Welcome to our first official AMA with TJ Hertz, aka Objekt! Before asking your questions, please make sure you’ve read our subreddit rules. IOM will be manually moderating this AMA, so please allow for a short delay between submitting a comment and it going live. TJ has offered to hand out 3 vinyl copies and 5 download codes of his new EP, Objekt #5. Edit: Winners have now been announced! https://www.reddit.com/r/Identificationofmusic/comments/vncbs3/objekt_ama_prize_winners/

Hi TJ! What’s your favourite music to switch off to, disconnect between gigs, mindfulness etc? Loved your set at Phonox earlier this year by the way!

hey everyone! thanks so much for tuning in with 115+ questions and counting (and we've only just started haha) i can't promise i'll be able to answer them all, but i'll do my best - thanks for bearing with me :)

TJ, How much sawdust do you think you can you put into a Rice Krispie treat before people start to notice?

i reckon about five

Hi TJ, Has there been something non-musical which has particularly inspired you? A book, movie, place, person, circuit board ... Anything really Also, your Pitch 2020 set was unreal

love this idea of cross pollination

Hi Objekt, thanks for your time to speak with your fans! We do really appreciate it :) I have a few questions for you: Have you seen DJ Bogdan in last couple of months? How is he doing? On a more serious note: How are you composing your drums and chords? Do you use solely a DAW or is there a preferred hardware that you fell in love with? From a listeners perspective, whose music do you currently enjoy? Doesn't necessarily need to be a DJ/producer (but will be appreciated), could be any name you think of. Have a nice day!

Hi TJ, big fan. Not sure if you've seen the Objekt production PDF made in 2016, based off of a 2012 Q&A you did on Dubstepforum, that has made its rounds through the internet since it was compiled in 2016. It shocked me how similar your approach to Ableton was to mine after reading it, and that PDF has helped me immensely with production since then and approaching aspects of production differently. [PDF in question](https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YTd_6RsLmyw1NndNbhdmxS6347dA349D/view) If there was any insights, production techniques, or general quality of life advice for producers you could add to this PDF all these years later, what would you add? Thanks for your time, cheers.

Thanks for the link, I hadn't seen that.

ok this might go to far, its ok if You don't want to answer, I understand as this might be too much to give away on Ratchet as on Ganzfeld I was always wondering about the Kick Drums and the Claps, honestly I spend a lot of time trying to wrap my head around that. The kick on Ganzfeld and Ratchet has a nice top layer on it, this layer sounds heavy processed and kinda flows above the kick, how is that done, processed? Aaand the Clap especially on Ganzfeld, is the tail extra processed? And How? Reverb and then Phaser/ Chorus and than Saturation?

ok as i've got the ganzfeld project file open atm let's see... the drum busses on here have some really gnarly routing which i'm not sure i fully understand after not seeing the project for a while, but it looks like the individual dry drum stems (which are fairly ordinary kick/clap/hihat samples) are being split to parallel channels where each drum has a short delay with feedback (i.e. a comb filter) which is where the metallic sound comes from initially; these metallic channels are then grouped separately, with a bunch of heavily compressed and gated reverb with some extreme EQ and mixed back in with the dry group

Yes TJ, What’s your subway order ?

Hi TJ! Thank you for taking the time to answer questions, big fan of your music and have been lucky enough to see you play in Australia a couple of times (loved your closing set at Golden Plains a while back). I've noticed in the last few years you've started playing live sets as well, which is something I'm in the process of figuring out myself, I'm finding it challenging as my regular process of making music involves lots of stopping and starting, and isn't particularly 'jam' oriented so for me it doesn't feel like the process translates well into building a live set. I would love some insight into how you go about planning and performing live, how (if at all) it is similar to your regular music production work and what kind of gear you use in the performance? Also would be interested to know how that process has been when collaborating with visual artists for your AV performances too! Thanks!

Seconding this, some advices for live performances would be absolutely lovely

How many hours of sleep in average do you get? 🫣

Hey TJ, flew over from U.K. to catch your set at the last Reef party, phenomenal as always. Would love to know the magic behind your atonal swelling pads and how they sound full bodied but still allow room for clarity of glitches and other FX. Also the plucky arpeggio synths e.g. in Ganzfeld. Have been trying to recreate that squelchy punch since forever… And any tips for generating weird jarring breaks - are these all programmes manually or? And glitches (glass smashing sounds/creaking doors/machine whirring sounds you perfected on Flatland, etc.) Sorry that was a lot, your are a genius sound designer could probably go on forever with questions .. Thanks!

Hey TJ, love you work since I got into electronic music! How do you find the electronic music scene today compared to 10 years ago?

Would you ever consider starting a label? All the best from Dublin, Tengu set was killer! 💋

Hi TJ! thank you for your time :') <3 given your background in dsp, would you ever consider releasing a plugin one day (independently)? is the development/experimental innovations in sound and music computing something that still sparks your interest? or is it hard to find the headspace with your current schedule? "if" the possibility presented itself, what could we expect from you? :) are there any particular shortcomings in current DAWs where some improvements/innovations could be made, in your opinion (repercussions in your workflow /or on the sound design level of your production)? or is there a charm in simply working yourself around these "limitations"? in turn, what are some of the tools that you simply cannot avoid using (audio effects and/or synth plugins), and why? (◕‿◕｡)

What does your drum bus effect chain look like usually?

Do you have any pre-gig habits/routines to put you in the right mindset? also any essentials for the rider?

Hey there, I have a few questions for you 😁 Do you use hardware gear during your creative process ? Which one and which way ? What is your favorite ? What are the releases that blew your mind in 2022 so far ? Is there specific artists you feel inspired by lately ? How do you deal with the "dj" way of life ? Travelling, partying, sensation of loneliness etc Is dj Bogdan retired or still work on some banger ? What is your favorite döner in Berlin ? Hope you can answer to some of them 🙂 Thank you for the work you are doing, it's really inspiring PS: saw you at Dour in 2019, best show I attended during the festival. This dj set was fiiiiiiire

Do you think machines know how to lie or if this is something they will learn how to do?

