Techno is something you are born with. Interview with Roy Rosenfeld

Roy Rosenfeld, a Jerusalem native, is on a mission to preserve the unique sound and style of techno. Deep and dark over the years Rosenfeld has mastered his clean minimal sound, unique in his own way, it’s the sound that sets crowds on fire.

Rosenfeld is currently on a mini tour stopping in Tel Aviv, Barcelona, Mexico and a single date in North America – Toronto. We’ve had an opportunity to chat with him before his Canadian debut about his passion for music, unfortunate incidents and basketball.

Kateryna Topol: I’ve read that you got into music while recovering from a military injury, does it in a way feel like music chose you?  

Roy Rosenfeld: That is almost correct. I was producing electronic music even before the military service but never thought of releasing it to the mass. It was just for fun and for my personal satisfaction. My head was totally into basketball and athletics at this point. While recovering from this injury I found myself deeply thinking of making a career as a professional DJ/producer, right after I realized I have no chance to get back playing in a professional team. Then we can definitely say this injury led me into the musical career.

KT: Why techno? 

RR: I believe it’s something you’re born with. The desire of staying away from normality. I’m not saying that I’m crazy or something like that, but in a natural way I find myself always looking to bring something fresh that might catch some new ears really hard. Before I actually got into techno, I was producing techy electro-house. Even today when I listen to my old productions I can easily feel the same vibe and elements which still appear on my recent works. In the last two years I could finally gather up all my musical influences and visions into one track. But I’m still learning and I guess it’ll be like this forever.

KT: Do you remember first house music party you went to?

RR: When I was 18-20 years old I remember I used to go almost every Friday night to the legendary Haoman17 club in Jerusalem. In these years DJs used to play there classic progressive house music and club trance in afterhours. That’s where I realized I want to be a part of this industry one day. Techno wasn’t a big factor in Jerusalem’s nightlife which means I wasn’t born with techno roots. A couple of years later I went with a friend for the first time to a small underground venue in Jerusalem called Gotham and there I heard pure minimal music which caught me really strong. Since then I can say I’m into techno music.

KT:  The upcoming Toronto show at CODA is set in a fairly a small venue, which do you prefer, smaller more intimate venues or large festivals?

RR: It depends, but normally I would instantly say I prefer to play for 200 wild dancers than for 10k in an open-air festival (unless you obligate that all the 10k people are extremely insane haha).

KT: How come?

RR: There’s a magic by merging a few hundred people to dance as a team all together. The fact that it’s inside a small room and they are in a touch distance from you makes it even better. Communicating with the crowd is an integral part of the fun. Playing in bigger events is always fun, especially when you hear/see the crowd losing its mind, but in most cases it’s hard to reach them all, so I usually look only at the first rows to get a proper indication regarding the music I play. The back rows usually look like a cool picture – ocean of heads [smiles]

KT: You could’ve gone anywhere in Canada, or USA, why Toronto, and we are absolutely happy to have you here of course

RR: Thank you! I am really excited of my debut show in Toronto, actually in Canada. I have heard so many good things about this city and was very happy to know that I’m gonna make it in 2015. Honestly, I was not the one to ‘choose’ Toronto as my next gig even though it was always in my mind to get there one day. As far as I know the techno scene in Toronto is very attractive and up to date, so I am really looking forward to get there already and share my theory at the mighty CODA.

KT: You seem to spend a lot of time playing shows in Mexico, 3 coming up over the next few months, what’s up with that? 

RR: That’s right. Since 2011 I played there many times and it only gets better and better.  It’s like a romance story with this country. I’m always extremely happy to get back there in thinking it’s gonna be a blast once again. I’ve been invited by Ommix productions to play at one of the biggest festivals in Mexico called Atmosphere Festival alongside other leading DJ’s in the techno industry. In addition, I will celebrate my birthday on this weekend in nightclub(s).

KT: Can you think of one interesting story from touring all these years? Something that was unusual or particularly memorable…

RR: Well, touring is full of adventures and I usually remember the big and fun moments, but I’ll tell you one negatively unforgettable story that happened to me twice in 7 days without mentioning who and where: A few years ago I was playing far away from my home. Everything was just perfect – party, hospitality etc. The next weekend I flew once again far away from Israel and on the connecting flight my frequent traveler account was blocked by the airline company because of an unpaid plane ticket (the promoters paid with a fake credit card and never heard from them since). I was obviously angry and confused. The next weekend I got to the other country – everything went properly again, no problems at all. On my way out I went to the check-in desk in the airport and something went wrong there also. Half an hour later the attendant asked me to go to the main office where a detective is waiting for me. I had no idea what to say or to do and the first thing to jump in my mind was “OMG I’m going to jail.” Twice in a row! After a long waiting they told me “don’t worry, we know it’s not you.” They found the scum, he paid on the ticket and very luckily I didn’t even miss the flight. The good thing is that I’ve learnt an important lesson – jail is not a good place [laughs]

KT: I guess no one is  invincible to scam! On a lighter note, are you still actively involved in basketball? 

RR: Yes I am. I am playing in a semi-professional local team and league, but I do it only for fun and for the love of basketball. As I mentioned before, music hasn’t pulled me out of my athletic career. Although, If you’ve asked me “what would I prefer to be- a professional basketball player or a successful musician?” I would choose…. Musician [smiles]

KT: What are you working on these days, anything new your fans can look forward to?

RR: Working on several projects. The main one is a mixed album with some of my favorite artists. The album is nearly done and planned to be released soon on my label Rusted. Was a big pleasure and pure fun collaborating with these amazing artists: Format:b, Anna, Andreas Henneberg, Guy Mantzur, Matt Lange, Belocca, Miguel Bastida, Ant Brooks, Matt Sassari, Click Box and Daniel Jang. As you can see every artist I’ve just mentioned has his own sound signature and style. That means this album is super colorful and special.

Recently I’ve teamed-up with my homie Guy Mantzur for an EP on Kompakt which’s already out and doing very well in the charts. Now we are working together on a remix for Marc Romboy which will be out this summer on his records label Systematic. In addition to this I am working on a couple of EP’s for specific labels which I might announce later this year.

Check out Roy Rosenfeld in person at CODA on April 25th.