Interview: Roska

Roska has a simple but respected philosophy, that consists of only two terms: fun and music. Nothing else matters, whether he produces for his own label or for imprints like Scuba’s Hotflush or the Rinse family. Not only has Roska tags left an indelible mark on the UK bass scene with his cheerful and yet at the same time seriously heavy attitude. Before his club set on the rooftop of an abandoned shopping mall in the middle of Budapest he spoke about Kicks & Snares and his Hotflush connection as well as about some of his new releases.

Hi Roska. What are your plans with your own label?
I just keep pushing out new music. The next one coming out is from DJ Champion with a three-track EP and from MA1 too. We’ve got about five releases lined up for the next six or seven months. So keep pushin’, keep pushin’!

And what is your day to day job at Roska Kicks & Snares?
I’m the A&R – I’m everything at the label. So yeah, I care for the new artists. I only put out artists, that I like and talk to on a regular basis. It’s no point putting out someone, I don’t talk to regularly at all, or if I feel the relationship that we have is not genuine. So I release MA1, I talk to MA1, because he is around the corner from me. I talk to Champion all the time and J:Kenzo, Mr. Tickle and all those guys, so it’s like a family. We just push the music out, do nights in Fabric, just keep everything rolling and nicely managed.

With your recent Hotflush release it seems to, me that you are getting into different sounds and genres if we compare it to your label’s music.
Yeah, I’m just having fun with music. Like over the last year and a half everybody is taking music so seriously. It’s like “Come on man! Chill out and just enjoy music!” For me putting out something at Hotflush and Tectonic is experimental, just showing, that I love music. I know Scuba, so for me, putting out something at his label is good, I like Hotflush, I like what they have done. It’s good to get someone outside of what I usually do and play in my music, so that’s why I like making music for different labels.

What have you learned there?
I didn’t really learn anything from them. I just like the vibes and what they bring. They have a house vibe with an experimental flavor to it and I like it, because it is really smooth and different from what I usually do with my style. And it was interesting to test it and see what happens.

Do you agree with, that your music at Hotflush is less bass driven?
I wouldn’t say less bass driven, but I would say it’s probably smoother… I don’t know how to explain that, but somehow missing something that my usual stuff would have.

Let’s talk about Rinse! What are you working on with them right now?
I’ve got Rinse presents Roska Two, coming out in the first quarter of the next year. It’s going to be similar to the last one, but much more constructed. A really good package.

Are you satisfied with the feedback of the first episode?
Yeah, I mean I did Rinse presents Roska One in April of 2010, and I have had a really good feedback. After it came out, I felt like I could have done some more stuff. And that’s what this album is doing for me, proving, that I could do it better and having fun with the music at the same time as well.

Do you have any alter egos which you’re going to present probably at another label?
Not really, I mean yeah, I got something coming out next year, maybe in April, at Tectonic. It’s like a sort of dubstep-ish thing at 136 BPM. And I should be working on some more stuff for Hotflush and hopefully some more stuff with Untold as well.

Which is the main direction for you?
I don’t have a main direction, to be honest. Roska is what I do and anything, which comes out, is just me. I don’t have directions in my thoughts, I just make music. With the album, it’s a kind of directed a little bit, but nothing more specific.

Published November 10, 2011.