

Get Objekt’s releases on the new Beatport here.

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