Oops!

It looks like you don't have flash player 6 installed. Click here to go to Macromedia download page.

Subheim

K.: I have to say that my first steps were into metal music; I even started with a black metal band about eight years ago, and soon after that got fascinated with atmospheric sound expressions, deep vocals and soundtracks. I slowly evolved my taste for post-rock and trip-hop as well, and after some years of experimentation, I came to the name 'Subheim.' I wanted the music that would come out to sound deeply emotive and, in some way, haunting. Three years ago, Subheim was a three-member band, mostly focusing on post-rock sounds while throwing in a few electronic elements in drum loops; however, this changed quite soon, resulting in me being left alone, trying to decide the way I should continue with the project. I have to say that after a certain point, everything was coming naturally, and I discovered many paths from which I would be able to express my emotional side. I worked on Approach for about a year, trying not to restrain myself to certain musical forms or tags. I tried to build up a structure by mixing up sounds, beats, pads, 'real' instruments, female vocals, glitchy sounds and, of course, the way things around me substantially affect my life. At that time, setting up a record label that would be something totally different - which would bring out the best in innovative electronic music - was more of a need, rather than an idea. Things in Greece regarding non-mainstream expression are crap, so we had to do something. I am glad that Spectraliquid was born out of the pure friendship and common thinking of four different artists: Mobthrow, Xsoz, Katja and me.

You released your debut album, Approach, earlier this year. How has the response been so far?

K.: Surprisingly good. Lots of people are asking me if I would ever play live in their country or about my future plans and releases, while they all send me beautiful comments about my album. I'm not aware of sales numbers, and I don't really care, but I assume it's doing very well since I have totally lost count of the very positive responses I have been receiving about my work. I always felt that I didn't want to create music to keep it solely to myself. I wouldn't care if it could move 10,000 or just 10 people, as long as I knew that somebody out there could share some feelings with me, even if we never had the chance to meet.

Your music is very lush and cinematic, with a definite visual quality that extends to the photographs of waves and clouds in the album artwork. What sort of landscape are you trying to evoke with your music, and who are your biggest inspirations, both musically and visually?

K.: The way I see it, my music is a result of images and landscapes that take shape in my mind. I always let my imagination run wild when composing, so I couldn't think of any part in what I do musically unaccompanied by strong pictures. Katja's vocals strengthen these pictures to a very important degree, for sure. There's not only one sort of landscape; my thoughts continuously run from wild nature scenes to crowded, self-destructive cities or lonely, stranded beings around the world. Relationships, torture, freedom, frustration, and extreme feelings placed in thousands of different scenes urge me to express all the passion my heart keeps in hidden.

My musical inspirations are constantly expanding, so I will only point out very few: Kattoo, Murcof, Bitcrush, Godspeed You Black Emperor!, Max Richter and the first band that played electronic music in Greece, Stereo Nova, to mention a few. And, to be honest, Blackfilm is fucking unbelievable. Visually, I'm a big fan of cinema and video art, so I couldn't leave aside movies such as The Shawshank Redemption and The Return by Andrej Zvjagintsev, as well as Chris Cunningham's stunning videoclip work and Scott Pagano's inhuman VJ-ing. As a graphic designer, I absolutely adore the work of Dave McKean.

Several of the most striking tracks on Approach feature the vocals of Katja, another artist on the Spectraliquid label. How did you come to collaborate with her? Will you be working together again in the future?

K.: We have been working together since the first 'serious' steps of Subheim. Even before that, we tried to do some stuff together, mostly atmospheric rock music I had composed accompanied by her vocals. The music was shit, but the vocals were good. [Laughs.]

Anyway, as soon as I decided the way I wanted Subheim to sound, I thought that she would be the artist than could give life to my music. I feel that the tracks on which she sings would sound far less impressive without her. She is very talented, and she can adopt different styles in her voice, so she can always embody a track's vibe correctly in her performance. Rest assured, you will hear more from her voice on my second album, whenever that is, and lots of different and even more passionate performances by her in the future.

Do you have a favorite track on the album?

K.: That's a hard one. If I were to answer as a sound engineer and producer, I would have to say 'Stranded,' because it sounds just the way I want it to. I'll always find minor details that I would like to have changed in almost all of the other tracks, but this is something that fortunately doesn't happen with 'Stranded.' Maybe, that's the reason why I can still listen to it, not only as the person who created it - and would probably get sick of listening to it hundreds of times - but as a third listener as well, sort of:  For sentimental reasons, I would have to choose 'Voces Perdidas,' because this track really means a lot to me. Katja simply makes me tremble each time I listen to her performance on this song, and if you add the piano part, you really got me there. Besides, it's so easy for me to fall for piano parts.

Although you run the Spectraliquid label, you signed with Tympanik Audio to release your album. What were the reasons for that decision?

K.: Since this was my very first work, I simply wanted to know if my it could attract the attention of other labels. I honestly wasn't sure if what I was doing was good or not. Releasing it on the label I run would be the easiest thing to do, but that would make me feel that I am actually doing everything; promoting myself is kind of weird, don't you think? Somehow, I needed to see that other people could believe in my music, and this definitely happened with Tympanik Audio, although other known labels had shown great interest in my stuff. However, Paul Nielsen is a fantastic person, 100 percent dedicated to what he's doing, and he's running a great label that will soon - if not already - get its place among the top ones in experimental electronic music.

There seem to be a number of promising new labels for experimental dark electronic musicians, with Spectraliquid and Tympanik Audio being just two examples. What's your opinion of the current scene for dark IDM, industrial, and experimental music, both as a label owner and as an artist yourself?

K.: Oh yes, that's true. Even though we've entered the era of the music industry's tragic death, small independent labels pop up all the time that also carry incredible music works. I'm very glad about that, and I hope that such a movement can prove that there are still people out there who will decently promote experimental music and open-minded persons that will keep on buying those releases. The sure thing is that more and more good artists come up, and it's a good thing that communities such as MySpace and Virb. give those talented people the chance to promote their music. The mainstream might be dying, but that's because its followers never had and will never have the chance of seeing the depth of art in general. Let's prove to these people that our music can stay alive, aside from any obvious difficulties.

What upcoming releases are in the works, either for Subheim or for other acts on the Spectraliquid roster?

K.: Well, I've got a busy schedule for Subheim, mostly remix work. I just finished a new track which will be included on Greece's VIM Record's two-CD compilation to be out in September, while there's a brand new EP by Lemonchill called Dragonfly, in which you will find my interpretation of the title track. I'm also preparing a remix for LAN Formatique, who will release their album on Force of Nature in a few months, and more remixes will be announced soon.

As for Spectraliquid, this September we are proud to release an amazing EP by raggacore/breakcore mastermind Cardopusher, Mobthrow's technoid/darkstep EP in October, Detritus side project A Wake A Week's debut album in November, and a great album by U.S.-based Access to Arasaka as a co-release with Tympanik Audio later on.