Soukah is well known for his dark cinematic soundscapes and cold low ends. His peculiar sound is very characteristic and unmistakable. In the last couple of years, he had serious moves in the 140/dubstep scene. He is going to play a set at the Froze Plates event in Budapest 17th March. For this reason, we asked him to take time for a short interview. Please continue to read!
Hello Soukah! Would you please briefly introduce yourself?
I'm a producer, DJ and labelhead from Augsburg a small town in the area of Munich in southern Germany.
Where did your production name ‘Soukah’ come from?
That's a long story. As I started producing bassmusic I went along with another alias. After a time I searched for a new more fitting name for my musical output but couldn't find one.
One night in autumn I walked home from a gig and thought about a name and came up with Soukah. It's basically a combination of the words 'Sound' and 'Jah' becuause I listened to a lot of reggea at this time. To make it sound more hard and to give it a darker touch I replaced the 'J' with a 'K' and Soukah was born.
Can you please tell us about your musical roots?
My parents listened to a lot of rock, folk & blues back then. That was the first kind of music I listened to. As a teenager. I listened to a lot of metal, gothic and industrial music. My first musical experiences besides school were in a metal band were I was the leadsinger. My first own productions were gothic and noise loaded. After some time and many coincidences I got into dubstep and that's were I'm still feel the most comfotable.
Your dubstep sound is very characteristic. How would you describe it?
Tough question. I would describe it as cinematic, dark and a bit melancholic but danceable.
When did you start doing music production?
Around the age of 14-15 but my first production steps were not in the bassmusic genre. I would say I produce dubstep since I am 17-18.
Can you lift the lid a little on your production methods? What tools do you use for making music?
I use Reason 5 (yes very oldschool) a midi-keyboard and a Korg MS-20. I work a lot with old samples from movies, old arabesque and calssical music.
Most times I start with an atmospheric sound. Melody, that could be a percussion melody too follows and I build the drums around it. Bassline is the last thing I add usualy.
When did you start djing?
At the age of 17 I would say with timecode vinyl and an on laptop.
What has been your most significant experience as DJ?
Well the first gig I played in my hometown on a big soundsystem was very significant and set the roots for all the gigs that followed. It was very overhelming to play my first gig on such a big rig without experience. Also my first gig outside my hometown in front of a new, unfamiliar crowd was very significant.
When did you start listening to dubstep? What was the main thing that first got you into dubstep?
Around the age of 16 I got in touch with dubstep through friends. I was searching for music which fills the gap between the dark melancholic gothic side and heavy basslines on the other side and dubstep was the thing which combines these two sides perfectly for me.
You live in Bavaria, Germany not far from Münich. Is there dubstep scene or bass music community?
There was a big and great scene 5 years ago but a lot of clubs closed and there are no more venues which you can play music like this right now. So I guess there are a lot of dubstep enthusiats out there but no room to express themselves at the moment.
Could you please recommend for us a few djs, producers, labels, and sound system crews from your region?
The active ones would be Another Channel, Ghosttown Sound, Mona Mi, Seahorse at the moment.
If a basshead, from among your fans worldwide, would go to Münich, which club nights, bars, festivals should they visit?
I'm not often in Munich but I would recommend Rote Sonne, Sunny Red, City Club Augsburg, Weißes Lamm and Unterdeck.
How do you feel about the dubstep scene nowadays globally?
I really like how the whole genre developed. The diversity nowadays is great in my opinion but I miss the support which were stronger back in the days. The dubplate culture and the cooperations between artists and DJ's is not that strong anymore and a lot of people do a solo thing. Maybe I'm living in a bubble too.
You are going to have a release at Frozen Plates but where did you release before FZP? I know there are lot of labels!
Hahah yes there are a lot. Rarefied, Chrome!, cutcross, Foundation Audio, Subaudio Records, Silent Motion, RunOuts, 9Rambos, FatKidOnFire, DuttDutt, Glome Sound, Infernal Sounds, eatmybeat, Strictly140 and I hope I didn't forget a label.
Do you have any forthcoming releases? What are your plans for the future?
Yes I have a few releases in the pipeline but the vinyl releases takes so much time right now and I don't know when they will be released. Also a few digital releases are coming soon.
I do not have written down plans for the future but I will make a lot of music, hopefully play more shows and get a new dubstep party started in my hometown.
Please recommend five tunes and a dj mix that should be essential listening for every human being – the sort that would leave your life incomplete if you’d never heard them.
- 1.Gantz – Spry Sinister
2. Aardvarck – Untitled 1
3. Sound Control – Salute The Rockers
4. Om Unit – Testimony
5. Mala – Level 9
The Kryptic Minds Studio mix.
Thank you for taking time and answering the questions! Really looking forward to meeting you in Budapest at our dubstep night!
Looking forward to it too! Gonna be a sick night.
Thank you for making it happen.
Links:
https://soundcloud.com/soukah
https://soukah.bandcamp.com/music
https://www.facebook.com/soukahdubs/
https://www.instagram.com/soukah_official/
https://open.spotify.com/artist/243gr62h7yfUDhuznWXRpF
