“It’s been a long time since the DJ profession crossed the line of ridicule” or “Amelie Lens’ contribution to techno is the most negative thing that has happened to this musical style for years”. These are just two of the incendiary quotes that the Spanish producer 30drop signed about a year ago in an interview for Beatburguer. Months later, 30drop is still working in his studio in Düsseldorf and releasing music for multiple labels, including his own 30D Records and others like Token, Detroit Underground and Hayes Collective. The 9th reference of this last one is the EP Likvidatori, in which you can find “Maths”, a track that 30drop presents in exclusive premiere on Xceed Night Mag.
The 5 tracks of the EP Likvidatori will be available on the different platforms from Friday 31st January. Meanwhile, we take advantage of this exclusive premiere of “Maths” on Xceed Night Mag to chat with 30drop, ask him about everything he said last year and everything that awaits him and the scene in this 2020. Of course, we asked a little more about “Maths”, its production process and the message behind it.
Sergio, tell us about this “30drop” thing.
30drop is an SMTPE code. These codes are a set of standards used to label video frames with audio using time codes. “30drop” was the nomenclature for the SMTPE that synchronized audio and video on analogue black-and-white televisions in the US in the 1950s and 1960s. During those decades, there was a great boom in science-fiction in the US, which reached every American home with this type of television. And, of course, it was also when great milestones in science were achieved, such as the arrival of man on the Moon.
In your case, 30drop is…
30drop is a musical project, behind which there is a normal person, just that. A person with concerns, especially regarding the world of art, science and the links between the two.
A year ago, you made it very clear that you don’t believe in the direction that the underground electronic music industry has taken, understanding by underground the music of people like Boris Brejcha, Charlotte de Witte or Paul Kalkbrenner.
That’s right, I made it very clear and I still don’t believe in that direction. As for using that term with the artists you mention, I must say that it is wrong. None of those three artists emerged from an underground environment. Anyway, one thing is the kind of music that artists such as Boris Brejcha or Charlotte de Witte put out and another is what Paul Kalkbrenner does, you may or may not be into his music, but he has an obvious musical career and skill. I don’t think it’s fair to link his name with the other two.
You don’t predict a good future for these musical styles -let’s call them big-room-. Specifically, you said that “fast-food techno will fall as the EDM is falling”. However, big-room techno has become massive and seems to convince more and more people.
I think fast-food techno started to fall, although it still has a lot to say… unfortunately. It’s very possible that I’m wrong and that this fall will never happen, but I would like it to happen and to give way to quality music rather than to a marketing product. Dreaming is free…
Going back to the use of the term underground. In these times, there is a lot of debate about its meaning. If underground music succeeds and becomes a mass success, does it stop being automatically underground?
What defines a musical product as underground is not the product itself, but the means and channels through which it is distributed. That is the main mistake of today: to think that “underground” defines a musical style. This is not so. There can be classic underground music perfectly, for example. It’s not an aesthetic pattern, but a necessity derived from the lack of means. The concept “I’m going to make underground music” doesn’t exist. Everyone wants to reach as many people as possible with their music. Otherwise, that person wouldn’t make music. Therefore, when a product is born through the underground circuit or media and has the capacity to become a mass product, it has twice the merit.
Names of urban scenes come to my mind. In particular, I’m thinking about Rosalía, who came from a nowadays minority genre like flamenco and has become a world star.
I don’t know Rosalía’s background to know if she started in the underground circuit and from there she went to where she is now. If so, good for her. I don’t like trap, or reggaeton, or the music they call urban today, but I have the ability to recognize that Rosalía’s music brings something new to the scene and that her musical quality is good.
Talking about media and music diffusion channels, you also said a year ago that social networks and websites are “totally dispensable and negative resources for the quality and underground techno that some of us defend”.
Everything is expendable in relation to promoting music. It all depends on what media you want to use. It can be none, one, two, three or all that you have at hand. Nothing is better or worse, it is simply the chosen promotion and marketing strategy that defines the music. If a guy produces an album and decides that it’s only going to be listened in his room and by people related to him through blood ties, to say something, it’d be probably the most underground thing in the world. But if it’s a great album, it’s never going to come out. And, if that’s your decision, go ahead.
What if, tomorrow, one of your tracks becomes a hit and starts to be played at the biggest festivals in the world?
If we imagine a dystopian future in which one of my tracks becomes a world hit, as you propose, I would react by taking the money generated and putting it in my pocket. And I’d keep doing my way, pretty happy.
Let’s talk about your music. Currently, you live in Düsseldorf and, curiously, a few meters away from the place where electronic music was born: Kraftwerk’s sound laboratory. Coincidences?
Absolutely. I moved to Düsseldorf for work reasons, totally unrelated to music. As far as Kraftwerk is concerned, I don’t think there’s anyone who’s stupid enough to go and live in another country and deliberately seek to settle five minutes away from Kraftwerk’s old studio. Obviously, it’s absolutely casual.
You created 30D Records with its multiple sub-labels and approaches 6 years ago. Satisfied with your work?
Yes, very satisfied, especially on a personal level. As far as the perception of the public that consumes the music of the label, I think that, in 90%, it has been a waste of time and effort, especially because we have been concerned with conceptualizing and separating. People want things that are quick to consume and that don’t make them think. “Give it to me, give it to me now, and don’t tell me about your mental wank.” This sentence defines the vast majority of techno consumers today.
Much of your music has been released on 30D, of course, but also on other labels such as Token, Detroit Underground or Hayes Collective, where you are about to release your Likvidatori EP. Do you approach your productions differently depending on the label you aim at or do you produce without thinking about the future and then choose a label according to what you get?
I make the music I want. Everything else is a consequence.
In this case, we present to our readers the premiere of your track “Maths”. Tell us about it.
I produced “Maths” in my studio, combining analogue, digital, hardware and software tools, as usual for me. It is a work inspired by and worked from the fact that maths is an essential part of music. Without mathematics, there would be no music as we understand it. “Music Is Math”, as the title of the great song by Boards Of Canada says.
You’ve always defended messages or concepts behind your labels. Does “Maths” have a hidden message too?
It is not about a message, but about a conclusion about an idea that I have experienced or tried to understand. The great artist Jorge Oteiza, one of my greatest artistic influences, worked with this premise: the artistic work is the conclusion to my experiments on a theme, concept or idea. It is a methodology that I have applied since the beginning of the 30drop project.
What does 30drop see when he looks into the future?
I see VOX [ultra-right wing Spanish party] is going to govern Spain in a few years and it’s all going to be a big shit. My goal is to be happy. If making music, as well as playing it live, brings me happiness, I will continue with it. If not, I’ll leave it to dedicate myself to whatever brings me that happiness at that moment.
(Cover Image : © 30drop’s Press Kit)