Interview with Shafkkat & ROJAZ

Shafkkat is the moniker of South London based electronic music producer, Taz Hussain. Although raised by an Italian mother and English / Indian father, Shafkkatʼs has always considered ʻLondonʼ to be his largest cultural influence for his productions. Absorbing the cities diverse music scene as well as a wide range of cultures, the electronic artist finds his sound in ʻthe noise of the cityʼ.

ROJAZ is an independent Spanish flavoured Electro-pop and Experimental Electronic artist currently based in London. Her influences range from Kelly Lee Owens, Kllo, Maribou State, Billie Eilish, and early FKA Twigs. She makes synth based music with a focus on atmospheric instrumentation and delicate melodies.

We have had the pleasure of speaking with them and this has been the result.

Hi there ! Where can we find you right now? How did you start your day?

Shafkkat: Hello! I’m at home in London right now, I had a pretty chill start to the
day. Made an Omelette, sent off some emails and I’ll be spending the rest of the
day focusing on music.

ROJAZ: You can find me in London – I’m not a morning person, so reluctantly and
with a coffee

How long ago did you both decide to work together on this? Has it always
been something you wanted to do?

Shafkkat: Well we met about a year and a half ago at Tileyard in London. We were
both having two separate sessions and a mutual friend introduced us as he knew we
both had a love for electronic music. A few months later we got down to working
together on some music, the track came together pretty organically from there!

How would you define the sound of the track ‘Her’? What is the concept behind
it?

ROJAZ: The song is about constantly wondering about this person whose image
you can’t quite see. So you rely on imagination to fill in the blanks.

Shafkkat: I think it’s quite hard to define the sound, as our influences from multiple
genres kind of comes in and out throughout the track. I guess we were kind of
going with a ‘broken’ sound in a way? ROJAZ’s lyrics came together pretty quickly,
whilst the production was still taking shape, so it was quite fun to play around with
emphasising some of the lyrical tones with the gated vocals and more somber
textures.

What artists are you interested in these days?

ROJAZ: A constant source of inspiration for me is the duo Kllo, but lately I have
been listening to a lot of underground/Dj artists like The blessed madonna, Jaded,
Bicep, and Duskus

Shafkkat: Yeah I think we have quite a few of the same names here, I really like what
Floating Points and Leon Vynehall have been doing lately, some really cool stuff. I
find that my taste fluctuates quite a lot though. I’ll have phases where I don’t really
listen to electronic music and just go for really obscure records from a random
decade or genre, or even just getting caught on more of a Kendrick hip-hop wave
at times. I’m having a bit more of a ‘whats new’ phase at the moment, which I don’t
really explore often enough!

How do you manage to combine such disparate genres? How do you manage
to give them unity and harmony? What do they have in common for you?

ROJAZ: what they have in common for me is always a focus on groove and
danceability. At the end of the day, whether it is garage, techno, or house, the
environments people will listen to this music in remains the same, and fans of those
genres will dance the night away listening to the tracks they like.
Shafkkat: I think just opening yourself up to experimentation, having the other
person there to make what feels like a really wild suggestion ‘because why not?’ was
very much a reoccurrence when making this track. We just let the music dictate
where it goes next without really paying too much attention to how a typical
arrangement should be.

ROJAZ: I would also add that it’s easier to blend genres when you have two artists with
different musical backgrounds that don’t stray too far apart.

How would you define your sound?

Shafkkat: I honestly don’t know how to answer this. I think i have certain habits in
the way that I mix my tracks that make it feel a little me, I suppose. I’ve been
blending genres a lot lately, which you’ll see in the near future. I just make tracks in
the way that my brain allows me to and go from there.

ROJAZ: I make indie electronic music with a focus on atmospheric instrumentation
and percussion inspired by different UK Dance genres. I think my sound is eclectic
because I am inspired heavily by my emotions and what I’m listening to at the
moment.

Can you tell us something about your current or future projects?

ROJAZ: I’m currently working on an EP which takes me on an even further
electronica sound, establishing what I think will be a more artistic, honest, and
unique for myself. I’m currently really into UK garage and DnB drums so there will
definitely be some influences of that in my upcoming music.

Shafkkat: I’m releasing a single very soon, on March 11th!. I’m going very club
focused on the next track, something for the parties. I’m really excited to get this
one out – following that, there’s an EP in development where I’ve been getting to
play with more live instrumentation, some very soft and delicate sounding tracks
and some more heavy and groovy. I’m finding myself delving further into sonic
manipulation and all that fun stuff this one. Excited for you all to hear it!

BUY

Shafkkat:

http://www.Instagram.com/ShafkkatMusic

http://www.soundcloud.com/ShafkkatMusic

http://www.facebook.com/ShafkkatMusic

ROJAZ:

http://www.Instagram.com/ROJAZOfficial

http://www.soundcloud.com/ROJAZOfficial

http://www.facebook.com/ROJAZOfficial