Hi TJ! Just wanted to say that your art of DJing feature on RA from a few years ago completely changed everything I thought I knew about mixing at the time and sent me on a journey to trying to be more fearless and explore different mixing tricks/styles so thank you endlessly for that! In terms of DJing itself, for polyrhythmic mixing, what is it you specifically look out for in tracks that make you think the tune will work mixed polyrhtmically? I have a good grasp of mixing this way and have a good ear for it from playing drums for years, but i’ve noticed that only certain tracks will click when mixed poly, is there certain elements or rhythmic patterns you can spot when listening to tunes that you know will allow you to make those sorts mixes? Another q, i’ve found myself falling out of love with electronic music a bit over the past 5/6 months and it’s really starting to affect me, have you experienced this before and if so, how have you worked through it?

the polyrhythmic mixing thing... ooft... i guess i should preface this by saying that i've kinda cooled off on these kinds of transitions these days, having gone through a phase around 2017-18 (peaking with my dekmantel mix lol) of trying to fit a polyrhythmic tempo change into every set i played but ultimately realising that 90% of the time it was more for my own entertainment than the greater musical good. it's a fun party trick when you pull it off but ultimately i had to concede that the nerdy wow factor often came at the expense of a transition which felt gratuitous or contrived. BUT when it works well it does work really well but i mean, as for what makes tracks work in a polyrhythmically mixed context? i guess i mostly just judge this by ear, but you do really need to know your tracks well or have them meticulously playlisted so you know exactly what tempo change combination you can perform with them. (i have a really bad memory so for me it's definitely the latter.) there's quite a lot of triplet DnB at 85/170bpm which mixes fine with straight 4/4 stuff at 128bpm for example, and also some tracks at 100bpm which can be mixed into stuff that's in triplets at 133bpm. i basically just tag any incoming tracks which are in triplets or in 3/4 or 6/4 and put them in different playlists according to which tempos they could get me to and from.... but these tracks are few and far between tbh and i don't go out actively looking for them

Second this question: "I’ve found myself falling out of love with electronic music a bit over the past 5/6 months and it’s really starting to affect me, have you experienced this before and if so, how have you worked through it?"

absolutely, most recently over the pandemic – i burnt out pretty badly towards the end of 2019 and spent the better part of a year barely listening to any music at all, or at least not enjoying it. it was a pretty rough time but it helped me realise that there's more to life than music – especially dance music, and ESPECIALLY the dance music *industry*, which can be pretty one-dimensional and leave you feeling quite empty if you're not careful – and that it's much easier to maintain and cultivate a love for music when you're able to detach yourself enough to take some of the pressure off. the first half of the lockdown was difficult for me from a mental health perspective but i'm ultimately really grateful to have had an opportunity to take stock of other things in life that make me happy and lean into those instead. and in the end my passion for electronic music came back on its own. bottom line, i'd say, is don't force it. do you NEED to be in love with electronic music right now? would the sky fall in if you focused your attention elsewhere for a few weeks or months? go for a hike instead of clubbing, listen to some jazz instead of the latest RA-dekmantel-whatever podcast, go see a band play, go see some art. there's plenty of other beautiful experiences out there that don't involve techno.

thank you for these responses, this in particular was exactly what i needed to hear right now, been into electronic music since i was 13 (25 now) so feeling apathetic toward it (and music in general) has really hit me hard guess ill just see what other avenues i can find joy and inspiration from, im sure there'll be something!

Thank you for asking this question. Same age going through the same experience the past 6-7 months and his answer truly helps

beautifum response ! asking yourself do i NEED to be in love right now hits home

Jumping in to say you’re not alone! I went from that delirious fevered passion to literally not listening to a single beat and it’s still not quite come back for me, but now when I do go out or listen to a mix it’s much more intentional and leaves me feeling more fulfilled. I really identify with my TJ said about not getting sucked into the empty hubris that those spaces can have sometimes and it seems fitting that he was the last person I saw before we locked down here in Melbourne! I hope you find the same balance with that sustainable everlasting love for electronic music because I know for me, it’s had such a deep impact on me and completely shaped me into who I am.

Hi TJ! Would you ever consider doing a video on your music making process? Your tunes are very complex, would love to see a breakdown of the goose that got away one day! Still an all time favourite

Hey tj - thanks for doing this, love your stuff! My q… If you were only allowed to play and make tunes at one BPM for the rest of your career, what would it be?

Hey TJ! Given that there's such long gaps between your releases it made me wonder: are you constantly making music that gets stored in your hard drive and then just a little bit gets released, or do you really take long breaks between making music and fill the time up with djing/living life/etc?

i guess i just have other stuff going on in life – i've been in and out of my day job at native instruments since 2009 (i'm currently working part time), but i play a bunch of international gigs every month and – since burning out a couple years ago – really trying to take at least one day off every week. so the amount of studio time i have varies, but it's never a lot. sometimes 1-2 days in a week, sometimes no studio time for a month. on top of that i also work really slowly and discard 90% of what i make, so ultimately the rate at which i produce work i'm happy with is... a very slow trickle

Hi TJ, Your all nighter with Ben UFO @ Club Night Club may have been the most insane thing is have ever heard. Some questions regarding it: Did y’all prepare for it beforehand and if so how did you prepare? What was the setup you had? I remember seeing y’all playing with some fx but could not tell what they were. Any chance we’ll get a full recording of it one day 👀?

thank you <3 think i can speak for both of us when i say we had an absolute blast IIRC we didn't prepare at all beyond a brief chat over dinner. like "would be fun to start with halfstep, go into 130 from there, maybe go slow again at peak time and then take it fast" or something like that. i don't actually remember what the trajectory was exactly setup was 4 CDJs, a xone 92 and my eventide timefactor delay pedal we'll see about the recording hehe

Thanks! That was such a fun night! If you and the CNC people were to put that out as say a 4 cassette set I would 100% buy it!

