We have the pleasure of speaking with Einmusik. A man known for his enticing melodies, and moving, almost cinematic productions. Having worked with great labels such as Dynamic and Noir, we focus on his latest venture on his own Einmusika Recordings imprint. We talk about his forthcoming Serenade LP, his musical roots and the inspiration behind the LP…
Hey, how are things with you? How was your summer?
Hey guys, I’m really good right now. Really excited to release my new album. I had a great year full of touring and I never have been to so many places before. Especially the summer season with its festivals was again really inspiring for me.
The new album is an attempt at spreading peace, right? Do you think music should always have a message like this?
I think authentic music should generally create emotions. If you come up with angry music, you definetely find people who exactly need this as an expression for their own lifes at that moment. Regarding to all the crazy things that actually happen in the world and the daily mad threats about bigotry and ignorance I naturally came up with music that helps me to balance all this.
Are you someone who uses music as an escape, as a way to process the real world? Is that what inspires you?
Obviously, yes. When I’m travelling I put my noise cancelling headphones on and listen to a lot of symphonic music and diverse ambient longplayers. This helps me to black out a bit all the hectic and loudness and dream away while watching a sunset out of an airplane window. In this state of mind I’m one with my thoughts and smoothly focused to come up with new ideas.
You are a live performer – do you write music as live jams then edit down or?
Yes, you could strip it down like this. When I starting in my studio I mostly have already an idea of the keys and harmonies. I’m figuring out, which instrument could do what melody line and which things could sound better in fragments, to keep the whole song story a bit more dynamic. Then I’m starting carefully with the drums section. All my gear is synced, so I don’t neccessarly need to turn the computer on. This keeps my mind creative. When I’m basically done with everything, I’m recording everything to start the engineering part. Placing all elements in the room and in the mix, checking levels, compression, and equalizers, choosing the right reverbs and rooms. In the final creative process I’m searching for layers to double melodies and sounds to let them sound complete.
You write a lot of albums, why do you like the format so much? How different are they than writing a 12″ or EP?
When you produce a single the focus is more on the identity of each of the two or three songs. They should have enough trademarks to be recognized independently. The album work is more about presenting a decent range of your musical diversity and all songs should fit together. To create this wider range is why I really love to write an album. You simply are not limited in form, format and expression.
Why now for a new album, what made you think the time is right?
I had a great year with a lot of inspirational moments and I was super productive in my studio. In summer time I had like twenty well produced songs ready. So it was clear for me to bring Serenade. I didn’t make any straight plans about releasing my music at a right time.
How does it differ or show evolution from previous albums? Is that always important to you?
Every new album should bring new developments. If you working on a daily basis in your studio this comes naturally, you don’t need to keep an eye on that. You always have new tools, new synths, new drum machines in your studio and so it’s easy to create new sounds and patterns. With `Serenade´ I tried to go some steps further, especially with some trademark sounds. A lot of people are actually looking and listening to my current releases and take them as an inspiration and guide for their own productions. That’s maybe why I additionally wanted to present a wider range of my musical output, to show that deep ethereal electronic music is not ending with the border of a dancefloor.
Why do your new album in two Movements? What inspired or informed that choice?
The idea behind Serenade was to bring an album of 5-7 songs, this is what a serenade is traditionally standing for. In mid of summer I had like 17-18 well produced and finished songs, so I wanted to release more. Thats why we came up with the idea of a serenade in two movements.
Tell us abut each one, how they differ. Did you write them both at separate times?
All songs are produced in the same time period. When I’m starting to produce a song I’m trying to let all frames open and don’t make decisions about the tempo, genre and so on before the creative process. Thats why I ended up with this decent range of diverse electronic music. Movement I is clearly for the clubs and open airs and to have a good time together. The Movement II is the more listening part of the album, to have enjoyable music on your headphones. You simply can dream away with it, while having a long travel ahead.
What’s next, what else have you got coming up/are you looking forward to?
A next big thing is my Einmusika label showcase at ADE. Me and the whole team are really looking forward to this big night. For the rest of the year I’m having a lot of remix requests – so first I need some time to listen to all the tracks and check what I would like to work on. Sometimes remix work can be really inspiring, too. For 2017 I need to finish diverse tracks of my side project Valsa, which is basically having its output on my 3rd label Happy Pink Pills and for the EIN2 imprint, the small brother of Einmusika, I need to make some final schedule plan with my team. Maybe some collaborations will appear in 2018 as well. And Einmusika Recordings is getting to 10 years, so we are bringing some specials for that. So … a lot on the list, but first I celebrate my new album with the people around the world.
Einmusik ‘Serenade’ LP is out now! Pre-order it here.
