Ecention
by Mister Mime
15th July 2021
Swiss sound-sorcerer Ecention dedicates his debut album ‘Ancient Knowledge’ to our ancestors and cultures, whose deep wisdom and universal knowledge set up the foundations of modern human civilization as we know it. Using layers of organic instruments and textures combined with electronic sounds, he narrates a tale as old as time that takes us from the origins of humanity to our existing state of edification and material development. The album is out on ‘Merkaba Music’, a label well known for organic electronic music.
MM: How did you create your artist name “Ecention”?
Ecention: During a deep meditation, i received these words that resonated deeply with my understanding of what ‘conscious’ is. Eternal Ascension. Ecention.
MM: Why did you call the album “Ancient Knowledge“? How did the idea for the album come about?
Ecention: I am very interested in archaeology (also unconventional theories that question the mainstream models) and at the time I was working on that album, I was digging lots of information. I integrated a lot of these views into my perspective onto our world and this process is mirrored in this album. I tried to somehow open the channel to this omnipresent information from higher spheres, to let this eternal wisdom of ancient cultures flow into our reality. Sounds very spaced out, I know! ;)
MM: Are there any stories or incidents regarding the making of the album, or any of the individual tracks that you may like to share? How do the track names relate to their respective sounds? {particularly ‘The Sphinx’}
Ecention: Every track has its own story. However, most of the collaborations were just somehow happening without big planning. I had the ideas of the big picture but the little fragments were created very intuitively. During the production, I consciously got into this vision of the album and the track itself. Once I was centred and focused, I let it flow. The saxophonist on «The Sphinx» is actually my father, a very gifted musician.
MM: What was your collaborative process like, with all the musicians that made this album possible?
Ecention: Often I first come up with a beat or a melody. Once I got a working base for the piece, we started making jam sessions with friends. We were often just jamming together and having a fun time. These were great evenings, fun and playful without expectations.
MM: Can you tell us about yourself and your musical background?
Ecention: When I was younger I was playing the saxophone, which I stopped (unfortunately) a long time ago. I then started DJing at around 16, soon after with 17 I got my first cracked Ableton Live from a friend. I was playing Deep & Tech House for several years and released my first tracks on a little Swiss label as Kreisel. Soon after I teamed up with a very good friend of mine, Alex. We started the project «Take Both» and were playing nice local gigs and produced quite an innovative sound. However, the breakthrough never came until we split up and I continued my own project again. Soon after, I connected to people around the big clubs in Zurich and I had several possibilities to prove my skills on the big stage. I became a resident for a known event label in Hive club, Zurich. Soon after I focused again on the production work & I started playing the piano. Quickly, the melodies transformed into new tracks, the «Ancient Knowledge» album is among them.
MM: How do you make such organic music within an electronic framework? How do you integrate these seemingly opposite sides? {Example: in "Emerging Springs"}
Ecention: Tough one. I guess it comes all down to composition. Surely one needs to find the suitable elements and get them comfortably working together. However, the story, the atmosphere, compression and expansion needs to be worked out carefully.
MM: Could you share any signature techniques, tools, instruments, workflows, that you believe are unique/essential to your sound?
Ecention: I feel really comfortable with the Ableton Push, It gives lots of possibilities - I use it for most of my drums. It’s pretty easy to fill a drum rack with nice percussions and fx and get some nice rhythmic grooves. Furthermore, I really like my e-piano. Playing some melodies and find nice-sounding combinations can end up very quickly in a nice midi arrangement. From there you can use arpeggios and try out various Synths behind it. From a quick jam to a finished track, however, I would like to relate back to the importance of the story.
MM: Who are your musical influences throughout your journey?
Ecention: Among the Musicians who inspired me the most are certainly Kalya Scintilla, Hedflux, Grouch, Daniel Jäger, Carbon, Desert Dwellers, Bluetech, Symbolico, Koan and of course Unknown Reality.
MM: What are the things that inspire you in your life? (Other art forms; artists/people/things from other disciplines)
Ecention: I am very easy to inspire for things. Usually, this happens when someone’s heart is burning for something. I am interested in most of the things that somehow relates to spiritual growth, seeking truth, liberating technologies, connect to nature. These things keep driving me. Curiosity for new things. :)
MM: Can you tell us a bit about your association with Merkaba Music?
Ecention: As I progressed with my album, I knew that I was going to send this project only to one label. Merkaba Music. If they would not have taken it, I would have released it on Bandcamp for free. As I got the exciting news of the label approval, this was like a dream becoming reality. I was asked if I would like to join the Merkaba family, to which I certainly agreed on. Last Saturday I was happy to be part of the Merkaba online showcase.
MM: What do you like to do apart from making music?
Ecention: I am working as a freelance videographer and having my IT company focussed on open source software solutions. I like hiking, permaculture and being far out in nature.
MM: Can you tell us about the artwork and the artist, and how it reflects the music?
Ecention: The artwork was made by a good friend of mine. She definitively is a very talented graphic designer. I feel that she has the perfect sense of how I vibe with my music and what music is for me. For me, producing music is an attempt to let my inner worlds flow outwards, and connect with the outer world. The result is kind of an ever waving energy that somehow moves my emotional world and also resonates with what I feel at the bottom of my heart.
MM: Do you practise any form of spirituality? Your last track is just about gratitude. For you, how important a part of human life and experience is expressing gratitude?
Ecention: I do practice several types of meditation, as well as hemisphere synchronisation techniques. I think the ability to shape our way of thinking and orient it towards a grateful, connecting and constructive way is one of the greatest gifts that has been given to mankind.
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All Images courtesy of Ecention and Merkaba Music
