“Cinemas was one of the first tracks I wrote in my new studio, which is in my garden – surrounded by trees and plants. I would go outside sometimes for a break and be instinctively drawn to just look at my phone rather than all the beautiful nature around me.” explains Rondo Mo, aka Robbie Redway the inspiration to his lead single, a foretaste of his third EP that will be released around September. We talked to him about phone addiction, moving out of London and living by the sea and his new studio in the garden.
images by Netti Hurley
You wrote “Cinemas” in your garden, which is your new studio. The track is about that you were more drawn to look at your phone than to the trees and plants, realizing that you ( like so many other people) were addicted to your phone´s brightly lit screen. What did this realization evoke in you?
Yep, it was written in my studio, which is in my lovely garden, which I’ve filled with wildflowers and vegetables. The phone addiction… It’s a daily struggle isn’t it. We are so reliant on our phones for emails, messages, maps, social media, photos etc but it’s also so easy just to waste precious time scrolling through crap (not to mention the mental health issues which arise from social media). On that particular day that’s exactly what I was doing and it is still something I regularly find myself doing. I guess it’s just about awareness and realising it’s unhealthy, then getting back to whatever you are meant to be doing. Living your life, maybe.
“The phone addiction… It’s a daily struggle isn’t it. We are so reliant on our phones for emails, messages, maps, social media, photos etc but it’s also so easy just to waste precious time scrolling through crap.”
Have you since been able to reduce the use of your phone? And if so, how?
I definitely stop myself more than I used to, but I still find myself drawn to it. It’s mad. The thing that helps the most for me is meditation… it helps me channel my energy into more worthwhile things and stay more present. Also if I have a good book on the go, that will prevent me from picking up my phone because I read instead.
Is that the reason why you chose your garden as your new studio – to get back more to a natural feeling for yourself and your surrounding?
I moved house last year and the garden already had a kind of shed/office thing in it, so I sound-proofed it and put power sockets in it and now it’s my studio. It’s nice that it’s in my garden because it gives me that small amount of detachment from my house, but it does mean I will sometimes go a few days without seeing another person if I get really stuck in to some writing. The move out of London to a more rural area was definitely motivated by wanting to be closer to nature. I live by the sea now which is amazing in so many ways.
Did you use any of your garden´s noises or rhythms for your tracks?
Not for this EP, but I have sampled the magpie that lives in my garden and he will be on the next record! He’s not a very good singer but he’s got great style.
“The move out of London to a more rural area was definitely motivated by wanting to be closer to nature. I live by the sea now which is amazing in so many ways.”
What else can listeners expect from your new EP – soundwise, and also what other topics did you write about?
It’s a four-track and each one has it’s own little story. There’s a love song on there (a sad one), also a song about meditation (which is ironically the most up-tempo song) and a song that was inspired by the Californian wildfires last year. I’ve been sampling more natural-sounding drums and I only used 2 different synths and my piano and trumpet on the whole EP. I wanted there to be sonic threads running through them all and they were all written within a few weeks of each other, but people have been saying one of them sounds like a grime tune and one of them sounds like a disco tune so what do I know.
Role models in music?
Thom Yorke, David Byrne, Bjork, Beethoven – people who innovate but are still accessible. I just named 4 geniuses so it’s hard to aspire to that level but they are a few of the amazing musicians that inspire me.
When and how did you realize you wanted to be a professional musician?
I’m not even sure I have realised that yet. It’s something that if I didn’t do it I would feel like there was a huge hole in my existence. And I guess in order to have any level of success you have to treat it as a professional endeavour. Although you have to love doing it, otherwise there’s no point. There have been periods when I’ve lived solely off music but I do other things too – I teach music and yoga, which I love too.
“Everything is impermanent and even if you fuck something up you can still move on from it, even grow from it.”
Last movie you saw that has really left an impression on you?
‘The Favourite’ was brilliant. Olivia Colman is the hands down the best actor around at the moment. Right now I’m watching the series ‘Chernobyl’ and that is some harrowing shit. There’s a good Netflix doc about Robert Johnson the blues guitarist too. He sold his soul to the devil in order to be a better guitarist. That’s dedication.
What gives you strength and confidence when facing difficult situations?
The fact that everything is impermanent and even if you fuck something up you can still move on from it, even grow from it.
Favourite seasons and why?
Spring. I love flowers and to see people smiling.
