Ekkohaus: "Noschool" It's Summer Time...

The debut album from Ekkohaus AKA Kostas Tassopoulos is just around the corner, and it’s the culmination of several hard years of studio work; plus a relationship with Germany’s Moon Harbour label that goes back even further. Born in Greece, and now conveniently situated in the clubbing capital that is Berlin, Ekkohaus brings a professional’s grasp of the technology to music that in many ways, has its roots in the classic conventions of deep and soulful house.

“A lot of it has to do with my birthplace, Greece,” he told I Voice. “The sunny environment makes you lighter and warmer. Summer is long and hot there, and if you were hanging out in a cool beach bar in the nineties, then you have probably danced to Masters at Work and Joe Claussell and a lot of good house music was played.”

It’s all on display on the immaculately polished collection of laidback, summery house that you’ll find on Noschool; a title referencing Ekkohaus’s determination to embrace both the ‘old’ and the ‘new’ schools of musical thought.

I Voice caught him in high spirits, more than happy to talk at length about the lengthy recording process that went into creating his album

How have things been travelling so far in 2013?2013 so far has been a very fruitful and promising year. From one hand there is the release of the album, and some shows and special activities that come with this sort of feature. It's been good so far, and I am well waiting for the summer [laughs].

How are you feeling now that Noschool is ready for release?I can't help feeling very excited and relieved at the same time. I still need to see the final project, to actually hold it and believe it is true. I am honored to have my first debut album on Moon Harbour, and this has been an ongoing project that took almost three years to complete. It feels good that it is ready to be released and the summer is coming, and there are a lot of summery moments in Noschool . On the other hand after such a time of feeling committed to this, I am also looking forward to new collaborations, new music, new projects.

Tell us about the journey you went through in leading it to completion. Did you have a clear vision of what you were trying to achieve while recording?
Well, the whole thing started from three or four tracks that I had kind of recorded and produced during the winter in late 2010. They were very musical and felt special. I sort of kept them on the side and started thinking about including them in a bigger project, an album maybe. About a year later, after the completion of a few more tracks, I met with the label and shared the idea with them.

The project proved to be much more demanding and multitasking than I had imagined initially. Some technical issues, deadlines, studio break-downs and other natural disasters have occurred during the process, so there was a lot of wisdom that came with it too, a lot of maturity in dealing with situations and overcoming problems. There were a lot of fun moments too, most importantly, the experience of working with different musicians, engineers, designers. Everyone contributed their little piece of commitment to this project, and made it a team effort.

Noschool is definitely an album that’s primed for the clubs. Where you aiming for a dual achievement of a ‘listening’ album that would also work in your DJ sets?I hope that there is something in Noschool for everybody. There certainly is a ‘four to the floor’ domination; I make dance music, so under the Ekkohaus moniker I would not release an ambient album. However, there is a listening quality to it too.

There are musical pieces as well as dancefloor tools, so in this way it is possible that Noschool is an album of dual qualities, of listening and DJing.

There are a few dance-oriented tracks that would be suited for the clubs, though I’m also hoping for some remixes that could bring a ‘clubbier’ vibe to the release. However, I strongly believe an album should refer to as wide an audience as possible.
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While the sounds might have a classic sense to them, they’re also very polished as far as your use of the technology goes. How would you define your studio approach?You got a point here. I was after a ‘classic sounding’ feel, especially for the album, though the use of technology has helped towards a much cleaner or ‘polished’ sound, rather than a raw and analogue approach. There are the rough moments, but generally this is the idea. I think that it matches better with a digital environment of 2013, somehow. Even when I was using some Korg, Roland and Klavia Nord hardware, I would somehow round their signal in the mixing process and the overall sound came out less aggressive and direct.

I have used a combination between Ableton Live and Logic to edit and mix the music down. The elements and sounds are carefully selected for a ‘house trip’ and the music is modern but not overproduced, or of a certain trend. I have tried to avoid sounding too contemporary, which can be a disadvantage depending on the trend currency converter [laughs]. The “classic sounding” approach will be appreciated in the long run, in the same way we all discover old releases and fall in love with them again. Albums should have this kind of impact.

What’s planned for later this year, any big changes for your live show?The live show will still be a mix of hardware and software, and I am always working on new ideas. I am going to be playing some samples from the album as well as familiar grooves and new ideas or current productions. A new collaboration project is also on the make. It will consist of me plus a different friend every time, so the name remains the same, but one member of the project will always be changing. This is the next thing to look forward to, but at the moment the main focus is the album and the summer that's around the corner.