In recent years he’s taken the tech house scene by storm with his mySpace citing him as one of the finest exponents of bass driven, mind bending dance music. Engineering for the likes of Fergie (for PunchFunk) and setting the South Coast on fire with his live shows Dave Robertson has definitely been one to watch in the past few years. As we celebrate their 3rd birthday I caught with one of PunchFunks finest Dave Robertson.

Hi Dave, Welcome to dontstayin.com! Where did it all begin for you and who were your influences?

I started producing when I was 16/17. I was at college studying music tech and I got passed a program called Reason, I’ve been writing music ever since. I’d say my influences are djs and producers such as Terry Francis, Eddie Richards, Chemical Brothers & Richie Hawtin to name a few.

Your mySpace page cites you as “one of the finest exponents of bass driven, mind bending dance music”. How would you personally describe your style today?

I’d say my style is House, that’s easy for people to understand. I try not go to deep on the genre side of things.

As a house producer you’ve received much acclaim since your first signing (Can It Happen/Dr Robotnik) in 2004. Was the move from hard house to house a natural evolution or a conscious decision?

I started producing house first. I met alan the other Testube Baby (Alan Fitzpatrick), he was into the harder stuff so I said I’d give it a go. We did that for a couple of years but after a while I really needed to concentrate on my own stuff so just stopped really.

What are your weapons of choice in the studio?

My main programs are Reason 3 and Ableton 6. I have a Virus C & Korg MS2000 as well. I mainly use the software because that’s how I learnt. Some people put Reason down but I think it’s an amazing program. You can get brilliant results with it and if you rewire with Ableton 6 then you can pretty much do anthing!

You’ve engineered for Fergie (for all his PunchFunk releases) and appeared on his Radio 1 show last year. How did the connection come about?

I sent some tracks to a guy called John Donaghy, he was collecting music on Fergie’s behalf. I met up with John at Sonar 2005 and he introduced me to Ferg. We got chatting and decided to hook up in the studio. We’re working on stuff all the time and it’s always getting better. When you’re engineering for people it takes a bit of time to build a relationship in the studio.

I first caught you playing your very first live show at PunchFunk in Portsmouth about a year ago and I was very impressed. For the readers describe your setup and what prompted you to go down the live path?

I use Ableton Live and 2 midi controllers (M-Audio Oxygen 8 & Evolution UC33e). I decided to try doing live sets because my music is based around loops & grooves. I like to be able to have control over when a bass line comes in or when my hi-hats drop. Using Ableton and performing my own stuff allows me to do that.

Do you think you will ever switch solely to live performances or do you still enjoy djing as much?

I still enjoy djing because there is so much good music around at the moment. I have been doing more live stuff but recently had a few dj gigs come in which has been nice. I’ve started using ableton to dj as well which has been really interesting.

You used to work in a record shop, what are your thoughts on the decline of vinyl and the rise of mp3… do you personally play much vinyl these days and will your new single (Yellow Self) be vinyl & digital or just one medium?

Yellow Self was a digi only release but there are a lot of labels still doing vinyl and some labels only doing vinyl. I still buy records but only the ones that don’t come out o download. I record them to my computer and then burn to a cd or put them into ableton. One thing I do hate is people downloading illegaly when tracks are only £1.50 anyway. Unfortunatly there is nothing that can be done.

And what about UK gigs, where can readers catch you in the near future in the UK?

27 May, High Tide @ Mono Southampton, South
28 Sep, Punch Funk @ The Albert Tavern Portsmouth
27 Oct, Pandemic, Pure Nightclub, St Helier, Jersey St Helier

If we got in your car to go for a drive what CD would we find playing?

The Shins- Wincing the Night Away. Amazing band, saw them in London at the forum and they were awesome.

What are your plans for 2007 and beyond?

I’ll be working on more original music as Dave Robertson and as The Rendition (with Jon Gurd). Jon and I are currently putting together a Live Set so hopefully that will come together this year too. Also playing more golf, that’s big on my list of things to do!


Thanks Dave!!

Dave isn't playing next Friday (25th) but you can catch Fergie and the usual PunchFunk suspects for the 3rd Birthday Bash before the boys head off 'beefa for the summer! Be there or be square.