July 2nd, 2014 
Brian Leak 
Robert Jaros, aka Robert Devine, has been involved with music for the majority of his life. He’s explored genres, projects, and various clubs, and also worked with some very prominent artists along the way. His newest endeavor is The Devine Xperience, which consists of EDM unlike any EDM you’ve likely heard. It weaves in and out of various sub-genres with a penchant for the unique.
Devine recently took the time to discuss the project and its debut album with us along with what they’ve been working on since its release. You can read through our conversation below and check out their video for “Completely in a Trance.”
You’ve been playing a wide assortment of instruments since you were a kid, but what initially influenced your desire to get involved with music in the first place?
It was always an obsession of mine to play music since the moment I first heard it. Music brings me to another world where I feel connected to the universe completely. I always had a natural attraction to anything creative and music was my calling from day one.
And what was it that originally piqued your interest in working within the realm of EDM?
The Prodigy. I remember sitting at my friend Shawn McGill’s house and listening to Experience; it blew my mind completely and after I attended my first rave in 1992 it was in my blood fully. It was all I thought about, it really changed my life.
Before really fully developing this project, you shared the stage with some of the biggest names in hip-hop and produced for many as well. Are you still involved with that aspect at all?
I still have some artists that I work with from hip-hop and others that I would like to work with when the time is right for that. I plan on featuring T.R.U.B. — a rapper from Tennessee that now resides in Atlanta — on my next album, on a trap style track we are working on. I’m also working with a Jamaican artist, Vanchi, on a remix for his album as well currently. But right now the main focus is definitely the Devine Xperience as it takes up the majority of our time.
So how did The Devine Xperience come to fruition and how did Vanessa get involved?
We actually began working on the songs on the self-titled album around 2007 and did not have a name for the group yet but in the ’90s I performed the same type of music live as the Devine Xperience so I revived the name after spending countless years trying to come up with a better name to match this music project. Vanessa is my wife and is also an amazing artist and creative force. She paints the most beautiful art I’ve ever seen and is creative beyond measure. Her voice is so unique and inviting to the ear so it was just natural to invite her into my world to create together. The name of our group was also inspired by the first electronic music album that changed my life: The Prodigy’s Experience coupled with my last name from my raver days: Robert Devine.
And what does Enki Siruz bring to the table for TDE?
He is a brilliant live performer and our own personal engineer. His input during song creation is very inspiring. He is a graduate of Musician Institute Audio Engineering Program and with that he understands the science of sound design and that is a huge help as I only have training from years of application in home studios over the past 17 years. Without him the project would not have sounded half as great as it did.
So how did you guys get hooked up with DJ Keoki for the label and this release?
Through Edgar Montiel who runs the label with Keoki. We were very fortunate to be at the right place at the right time one night in Hollywood; Enki Siruz and I were attending a concert where David Christophere, Decoding Jesus, and Tri-Force were performing and we met Edgar there and told him that we had an album that we were working on and he told us to send him a sample of what we had. We sent our music to him and he and Keoki loved it and they called us a few days later to change our lives forever and offer us a record deal through their label. I’ll never forget that phone call, I nearly had a heart attack I was so excited.
How would you pitch this record and what it has to offer to a potential listener that has yet to hear TDE?
If you love Electronic Dance Music of any kind then there will be something on this album for you because it is a fusion of so many different styles and it is presented in an artistic manner rather than in a formulaic manner. It offers another experience of a mind altering music dimension that has never been presented before.
You recently released a very trippy video for “Completely in a Trance.” Can you tell me about the ideas that went into that and how it all came together?
When we started work on the first video we had not been signed to Keoki Records yet so we didn’t have much money but we had a clear vision of what we wanted to do to promote the art we were creating, It was actually one of the first songs that we had a final mix of at the time and we all loved it so we decided that it would be our song for the video. I have a background in music video production and cinematography so I filmed, directed, and edited the video. We shot it using two Canon 5D MKIIs that I use for my photography and cinematography company with my wife. We also borrowed a jib and crane from a great friend of mine, rented a bunch of lights, a generator, and a fog machine and picked out some clothing we liked and shot it. We filmed it in the back of our building and in front of the Van Nuys Fire Station in the middle of the night, so that no one would notice what we were doing. Lastly I edited it over the course of a few months using Sony Vegas Pro. My intention was to make it as trippy as possible and create something with classic artist merit that I would want to watch.
