013 - Derrok
Derrok is the alias of 25 year old Chilean producer Joaquin Roca and the latest contributor to the Métron Musik Mixtape series. 13 is unlucky for some, but not us, as MMM:013 is a thin slice of Andean electronic goodness. I spoke with Joaquin about producing a mixtape, and we’re delighted that he’s chosen us to promote his latest works before he departs on an epic cycling trip across Chile.
Derrok's sound is rich in detail and scope, balancing traditional latin themes and ancient ritualistic sounds with modern house and electronica, there’s also some unexpected and unusual diversions along the way. At it’s core though the music on offer here is tribal and rural sounding. It feels like taking a trip back in time to a more primitive and dynamic time in the human experience
If you want to hear more of Derrok’s music and support his work, you should definitely check out his soundcloud and bandcamp pages.
I caught up with Joaquin to talk with him about where his music comes from.
JH: Can you tell us a little bit about your experience as a young producer in Santiago and how that has effected the kind of music you make?
D: It has been very hard to find the space for my music in Santiago, where the kind of music I make is not what clubs and event producers are looking for. But this new wave of south american electronic music has opened a new door for artists like me, with summer festivals like Festival Nómade and Chaullín, so this is growing in very slow steps, but what it matters is that it's going up and more people are coming into this kind of music.
JH: Your music seems to be inspired by ancient, primitive worlds, a reference to a more spiritual time perhaps, can you describe the genesis of your sound?
D: I've been always looking for "the personal sound", not making the music that people want to hear, just making the music I'd like to hear but that does’t already exist, so I have to create it. This belief is supported with the idea of using the elements of the place I am from and its roots, and not using the classic elements that all the musicians all over the world abuse of. I try to go against globalization with my music, using my own language or using some native's instruments for example.
My music has been flowing to what it is now because of my love to the mountains, the forests, the rivers and all the wild life I like to see whenever I can. I feel more comfortable in the hostility of nature than in the comforts of a city, and everytime I go to the hills I have tribal rythms in my head.
I also see in the tribal sound the heart of the rythms, the roots of music, primitive algorythms and instruments that will take the listener to another dimension just hearing these different sounds, and most of the sounds that will travel to your mind are not plastic machine-made timbres, some are recordings which could include the wind, the smell and the moments that happened the time they were recorded.
JH: There’s a track in your mix that really stuck out to me, the one with all the slide guitar, it’s very different from most of your output, how did that track come about?
D: That track is an edit of "Blues 666", a song by one of my favorite local musicians, Andrés Lecaros y Los Forajidos. It is basically a tribute to a style of music I have always liked, the blues.
I've been using it in some sets since 2014, I like how it works to break all the lines of the situation, people don't get it but then it's just like old times, young people dancing to the blues, and then the show goes on.
JH: What is Derrok doing in 2016?
D: I am currently producing new tracks in very slow steps, looking to make a big and special release this year. I am also planning a kind of "tour" to Berlin in July.
I also would like to start making a live act, but first I have to learn how to use the softwares and controllers to do it, and that will take a lot of time for me. I see that very far, but the ideas are in my mind and is a challenge I'ld to take.
JH: Finally can you recommend a couple of great records that our listeners and I may not be aware of?
D: I feel very identified with the chilean band Mañana Me Chanto and their lyrics, I think they represent a lot my ideas of the world.
A new band I recently knew and I would recommend is Dhármico, and a classic of all times that maybe it hasn't been in your ears yet is the album "Alturas de Machu Picchu" by Los Jaivas.
Going into electronic music, maybe you have heard him, but I just found the brazilian Kurup and his wonderfull edits.
JH: Thanks so much for your time and passion Derrok.
Tracklist
Lola Kiepja
Los Andes
Manifiesto (Edit)
Mapu Lahual
Todo Vibra (Remix)
El Río
Pueblos
Levántate
In A Manner Of Speaking (Edit)
Remisión Espontánea
Blues 666 (Edit)
Tribal
Nativo
Nativo (Ansgar Scheffold Remix)
Amor
La Exiliada Del Sur (Inti Illimani)
The original artwork below was created exclusively for the mixtape by Jack Hardwicke.
