Who are you and what do you do?

My name is Robot Koch. I'm a music producer based in Berlin. Check my site for discography and more info:  www.robotsdontsleep.com

What hardware are you using?

I work in 2 studios: my own home setup where I have mainly my laptop, studio monitors and some midi keys, and a bigger studio which I share with Jahcoozi (my band). In this one, we have more outboard gear like the API lunchbox, some Universal Audio outboard compressors, a Fender Jazz Bass, some guitars and amps, some synths like the Roland JX-8P, the Prophet '08, etc. I also have a Korg microX which I rarely use, but I do use my old Bontempi keyboard a lot though. I like the limitation of sound and being forced to improvise. I don't wanna have too many GB of sounds and plug-ins. I find it more interesting and challenging to take very few sounds and make a lot out of those. And I do like to work with mistakes that occur, especially when working with old analog gear, but also while recording anything from vocals to guitars. There is more magic in those mistakes, I find. This magic gets lost sometimes with all the mastering and optimizing plug-ins.

What software are you using?

I use Ableton Live as my main sequencer. I have Melodyne Editor and a few plug-ins, but as I said before, I try to keep it minimal to not overload my ideas with too many options.

What would be your dream setup?

You know the booklet from the Beastie Boys album "Check Your Head"? There is this photo from their studio/rehearsal space with drums, vintage keys, amps, etc. This would be my dream setup. All lines running into my computer. I would like to record one take live in a room again, like back in the day. Sometimes it would be dope to rock the drums again and do it more on a band/live tip. I started playing drums at the age of 14 and I kinda neglected them since I got into electronic production like 10 years ago. I do miss them though and whenever I sit behind a drum kit in someone's studio or rehearsal space, I feel that same energy. Having said that, I do enjoy the luxury of being a producer that is not dependant on other people too much. I love my setup at home where I can really dive into my own universe of sound and get lost in there for hours. But I guess it's a balance that would be perfect: jamming together and creating new ideas and then taking those to an almost zen-like isolation and get all focused on the micro-editing and fine tuning of the arrangement.

Any production tips & tricks you'd like to share?

Less is more. Don't confuse yourself with too many programs, plug-ins and options. Try to make something great out of a minimal setup, but the few sounds you do use have to be well chosen. I find too many producers overloading their productions with too much stuff and the individual sounds aren't that great. It's better to have very few sounds/instruments playing but all of them sounding really special and magic in a way.

Where can we find you on the web?

Robot Koch / SoundCloud / Facebook / Twitter /