A Chat with EchoStorms (17.09.2020)
As soon as Ben and Katya stepped foot in the studio together, musical sparks started to fly. As EchoStorms, the pair are flying through musical diversity and amazing those who listen. Their debut single ‘Love Took Control’ gives you a sense of what is to come. We sat down with EchoStorms to talk about their debut single, music, future plans and much more!
OSR: How did the band get together?
EchoStorms: We are not a band, we are a movement! Serendipity brought us together in St Petersburg.
OSR: You honed your sound with live sets, how difficult was this process?
EchoStorms: The biggest challenge was to find enough space to comfortably set up our live set up so we just cleared Ben’s mum’s lounge and rehearsed there. She was a bit vexed in the beginning, especially when she found out we’d sold some of the furniture on eBay but she calmed down after a while.
OSR: Is there a backstory to your debut single ‘Love Took Control’?
EchoStorms: ‘Love Took Control’ is quite a deceptive song, it seems on the surface to be a very sugary pop song but there is definitely a darker undercurrent. We intentionally made it musically very sweet to make the lyrics seem even darker and sinister in contrast. It’s a record about so many things, it’s about Ben’s mental health struggles and addictions which he has fought over the recent years and now has thankfully overcome.
It’s about how love can transport your soul to a much brighter place even in your darkest hours. It’s about loving someone so much that they become your life and being absolutely terrified to lose that person, that feeling, that meaning of life. It also touches on recent events which have had an effect on us, such as the horrific police brutality in America, and around the world, the struggle for equality, be it race, sexual orientation or something else. It’s about loss, it’s about hope, it’s about death and most importantly, it’s about life.
OSR: What was your creative process for the single? Did you start with the melody or lyrics?
EchoStorms: This song actually started in quite an interesting way, the same way as ‘In The Air Tonight’ by Phil Collins started out, or so the rumour goes. Ed Buller has been talking with us for a while about a synth he had used while he was working with Hans Zimmer on the soundtrack for Dunkirk called Zebra. After suggesting Zebra to us multiple times we decided to buy it and the music for ‘Love Took Control’ was written while auditioning the sounds from Zebra. It was a super exciting moment in the studio, we felt a strong rush of exhilaration and euphoria. The lyrics followed and flowed very naturally and it all came together really easily.
OSR: How did you decide on the creative direction of the official video for ‘Love Took Control’?
EchoStorms: We basically needed a video that was as cheap as possible and not boring and rubbish. After what seemed like a million edits, Katya especially lost a lot of sleep while editing this video, there we have the final result. The best thing was it cost less than £50.
OSR: What was the biggest challenge you faced when shooting the video?
EchoStorms: Ourselves!
OSR: If you could play at any venue in the world, where would you like to play and why?
EchoStorms: Glastonbury, because we deserve to.
OSR: What is the most trouble you have ever been in?
EchoStorms: We have been advised by our publicist to not answer this question!
OSR: Has the pandemic affected your creative process for any future work?
EchoStorms: It has affected everything to be fair, both positively and negatively. We did the bulk of the recording during lockdown, from March to July we worked in the studio pretty much solidly. It was a time of real focus and drive, no distractions at all which was amazing. We just hope that the world can find its feet soon and everything can get back to something close to normal.
It’s absolutely awful that so many people have got sick and have died of COVID, but it’s also a disaster for so many people who although they haven’t got sick from COVID, their livelihoods have been taken away. The venues, the festivals and the live performers and DJs have all suffered incredibly due to this pandemic and we just hope that things can be turned around before too much is lost and destroyed.
OSR: What else can we expect from you in the next 6 months?
EchoStorms: More new records to tantalise your musical taste buds, music videos to awaken your senses and to transport you to a parallel universe, remixes so mind-blowing that you forget the original versions even exist, live stream live shows that virtually transport you to an exhilarating EchoStorms show with front row tickets, live DJ sets that bring the Club EchoStorms party straight to your home, acoustic sets where we will strip down your favourite EchoStorms tracks to their purest and most intimate form and also some very big and exciting surprises!
Thanks to artist for EchoStorms with us! You can find more about them on their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Spotify.