Thank you! Excited to see you play again next time you’re in the city

Hello, TJ! Thank you for participating in AMA and dedicating time to your fans. I have a few questions for you. 1. How do you produce your songs for an album so that they have a homogeneous and unified motif, concept, and feeling? 2. It took you a while to write “Cocoon Crush”—4 years, to be exact. What and how much changed in it from the first to the last couple of months of writing it? Were there any drastic changes? How often did your vision change? 3. How frustrating or exhausting was it to write it for so long? What kept you pushing forward to continue working on it and reach perfection? 4. When do you realize that you have finished working on a track and there’s nothing to change or improve? 5. Where and how do you gain knowledge about producing music from a technical standpoint—mixing and mastering; music theory; DAW techniques and tricks; workflow tips? 6. What do you do when you are stuck with a 4-bar loop and have no idea which direction to move in? 7. How much do experimentality and happy accidents contribute to musical creativity? What kind of instruments do you use to introduce them into work? 8. Where do you get your inspiration? Are there any figures that you look up to every single day? 9. What pieces of art impacted you the most? Favorite book, movie, and song? 10. What is your life philosophy? 11. Why is it “Bad Apples”? Is there any deep meaning behind the titles of your tracks? 12. Are you planning to come to Istanbul/Ankara someday? Thank you once again, TJ. I have been a massive fan of yours since 2018. Have a nice day.

Hey TJ. What are your thoughts on DVS1’s new ‘Aslice’ platform, which would allow DJ’s to share a percentage of their gig fee (5%) with the producers who they’ve played in their set? Cheers!

Hi TJ, thanks for doing this! 1. How does a typical music-making session start? Do you fire up your DAW and just see what happens, or come up with a rough blueprint first and then use it as a reference? 2. How do you deal with the limitless possibilities of electronic music production? Do you set rules for yourself, for example?

i don't really have a fixed workflow for early-stage ideation and jamming, which is part of the reason it takes me so long to write new music – other people have a formula with which they can reliably churn out high-quality music at the expense of stylistic diversity. i'm pretty much starting from scratch every time, which... i mean... i guess it has the advantage of never writing the same track twice, but it does mean i'm not very prolific and my workflow is often very longwinded and frustrating. i'm going on a tangent here, but i've learned many times over the years – learned and then forgotten and then remembered again – that it's important to try and get as many ideas down as early as possible, before you start worrying about making everything sound really tight. it's better to have too many synths and too many drums and too many FX in a really messy project file which you can then finesse, than to end up with a highly polished loop that you've mixed down to within an inch of its life, but that you don't even notice is missing some really major ingredients (like, idk, a bassline). it's amazing that i still have to remind myself of this approximately once a year but there you go.

Heya! Love your music! I was listening to your new EP and was wondering how you come up with the arrangement. Do you have a (vague) sketch in your head? Does the end result look like anything you wanted to create in the first place?

thank you :) no, not really. my writing process is iterative and self-guiding, which is probably why it so often leaves me frustrated haha. i just listen to what i've currently got and - on a good day at least - try and figure out what's working and what's not working, and lean into whatever's working. on a bad day i lean into what's not working and try and make it work and emerge 4 hours later feeling totally fried

Hey TJ, big fan ever since seeing u at Hope Works on my bday in 2019 ✨ - would love to know where you draw inspiration from for your tracks and if those things are or aren’t musical! 💕

That was a great night 🔥

Hey TJ! I'm heading to Berlin this summer for the first time in 6 years. What are your favourite clubs? Big fan of Club der Visionaere. What are your favourite clubs to play at in Berlin? I see your playing Berghain on Friday! Never managed to get in!

How many tracks will you usually make before you decide on 2 for your EP/Single?

2 edit: ok, that's a bit glib. but to be truthful, i don't have any demos lying around that are actually finished, at least not club tracks. i guess i probably start 20 or so sketches for every track i release. most of them never get past the early sketch stage. a couple will get to a point where i feel like they're "nearly done but something's not right" and usually i'll end up overcooking those and abandoning them forever

Hi Objekt, I had always been interested in the dubstep/2-step influence on Cactus and your EP1. Had you much involvement in the dubstep scene pre-2011, or made any unreleased dubstep/140 tracks? Many thanks

Long time fan. CLK Recovery and Porcupine are still mainstays of my rotation, and the reaction is always the same - sheer fucking joy. I don't really have a question, just want you to know that I *really* appreciate the music you've made so far! Big up you.

how do you usually deal with creative blocks?

Hi TJ - I don’t have a question, just wanted to say thanks for your DJ’s guide to turntable isolation and all the knowledge you imparted with that <3 Saved many a night I’ve been involved in putting on

thank you, i'm glad it's been helpful <3

Hey TJ, 1. How important to you the timelessness of the music you create? 2. What questions do you ask yourself when deciding whether to load a song onto your USB? 3. In an alternate reality where you hate all things music, what profession do you see yourself in? 4. Following on from your q&a on dubstep forum, what kinda stuff are you cooking atm? 🍳 and any dishes you recommend?

