Distant Echoes is an alias which is developing further and beginning to flourish under the guidance and support of Rødhåd’s Dystopian stable. After his latest release on the label, his Where Is Hope EP, we caught up with the Italian to talk about social media, studio gear and the dulcet Dystopian tones of Distant Echoes.

For people that might be unfamiliar, where does the name Distant Echoes come from?

The name comes from an idea that connects sounds and images of a dystopian scenario.. It is the representation of the sound that I aim for when I sit in the studio. In fact I’m very into effects and synthesizers combined together in order to achieve the sound that make me think at that concept, I’m also a big lover of dystopian movies and this name made me think at all these things.

You moved from Italy to Berlin for music purposes, but have since moved back to Italy. Is that correct? Why did you move away from Berlin?

To be true I had some family issues that forced me to come back to Italy. I miss Berlin. That for me is still my 2nd hometown.. I come back there very often since I work with Dystopian and I have a lot of friends there. This city means everything to me. I moved there several years ago and nowadays everyone knows how important it is musical-wise. Now I’m back in Italy, often traveling abroad during the weekends, but I keep on living in Berlin the most that I can.

What do you think about the importance of social media in building a profile? Do you find it annoying?

Of course it is important in 2015 to use social media and I like to use it to communicate with people who like my music and even to show them a bit of my life. But I pay attention to the contents I publish. I studied social management so I’m very careful with social media. I think it’s the overdose of social networks that can result annoying.

It’s RA poll time of year. Will you be putting any effort into that? Do you value it?

It surely is an interesting overview of what was going on during the year. But until now I haven’t thought about putting any effort into it.

Given how tough building that profile is, especially on Facebook say, how important is it for you to have the backing of the Dystopian family?

Most of all it is important because of the artistic exchange between the people involved in Dystopian. Talking about music, artwork, whatever. It keeps you inspired and helps you focus on delivering your best possible music and performance.

How did that relationship with Dystopian come about?

I got in touch with some of the guys and I had the occasion to speak with them and we found us sharing the same visions and tastes on a lot of things, we became friends and the most important thing is that they liked my music and everything went on quite in a natural way.

You recently released the huge 4 track Where Is Hope EP on the label. Tell us a bit about that.

I like to collect themes throughout the time. There are periods in which I’m more productive and I start loads of new project and after that part I continue evolving the ones that grab my attention. I tend to develop them in a maniacal way listening and modifying little elements each time. That’s how everything comes together.

The names of 4 tracks on the EP all resonate quite strongly. It seem’s to have quite deep naming structure in comparison to other artist’s releases. ‘False Prophet’, ‘Last Shimmer’, ‘Love is Such a Strong Word’, ‘Desolated Society’ ..to me, they do give off the impression of hopelessness. Is there a reason behind the names you’ve chosen? 

Generally the track titles are strongly related to images I have in mind when producing. And mostly those images include a dystopian vision of the present or the future. You can find those images in other arts too and that’s where I get inspiration from.

When you’re travelling or in your spare time, what type of music do you like to listen to?

I am a big fan of post-punk and wave music but I also listen to indie psychedelic rock and folk sometimes.

Moreover I’m in love with electronic music in all its different shapes. I am a vinyl collector and I like to listen different music for different moments and moods of my life.

What’s the most played track ever in your itunes?

Mmm.. That’s a tough question.. I always need new music to listen (even discovering old stuff) but my all time favourite is: The Cure – A Forest 

If you were to get one piece of studio equipment this Christmas, what would it be? Be it old or new.

Ohh.. Studio gears are never enough! Well I think I could be happy with a Cwejman S1 MK2 🙂

Do you have any more releases scheduled for Distant Echoes in the near future?

I have a couple of remixes coming out in the next months. Besides that, I’m producing new original stuff but the release schedule is not finalised yet.

Any nice gigs coming up?

Yes, I’ll be in Berlin where I always love to play and there’s also some longer travels in preparation now.

What time/slot of the night do you prefer playing? Peak time like most would?

Of course not haha I love the edge slots and mostly doing the closing. I think that when the party is good, this is the part of the night when you can express yourself better. Here I can play some old classic and deep stuff, going on even longer then expected.

Do you have any goals for Distant Echoes in 2016? More releases? More gigs?

Yes I’m focusing on releasing some conceptual music and performing it in a Live act.

Finally, you were to set one new years resolution, what would it be?

I want to actually find the time to work more on this conceptual music and perform it live 😉

Follow Distant Echoes : Facebook // SoundCloud

Follow Dystopian : Website // Facebook // SoundCloud 

While Distant Echoes isn’t on the bill himself, Dystopian Music label head Rødhåd returns to Dublin’s District 8 tomorrow night with VRIL and Don Williams in tow. If you wanna check out what Dystopian’s about in the flesh, get down. Below’s what happened last time round. Tickets : District 8