It is understood by many fans that within techno there are many different branches – you’ve got your dark princes, your techno dons, and as underground as the genre might be, you’ve also got your relative superstars. Those in the know understand that the person who receives the least amount of attention ultimately has the most amount of control in the final sound – the audio engineer who masters the finished production.

Robert Babicz – pronounced bah-bitch, not bah-bix – may be better known to some people as Rob Acid or perhaps one of his other pseudonyms which include (but are not limited to) Dicabor, Sontec, Atlon Inc, Department of Dance and Acid Warrior. Either way, with a career that spans almost two decades, German born Robert Babicz understands that great techno is patient. That it is calculating. It bubbles and progresses, it rises and subsides and can just as effortlessly swirl dance floors into a whirlwind of motion as it can summon intense emotion. Babicz hopes to invoke both of these and more with his upcoming Australian gigs, as well as with his latest LP, which he both wrote and mastered.

An album almost two years in the making, Babicz admits that when he told ITM in December of 2008, that the album’s “release is planned for early 2009” he had a version ready, but began again because, “in the beginning it was mainly a pure band album, but then I slowly decided that’s not really where I wanted to go with the album. So I started again. I scrapped everything.”

The forthcoming album, Immortal Changes, which serves as a cathartic experience for Babicz, allowing him to communicate his experiences while traveling, also allows us a brief expedition into Babicz’ vision of the globe as he translates these experiences into tripped-out atmospheres, deep melodies and even darker grooves.

As Babicz talks of Immortal Changes, he immediately mentions how a location recorder accompanied him on the tour for his previous album A Cheerful Temper. This allowed him to record local atmospheres, which he then took into the studio to form the basis for most of the album, so when you listen to the album he says, it’s “like you are traveling around the world.”

Babicz says he hopes the ethereal journey he has created draws the listener deep into their own imaginary world and back again. A voyage he crafted over many months, retooling and reshuffling the playlist on planes and in airports, finally arriving with a flow he was happy with. Rather than being a self-confessed perfectionist, this state of being seems to seep through every sentence Babicz says. Through his broken English, he articulates the comfortable realm in which he crafted this warm-psychadelic odyssey; surrounded by decades of vintage circuitry, delicate techno-rigidity and walls of custom built whatcha-ma-callits.

Babicz also talks fondly of another delay in the final release of Immortal Changes – his new Atomic Clock. A device offered to him by an American company, which immediately found itself becoming the centerpiece of his studio and forcing Babicz to discard the ten versions of the album he had prepared only to repeat the whole recording process again, “[As soon as I] had the Atomic Clock Generator, I knew immediately I had to start over. It’s a crazy device; it changed the sound so much”

Also contributing to the overall sound of the album is Babicz’ immense skills behind the mastering desk, skills which have had artists such as Way Out West approach him to give their latest album his ‘personal stamp’. “I had [a lot] of fun with the new album for Way Out West. The first version they gave me, I was totally unhappy with the sound, so Jodie came back with the new version, which was so nice. It was perfect for me. It was like working in a really nice space.”

A process he takes very seriously, Babicz says mastering is one of the most important steps in the production process. “It makes no sense if the sounds are totally washed out or masked. There are so many parameters that can go wrong and music sounds really dead. Nothing happens, no dynamics, really dead. I like music when you are able to get emotions out of that, many small different emotions.”

So how much of an album’s content or message do you attribute to the mastering process? “A lot. That’s one of the reasons why people come to me with their music. You have the two schools of mastering, one is the clinical way of ‘don’t touch anything, just make it a little bit louder and better, or you come to people like me who totally rebuild the complete picture.

However, when asked what has been his favourite remix to work on, Mr Babicz is a little more elusive. “What a question. That’s not easy because when I decide to remix something, I really have to like the elements of the original and make the remix like [I’m creating] one of my own tracks. Maybe my remix for Phonique’s River or Mr. Decay for Gui Boratto. I still play that one.”

While the upcoming new album from Robert Babicz might be on everybody’s lips, he’s also just about to play several highly anticipated shows across the country, including a set at the Rainbow Serpent Festival in Victoria, and we draw him out to talk a little about his live setup in 2010. “Yeah the main thing these days, is one or two laptops with Ableton and then some toys. I have a lot of Korg stuff, like Kaoss Pads and controllers and small little toys that make fun sounds. Sometimes I take my TB-303 and some tape delays or sometimes I take my electronic drum machine with me. I always change the setup. In the end it’s like ‘oh, it’s Friday again. I have to pack my stuff, what do I take today?’”

More successful than ever, Robert Babicz says that while people used to try and imitate his sound, nowadays it’s not as much of a problem. Instead, they just put him on the payroll. “I had this when I was Rob Acid,” I told ITM. “At that time [in the 90s] I knew there were many people trying to sound like me but I don’t know if I can find anyone trying to sound like Babicz. If someone wants to sound like Babicz, they come to me and do their mastering at my place.

Robert Babicz’s Immortal Changes is due for release on March 26, catch him at the following shows:

Fri 22nd Jan – Drop Empire, Brisbane
Sat 23rd Jan – Lollygag at Transit Bar, Canberra
Mon 25th Jan – Rainbow Serpent Festival, Victoria
Fri 29th Jan – Roxanne Parlour, Melbourne
Sat 30th Jan – Chinese Laundry, Sydney
Sun 31st Jan – Spice, Sydney