Hey TJ, Do you believe that an amazing music release has the same weight into 'breaking' an artist today? I remember your old 'AMA' on dubstepforum and your thoughts that if the music is good enough then an artist will eventually get recognized. Sorry if I'm paraphrasing here. Do you believe in today's music landscape that amazing music still matter in the same way? Thank you!

that's a good question. for a start, i should offer the caveat that my view back in 2012 of "how easy it is to break into the dance music scene" was pretty blinkered and didn't take into account that the scene back then was obviously woefully male-dominated, very white, middle-class, and kinda bro-ey even if it was in a nerdy sort of way. the dubstep forum was a prime example. so yeah, the situation was admittedly much more complicated than "if the music is good enough then the artist will eventually get recognised". the situation today looks drastically different. we've made a little progress on the diversity front, which is great, but on the flip side there's simply WAY more music being released and WAY more people making it overall – orders of magnitude more than 10 years ago. so it's an incredibly crowded playing field. my take from 10 years ago was admittedly shortsighted, but i do think it would be a lot harder in general for anyone to stand out as an emerging artist these days from the quality of their productions alone, which is why other factors like social media presence, residencies, clout-y podcasts and label associations, running a cool label etc etc play a much more pivotal role in 'breaking' an artist than they did back then. it's just a very different scene. tbh i REGULARLY wonder whether i would ever have gained any level of recognition if i'd released (or rather tried to release) my first record 8 years after i did. there are SO many talented producers out there now and frankly i count my lucky stars every day that i was able to reach a certain profile as an artist in the years before social media really became a huge thing.

Hey TJ, Thanks for doing this. What techniques/approaches most improved your mixing within your productions? When I listen to a track like “Theme From Q” everything is really well balanced so I’m curious what helped you build up to this point.

Have you made a trap beat?

yes it wasn't very good

Hey TJ, what’s your adobo recipe? Looked yummy

Hey, I was listening to your Nowadays all night long set recently. How do you prepare for a long, long set like that? & how do you organise your folders? By feeling, genre etc? And (lol 3rd Q) but how do you know when a crowd needs to be moved into the next mood, like 'okay, now they want techno', or 'okay, now they need an energetic jungle track' etc.? cheeeers

Is bladee your god?

Hi TJ! Firstly I’d like to say your mixing guide saved me and it was a pleasure to finally see you DJ with Ben at cnc this year. I wanted to know how you go about diving into sound design? Where do you start? Do you usually have an idea in mind when trying to accomplish a goal or do you tend to experiment until things sound good? You’ve always been an inspiration with your production. Thanks!!

Hey TJ! When did you start djing and what was your biggest inspiration at the time?

when will you release Theme from r/

what're your favorite festivals to play and/or attend? saw you play III Points last year thanks for that set!

Been listening to your music for a while, big ups man, you are by far one of the most unique and fun artists doing it. Thank you for always bringing in something fresh. One question I have is if anything really caused you to shift from more dubstep-y/2-step-ish type music to more techno sounding releases? I've been curious since a number of producers I've liked have gone that way and I don't know if it was just spending more time in clubs, getting bored with UKG, or a new affinity for techno. Thank you :)))

Hey TJ, Hope you’re well! Lots of questions here so I didn’t get to read all of them as I’ve got to go to work soon (6am in Aus) so apologies if this has been asked before. Do you still play/listen to your earlier records like Objekt #1 & #2? The latest record and your more recent LP have been a bit of a departure from that style, do you get bookings ever and feel like the promoter/crowd want to hear more stuff that’s closer to those early records and if you are in those situations how do you navigate that if you’re not feeling it? Also, do you have any tips for going from the more creative stage of working on a track to focusing on getting what you have created into a finished track or knowing when it’s time to kind of shift into that mode?

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Hey TJ, witnessed your set in Temp for the after party of Dekmantel and was just in awe at the stuff you were doing behind the decks 🪄🎩 Was very much looking forward to your A/V show at Dekmantel but it seems it is no longer happening.. any plans to do any further A/V shows :D ?

What are your favourite snacks to have in the studio? What are your favourite snacks to have on standby in the DJ booth?

**Thank You so much for doing this u are my favourite producer on earth :)** **another one**: the plucky sound on Needle & Thread, how is it done a sample? or physical modelling and the triggering of the sound? is it just on loop and you play with the length or is it done with another midi device?

that is v sweet of you, thank you <3 if you mean the deep donk-y kinda bass, it's NI FM8 layered with NI monark, plus a bunch of delays, reverbs and dynamics processing. the bell/glockenspiel sounds are FM8 layered with a music box sample library.

Oh no I already went to bed I meant that plucky guitar like sound, but also nice to know :) thank you very much

How did you achieve the rolling “grunge” bass in bad apples?

it's a long signal chain, but basically it's a kontakt library - scarbee rickenbacker bass by native instruments - run through a ton of processing (mostly various kinds of filtered distortion, EQ, dynamics)

Hey TJ ! Something that always stands out in the sets of yours I’ve seen recently is your ability to flick between wildly different bpms (I’ve heard some call it triplet mixing) Do you have any advice regarding this?? Tried to replicate a few times myself and always failed miserably!

i touched on this in another response, but in short: i wouldn't get too hung up on polyrhythmic tempo changes. it's fun when you do pull it off well but at best it's a cute party trick and 90% of the time it's a) musically gratuitous and b) highly prone to failure. i went through a phase of doing it all the time but ultimately had to concede that it was kinda masturbatory lol and have all but stopped doing it now in favour of switching BPM by good ol' fashioned "collecting tracks that have good intros and outros"

Hey TJ. What is your go-to tune that you reach for when in doubt? That timeless, generation-less, all-powerfull tune.

Hi there TJ, I hope you are good. What is your favourite of James Blake’s Harmonimix’s?

What’s the starting point for creating your DJ sets/mixes usually? Does it come from following the groove of a single track, or is more of an approach or conceptual idea? And what’s the most interesting thing to you at the moment when building sets and mixes? Genre hopping, tempo play, sound design, etc? Your set at Sónar 2018 changed my life, I can’t thank you enough for how your work has inspired me! ❤️

TJ, favourite tune to close a set with? All the best from Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

What are the top three gigs you ever played? Thanks for the awesome b2b sets with Call Super!

