Q&A: THE BLOODY BEETROOTS

Where does your name come from ‘Sir Bob Cornelius Rifo’ it is a very interesting moniker? It definitely demands attention!

I definitely have an obsessive personality when it comes to finding names, its something that demands a lot of attention.  I love creating names, destroying them and making them a multi-faceted creation. I also love creating something, which is easy to search for, online, this is a real key part of the era we live in. 

You have an interesting background tell us more about it?

I started studying classical music at a really young age, by 6 years old I was studying music theory, classical guitar and singing. Over the years I have really evolved and that's really allowed me to enjoy so many more different styles of music, which has made me consider music in a really broad way. I can no longer classify a certain style of music in any one genre, I hear the different layers of influence in everything.  

I actually had the fortune and the misfortune, depends on how you look at it... of growing up with an uncle who was a drummer combined with reading a lot of uncensored cultural magazines in the 80's. I have experienced the extreme art of illustration of Tanino Liberatore and the combination of rockabilly and punk music. Having all these elements affected me and really changed my childhood and made me consider and enjoy the chaos and confusion that comes with so much understanding.  I think the Bloody Beetroots has really become the outcome of this constantly evolving process of those mental disorders.

What are the Bloody Beetroots all about?

The Bloody Beetroots project has three different parts.

There is The Bloody Beetroots name as a producer and an artist that is just me. There is the Bloody Beetroots DJ Set that is Italian DJ Tommy Tea and myself, he helps me on the FXs and finally there is The Bloody Beetroots LIVE (born from the ashes of Death Crew 77) which is myself and a full live band on rotation throughout the year. So at the London show at Koko, we had different musicians than the show in Paris in the same month. 

There seems to be a deeper vibe underpinning your music it’s not just dance, there is something more to it, would this be correct?

Dance music has a lot of layers to it; its deepest roots belong to the early tribes, which populated the world. I use the word "dance" as a tool for different messaging, it depends on its purpose and people can use it as they like. The colours I use in my music are a reflection of my different influences over time.

Any type of music that has the power to awaken the senses and the emotions is successful. What I do is totally proportional to the evolution of my musical compositions. My attitude on stage reflects my state of mind at the time when I composed that song. 

Describe your studio set up, how do you work when it comes to producing your tracks?

There is nothing out of the ordinary in there, it’s actually pretty basic. I have been producing using Cubase since the Atari 1040ST. I have 4 different monitors, I have a dozen vintage analog synths but I mix and master music mostly digitally.

I sometimes make use of studios which are better equipped to record some interesting more natural elements to add to my music using old pre-amplifiers and strip channels. I've spent a lot of time at RAK studios in London over the past six months. In regards to the production of songs, the only real secret I have is a good idea and an idea about how to develop it. The rest is part of the engineering process and that is not really part of my thinking process when it comes to making music.

Do you see yourself and your incarnations of the Bloody Beetroots as a movement?

Well, the cultural movement behind The Bloody Beetroots was born several years ago by an idea by Dennis Lyxzén and myself, and its just been re-launched and given a new breath of life. I have been working really closely with the team who developed and created Lady Gaga's Little Monsters social media platform and have used their team to re-launch Church of Noise, which in itself is a cultural movement of both music, and The Bloody Beetroots. You should go check it out