Sean Steinfeger w/ Echt!.
How did you guys met, when did you start making music and who pushed you in your early career as a band?
Our band ECHT! started because the four of us where in love with Hip- hop and Electronic music and guys like J Dilla, Aphex Twin, Flying Lotus, DJ Rashad, Jonwayne… and we wanted to play those styles, and to make something that would make people move.
We started with covers and we learned a lot though that process and the support and encouragement of people helped us gradually become more and more ambitous and we started to export the concepts of the songs that we liked on our own compositions.
What’s the meaning behind your name, is there any background story or philosophy to it?
The name ECHT! Comes from the dialect used here in Brussels, which means “Really?” as a question or a sentence or as it is written “ECHT!” it means “Real”. We liked it and it also made sense with what we were doing, playing some produced music for real, but at the beginning we just loved this name since it was also a beer produced for a short Time, coincidentally at the beginning of the project, from a “Brasserie” here in Brussels called “Illegaal”.
Which artists /producers and especially bands shaped your sound as a quartet and why? – As the previous question.
As the answer of the previous question, we are a lot influenced by producers such as J Dilla, Aphex Twin, Flying Lotus, DJ Rashad and so on, but especially for this second album we listened a lot to Ivy Lab, Mr Carmack, Tsuruda, TNGHT,… We can say we got a lot deeper in the sub-genres of “Bass music” and “Trap”.
For all those peoples who are only able to hear the bass-heavy and hiphop parts in your music – what’s the jazz within your soundscapes?
The jazz part is in the process of creating this music. From listening to a certain producer/dj to actually transcribing it, but more than transcribing the “notes” or the “lines” (as you do in jazz), we paid more attention to the sounds and the way a tune was constructed and then our next step was jamming around and finding our way to reproduce what we initially listened to. Once we all are happy about the result we start constructing what eventually will be a tune. We have a lot of “unheard jams” hidden that one day maybe will see the sunlight (ahahah).
Speaking of jazz: what does JAZZ mean to you and what is your background to that genre?
We all studied Jazz at the Conservatory here in Brussels and we still paly it from time to time. It’s something we like and listen but since we play some “common” instruments, we did not want (for now) to just sound as a conventional quartet with keys and guitar.
As your sounds share a lot with bass music, trap & even drill – are you just listening to lots of this music, are you going to these kind of parties in Brussels or where does that inspiration come from?
Every night (ahaha)! I mean, sometimes, like when we played last year at DOUR (big Belgian festval in summertime), we took the time to listen to some djs we admire, and as you go to a jazz concert played by some great musicians, we also like to go and see some dj sets, so we can get inspiration and also have fun.
You’re part of the Gent-based super-busy indie label „Sdban Ultra“ since your first EP „DOUF“ – tell us a bit of how it is to be releasing with them?
It is great to see how those people love music and how they commit to it. It’s rare now-a- days to find people like this in the music business.
Sdban is really an “oasis” for musicians that want to make accessible their music. They give a lot of credibility and trust since the very beginning, like it was with us and it is still going.
I’ve discovered your music through listening to the „Lefto presents Jazz Cats“ compilation. Were there any developments that resulted for you from this contribution?
Lefto, as Sdban, believed and believes a lot in us and made us grow bigger.
He still passes our music during his dj-sets and it means a lot to us since he is one of the djs we admire and when we got the chance we go and see him performs. It is always very inspiring.
Funny wordplay question that came to my mind after listening again to your first album „INWANE“: Inwane Snow, Lil‘ Inwane or Inwane Shorter and why?
hahaha, Actually nothing of all of those. “INWANE” comes from also a dialect but from the region of Mons, which is called “Borinage”, and you can find this term in few sentences but the one we like was “Qu’est ce t’inwane?” and it can be translated in “What are you actually saying?”. We liked it also the fact that in English “IN WANE” means into the decline. As you maybe remember, the album was created, recorded and produced/mixed in 2020/2021, so we though that this title would be more than appropriate to the period we were all living.
Your latest and second album „Sink-Along“ just came out early May this year. How did you approach to the recording process and how’s the feedback so far?
We are super happy and right now we are in the middle of presenting it around Europe with our tour. People like it too and this gives us a lot of pleasure and strength to keep going on and evolving still. For this one we changed a bit since “INWANE”…we spent much more time pre-producing the tracks, and searching what for us was the closest to our inspiration. Then our sound-engineer/producer (Rowan Van-Hoef) gave the “magic touch” and magnified our work even more…we are pleased and happy about the result.
Can you tell us a bit more about the album Title „Sink-Along“?
we, especially in the beginning, were told that our music would be the perfect background for a singer/mc/rapper and so on. We are actually intrigued to just play the instrumentals (for now) since when we were listening, like for instance, “Slum Village” and we were then captured by the instrumentals that usually you find on the side B of the vinyl, and, as one guy that came after one of our concerts and told us, we liked the idea of giving the basis (the instrumental) to each one of you in order to make you create your own Lyrics and rap lines, if you want, or just be transported by the instrumental beat.
It’s up you to choose, that’s why the allusion to “Sing-Along” in the title, but still, the times we are living are not the very best so why not sinking all together into the abysses of this music, from there “Sink-Along”.
What’s your connection to Club Gretchen – did some of you already played there with a different project, have you went to a concert whilst visiting Berlin and/or what did you hear about Gretchen from friends/fellow musicians?
It will be our first time in Berlin and also at the Club Gretchen, not enough to say we are looking forward and we know already the club. We saw some of our favorites acts passing- by and performing and for us playing there is a hell of a pleasure.
What can we expect from your upcoming concert at Gretchen on July 28th?
Having fun dancing, and live the moment. That’s all we want!