The 307th episode of our 12 Questions segment features producer Symmetry Obs from Rockin’ Beats.
1. How old are you, where are you living and how long have you been producing and Djing?
Hello everybody, I’m Symmetry Obs, a part of Rockin’ Beats duo. I have 26 years-old. I grew up in Rosario, Argentina and now I’m based in London. I started to produce music –seriously- 4 years ago.
2. Where do your musical roots lie, what are your first memories of electronic music and when did you know you wanted to pursue it seriously? Are there any particular productions or artists from the past that really made you think to yourself ‘this is what I want to do.”
I always remember the times when I was a child, 10, 11 years-old, I spent much time listening to the radios and watching MTV, there was an electronic music hour show on MTV where I watched videos of artists like Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, Felix Da Housecat, New Order, Depeche Mode, etc. Was ‘Felix Da Housecat – Silver Screen’ the track that make me think in be a musician.
3. How difficult was learning to produce for you in the beginning? Did you take any Audio Engineering programs or production courses to help you out or are you pretty much self taught? And did anyone give any advice early on that really helped?
At the beginning was hard, the first time when I opened Ableton Live was frustrating, I didn’t know what to do. But after that I started to learn with tutorials and finally I took an Electronic Music Producer course at Rosario’s sound school CETEAR teached by Mario Puccio. There We wrote our first song as Rockin’ Beats with Tomás Gagliardo, and We met our good friend Joan Retamero with who now we are releasing our first collaboration EP ‘Saturn Rings’ on Clubsonica Records.
4. What parts of the production process do you find the most difficult and what comes easiest for you? When you do hit a creative block what helps you through it?
All the parts and processes are very important and need a lot of attention and work. I consider that every track is different and presents different difficulties. But the final mix-down is where I pay more attention and sometimes I become a little bit obsessive hahaha.
5. What’s a normal day like for you? Do you have a job outside of electronic music? And what do you like to do when you’re not working on music?
I work in a classy restaurant in the heart of London in the evenings, so every day I wake up in the morning and I spend 4-5 hours producing before go to work. In my free time I love to play football, go out with my friends and wife, go to pubs and electronic music clubs.
6. Apart from electronic music what other genres do you listen to and who are your favourite artists outside of electronic? and do these genres or artists have a direct effect on your own productions?
I usually listen to classic and hard rock, jazz and funk. Bands like Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Led Zepelin, Rage Against The Machine, Pink Floyd, a lot of Argentinian rock and some synth pop bands like Joy Division, New Order and Depeche Mode. All my productions are influenced by these artists.
7. What was the first and last physical (CD, Vinyl, Cassette etc) piece of music you bought?
The first CD I bought was “The Offspring – Americana” and the last was an collector’s edition of “Pink Floyd – The Wall”
8. Tell us something about yourself that might surprise people?
I will never stop being a clubber, so, see you out there!
9. Which producers in your opinion get consistently overlooked?
I don’t think about it.
10. Which producers consistently inspire you? And where else does your inspiration come from?
The producers who inspire me are the creators of new sounds and tendencies like Jeff Mills, John Digweed, Sasha, Richie Hawtin, Maceo Plex. But my influences come from a lot of genres, like jazz, rock, funk, and latin music.
11. There are countless producers out there trying to find their way and create their own unique sound, what advice do you have for them?
It’s a long way to find the own unique sound, it requires many years of training and dedication, changes and frustrations, actually I don’t know if I found it yet haha! My advice for them is to keep learning everyday, listening a lot of music and the most important think is: Make music from your hearts, that’s the only way to find the own sound.
12. If the final DJ/live set of your career was next week what would your last track be?
Definitely ‘Trentemoller – Moan (Trentemoller Remix)’ is the perfect closing track of my life.
Rockin’ Beats remix of Joan Retamero & Rockin’ Beats ‘Saturn Rings’ is out now on Clubsonica Records, you can purchase the release: here
