Interview from the-raft.com:

the interview with Oligee

OLIVER FROM I’M A ROBOT
PLAYS THE KEYBOARD AND GUITAR

Is playing live your background?

No actually, I’m more into the studio but I love everything you know. I love playing shows and the spontaneity of it all. I kind of started out making music by myself and just using drum machines and synthesisers, sort of playing as much as I could. Like with every instrument to get my ideas across the table and playing with this group is really fantastic.

How did that come about then?

I met Tim in LA and he was actually learning how to be an engineer. I met him over there and we just became buddies and he said I have got this kid Alex and we’re doing a band so do you want to come round and hang out. Then I came by and believe it or not I started out playing in the band by DJing and I was scratching over the stuff. They would like call me and I was like I’ll be there and I’ll bring my turntables. Then I would wait for the chorus and be like okay there’s the chorus and be completely stupid. After a while they found out that I played the keyboard and some guitar and bass. I like to program and just create sounds you know.

I haven’t seen the live show but will be going tomorrow. Is there an element of the scratching over tracks in your live show as I have not heard it on the album?

No there’s no scratching involved, thank god! (Laughter). I still scratch when I can you know, cause for me it’s just a percussion instrument or another way of creating something. I love just taking a sound off a record and it could be anything like a bird or something and then you take it and put it through all kinds of shit and you can really make it into anything you want. I love the way that there aren’t any keys and there aren’t any pads and there aren’t any notes you can play and so whatever you can make happen, happens!

Where on earth does your name IMA ROBOT come from?

It’s not good to ask me that one cause I didn’t come up with it. Alex came up with it but there’s a whole story behind it that would take me to long to explain cause I won’t be able to do it. For me though just like anything else with this band, it’s interpretative. You can probably sum up what it is on your own, for me the first thing you think of is robot and it’s like Kraftwerk or whatever and something that has to do with electro-culture. I don’t think I’m a robot but for me it’s just about interpretative and you make of it whatever you want to but for me it’s about culture and society and being a human being.

I notice that you are wearing a Genesis badge, are Genesis a big influence on your writing?

No not really but I do love Genesis. I like Phil Collins later stuff too. I am into really proggy (progressive) rock stuff too and I like super-grandiose, complicated, intellectual rock like Yes. Everybody has their thing that they really like and when you get a combination of people together who are into different things. My thing is hip-hop and you never know what anyone is talking about when they say hip-hop and I like Pete Rock and DJ Premier and those kind of producers like Large Professor.

So that’s quite a big jump from prog-rock to hip-hop...

When I started making music and seriously got into it I was sampling everything and first you’re listening to a record and you’re looking for one that will have a great sample. Then you say I can use that and it’s this much of a record. Then eventually my appreciation for everything grew and you can use something as a tool from pretty much anything and it’s all free reign from there like If you can find a marimba on a record here and a bagpipe from a record. A country record has great drums on it and so that’s more of where I am coming from and I’m really into sound and production on a record. I’m very specific about that kind of shit.

Did you co-produce the record with Josh Abraham? What was it like working with him?

Yeah it was great and he comes from a completely different place as far as the records that he has done go.

What has he done?

He did a band called Deadzine and a heavy metal band called Limp Bizkit and stuff in that genre but the opportunity came up to work with somebody who wasn’t going to be like a sixth band member. Doing this record has really showed me a lot and I have learned a lot about how records are made and what the producer’s role is and what the whole procedure is and can be. To have someone who has an objective view of things where he can go oh I like that, lets keep that. So he is basically like a ring leader and can say that’s cool cause we could go on for ever.

I have heard about all your disparate personalitites...

That’s the great thing as well cause in other musical situations that I have been in, I will do something and it will be almost too easy . We always work things out, almost everything and there will be some things that come out really naturally and happen in the first ten minutes but the things that really work has everyone’s stamp on it. We really hash them out you know with every detail.

What is the best thing about being in the band?

Being here and just being able to do what I love to do. It’s just a great learning experience being able to make records and travelling. Just meeting people and playing at shows. I was just in Las Vegas and now I’m here you know what I mean! Coming from LA to London and we’re doing tours and shit. I went to the fucking castle today and it was amazing, I’m going to go home and write. It inspires me to go home and take another look at my life and just being able to get out of town and hang and do this.