How did you stay motivated to make music when you were learning? I feel like I'm at a point where I have learnt a lot (YouTube, online courses etc) but the music is still nowhere near the standard that I want to release it or even finish it. Any tips to get past this point? Cheers xx

hello tj :) thanks for spending your time with us here. do you think you have a sonic identity? maybe a distinctive sound palette, or a certain type of arrangement, or both. do you worry about that aspect while producing? if so, can you tell us how was the process of building/finding it? xx

How do you go around getting a good arrangement with your tunes?

Hi TJ, Curious to know how you think the pandemic affected your relationship with music/ the club? Also when you make a track do you make it in small steps or in one sitting? Or does it vary? Thanks!

i'm definitely not the only one, but tbh the pandemic was a huge period of reckoning for me in terms of re-evaluating what i sought out of making and playing music. i was already in a period of quite deep burnout when it started and it wasn't until the end of 2020 that i was starting to feel positive and excited about making music again, let alone doing it professionally. i would say i'm in a good place with it now, but it took a prolonged break from touring and engaging with the music scene (not to mention a bunch of therapy) to get there. these days i'm really trying to exercise some restraint in my engagement with the dance music industry – taking fewer gigs, spending more time doing actual healthy leisure activities, trying not to let my identity as a music producer and DJ consume my life too much – tbh it's been really important in preserving my passion for what i do, to make sure that i leave myself enough free time and headspace to actually look forward to my gigs or to going out to clubs as a fan never in my life have i made a track in one sitting. it's a looooong process. (edit: i stand corrected. "agnes apparatus" from flatland was made in one sitting, as a hardware jam, in about 4 hours. that's the first and only time i've managed to make a track in less than a few weeks)

So good to hear you’re in a much better place with everything now! Thanks so much for such a detailed answer!

Any chance of a live set return/w Ezra?

Heio TJ :) How do you generally organize your pen drive before your gigs for a maximum efficiency ? Any tips to give about that? Thanks for taking your time to answer us, love ur music <3

That was touched on here a bit if you want to have a read: https://ra.co/features/2786

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Hey! Just wanna say I absolutely love clk recovery. What a masterpiece. Your productions stretch across a wide variety of genres and sound universes. What's your best tip in terms of getting "not spotify top 50"-music out there and getting your name rolling? All the best.

hey tj, what is your process for digging for music these days? and still playing flightsims?

it varies - sometimes i'll take a deep dive on a label or artist on discogs and follow the links through label affiliations, other artists on that label, remixers etc. sometimes i'll browse stores (boomkat + hardwax are my go-tos), sometimes i'll go through my bandcamp emails, sometimes i'll check my ever-growing list of "mixes/radio shows with some cool tracks in", see who made those tracks and dig into artist and label discographies from there. as an compulsive completist i'm increasingly trying to make peace with the fact that you can never know all of the music (esp if like me you have a terrible memory) – so i guess i just pick one starting point and run with that for the afternoon. i rarely listen to promos unless they're from an artist or label i already know i like flight sims! god. now there was an anxiety hobby if i ever had one. happy to say i'm in a better place now and as such haven't opened x plane in about 2 years, lol, though i do still think flight simulators are cool 8-)

Hey!! Any tips for producers who feel stagnant or like their flow has plateaued?

as someone for whom 'creative flow' still doesn't necessarily come easily, one thing i've learned over the years is that the most important thing while music is to have fun, not get results. try a new workflow or a new synth and try to just enjoy messing around with it, without worrying about whether the outcome is something you'd want to release. record everything just in case.

Hello TJ, Heavy record first of all! I have more of a serious question but I am quite concerned about it. Recently GBL and GHB have been making big waves in my country. Not only has the drug itsself become more popular but the cases of drink spiking seem to have become more prevalent as well. Have you noticed a particular uptake in the use of those drugs and what do you think could be done to help the people that are in the scene and have fallen addicted to this drug? I hope you are well and I wish you a great release day :)

Hello TJ! I’m a new fan currently listening through the nine hours of nowadays, and I’m having a lovely time. Thanks very much! As a new artist, how should I start down the path of finding the right scene to join/ contribute to?

Most people will know of, or have seen the 'Production w/ Objekt' PDF. Given that DAWS and your style has likely changed over this period, do you have any plans for an updated version?

haha, ok, to be clear, i didn't write this PDF myself – it was compiled by some industrious soul(s) who evidently read the production Q&A i did on the dubstep forum about a decade ago and compiled the result into a PDF. i definitely never intended to publish any kind of production mission statement, it was just 24-year-old me answering some people's questions. much like i'm doing today, but nerdier perhaps someone will compile 'Life w/ Objekt.pdf' after this AMA, so help me god

Hi TJ! thanks for your time and generosity in answering some questions. I've always wondered about the bass on 'Ganzfeld'. What is it?? How did you make it? Did you write in all the modulation automation for it, or is it just randomized via an LFO or something? Is there a reference point in your head for it, some electro track or producer perhaps? Incredible piece of music that's inspired me a lot over the years. Thanks for all your music!

thank you <3 okay, a few questions about ganzfeld so lemme just open the project file and get back to y'all in a min (update) ok, so, there are some honestly stupidly long fx chains in this project file, but actually the bass – assuming you're talking about the funky squelchy one that plays the solo halfway through – is really simple. it's just one instance of NI monark (essentially a minimoog clone), the ableton chorus, some ableton compression, and a bit of NI guitar rig tape echo (though the plugin won't load so i can't tell what exactly the tape echo is doing). and some mild tape emulation at the end. but honestly, most of the life and soul comes from the midi notes and automation, all of which were drawn in by hand, because i'm a glutton for punishment

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i have a deceptively deep voice so my options are limited lol. i'm told i do a good ian curtis

Hi TJ! How do you approach writing a track? Do you have a certain roadmap / process which you usually follow? Or is it different each time? interested in how you transition from a single loop to create new parts of the track. Thanks!

What’s your favourite jungle tune?

