The Micronaut: ‘Can’t Wait to See How the Audience is Going to React to This’

German producer The Micronaut will make his India debut this week. Photo: Courtesy of the artist

Germany’s output of quality electronic music has always felt disproportionately high in comparison to its size. The tiny Western European nation has produced some of the world’s finest electronic musicians, from genre pantheons like Enigma to cult-worshipped producers like Paul Kalkbrenner and Pantha du Prince. Leipzig-based Stefan Streck hopes to fall into that distinguished bracket with his electronic project, The Micronaut, which has been referred to as a “one-man orchestra.” As The Micronaut, Streck has released three full-length albums; most recently, Forms, in December of last year. Streck is currently in the process of touring the new album around the globe and will reach Indian shores later this week.

The new record is a continuation of Streck’s signature mix of broken beats and catchy vocals and melodies, a style he developed on his previous records, 2012’s Friedfisch and 2014’s Panorama. The producer, who is touring India for the first time, will play clubs in New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Pune, supported by Mumbai drum-and-bass artist Aditya Ashok, aka OX7GEN, at all shows. Ahead of his tour, Streck sat down with Rolling Stone India to discuss his upcoming India shows, keeping his set list fresh and touring with OX7GEN.

Tell me about your latest album Forms. How was your approach towards this album different from your previous two records?

Before writing and producing Forms, I started to heavily get into photography. I was just fascinated by it and began to see things more in details. I realized that forms, shapes or structures can be seen everywhere so I had to think how I can assign that to my music. The best way possible was to use more real instruments and to play and record all of the samples myself in order to get a deeper more layered sound with a lot of structure.

What can your Indian fans expect from the tour gigs?

I’ve never played in India before but I’m very stoked to finally have the chance to. I want to touch people with my music and take them on a sonic trip combined with atmospheric visuals they won’t forget.

What is your set list going to consist of? Will you perform any unreleased tracks?

I’m going to play some tracks from the new album, some older songs from my first two albums and unreleased stuff. When I make music, I produce not always a track but I collect ideas. At some point I listen to these ideas and decide which sketches I finish and what works. So for this tour I prepared some sketches that I still really like after giving them a couple of spins and see if they work in a live situation. That’s always exciting for me and I can´t wait to see how the audience is going to react to this. I will put a lot of time in preparing the set for this special opportunity.

Aditya Ashok aka Ox7gen will be supporting you on this tour. Have you got a chance to check his music out? What are your thoughts on him and his drum and bass style of electronic music?

Absolutely! I checked a couple of his songs on SoundCloud and I´m very excited to tour with him. I first came in touch with electronic music at a drum-and-bass party. I was fascinated by the energy simply created through a powerful beat. I do not really keep up with current releases but still to this day I´m flashed by the groove and vibe this music has.

The electronica music scene in India has grown vastly in the last couple of years with festivals like VH1 Supersonic, Sunburn and Electric Daisy Carnival; do you think it won’t be too long before India marks itself as a major player in terms of this genre?

Absolutely, I do. You just have to look at the lineups of those festivals. You see those usually just in North America or maybe at Tomorrowland in Belgium. Plus India is a very young-aged and populous country which makes it great for the events because you get a big spectrum of party-minded people. I think in less than 10 years India will be one of the top-notch players.

Besides the music, is there anything specific you would like to do with your time in India?

Since my stay in each city is really short I’ll try to absorb as much of the cities and people in as I can. I definitely want to visit the most famous sights, but I’m also interested in meeting new people and learning about the culture. Hopefully these shows are the first of many more to come. I´m really excited for this journey!

The Micronaut India Tour Dates w/ OX7GEN:

June 8th ”“ Antisocial, New Delhi

June 9th ”“ Antisocial, Mumbai

June 10th ”“ The Humming Tree, Bengaluru

June 11th ”“ High Spirits Café, Pune