Episode 36: Venturing into the Unknown to Create Warm Healing Blankets of Ambient Sound, with Robot Koch
Robot Koch is an award winning artist/producer/composer and devoted meditator from Berlin, living in Los Angeles. He has been steadily crafting a mature and original sound that expertly combines a deep and cinematic atmosphere, emotional reflection and forward-thinking production of dialogues between technology and nature. He explores the spaces between ambient sounds, venturing into the unknown—the quantum field of pure potential—to create healing sonic oceans in which to float.
This buoyant conversation includes topics such as Robot’s watching dreams as though they’re movies and “rescuing” melodic segments upon awakening. Does inspiration come from the subconscious, or something greater? Being a clear-channel conduit by giving the ego’s endless thought engine a little break. Setting intention for nuanced frequencies and energetic vibrations and creating music that can “trick people to heal.” A single reverberating, decaying note on a piano awakened Robot’s passion for sound at a very young age. His fascination shifted from piano to the intensity of drumming, and the enjoyment he found programming beats with early digital samplers. His love for the surreal storytelling of science fiction moved him to venture further into otherworldly mysteries. “The unknown is where true wisdom lies.
Robot’s music described by one reviewer as "artificial intelligence discovering religion.” Host, Mark Certo, plays a sample of “Foam and Sand,” showcasing Robot's ongoing musical oscillation between nature and technology. Koch resists the constant drive to grow, and champions the beauty of downsizing and simplifying; taking care not to just outsource and externalize one’s hopes and dreams, but learning to tap the inspiration to explore the outermost regions of the inner self. His ultimate fascination is sparked by the unknown, and his music is intended as a trusted, warm embrace in dark places—dark as in merely unknown, not threatening.
An amazing synchronistic meeting resulted in his discovery of the unique power of combining signals with sound, and his ultimate collaboration on projects with Monroe Institute. For Robot Koch, science, meditation, and being surrounded by nature creates the space that fuels inspiration and ultimately opens the channel for the gift of his uniquely healing sound to pour through.