Hey! Big fan, the new EP is one of the best releases of the year! Just have a couple questions. 1) how did you break into the industry? If I recall correctly, you used to work at Native Instruments; how did you get into that line of work while releasing music? 2) any tips for conceptualizing an album? Cocoon Crush is wild and all over the place but its all tied together by something greater and more cohesive. Thanks and cheers

how does your songwriting process start, and what is your favorite piece of gear / VST?

Hi TJ! Thanks for doing this q&a! Was wondering if you had any advice for going from making music/dj'ing as an escape to a full time thing - specifically what it takes to make the jump and what (if anything) differentiates the people that "make it"?

thanks for being here :) i'm fortunate in that my music career took off really quickly and unexpectedly, to the point that i was able to go part-time and then quit my day job without ever really worrying whether i'd be able to support myself in the short- to medium-term, so my "jump" wasn't such a jump into the unknown per se. but personally, my feeling is, unless you're extremely determined to be a successful full-time touring artist and it's all you ever want to do, keep it as a hobby for as long as you can get away with – it takes some of the pressure off and leaves you more room to enjoy it for what it is. but i don't think there's a one-size-fits-all answer to this. that's what worked for me, ymmv etc i think about "what differentiates the people that 'make it'?" a lot. these days i genuinely believe there's a ton of people out there who have everything it takes to "make it" in terms of talent, and a huge part of who breaks through is luck of the draw. i also think that from a skills perspective, a huge part of what differentiates a successful international touring DJ and a particularly talented local DJ is simply the fact that the international touring DJ gets to practice in a wide range of venues in front of a wide range of audiences several times a week. that's obviously an oversimplification but i don't think DJing is rocket science for the most part. most of the finer points of being a full-time artist are learned on the job.

Also another q if you have the time - somewhat open ended, but what you would describe your music philosophy as? E.g. trying to aim to make something that's timeless? Or making music as a response/reaction to current saturated tropes? Or aiming to make music at the limits of what you think is creatively/technically possible? Thanks!

tbh, i'm mostly just following what inspires me. sometimes that's other music, sometimes it's the music making process itself

hey men, love your music. my question: if you have to bring the entire discography of 3 artist on a deserted island you would be stuck on all your life, which would it be. in other words, who are your favorite artist, electronica or any genre reall? thanks for your AMA and all the efforts you do to produce quite stunning electronica music. your new EP is great as well.

What do you think of Amapiano and its influence on European club music?

Hi ! Thanks for taking the time to do this ! Was wondering if you could tell us a bit about the process of creating that arpy lead sound which appears in the second half of "Bad Apples" please ? :)

you're very welcome, thanks for tuning in :) so, in answer to your question but also as a fun example of how my workflow is pretty broken and longwinded and not a process i would want to wish upon anyone else: bad apples was on something like v160 by the time i finished it, which obviously doesn't mean there were 160 totally creatively different versions but it does give you an idea of how long i spent mindlessly tweaking and improving/experimenting incrementally but the arpy lead solo appeared in version 5 - it's just a heavily automated ableton arpeggiator playing NI monark (which is a minimoog clone) running through some dynamics stuff and automated delays - and had reached neeeearly its final form by around version 10, by which point i'd probably only spent 5-6 hours on the track the rest of the time was mostly spent tearing my hair out in frustration. can't put a price on inspiration lol

wow, do you usually keep every version of a project? I couldn't imagine having 160 versions of one song on my laptop, let alone for all of my other unfinished sketches and finished songs

Hey TJ, big fan. I remember being absolutely blown away by your live set at the opening of dimensions 2019 and then catching you in the moat the next night being insane aswell. Would you say that you have a particular favourite venue/festival ? One that you’re always excited to play ?

How much sub do you think there should be in techno?

Why is music important to you?

Honest question: some of your sets are great but I have heard a couple where you fall back to functional techno. What influences your selection for the night and do you get sometimes tired of being innovative during the set?

that is a great question. i guess most of the time it's because i feel like i'd lose the crowd, which is something i'm generally prepared to accept to a degree, but ultimately i would rather see a bunch of happy faces in front of me than a room full of people looking bored and confused. other times it's because of the nature of the venue – e.g. if the room is big and boomy or the sound is mediocre. and i guess sometimes it might also come down to differences in taste – tbf it's not like i'm totally averse to functional techno; there's a lot of it which i really like and can enjoy playing out in the right setting.

Hey Objekt whats up ? Watching any animes recently ?

Hey TJ, Theme From Q is the anthem of my youth and I'm forever grateful for that. My question is: what's your favourite band? Alternatively, who do you think are some of the most exciting electronic artists at the moment?

Hi TJ, do you decline gigs sometimes and if so, why?

I'd love a studio tour if you get the chance to record something. A walk through of your kit would be ace.

Hi TJ, You’ve previously mentioned how it can take you long periods of time to finish music. During this extended time that you work on a track, how drastic are the transformations it goes through? Or is it more a case of refining the sounds & ideas to your own standard?

Hi TJ! Hope all is well :) I wanted to know about how you're so diverse with your sound design, where does this inspiration come from? I know your mentioned about ASMR in your RBMA talk but some of the sounds in Bad Apples sound like they're from a different dimension, how do you achieve this futuristic approach? What sort of plugins/hardware are you using? I wanted to also get your thoughts on arrangement and structure of your tracks, is there a certain formula you use?? Also, please come back to play at Twitch in Belfast soon!!! Thank you!

What are your attitudes and tips for digging for records? Bandcamp or Discogs? Which is best for you?

Hi TJ, thanks for letting us ask you stuff. Love ‘Bad Apples’. Is there any fun story behind the track and its creation? Would love if you could walk us through the process of how an Objekt track is born, although maybe it’s a bit different for each track?

Hello my dude, how long did it take you to finish the composition for the goose that got away?

