Name: Hans Raabe aka Nomad
Nationality: German
Occupation: Producer
Current release: Nomad teams up with Dirk Leyers for a new album of their A08 (formerly Africaine 808) project. Waiting For Zion is out October 20th 2023 via Compost.
Recommendations: Find out about Ernesto Djé Djé and Zighlibithy music and the genius of Mati Klarwein.

[Read our Dirk Leyers interview]



Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in production and technology?

Sure did. My mom was a Wagner Opera enthusiast.

I guess those prenatal power chords struck deep + made me enjoy layering deep and dark soundscapes.

What were your very first active steps with music technology and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist/producer?

Lol. Everyone can learn to be a producer / artist. There is no more authority that evaluates if you are an artist or a producer. Just write it on your Instagram profile + there you go. An artist / producer you are.

Oh yeah, and my first active step as a producer was glueing tapeloops in our basement trying to create “industrial music“ when I was 14 or so.

Were/are you interested in the history of production and recording? If so, which events, albums, artists, or insights stand out for you?

Yes of course. I am mostly taken by the recordings from the mid 60s to the early 80s. Real Audio consoles, valve mics, proper amping, tape compression.

But at the same time I enjoy phases of innovation in different styles of music. E.g for Dancehall it’s 1985-1993 mostly, due to the keyboards and drum machines used. For techno it’s 1990-1995 for the general attitude of the productions. For house, drum+bass, dub, modern soul, soukousse, cadence, calypso etc etc … I could go on forever.

There’s always a “golden“ phase in every musical style for me.

Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and about discovery. How do you retain a sense of playfulness as things become more professionalised and how do you still draw surprises from equipment you may be very familiar with?

What? Losing playfulness was never a problem. When you know your instrument better, you dare more. The way is always forward, never backward.

I don’t care about musical categories. I can’t read notes - so everything is rather unique and surprising to me.

For your own creativity, what is the balance and relative importance between what you learned from teachers, tutorials and other producers on the one hand – and what you discovered, understood, and achieved yourself? What are examples for both of these?

I never had any teacher other than the people I produce with. I am not a tutorial guy, I rather have a punkrock DIY approach to everything.

“Let’s  experiment, fuck shit up + blow some minds“.

How and for what reasons has your music set-up evolved over the years and what are currently some of the most important pieces of gear and software for you?

It has evolved by reduction. All you need for a good setup are good mics, excellent preamps and a good sound card. Most of the 19“ gear and a lot of synths are replaceable, now.

It's still good to have a couple of things for „hands on“ magic - but no need to be excessive. One good monophonic synth, one polyphonic and one FM will do, as well as one old drum machine with a nice groove to beat the sequencer timecode.

Have there been technologies which have profoundly influenced, changed or questioned the way you make music?

Yeah. The Atomic Bomb definitely had its influence.

Finding out that some assholes can destroy our planet 1 million times by the push of a button, made me rethink the musical concepts of my childhood.

Yann Tiersen, in a surprising statement, told me: "I feel more sincere with electronic instruments [than acoustic ones]." Is that something you can relate to?

Well I don’t know Yann Tieren, and I doubt I will ever get to know him. An instrument is there to do my biding. Not more not less.

I don’t care where it comes from and the least thing I expect from it is sincerity. It can gladly lie to me, if it just sounds dope!

Late producer SOPHIE said: “You have the possibility with electronic music to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?” What's your take on that and the relevance of limitations in your set-up and process?

Who cares? Anybody can do whatever they want.

If anyone rates electronic music higher than “handmade“ music they can go and leave my sight. We’ll never be friends.

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, what does your current production workflow/process look like?

Reach for the highest goal. Fail .Get creative to cover tracks.

No honestly. I am not telling.

Rhythm, sound design, melody/harmony, something else – when do the different elements of a piece come into play for you?

That changes every time. People that work with a “formula“ are other people. Proufoundly different to us.

In relation to sound, one often reads words like “material”, “sculpting”, and “design”. How does your own way of working with sound look like? Do you find using presets lazy?

As I said before. There is not one formula to follow.

If you think there is, you are missing out a whole lot of fun.

What, to you, are the respective benefits of solo work and collaborations and do you often feel lonely in the studio? Can machines act as collaborators to you?

I will answer this question with a question: Does an orgasm induced by a dildo match real sex with your partner ?

To some, the advent of AI and 'intelligent' composing tools offers potential for machines to contribute to the creative process. What are your hopes, fears, expectations and possible concrete plans in this regard?

I am not scared of AI technology. Bring it on.

As long as creative producers will use it the „wrong“ way, it will bring lots of fun to the game.

If you could make a wish for the future directly to a product developer at a Hard- or Software company – what are developments in tools/instruments you would like to see and hear?  

Brain to Midi would be nice.