Telekom Electronic Beats

10 x 4 – Objekt

10 x 4 - Objekt Hype. Hype. Hype. It an inescapable facet of club music. If you want to be heard you’ve got to hype yourself and if something is good then every man and blog starts hyping it and in a maelstrom of “amazingness” separating the wheat from the chaff gets ever harder. However now and again an artist comes along and slips a record in to the ether with no fanfare and steps back to watch the whole internet convulse and shudder. One such artist is Objekt – better known as TJ Hertz. An unassuming fellow who has released just two records, both white labels with no imprint simply called ‘Objekt # 1’ and ‘Objekt # 2’. Off the back of these two stunning records he has been invited to remix SBTRKT and Radiohead, headlined a tent at Glade, played on the Boiler Room Berlin special and has just been whisked off to Japan. Unsurprisngly then I am not the only person that wants to speak to TJ, who by day plays his trade as a boffin for Native Instruments. In fact when I first proposed this interview we agreed that neither of us wanted to go down the “why did you move to Berlin” route, something he has been asked increasingly often over last few weeks. So we kept it simple with a 10 x 4. However in keeping with the occasionally tricky time signatures of his tracks, TJ chose to answer just nine of my questions. You can check his music at the bottom of the page – our words can barley do justice to the technoid brilliance of his productions. You can also hear his recent mix for Leisure System.

First musical love?
Michael Jackson. I was very young. No, not like that.

Method or madness?
Madness, tempered by method.

One thing you cannot live with out?
Money, crack, hoes. I suppose if I really had to pick one I’d go with the rocks.

One thing you would live without if you could?
Facebook. Text messaging. More generally, the notion of being “connected” wherever you are. Fuck that.

Favourite instrument?
The upright bass.

Your biggest break so far?
I once played after Oxide and Neutrino at a student ball in Cambridge. It’s been a downhill slide ever since.

Eureka moment?
I scrawled out a big sign saying “STOP MESSING WITH THE KICK DRUM AND MAKE SOME MUSIC” and stuck it above my monitor. That was two years ago; it’s still there.

Secret tip?
If you put a paper towel in with the lettuce before you put it in the fridge it’ll stay fresh for longer.

Favourite part of the day to create?
Afternoon, in the summer. I work best when it’s sunny.

Leisure System Radio mix (see comments for d/l link) by Objekt

Published September 14, 2011.