You have a very impressive following and fanbase through social media. What have you done since forming this project that you think helped expand your reach on listeners to help grow your brand?
We feel as though it is definitely a combination of putting out a quality product, then following that up with endless amounts of time and energy spent on actively marketing and promoting each individual event and release we have, then finally having the right team behind us. We have been super lucky to have had Mystic Pete from KXLU Los Angeles 88.9FM supporting our project since day one. He really took a big chance by playing our music on his weekly radio show In a Dream. Urban Decibal Radio put us into rotation early on and that has really helped us out in addition to the greatest writers such as yourself actively taking interest in our project and reviewing it in major magazines and online publications.
We invest in ourselves in terms of both time and money and we really take our music career seriously. We realize that we not only have to consistently create new songs and experiences that are groundbreaking and keep our fans excited but also actively interact with our fans. We take the time to try and respond and thank each and every one of them for every interaction they make with us, whether it is direct communication with us via our website or via our other social networking sites. We have spared no expense when it comes to advertising and marketing our music to get it out to the right people so that we at least have a fair shot of reaching our target audience. The competition is fierce and we love to take challenges head on, it makes every day interesting. We are definitely a David taking on the goliath that is the corporate music industry.
In the masses of electronic music being produced these days, what do you feel helps TDE stand out from the rest?
We are completely different, we don’t try to follow any format or genre, we just make music in the studio that is pleasing to our ear; no boundaries, no boxes, no fear. We envision ourselves at a concert and as we play back the music we created. It should make us go crazy and feel great, otherwise we just throw it away and start over. We do not sound like anyone else making music right now, overall, and to us that’s a great thing because we are a unique–an enigma if you will. We are super lucky to have the blessing of both Edgar Montiel and Keoki at the label for 100% creative control.
How does it feel to have your record selling at some of the most legendary record stores in the nation? Is that something you ever even dreamed of when starting down the path of a musician?
It has been a dream of ours to be able to walk into legendary record stores like Amoeba Records, or Street Sounds in Los Angeles or Dr. Freeclouds Records Shoppe in Orange County and to see our album on the shelf for sale to the general public. Honestly I hoped that we would have that opportunity when we were creating the artwork for the album, we made a cover that would grab our attention if we saw it on the shelf at the record store. I can’t tell you how many albums I have bought because I just loved the cover.
How does it feel to have had a #1 hit song on your debut CD? Did you think your release was going to have done so well both critically and sales wise?
We had no idea that the album was going to do as well as it has both commercially and critically. We debuted in the Top 10 on iTunes for new electronic releases and have had over 30 positive reviews from different magazines, newspapers, and music blogs. Also The Devine Xperience song, “Completely in a Trance” (DJ D-Xtreme Remix), has been #1 on the progressive breaks chart for 9 weeks straight. To be totally honest we hoped we would do well but we have been completely overwhelmed by the response from our fans.
Since the record’s been released, what have you been working on in the meantime? Any new material on the way? Anything you’d like to reveal that we haven’t talked about yet?
We also had a second release come out of just the DJ remixes on Keoki Records with DJ D-Xtreme, Decoding Jesus vs. The Duke and The Kaiser, and Scott Weiser of Pain Device, Jackal & Hyde, and Dynamix II. We are releasing a new music video for our song “The Answer” in early July. It was shot by famed photographer and music video director Don Ptashne with the help of Rona Lu and it is currently being edited by Aaron “Tails” Preciado at Full Spectrum Visuals–whom, by the way, do the visuals and live video mixing at all of the biggest raves and festivals out here on the West Coast. We are very excited about this music video release and are grateful to Let’s Beat Milo Records and Keoki Records for making it happen.
I am also working on a new The Duke and The Kaiser project with Edgar Montiel and the followup album with The Devine Xperience both to be released next year.
We have a remix coming out on July 30 that we did for Scratche; the song is called “B.A.S.” It will be released on Base Industry Records. Scratche is currently the #1 breaks producer in Canada according to the very influential TheDJList.com and we are grateful to have had the opportunity to work with him.
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Best album of the Year so Far!