Rob GEE discusses Purple Platypus, his latest full-length album, the Beastie Boys blueprint behind it, and a summer schedule that spans Defqon.1 to ADE.

If you know Rob GEE, you already know that trying to put him in a box is a losing game. The New Jersey-born hardcore veteran has been rewriting the rulebook since the early 90s, and his latest full-length, Purple Platypus, dropped May 13th and is already making waves. We sat down with Rob to talk about the album, the inspiration behind it, what fans can expect live this summer, and what is coming next.

I have known Rob for well over 15 years, so I will be honest: no notes, no prepared questions. Just a conversation. That is kind of how it goes with us.

So, why Purple Platypus?

“Purple is my favorite color,” Rob tells me, “and I’ve always thought the platypus was a very unique animal, just like me.”

Simple as that. And if you listen to the album, you get it immediately.

Closeup shot of a diverse group of people holding hands together in unity

Listen from beginning to end

Rob is pretty clear about this one. He wants you to sit with Purple Platypus from start to finish, and it is the first time he has felt that way about his own work. “This is the first time I kept listening to my own album from beginning to end,” he says. “I just think it has this flow to it, like it really takes you somewhere.”

The opening track, “They Don’t Like Us,” kicks things off for a reason. “It says things like, ‘to all freaks,  to all the misfits, the outsiders, the weirdos, the different, the strange and unique, listen up, this one’s for you,'” Rob explains. “It just sets the tone.” From there, “Rock This Place” hits at 200 BPM with a punchy message about being original, then “I Like It A Lot” brings some humor and a hard bass-leaning vibe Rob stumbled into without even trying. “Tonight, Tonight” with Coda is beautiful and uplifting; heavy kicks and all. “Believe” follows with inspirational empowerment. “Good Ol’ Days” pays homage to the early gabber scene with a nod to iconic nostalgic moments. Every track earns its spot.

“It’s not just a bunch of tracks thrown together,” GEE says. “There really is a message here, and maybe that message should be interpreted by the listener.”

The Beastie Boys connection

Rob credits the Beastie Boys, and specifically Check Your Head from 1992, for giving him the blueprint to just be himself across every sound.

“They started as a hardcore band, got known for rapping, and then all of a sudden they just did whatever they wanted,” Rob says. “I saw myself the same way. Why do I need to call myself something else to be a different kind of artist? I’d rather bring my fans together, not separate them.”

You can hear it all over Purple Platypus. The scratching on “Hater Suicide” is by DJ Starscream, aka #0 of Slipknot. “Kapow” has a reggae vibe underneath the hardcore that fans have been running with on Instagram stories and TikToks. One listener had all the lyrics memorized before the song had even been out a full day. Rob lights up telling that story.

The live response has been incredible

Rob has been road-testing these tracks all spring, and crowds are responding. At Harmony of Hardcore on the Old School Gangster Stage, a space that lives and breathes 90s sounds, he dropped “They Don’t Like Us” and watched the energy shift. “When that first kick dropped, I saw a sea of people dancing. Less people on their phones; just moving.”

At EDC during a back-to-back with Lenny Dee, the newer material took things to the next level. Fans are picking up on not just individual tracks but on what the record represents as a whole.

“Fans have just been recognizing the diversity,” Rob says. “My ‘I don’t ever keep myself in a box’ kind of attitude. And to me, good music is just good music.”

What is next?

Rob’s summer is absolutely stacked. Defqon.1 is coming up, then a hard techno show at the Monarch in Brooklyn on July 3rd alongside Reinier Zonneveld. Then back to Europe for So W’happy Festival in Belgium, Eskape Festival near Normandy in France, and Digital Overdose in August in the Netherlands. September opens in Barcelona, then Sunglow Festival near Rotterdam, then Club Number One in Italy for the Leaderz Festival. October brings Rob back to Poland and Bulgaria for the first time.

This fall, Purple Platypus is getting the physical treatment with a vinyl and CD rerelease timed around ADE. Rob also has a mini video for “Tonight, Tonight” that he has been visualizing for a while, a West Side Story-inspired love story with two crews meeting on the dance floor. “By the way, no one gets stabbed in my version,” GEE chuckles. More visual content is in the works for “Kapow” and “We Like To” as well.

And something new is already almost done. Rob, Charly Lownoise, and Coda are finishing a track called “Everlasting Melody,” 90s happy hardcore with Coda’s stunning vocals and a lyrical metaphor about a relationship that never ends. “It’s really beautiful,” he says, and I believe him.

Purple Platypus is not Rob GEE returning from anywhere. It is just Rob GEE, doing what Rob GEE does, thirty-plus years in and still the most interesting person in the room.

Go listen to it.

Purple Platypus is out now on all major platforms via GEE thAng Music. The vinyl and CD rerelease is expected around ADE this fall.

Connect with Rob GEE:

Website: https://therealrobgee.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/therealrobgee/

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

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/Therealrobgee