Interview: In The Green Room With Techno-Earth Angel Robot Sunrise
With a down-to-earth and exploratory life philosophy that translates into his music, Afterglow walked away from Robot Sunrise’s first solo South by Southwest set feeling the glow.
Written by Katie Karp
Interview by Katie Karp and Grace Robertson
Photo courtesy of Blake Mohr
The full moon was out at 1 a.m. as Danny Klein took center stage at Stubb’s outdoor venue for his first SXSW performance under his solo project, Robot Sunrise. With colored lights behind him and energetic fans in front of him, the L.A. musician cultivated a dreamlike atmosphere through his rock infused electronic music. Concluding SPIN’s South By showcase on Thursday, March 17 (or really, the early hours of March 18), the music publication’s creative director unleashed into the city the “ultimate creative manifestation” he formed in 2021. Beside the high-tech sound system where the blue-haired futuristic hippie jammed was Nicoletta Pignatello on the French horn, further amplifying Robot Sunrise’s unique appreciation and understanding of where nature and technology coincide.
Afterglow: Tell me about how you got into music.
I was literally three years old in a field across from my house sitting in some tall plants and started singing. I just knew that when I started reading into it there was always a part of my soul. It's why I'm on.
Do you mind telling me a little about your sound and the production that goes behind it?
It's rooted in house music, but it's progressive house with some bass and synths here and there. I just really love transporting my audience to other worlds. I really just want to lift people up and inspire them and shake out day job motion.
How do you think your sound has matured?
This is just my first solo project. I've been in bands and actually got an electronic duo with Doll Machine. She’s my better half and f-cing firing up hot right now. The two of us went our separate ways to do our solo projects. I think when you're collaborating with people, you definitely might want to go here and the other person wants to go this way, but it's really cool because it's a product of two creative minds. But I've always heard things and seen things that I wanted to do, so Robot Sunrise is that manifestation of passion.
How do you want to inspire your listeners?
On a big level, I want to inspire people to break free of people or places or circumstances that are controlling, and to encourage them to find what and why they're on this planet, then to commit their life to it.
Do you have an example of something that you saw that you really wanted to do and kind of put into motion yourself in the world? Or was it more like an internal thing?
I've always just had this thing for humanity. I think empathy is a big part of my world, and I think that if a song or a lyric or something shakes something loose and inspires you to lift yourself out of something. Even if something is great, and this inspires you to go bigger, go harder, then that's also really good.
Empathy is a really interesting way to kind of describe why you want to connect to people. Do you know a time when your music really connected and resonated?
I was on tour with the band a few years back and ran into a kid and a mom who had gone in the rain and took a bus and walked 15 blocks, and finally showed up to where we were playing. And this kid had been bullied, which for whatever reason really hit me. So I just kept in touch with him and sent in hoodies, T-shirts, and all kinds of fun stuff. I literally watched him grow up at nine and he's thriving now. It was just a reminder to look into someone below the surface and give them a little bit of perspective.
Do you have a set of lyrics that you really believe encapsulates your message?
There's a track called “When the Power Runs Out.” So the foundation of Robot Sunrise is, it's an awakening. It's a detachment from ownership, control, meaning circumstance that you're not really feeling. Sometime in the future, the AI or the robots have become so advanced that they're starting to feel human-like emotions. As they start questioning why they are here and why they are being controlled, and they start to develop ways to rewrite your code. And at the same time that the human race is becoming so tech-dependent that they've lost touch with themselves and with the Earth. They've lost touch with nature to where reproductive rates are going so far down, like the human race is on the brink of extinction. And so the high beat is actually as they start to break free at the robot sunrise, they break free. And then they start the process of unraveling humanity from technology. The art has a lot of crystals and magical things that are there to remind us where we come from.
There's a clear tie between nature and technology in your music. Is that something that you've always kind of wanted to emphasize, like where we come through technological advancements?
Technology is amazing: it saves lives and connects people, but at the same time, it's like, where are we getting our batteries? Right, you know, it has consequences for the earth. And so it's just, it's like everything that as humans do, we just have to be mindful of how far we’re going and not to go too far.
It's interesting because what you're saying about empathy translates into your music and even your album cover and name. Do you think Robot Sunrise’s combination of techno and rock channels this?
I think my writing stems from traditional rock or pop in terms of my verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus arrangement, but on the electronic scale, I really like to have a lot of tension and release with risers and big drops, and I’m crazy about synths, keys and piano. So I just sort of love bringing all that together and just want to get people moving to it. I love electronic music. I love house, I love repetition and loops. I can listen to it and feel transported. I love electronic beats, hits, hats and just a little bit of snare but I'm not a big fan of, you know, all sorts of stuff. There's something about electronic music that kind of gets me into the space of you can just rely on the production hitting you.
What sparked your interest in this surrealist exploration?
I'm always looking for a deeper connection and am a big fan of the things that you can't see and that you can't hear. Energetically, I think that's the next year's horizon. Most people think something you can see or hold is in human history, so it’s that's the only thing that matters. Actually, there’s a lot in the energetic field that we as humanity haven't really gone to yet. I've always loved and appreciated the spiritual energy. The energetic world meaning how somebody can walk into a room and I'll bring up the vibes. I also think that it's important for people to give other people a break. Like, if someone's quote, unquote, not being cool, what are they doing? Why? It's not that they're jerks, although they probably come off like it, but maybe they’re just hurting.
What kind of energy do you wanna throw out there for your first SXSW show?
I played here with other bands probably three times, but as a solo artist I want hope, love, dumbness, and psychotic dance energy. I'm gonna do a little tribute to the folks in Ukraine because we’ve got the platform for it.
That’s awesome. Well, we’re so excited to hear you play and can definitely feed back that energy!
You can follow Robot Sunrise on Instagram and TikTok @robotsunrise, and you can listen to their music on Spotify.
This interview has been minimally edited for clarity and length.