Resoe: “I found out Echocord and Baum are really valuable when I heard that they were the best selling dub techno labels in Japan”
Daina Dubauskaitė 2015-03-24 18:27
Dub techno is music that can take you deep but it requires maximum devotion and a proper divers license to do so. I do have a very intimate relationship with the genre so of course I was very happy when I heard about a Lithuanian dub techno label Redscale established by a great producer grad_u. He has already told me about it in an interview, and is now ready to present the Danish school of dub techno in Vilnius.
Kablys will be hosting the Echocord label showcase this following Friday (another is happening in Tresor, Berlin on Saturday), and the main guest of honour is Resoe. The Copenhagen-based producer is also known for his own imprint Baum and for his tandem with Kenneth Christiansen, the founder of Echocord, called Pattern Repeat. Resoe will be performing live, just as grad_u, and here are some of his answers to my geographically balanced questions.
Where do your 25 years of experience start from, what moment in time and space was that?
I started out as a hip hop DJ in 86 together with some childhood friends, first we only had a small mixer a friend got from his uncle in the states with a build in Echo unit, and then we had two belt driven turntables that we started to make mix with. At that time I was into Kraftwerk and other electro hip hop groups, so when techno and house arrived I got really interested in the sound.
You do a lot of different things in music - in what ways is every genre you work in special for you?
I always seen music to be a diverse thing, I’m often labelled as a dub techno producer because of my Label Baum, and the productions I released on Echocord. When I’m in the studio it´s more about the moment and not the genre. If I’m in the mood for making a dub techno track, then I explore all the layers and atmospheres of that, or other times it becomes a deep house track or maybe dubstep.
If you wanted to introduce a person to the world of dub/dub techno; which 5 records would you recommend for the start?
1. Maurizio – M5
2. Substance – Relish
3. XDB – Descap
4. Luke Hess - Reel Life (CV313 Dimensional Space Mix)
5. Leftover - Desolate Plains
Everyone knows Copenhagen for the mermaid and Christiania. What do you think is the best hidden symbol of the city that an eager tourist should absolutely visit?
I would always say a trip to the Botanical Garden, it´s a really cosy and nice place.
How is the scene in CPH doing right now? A few years ago I remember visiting Rust and Dunkel; are these still considered cool? Where do you like to take fellow musicians if they come for a visit?
I never been a fan of the place Dunkel, Rust was cool back in the days, but I have not been there for years so I really can´t tell you. I rarely go out in Copenhagen anymore, and if I do I go to Culture Box, because of my close connection to the place. I also think that Kenneth is booking the best acts of my taste, so that is also the reason why I go there and not to other places.
Is there a healthy dub / dub techno scene in Denmark?
I would not say that there is a dub techno scene in Copenhagen in general, but we are some producers and DJ´s that really like the sound, and we have some cool labels here. There is a reggae club called Ruba´Dub Sunday at a place called Stengade, which some of my old friends started 7 years ago. I have not been there lately, but I’m sure that you will find the best dub/reggae party there.
Do you think being a musician is a career or a way of life? Do you make certain plans for the future or rather go with the flow?
I always been into music since I was a child, so I have to say it is a way of life for me. I had a career for many years as a DJ, and I have lived of only the music for some periods. These days I have my own company together with my wife, and I do some Sound Design for advertising etc. For the future I go with the flow I have to say, because you never know what is going to happen.
Which form of connecting to your listeners do you value most - releases, podcasts, dj sets, live performances..?
I really like to play Live to test out new material, but I have been a DJ for so many years, so this is also an important thing for me.
Podcast is something that I like but don´t have the time to make that often anymore, because I choose to make music in stead.
How naturally do you as an artist operate in the world of social media?
I do make some updates here and there, but it´s not something that I think so much about. It´s mainly a bit nerdy when I make an update about gear or something like that.
How did you team up with Kenneth? Is he your best partner for music?
I used to work in a record store called Loud back in the days, where Kenneth at first was a customer, and later we started to work together. Before Kenneth started to work in Loud he was running his own record store called Science Fiction together with one of our friends called Morten Kamper. The store mainly focused on Techno and Electronica, and was just around the corner from Loud where I worked.
At some point Kenneth and Morten decided that they would close Science Fiction, and they came down to my bosses in Loud asked if they had any interest in buying the record store. They decided to buy it and make it the Techno/Electronica department of Loud. They hired Kenneth to manage the store and when Kenneth was off work on Wednesdays I was the one down in that department. Through our working relationship we became really good friends, and started to hang out more often after work as well. Kenneth is my best friend and main partner for music, and we have the same mind set when we are in the studio.
We like the same music and artists, and the same sounds that we think are cool when we produce music as Pattern Repeat, is really like minded. I do make other collaborations with other artists, but I can´t say so much about it at the moment.
What are the differences between Echocord and Baum labels - as you see them?
Echocord and Baum are really similar in musical style, but Echocord has been around for many years before I started my label. The reason why I started Baum was because I had some tracks I wanted to release, and did not feel like shopping them around to other labels. Kenneth really liked the first release, so he asked me if I had something he could release on Echocord. Baum is maybe more deep in the sound and not as well established as Echocord, due to the super discography Kenneth has released over the years, but we think really similar in the way we choose the tracks for our labels.
When did you understand that Echocord is really valuable and important in the map of dub techno?
Since the first releases Echocord has been important to me, because it was Danish and Kenneth released some really cool tracks in the beginning. I always been a huge fan of Mikkel´s (Mikkel Metal) productions he has a special touch that he always put into his tracks that no other does. I found out Echocord and Baum are really valuable when I heard that they were the best selling dub techno labels in Japan.
Echocord recently signed grad_u. What do you think is unique about the artist?
Since I heard the first release on Redscale by grad_u I have supported his music. I really like the way his soundscape is, the way he uses the FX´s and reverb to make everything stand out clear, but still is wide in sound. This is often things like that I listen after, even that it´s sounds like classic dub techno he still has his own sound. There are so many dub techno releases that I think is boring, because it sounds like a preset from Ableton, and does not sound unique.
resoe.dk
echocord.com
Echocord Showcase @ Kablys, 03.27
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