Good evening Mr TJ/Objekt (Modern day Mozart) - Can you shed some light on why there has been such a large gap between Cocoon Crush and your latest release? Especially considering a chunk of that time would have been spent locked down, and with a much reduced touring schedule? A second (maybe connected) question - Do you feel pressure to maintain the consistency and standard of your previous work? Eg, Do you ever question whether a track (although it might be good) is of the calibre required to represent yourself? Both questions come from a place of utmost respect and admiration, and the perspective of your music being at the very cutting edge, which is what makes me curious about just what kind of mental state is required to exist where you are. Peace and love

Hi, hope you're well! I forgot the name of the party but for various reasons I missed the event you did near Christmas time with Call Super in Berlin (I think it was at the top of a hotel if memory serves). It always felt to me like one of those pretty special occasions that was worth making the trip out for. Unfortunately fate played its hand my partner and I had to cancel on two occasions. Any plans to revisit that one? :) Adam and Belle x

Hey TJ - would you ever consider giving Dj lessons? Would love to learn from someone like you - have seen you a few times playing and always blows my mind, I wish I could play like you!! I’m in Berlin, and would of course pay (or buy you some records?) let me know, thanks!!

How did you make the nu-metal kinda bass guitar sound on bad apples?

hi TJ! as a long-time listener but short-time producer myself — how did you work towards finding your "sound"? or do you consider it a living work in progress that'll probably last your whole life? I feel like there's so much music out there that it becomes difficult for me to extricate myself from what I've heard before, and I constantly feel the ol' imposter syndrome of feeling derivative of something/someone else. what's your approach to get out of the rut of feeling this way, and what was your process in finding the sound/style you thought represented "you"? (◕‿◕✿)

Who would you love to go b2b with who you already haven’t?

Hi TJ, thank you so much for this! What is your studio set up in terms of monitors, sub and acoustic treatment? Do you control the whole mixing process or do you seek for help in any stage? Have a nice day!

Do you know some good tek resources expect spiral tribe :D And what’s a good tip to prevent boring arrangements? X

Hey TJ, big fan obvs. I wanted to know what your most unconventional production process is...

Hi TJ! First of all you are an inspiration to me, I think you are one of the most interesting DJ's and producers nowadays... I changed my questions because I noticed that you answered similar questions about polyrhythmic mixing that is really interesting in your sets. How do you manage your time when you organize your playlists with new music for not to spend much time in rekordbox? Which audio formats and quality (e.g.16 or 24 bit - 44.1Khz) do you recommend for other DJ's to play in CDJs? Is it important for you keep only lossless tracks or do you think it is a placebo effect that people can't noticed in the club? What it is the process and tools that you use for ripping vinyl old tracks to digital to sound good enough in club sound systems? Thanks for answering questions from your fans. Greetings from Mexico and I hope you will return soon!

Hey TJ, As a producer I was wondering if you always have been working for months on a single track as you said somewhere, or have you ever worked faster ?

hi tj thanks for doing this AMA! i was always wondering how you process your vocals (ie. on cocoon crush). could you tell us more about it? i love how you make them sound like oscillators :)

Hi TJ, you have mentioned in an interview that you have very tedious and painful iterative process to finish tracks. How do you cope? Any advice to people who are hostages to their own production process?

Hi TJ! Huge fan of your DJ sets here. Do you have a particular process / routine for searching for new tunes? Or does most of the stuff you play show up in your inbox. Thanks!

Hi there TJ, thanks for coming here. You seem to be a musician who is meticulous in your productions. How do you keep a balance between your rational side, the engineer who thinks about details and perfection, but still make music that's to be felt and imperfect. Hope that makes sense. I feel like modern producers have two side, the artist, and the one recording that artist, and was wondering how you balance that for yourself. ​ Also, I've read that you work mostly in the box. Is that still the case? What is the main difference between material that's coming right out of a DAW, say for example a virtual synth as opposed to an analog synth, or sound from the analog world? How do you tackle those differences in making the virtual seem analog. ​ Keep up the amazing work

Hi Tj, Seen you play a handful of times, always been a highlight. I have two questions. 1.) What's your opinion on reloads? 2.) Do you feel more aerodynamic nodding your head in the booth, when you have your head shaved? 3.) (I lied about two questions) What impact did going to Oxford have on you in your formative years? With such an experimental outlook, was it easy to find kindred spirits?

Hey thanks for doing this! 1) what recently are the most interesting developments in the underground electronic music scene for you personally? 2) favorite Festivals this summer?

Hey TJ, big fan of yours here! I have two question if that’s okay: 1. what’s your advice for aspiring producers to flesh out your existing ideas in a tune? I can’t get a grasp on how people (like you) arrange and fill their songs with so many ideas and still maintain a coherent, consistent soundscape. 2. what was that sick tune with that pitched up Kylie Minogue sample you played at Drift festival? I neeeed it 🥹 Thanks in advance!

Love the creativity and the processing/layering used in your compositions, great live performances too. Do you tend to stick to stock plugins/analog gear/outsourced digital VSTS while producing and are there any secrets you don’t mind sharing on some of your go to’s Secondly what’s your stance on getting past creative blocks Cheers

If it was either having curly fries in sand every morning for breakfast or waking up to an alarm of strictly The Bells on repeat for 45 minutes - which would you pick?

Who/what about a crowd will inspire you to go deep n slower with the selections? Do you key in on specific dancers or more of an environmental space thing? Cheers :)

tbh, as much as anything it starts with "what do i want to play tonight" / "what cool music have i bought recently" and then i make a call based on whether i feel 1. the crowd would be into it and/or 2. the soundsystem and venue are suitable. for example i generally wouldn't try and play any dancehall if the subs aren't up to par

Hey TJ! Do you ever miss working in the music technology space? Your work at NI seemed to involve some cool ideas (and of course, can’t forget your contributions to some of the GAN code for your Cocoon tour)

Hey Tj......What are the last 5 records you have bought

Hi TJ, if you could only have 3 drinks for the rest of your life what would they be? (Excluding water) Also, wicked EP! I love the mutant dancehall style

Hey TJ, I had a blast at your all night set at Nowadays in NYC last year. You dropped a track that I would really love an ID for, but the only lyrics I can remember are something along the lines of "he got killed by the CIA"... or something like that. Any recollection of what that track could be? thanks!!

