Throttle
FM sit down with one of EDM’s fastest rising names – ‘dirty disco’ producer Robbie Bergin
Melbourne-based producer Robbie Bergin first started making music as Throttle in his bedroom at the age of 15. In the space of five years, the ‘dirty disco’ artist has risen to become one of the most talked about up-and-comers on the international club circuit, propelled by crossover hits like Money Maker, Oliver Heldens collab Waiting, and 2017’s Moombahton-inspired Piñata.
FM caught up with Bergin at Amsterdam Dance Event 2017 to chat studio tips and positivity…
How did you get started making music?
“I was a bedroom DJ. I started with Virtual DJ making mash-ups, then I moved on to GarageBand. I moved into DJing. After mash-ups I wanted to make beats… Then I got into songwriting.”
What’s your essential piece of studio gear right now?
“I’m using a lot of Valhalla reverb. Like, I’ll use that on everything. Not just for regular reverb things. I’ll take a vocal, put it through that and then distort it and put it back through. It’s one of the creative things I use a lot.”
What do you think is going to be big in music over the next year?
“Always a tough one. Hopefully my music does all right! I think African-inspired stuff is big at the moment. I’m leaning towards more synth-inspired stuff at the moment ‘cos in the past I’ve done a lot with real instruments. Piñata is very Moombah-inspired, I guess, which is huge at the moment so hopefully that takes off too.”
What was the last cool production trick you learned?
“The last cool production trick I learned was in Serum’s effect, the reverb filter. I’ll use that and automate the cutoff which comes up with some really cool, weird things.”
What about your all-time essential production tip?
“My biggest tip for everyone is to learn an instrument. I think that was the biggest step forward in my production. I learned guitar as a kid, but gave it up when I started making music because I thought I didn’t need it. Then I got back into it and it was monumental the difference it made.
“It wasn’t necessarily recording guitar in everything, just more that mindset of playing an instrument. So now every time I make a synth lead I’m trying to make it sound real and trying to automate the volumes. I think having an understanding of how an instrument works is really important in making music.”
Do you use soundware subscriptions?
“Yes, I use Splice. I use Splice all the time. I was in touch with one of the guys who created it when I started using it, about three years ago?… I’ve been onboard and I’m smashing Splice. I love it.”
Tell us about your studio set-up...
“It’s basically just my laptop. For speakers at the moment I have the Adam A7Xs. I have a Novation Launchkey, some Launchpads, and my two guitars. But really it’s all in the box these days.
“I’ve always been Ableton… I started in Ableton. I’m not sure why; in the YouTube tutorials for the sounds I wanted to make, most people were using Ableton. I watch tons of Future Music magazine interviews and my favourites were people using Ableton. I tried using FL before, but I found it so confusing.”
What’s the one piece of studio gear you couldn’t do without?
“My microphone, really. I’m getting more into singing. In my track Piñata I did the vocal shout, but I’m doing more proper singing. I take my microphone everywhere and if I have a vocal idea, I’ll lay it down.”
What’s newest to your studio?
“Incense! I was in LA and when I got home I thought, ‘That’s what’s missing!’ so I got incense!”
Is there a dream bit of gear you want?
“I would love some Barefoot monitors. That’s the next step for me – Barefoots or Focals, but I think I’m going to get the Barefoots.”
When you’re working on a new track, where do you start?
“I start anywhere really. I record voice notes on my phone all the time. I’ll often come up with a melody and then I’ll go in and turn that into a synth or something. Or sometimes I’ll just sit down and go through sample packs and find a drum loop I like and come up with a bassline or something and go from there.”
What are you working on right now?
“A lot of stuff. I want to put together an EP. Whether that comes out as an EP or a collection of singles… I am working on a more consistent body of work right now, and that’s the focus for the next couple of months.”
Do you have a message of positivity to end on…?
“I do! As a Future Music mag fan, I started with FM and YouTube. I have like 50 mags at home. I was watching all the In The Studios and I hit a point where I felt I could go out on my own and start experimenting. For everyone experimenting at home and reading
FM, that’s where everyone starts! It’s a steep curve but you get to a point where things start accelerating quickly and you’re coming up with things nobody has ever tried before.”
“Every time I make a synth lead I’m trying to make it sound real”