Cover picture by © Fiishy
“New year, new me,” that’s exactly what Robitos thought at the start of 2024.
For about 10 years, he was a part of the Belgian jump-up duo Sub Skankerz together with his best friend, but recently he had seen a change in the scene. “If you compare jump-up between seven years ago and now, the style has changed a lot in Belgium,” he explains. He decided it was time to go in a different direction, one nearer to his heart: minimal and grotty drum & bass. In the past few years, there have been quite some artists going this same route, like Kanine, Simula, and Atmos. With the latter being Robitos’ good friend, it was clear to him he was making the right decision.
We caught up with him and talked about his change in style, and his future plans.
At the end of 2023, you decided to quit Sub Skankerz and go solo as Robitos. When and why did you decide this?
My style now is different from before. With Sub Skankerz I was focused on the Belgium jump-up sound, but after years of doing that, I just feel like that style doesn’t fit me as much anymore. I want to focus more on minimal and grotty jump-up, minimal drum & bass with some grotty sounds in it, and so on… because that suits me more.
Simon would keep making Belgium jump up, so we decided to split up. That’s going to benefit us in the long run I think, we can both focus on our own thing. Now I can really focus on what I want to do and just how I want to go about it. I don’t always have to double-check with someone else, how it would fit in our project… You don’t always have the same mindset, or you might want to go in a different direction from time to time. Simon and I are still on the best of terms, we’ve always been best friends, but it’s just that our style has changed.
You want to make fewer Belgian jump-up tunes and lean more into that minimal grotty sound. Why the change in style?
For the longest time, I’ve been going to those kind of raves. I only really perform at Belgian jump-up parties, but when I can choose what party to visit, I will always take grotty over jump-up. If you compare seven years ago to now, the style has changed a lot in Belgium, so it has something to do with that as well.
I always had a lot of interest in minimal drum & bass, partly thanks to my brother (Blanko), it just triggered me to get more into this style. Especially people like Simula and Atmos really inspired me to try out this new style. I just rate that music very hard, more than what I was making myself, with Sub Skankerz.
You’ve been a part of Sub Skankerz for about 10 years. What did you take away from this experience and what do you want to achieve as Robitos?
I want to create my own sound, show that I’m able to build my own thing and get more on that minimal drum & bass. I feel that, as I get older, other styles of drum & bass interest me as well. It’s often about minimal for me now, but liquid and halftime interest me as well. I learned a lot about production while I was in Sub Skankerz, and I can use this knowledge for my new project. Things like making the right composition, doing a mixdown, combining sounds and so on, I’m going to take those things with me. When I look back on my ten years of Sub Skankerz, I had nothing but fun with Simon.
It was an amazing experience. We ended up going from bedroom DJs and recording a mix together, to playing at Rampage, Switch in Austria, and the UK. We’re definitely open for promotors who want to book us back-to-back, it’s not like it’s done between me and Simon. We’re still going to make tunes together, they are only going to sound a bit different. I still sometimes make a Belgian jump-up tune, because that’s still fun to make. For me now, it’s mainly creating a new sound, and seeing where that brings me. So far the reactions are good. I’ve posted some of the tunes I’ve been working on on my socials, and there are some pretty big DJs already asking for them. That feels nice.
View this post on Instagram
What’s so specific about jump-up, that you want to do something different now?
Those fake drops and high sounds… If there’s a dirty sound coming, it shouldn’t always be a fake drop to me, there should just be a good bass.
So, why did you start making jump-up 10 years ago then?
Back then, jump-up was just completely different, now all of the tunes are long patterns with too many switches in them. It’s changed too much for me, and I think that happened around corona. The crowd changed a lot too, because it’s several years later, all new people.
I got into jump-up by partying with my brother and going to places like ‘Petrol’ (an Antwerp club, red.). I was always looking forward to Skank & Bass, for months. That’s when I got interested in production, and eventually, by rating that music so much, I thought “I want to make that myself too.” I started working on it, but it took a while before I was happy with my sounds, I feel like every year I made a lot of progress, and moved forward.
Who has inspired you to make this change?
I remember when Kanine used to make jump-up tunes as well, but now his style has evolved a lot. He inspired me for sure.
I’ve had this idea of going solo for a while now. I don’t mind starting all over again, and even then it’s not all over again either, because I once produced as Robitos too, before Simon produced alongside me. I’ve already made a bit of a name for myself in the scene. I’m excited to be able to start all over again. I already have a release planned with Atmos on NUCRU, which is the sister label of Crucast. I also have a tune with Georgie Riot and one with Lavance, that I’m working on. Other than that I mostly want to make solo music, because I want to show people my sound. Afterwards, I can always collaborate with people.
Especially with a network like the one you have, it’s nice that you can directly check your new tunes with them, no?
Absolutely! I’m getting a lot of feedback from artists already, like Kanine and Simula. I also want to give a shout-out to Tsuki, Atmos, and Primate. They have helped me throughout the years. Because I’ve been in the scene for 10 years, people know me and my face already. They also often know me as Robitos already, because that’s been my Instagram handle for ages. So yes, I have had good reactions so far. So far I’ve only had one bad comment about me leaving Sub Skankerz, and that was at a party. I’m working on focusing more on those positives. One person who is not happy, that’s okay.
With Sub Skankerz you already organised events under the name ‘SSS Invites’. Would you like to continue organising events as Robitos?
Not right now, the focus is on building my style. Look, I don’t even have a Spotify yet, so I need to start things up, and release, release, release.
Any last thoughts?
Yes, I would like to do some shout-outs. Bram, my brother and also the label head of Abyssal Music, really motivates me in my music, he supports me in everything. He is the most humble guy that I know, and I really look up to him. He has a very good mindset and is always positive. The rest of the Abyssal team as well, are all such nice people. I strive to grow alongside them.
The next one is Atmos, he has taught me a lot in terms of production skills, about how he makes his music. We’ve been making tunes together since 2017 and he’s just humble, I love people like that, and I have also seen other artists where the fame gets to them. But most artists I know just stay normal and live their lives. I appreciate that very much, especially if you’re a big name, like Simula, Tsuki, Subsonic, and Kanine, they are close friends to me as well.
Lastly, I’m going to collaborate with ARRAX, his sound has also changed a lot throughout the years. And I want to thank Proxic for getting me my first solo booking. I’m looking forward to that one!