Sacha Robotti Sows Booty House-Rooted Cut “Plant the Seed” on Insomniac Records

Sometimes, a change of scenery is what needs to happen for an artist to get back into the swing of things. Sacha Robotti’s artistic recalibration came last year when the groove maven realized he had grown too comfortable with the scene in Berlin—a city he called home for the majority of his life—and couldn’t shake the feeling of being caught up in a creative rut. Cali was calling his name, so he picked up and relocated to the do-or-die streets of Los Angeles, where he immediately fell into newfound inspiration. “Plant the Seed” was the first result of the major transition, thus giving him the affirmation he was seeking since breaking away from Robosonic to pursue a solo project. The record is robust in all the places where it counts, and it still holds up many months after it was originally recorded. Linking up with R&B vocalist P.Keys, Robotti digs into fertile low-end ground to create a nasty number that’s guaranteed to yield plenty of booty-bouncing to go around.

With the release ripe for the picking on Insomniac Records today, we got our hands on the first official stream for your listening enjoyment below. We also figured you might want some context to go along with the premiere, so we took the opportunity to pick Robotti’s brain just a tad.

Sacha Robotti’s “Plant the Seed” is available here.

Let’s chat about your new record, “Plant the Seed.” Do you associate it with any one memory or feeling you experienced during the writing process?
I produced the beat very quickly and met up with my friend P.keys, who came up with the lyrics very fast, too. This writing process took roughly a day, and we had lots of fun with it. Then it was just me fine-tuning the song while still keeping kind of a roughness to it. This is one of the first tracks I made in the USA. So for me, the feeling that I associate with this is nostalgia that goes back to those first months I spent in this new city, Los Angeles, with my friends, trying to get a foot in the door of the music biz. Stoked you guys signed it!

P.Keys recorded the vocals in your friend’s closet when you first moved out to Los Angeles. Are there any unusual places you’ve found yourself making music but couldn’t stop because the momentum was so strong?
Yes, for sure! In planes, trains, on boats, in bed… One unusual moment I remember was when I was on a work mission in Kabul, Afghanistan, in 2005. I was making techno on my laptop at night, while alarms were going off and Apache helicopters were prowling in the distance.

It’s been almost a year since you’ve moved from Berlin to California, which has helped replenish your creative juices. When did you start to notice the spike in inspiration, and what sources were you drawing it from?
Even though it wasn’t easy to move here at all, basically it was a total change of life—language, habits, apartment, studio, circle of friends, etc. I feel much more inspired and happier here. I think it has mainly to do with the weather and the laidback, lovely people that I surround myself with, but also because I take my time in the States as a challenge to see how far I can go on this journey! I rediscovered my love for music and for this whole crazy circus that’s the music industry, and now it often feels like they love me back.

Did you have to deal with any homesickness during the transition? What do you miss most about living in Berlin?
Oh yes, especially after summer. I miss my sister, my dad, my friends in Europe, for sure. You know, I lived in that part of the world most of my life. Even though I’ve traveled as a DJ around the globe and got to experience many other amazing places, I miss some little things that I got used to after living in Berlin for 16 years, like the cheap rents and foods, my local coffee shop, the Lebanese falafel spot around the corner, the moody locals, and cycling or taking the U-Bahn. I also miss the opening times of Berliner clubs a lot—some open Friday and close Monday! But then again, I can’t complain; this year has been amazing for me, to say the least, and I’m very thankful for everything that I’ve been through.

You’ve expressed an affinity for sloths. What attracts you to this specific animal, and what parallels can you draw between them and yourself/your music?
Sloths are my spirit animal, and I love them—not only because they look hilarious and furry and seem to have smiles on their faces, but also because they are rare and endangered—like me, haha. They are a reminder to me that life doesn’t always have to be about work, efficiency, going from A to B the fastest way possible. We need times when we are lazy, when we take breaks, when we sleep, when we don’t leave our beds, when we hang out, when we do nothing at all except “being.” I think sloths are a huge inspiration to all of us workaholics!

There’s a photo you posted on Facebook the night Trump got elected, where you’re explaining how you were speaking out against him. It’s great to hear you voice your opinion.  
Yes, on election night I played a surprise set at Space Yacht in L.A. Literally 95 percent of the people there were getting so drunk in order to forget the results, and I spoke a few words to them at the end of my set to express my solidarity. I’m all about tolerance, peace, love, respect, and my music will carry this message now more than ever. It hurts my heart when I witness racism, bigotry, and abuse against women, people of all religions, color or sexual orientation. Music brings people together, and this reunion of souls and minds should be the key to a musical experience in my opinion. This election brought out the worst in many people, on both sides of this apparent divide, and it is hard for me to not speak out against this kind of negativity. I should probably be more careful what I say when I travel around the country, because I’m a guest here. To be honest, I’m scared of the months to come, in terms of politics. My girl is American of Iranian descent; you can imagine how she feels. I hope that we, the humans on this planet, will see one day how foolish we acted, and I hope that we will rise above all this war and money nonsense at some point… before we kill our own planet.

You have a degree in architecture, which is a field you lost interest for in exchange for music. If you were commissioned to design anything it the world, what would it be and why?
I would commission myself to design my own house! And I will, one day.

What are you most hyped about for in 2017?
I’m hyped to have made it another year on this crazy small rock that flies around in space!

Follow Sacha Robotti on Facebook | Twitter | SoundCloud
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