Hi Robert, thanks for joining us today, let’s get into it. What made you decide that music is a thing for you?
I have always been driven to make music. When I acquired a synth in high school, that clinched it.
Introduce us to you all and your musical history.
I came from a very musical family, and I have been writing, recording and producing my own songs since I was in high school, where I was also into musical theater and performing, and leading the band, in the school’s annual rock show. We had to re-create about 40 pop songs, by ear, in about 2 months. I had a Roland Juno 60, my dad’s cassette tape deck, and a reel-to-reel that my grandpa handed down.
I would create songs by bouncing between the tape machines. Eventually I had a Fostex 4-track tape deck, which was a game-changer. In college, the personal computer came along, and things evolved from there. I kept at it through college. My 80’s and 90’s bedroom recordings from high school through college are available on Bandcamp! I am basically still doing today what I did in high school, and also, strangely, I have not aged.
Though my really old music is on Bandcamp, the next-oldest will be found under artist Bob Hinrichs. I changed my artist name in more recent history, to Robert Hinrichs. Unfortunately on the streaming platforms, the songs of these two artists are not always shown together.
What’s the live music scene like in your Lincoln right now? Anyone we should be looking out for (bar you, of course)?
The live music scene in Lincoln, Nebraska is awesome. There are several great music festivals in the region that attract great acts.
I’ve seen a lot of people struggling for support recently online. What’s your view on the industry?
The industry was completely disrupted and turned on its head with the advent of mp3s, Napster, etc. It has lurched around, and the ecosystem that supports recording artists was taken hostage by streaming services, particularly Spotify, which, to anyone who does a drop of research, is a dominant profit-seeking business that gives lip service to caring about art, or artists, but clearly has no motivation to support any of them.
To be heard, artists must work for Spotify, by “feeding the algorithm.” This plays out in social media as well, insofar as it connects to the streaming of music and promoting it. We belong to them, creating their content and people pay them the money, and virtually none of it goes to the artists. It is a regressive system where “small” artists attempting to get a foothold, are mostly kept out of the game, not paid, not supported, not promoted; though sometimes a once-in-a-million lucky strike will occur, which is dangled in front of all of us to make us feel inadequate and to make us try harder, try harder.
At the same time, I don’t think anyone would go back to the bad old days where record labels were the gatekeepers as to whether anyone heard a particular piece of music, and exploited artists unto ruin. The new paradigm at least allows me to place my music on a shelf where people anywhere can listen to my music if they happen to know about it. Meanwhile, the creation of music has become democratized via technology and tools, including of course, the use of AI, which has an obvious good side and many obvious bad sides. I could go on for pages on that as well.
Where do you feel you currently sit within the music industry?
The bottom of the bottom, I guess? It is fine down here though.
Tell us two truths and a lie about you.
I am telling the truth.
I am lying.
I exist.
Do you ever worry about people taking things the wrong way or cancel culture? Discuss….
On my own behalf, I don’t worry about this at all. Cancel culture is only sort-of real, as these are words used rarely by those who are unjustly shut down by a mob mentality, but much more often, by those who are experiencing the consequences who would rather double down than apologize, grow in their morals, and move on and up.
Do you sign up to any conspiracy theories? If not, why not?
There is only one electron, that generates the entire universe by moving back and forth through time. Its patterns create what we experience as information and all of its complex rules and interactions. Everything perceived is merely an attunement of attention within a single source. All of this takes place within a closed timelike loop. I guess that is not a conspiracy. But I can turn it into one by stating that THEY are keeping this information from you!
What was your best experience on stage?
I have a few. Probably the best was bursting out of the building, from applause, into a quiet, snowy night, after playing Henry Higgins and feeling that I did well.
What was your worst experience on stage?
I am pretty much always on fire, as everyone knows. But I guess the worst was fearing that I blew out the drummer’s ears, at a small venue where the monitor for the synth was next to the drummer’s head, and we were doing a Led Zeppelin cover, and I could not hear my synth, so it got turned up. He complained afterwards that he thought it damaged his hearing. He was a great musician and I assume/hope he still is. I felt terrible.
Tell us something about you that you think people would be surprised about.
Honestly, people are often surprised that I do this.
What are the next steps you plan to take as a band to reach the next level?
I am trying to please the algorithm, by releasing songs and other content, on a regular basis. It doesn’t work, you need to do more. I am likely not going to succeed, because you need something else, such as live performances, which I do not do.
Artistically, I am working to tune into the subconscious in several ways. My process now often involves hearing the entire song, often ina dream, then attempting to create it in the world. So the work involves the tuning-in process, and listening to that inner radio station. It is always playing in there.
Sometimes it plays songs I’ve heard before but it is capable of playing completely new songs as well. I do sometimes need to fill in a bridge or part of a verse, and usually, getting attuned to the right lyric channel is very difficult and sometimes requires compromise by applying logical, linear thought to fit the right syllables into place according to the babbled dictation in my head. My new release mostly comes from that subliminal place, where I could hear most of it already.
I hear you have new music. What can you tell us about it?
It is the best music I’ve ever done. However, people still seem to be attached to my old music. New music is often a hard sell.
What was the recording process like?
I sit in a corner of my house with a computer, a keyboard, some monitors and a headset. The refrigerator is directly below and emits an annoying hum. The chair is uncomfortable and the keyboard is on the wrong side of the table. I spend hours at this awkward setup, trying to eke out something listenable.
What was the biggest learning curve in writing the new tunes?
My new music is created using Logic Pro, which is a new tool for me. I had previously used Sonar. I expected that all of my experience in one DAW would help me learn another. I suppose it did, but I sure felt like an idiot for months.
Would you change anything now it’s finished?
I always want to re-do the vocals, on most songs. I hear other peoples’ voices singing in the ideal recording, in my head. My own voice often sounds wrong to me.
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