In a candid interview with Downtown Music, John Robie reflects on his ‘white-privileged upbringing,’ forming the band ‘Backdoor Man’ as an alternate family, leading the evolution of electronic music, the cultures he embraced along the way, the cost of mediocrity in music, and lessons he learned while working with some of the industry’s most creative minds.
The following recaps an interview with John Robie as part of Downtown Music’s series, The Music Industry Lives Here. Downtown Music is a company DMN is proud to be partnering with.
Legendary producer, songwriter, and musician behind many iconic tracks (including ‘Planet Rock’), John Robie started playing music when he was five. Robie grew up during the time when The Beatles were propagating artistic expression to change the face of the industry, driving an evolution in music recording, and initiating transformative socio-cultural movements.
Speaking about how the band inspired him in his early years, Robie said, “When the Beatles came out, it changed everyone’s lives. People talk about it now, but unless you were there experiencing it, [you don’t know] how everyone wanted to get into it.”
Robie’s penchant for music developed when at some point in his childhood ‘there ended up being an electronic chord organ in the house.’ He explains, “[Chord organs] were basically Accordions with legs, with preset chords on the left and a regular keyboard on the right. So I was simultaneously learning guitar and keyboards — which I ended up doing as a profession even though I am a better guitarist than a keyboardist.”
Reflecting on his deep dive into electronic music in the 80s, Robie relays how it all began with ‘Backdoor Man.’
“I had a bunch of friends and we started a band called Backdoor Man. So my father bought me a Farfisa organ — a very generous, very expensive gift from the salary that he made. The organ and amplifier was probably $700 — a fortune in 1966-67. I started playing Ray Manzarek style with this band, and played guitar with another, then the organ with another — and that’s how I got started with electronic music.”
After graduating from college, Robie ‘found an incredible bass player’ and formed another band — auditioning keyboard players because he ‘wanted to play the guitar.’
Although multiple musicians from Berkeley auditioned, Robie says the one who stood out was Ray Jones. “[He was] a skinny black kid who was the coolest guy in the world, and brought this little micro Moog synthesizer.”
Jones lived in some dangerous part of Brooklyn, which led him to leave his synthesizer behind. “I learned on that synthesizer because of Ray Jones,” recalls Robie with some fondness. “This was before synthesizers were programmable. We had to turn knobs to do things and learn the basic functionality of it.”
Robie dives into how the instrument became ‘overkill’ over time, “Today’s synthesizers are way over-sophisticated. There are too many bells and whistles — too many post-effects channels. It’s overkill.”
Robie’s band later got signed by Eddie O’Loughlin, owner of Next Plateau Entertainment — and Robie’s music experienced and absorbed the culture of various music genres.
“Being part of the culture changes everything. I learned to like disco after doing some sessions and seeing how complicated it was. That’s what happened with hip-hop. I hated it and thought it was ridiculous, but when I saw what was happening in the streets and clubs, it was transformative.”
Because of this cultural impact, Robie believes he’s a ‘sound architect’ rather than just a keyboardist. “I was introduced to all these cultures, and did some of what’s now called freestyle. Back then, it wasn’t freestyle.”
Robie also expressed how back in the day, diversity was inherent to the music community. “There wasn’t an obligation; it just existed.”
“Everyone worked together. I worked with black, white, gay artists because there was such diversity in the 80s,” Robie mused. “When you experience so many cultures, you see things through that lens. You start to appreciate how different music moves different people.”
“It changes the way you view not just music in general, but the way you view the world.”
The turning point in Robie’s career occurred when one day, he ‘felt so defeated’ he told O’Loughlin, ‘I don’t really know what to do.’ That meeting kickstarted a series of events that led to a professional studio recording of his song ‘Vena Cava’ being handed over to a record company called Disconet.
That’s where Robie met R. Rodriguez, who first laughed at the music, and then called back later, raving that he was a fan.
Robie relays, “Rodriguez listened to ‘Vena Cava’ and said, you want me to put this out? But one week later, Rodriguez called back to say, I can’t stop listening to the track. This is amazing. We’re going to put this out.”
Rodriguez’s interest exposed Robie to more unknowns. “I wasn’t very good at self-promotion or business; I didn’t know what to do with it. So bam, they said there’s this guy Tom Silverman. Why don’t you play for him?”
Silverman (owner of Tommy Boy Entertainment) and Robie ended up meeting for a session at the former’s office, where Robie met record producer Arthur Baker. “We went to the studio either that day or the next day, and recorded ‘Planet Rock’.”
Today, credited with the creation of music that altered the electronic music landscape, Robie says that ‘artist innovation’ is still the fuel that feeds the industry.
He points out the cost of settling for mediocrity in music and the arts, ‘not just for musicians, but for humanity.’
“The more sounds I produce, the more they become conformist — and that’s what people expect,” he says.
“This happens in every area of culture. You begin to accept the mediocre as great not only because you’re told to, but you lower the bar for you to create. That’s the danger. Something becomes fashionable, then everyone does it, and that becomes what everybody wants.”
Robie concluded the interview by pointing out that in the history of the world, people can confuse self-confidence and competence with arrogance. “I’m not those things; I’m just passionate.”
Speaking about Downtown Music, of which Robie is a client, Robie said, “They’ve organized my life respectfully and conscientiously.”
About The Music Industry Lives Here: Downtown Music’s interview series allows powerful conversations with the voices shaping the music industry. To gain weekly access to exclusive interviews with music executives, artists, record label owners, and influential figures who drive the rhythm of the industry, join here.
