Name: David Robertson aka Reset Robot
Nationality: British
Occupation: Producer, engineer, DJ
Current Release: Reset Robot's Meltwater EP is out via Last Night On Earth.
Hometown Recommendation: The Historic Dockyard!
Thins I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: I love tennis. I play it a lot and get so much enjoyment from playing it.

If you enjoyed this Reset Robot interview and would like to know more about his music, visit him on Instagram, Facebook, Soundcloud, tiktok, and bandcamp.



The path to becoming a producer is a process - but from many interviews, I am under the impression that there are nonetheless one or a few defining moments. If this was the case for you – what were they and why were they so incisive?

For me there were a few moments. The first was my first experience at a night club (Slinky). I remember seeing the DJ behind the decks and thinking “I want to do that” but at the same time having a strong curiosity about how the music was made.

The second was shortly after I’d started producing music. I went to Fabric in London around 2001/2002 and saw Sasha, John Digweed, Terry Francis, Eddie Richards & Nathan Coles. That one clubbing experience changed my music direction almost immediately.

Another massively defining moment was having my track ‘For Her’ played by Pete Tong on Radio 1 in 2003. This for me was a moment where I really believed I could turn being a producer from a dream into something real.

[Read our Sasha interview]
[Read our John Digweed interview]
[Read our Pete Tong interview]

Tell me about one or two of your early pieces that you're still proud of (or satisfied with) in terms of production – and why you're content with them.

Reset Robot – “Guitar Man” stands out for me in terms of production and seems to have stood the test of time.

I can still listen to it and feel that I wouldn’t change anything even though it was made 12 years ago and quite a primitive set up.



In how far, would you say, was your evolution as an artist connected to the evolution of your music set-up and studio? Were there shared stepping stones?

Yes, I would say the 2 things are connected. I think as you add different things to your set up the sound does change and evolve.

I remember getting the Moog Sub37 and getting sounds out of it that I’d never managed to achieve on soft synths. I think my track “4 Piece” highlights this quite nicely.



There are artists who can realise their ideas best with a traditional – or modified – piano interface, others with a keyboard and a mouse, yet others by turning knobs or touching screens. What's your preferred and most intuitive/natural way of making music and why?

I am very comfortable with being in the box or on hardware. When I started producing pretty much everything was outboard but once I got my hands on the DAW Reason I produced mainly in the box for many years.

More recently I have expanded my set up to include a lot of hardware and have found a great balance between the 2 worlds.

Tell me about the space of your current studio/workplace and how you've set it up to optimise creativity.

I would say I have a modest set up currently. I have some key pieces of hardware that I use a lot and everything runs through the RME Fireface UFX II and Ferrofish Pulse 16.

My main DAW is Reason and everything gets recorded into and mixed there. All of my synths are routed directly into the audio interface so I can have access to anything when I need it.

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, tell me about the production process for the Meltwater EP, please.

These tracks came together quite quickly, especially ‘Dreamland’. For that track in particular I used a soft synth in Reason called Objekt for a lot of sounds. All of the bells and textures come from that synth.

It’s a great place to start if you’re struggling for ideas. There are so many interesting presets.

Tell me about your aesthetic preferences for picking effects like reverb, delay, compression, chorus etc … - what was the role of these effects in the production of your current release?

I use a lot of effects on my music. For high synths like the hook in ‘Meltwater’ I used a lot of echo and reverb to shape the sound and make it more interesting.

I love pushing sounds back and forth and the mix with reverb. I normally put effects directly onto the sound rather than using send effects.

The current production process allows for fast and infinite variations. Can you tell me about how you deal with this potential for the infinite and what ultimately decides on how many iterations to create and which version to release?

It can be overwhelming sometimes. I try and commit to ideas quite quickly. If I’m playing around and find something good I normally go with it and try get to an arrangement as soon as possible.

I often leave the direction of the music down to chance. I get into the creative zone and just see what happens.

Production, as opposed to live performance, can be a lonely process and feedback from listeners isn't always tangible. What is it about it that gives you satisfaction?

To be honest the part I really love is the production and creative process. I love messing around in the studio and making sounds and creating music.

Everything after that I can take it or leave it.

We can watch videos on production, take producer courses, and exchange deep insights on gear forums. Amidst these options to improve one's chops/skills, how do you keep things playful?

I actually think there is too much information on this kind of thing floating around now. So many videos imposing so many rules all of the time.

I think it was better when you just had to work it out for yourself. I feel like I constantly used to break so many rules which gave me a more exciting sound.

AI is already capable of making something most people would recognise as music. I am curious, though, and will keep this question somewhat broad on purpose: What do you think that means?

I’m not massively up to date on the world of AI which might be a negative move from me.

I’m not sure is the honest answer. I don’t know where its headed and I’m not sure why people are so obsessed with it.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though producing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I think it's whatever lights up that passion. If your thing is coffee and it takes you ages to learn about all the different aspects of coffee making then I don’t see a difference between the two things.

I don’t think you can say one thing is more creative than another. If you love it and you dedicate many hours to do something then you are being creative.