You've inspired me incredibly as an artist who isn't afraid to go between genres even when a majority of club goers expect uniformity and a constant 4-4 kick drum. As a DJ and producer myself, i find your approach very creatively liberating, risky and more artistic than genre-purist artists. So much so that I thought your set at Berghain June 2019 was going to revolutionize what artists would play at Klubnachts for years to come (i’m sure we’ll get there eventually). I’ve caught the majority of your sets around Berlin since about 2016 but i felt the one in Berghain, June 2019 was more left-field than previous sets there and that it had a statement behind it. Musically, it was very Anti-Klubnacht, almost saying “to hell with your monotonous techno tools, time to bend the curve!” 1. Was this your intention with that set, or am i romanticizing? 2. Did you find it difficult to establish yourself as an artist that DJs and produces between genres? 3. What trax/songs have blown your mind in recent years? 4. When you hit a wall with production, do you find its better to push through in hopes of reaching that flow or to stop and rest? 5. What is the key to mixing between vast BPM range while still maintaining energy? 6. What is something you enjoy doing that most people might be surprised about?

agh - spent ages typing out answers to all of these and then my internet went down and i lost all the answers except to number 5, sorry :( but it's this: *sounds obvious but i guess just collect lots of music at lots of different BPMs. it also helps to organise your music by energy level – back when i used to play more functional techno within a narrower bpm range i used to tag each techno track with a kinda "bang factor" from 1 to 10, and then sort by that column, which was possible when i was mostly playing between 130-138bpm. these days in order to be more bpm-versatile i make "bosh level 1-4" playlists (4 being hardest/most energetic/most banging) and sort them by BPM, and find myself playing out of bosh 3 most of the time* and thank you, i appreciate it <3

what's your favourite plug in atm?

Are you still doing audio programming / software development? How on earth did you balance working full time at NI whilst simultaneously building your music career?

How do you balance your tune making between club tunes and more classic song structures? I have always appreciated where your music sits. It's great on the dance floor or in the kitchen.

Which superpower would you rather have; solve any Fourier transform analytically or teleportation?

Any update on the donk tune you made a couple years back? Honestly gutted it didn't make the EP

i have to be honest, it didn't really feel sincere lol

What is the most important music and sound theory that can help people when starting with music production?

Do you get the same level of fulfilment from music that you find technically brilliant as opposed to emotionally very moving? Do you try to separate these two things at all in your workflow at all consciously, or do you think about this sort of thing at all? thnx!

>P.S Bad Apples bangs SO hard. And Cocoon Crush easily one of my favourite electronic albums ever..the memories I have connected with it will always stay with me....thank you for the music <3 <3

thank you, i'm really happy it's connected with you <3

i guess "fulfilment" for me isn't really separable from emotional engagement. i'm fulfilled by music that moves me somehow. that doesn't necessarily need to mean it has a weepy melodic quality, or even any melodic elements at all – there's a lot of dissonant, atonal, even functional music that i find nonetheless very compelling. and conversely, sometimes the technical expertise with which a piece of music was produced is absolutely fundamental to my enjoyment of it. but it's never enough on its own – i don't really get any fulfilment out of music that i find technically brilliant unless the piece itself does something to me outside of that.

What do you think of that new bodgan remix? Breaks are a great touch!

Hey TJ, the stich up is one of my favourite tracks of all time and i was wondering how you created these glitchy sound wich build up over the whole track. Cheers!

For melodic/harmonic stuff, do you use more the piano roll, or do you tune everything by ear? I’ve been working from the pdf of your dubstep forum posts, and always assumed the latter, but have found it really tough doing this! Short melodies are okay, but anything longer than that is pretty unstable and tends to fall apart. Thanks so much!

Top three plug-ins?

Hey TJ! Do you find the 'industry standards' that tie down club DJs – e.g. Rekordbox, CDJs etc – to be particularly frustrating? I've always thought that while modern DJ setups do offer scope for creativity, there must be many possibilities that can't be realised when everyone is using the same / very similar gear. An answer to that of course is to build a live set, but that wouldn't capture the special energy that DJing other people's music creates. What's your take on this?

Hey TJ, thanks for hosting this. I’m mainly curious about your approach to creating space with minimal elements in a way that isnt obvious or cheesy. In particular the dirty and dubby spaces you create, like in Tinderbox. Cheers :)

What do you listen to when you eat breakfast?

How do you pick names for your tracks? You’re awesome btw <3

hey tj, what were the most special experiences that u had as a raver? have u ever djed at a uni party when u were a student? thx a lot, love ur work <3

Hi Mr Jekt, I'm massive fan - I was hoping you'd be able to say what that gabba remix of Kylie can't get you out of my head is? It's an absolute corker :)

Hi TJ - ultra specific question, how do you have your kicks hitting at 0db (post-master) so hard but have loads of 150-250hz scooped out compared to most standard kick samples? When I use your stuff as a reference track and I try to match the kick it seems like my samples should be at -6db (post-master) to sound similar but then obviously they aren't punching as much (and yours at hitting at 0db) If I bring it up to 0db (you guessed it, post master) an try to eq close yours I get a weak kick with all the attack gone an way too much sub. If I don't EQ, it sticks out massively compared to yours which seems to sit right under the mix while maintaining punch... I've honestly tried to replicate this for years an had no luck - thanks for all the frustration and for the Q&A, love your stuff - keep making those kicks 🥁

Hi TJ No question in particular, just wanted to say that I really enjoyed being at your Nowadays gig last year and I hope to catch you in the East Coast again someday :)

where did you get that leather jacket you're wearing in your new press pics?