RBTS WIN – former duo, now trio, is all set to drop a new project and they told BBoyTechReport all about it.

RBTS WIN are a trio from Asheville, NC, home to Moog Music Inc. I was put on to them a few years back while attending Moogfest. Shortly after, we featured their 2014 project, Palm Sunday complete with a dope interview. Since then I’ve followed their music and their progression. So, I’m excited to share their new project, Sensitivity Kit LP (out Sept 8th on Tidal Prism/Fevered Visions) with yet another inter interview that digs into the thought process behind the latest project.

But before we get to the interview, here is a bit of what I know about RBTS WIN. They love good music. They used to be a duo but now they’re a trio. They dig in the crates and avidly use SP404’s & MPC 4000’s. They are synth heads that rock mad Moog synths. They tend to bend genres like rock, electronic, hip-hop and soul into their own fresh flavor. Finally, I know that you should get familiar.

On the new album, the Moogfest staples have found themselves into music with a lot of the space between sounds, silence/air between sections. In turn, they simplified the instrumentation, at times using only noise, 808s, and vocals or other times just using drums, a synth, and vocals, etc. A subtle descriptor but one that inspired these bunch of tracks. The album title by the way, is literal (peace and love for all humans) and perhaps welcomed in today’s climate…

What was the overall inspiration for this project?

Cliff b: I think our overall inspiration for this project has always been love. We have always wanted to spread love and positivity with RBTS WIN. In a world where we are getting more use to the daily negatives we see we wanted to be an oasis from that. We wanted to create a project that you could turn on and feel positive vibes.

How would you say this project differs from the previous one?

Cliff b: I would say that it most differs because on this album we didn’t use samples as we had in the past. I think that it still has our RBTS WIN formula but instead of digging records for this album we really got into playing. From using Moog synth to live drums in the studio we wanted to really show our musicianship on this one. We all come from rock backgrounds and playing instruments so we kind of went back to that recipe on this project.

Javier: Biggest difference to me from a sonic perspective was dynamics and space. ‘Palm Sunday‘ was so dense from the start of songs throughout and with this one we took special care to leave ‘air’ in the music. You’ll find verses with just field recordings, 808s and vox, just tape hiss and guitar, things like that which can often be more powerful than having a million tracks going. Maybe we’re just getting older, we need our space, haha.


How would you describe the sound of this project?

Cliff b: We’ve always been known as a band that kind of goes all over the place when it comes to sound. With the last two albums I think that we’ve really come into our own sound. When it comes to sample based music you can be all over the place because you are going to be sampling from many different kinds of records. With the last two records I think we’ve really found our sound in the chill hop / trip hop realm. It’s hard to put an exact tag on RBTS WIN I think. I’m happy with that because I think it keeps it fresh.

Javier: If the last record was multi-color, tropical record I would say this one is cooler feeling, icier, and darker toned. Def more of a mountain record. There’s a fire burning on that mountain but it’s cold AF out here.

What piece or pieces of gear were used most on this project and why?

Cliff b: Javi, Josh and I are definitely gear heads. We come from musical families and back when we were kids we got to touch a lot of gear. With this album we of course used our classic production tools like the Akai MPC 2500, MPC 4000, MPC LIVE, Moog Voyager, live bass, live drums, Roland Juno-06 synth, kids keyboards that we picked up at goodwill. Josh has one of the most crazy guitar rigs that includes Axe Effects 2 and a plethora of guitar pedals.

Javier: Def took more time to sculpt the sounds on this one. Pretty much every instrument from the field recordings to synths went through a pedal chain and pre-amp before it went into the box. Lots of the Chase Bliss Warped Vinyl pedal, an old Deluxe Memory Man, Moog pedals, lots of LFO tweaking on the synths. Most of it passing through a UA Solo/610 for warmth.


What do you hope the listeners comes away with after listening to this project?

Cliff b: we hope that they come out of it with a sense of love and compassion for their fellow human. In times like these it is important to not lose sight of the fact that we are all struggling in this world. We are all one human. I hope that it can open eyes to that fact. I really tired to stress that with the lyrics on this album. Life is a winding road and we could all use a little help.

Website: www.rbtswin.com

Twitter: @RBTSWIN

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RBTSWIN/

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