Read the Eckstra Interview below and share it on social media.
Please tell our readers who you are and what you do?
My name is Eckstra, I'm a music producer based in Cleveland Ohio. I primarily make remixes of popular and not so popular tracks from acapellas I find online, but i do also produce for artists occasionally.
How would you describe your influences and how have they changed over the years?
When I first began producing in 2013 my main influence was from Electronic and dubstep producers such as Eptic, Skepsist, Skrillex, and the rap collective Odd Future. My music taste has shifted in the past 2 years and I became enamored with future bass, Soulection – esque music, and kawaii music; and that became my main focus. The likes of Monte Booker, Ravyn Lenae, Smino, Ujico*/Snails House, Dj Jo/Zenpaku, Sean Turk, Valentine, Chet Porter, and Medasin have been my main inspirations as of late. I basically wanted to make music that sounded pretty with a sense of grandiosity and intricacy in percussion. Everything i take inspriation from now has to sound sweet to the ears I've strayed away from darker sounding music because i want my music to elicit the feeling of happiness and joy more than anything.
What´s new right now?
I have a few upcoming remix releases by the likes of Kehlani, and Years and Years that I plan on releasing relatively soon once I've finished polishing them.
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Are you a superfan of anyone? How did you become a superfan? Do you remember how you become a fan and what turned you into super fan? Have you ever thought about why you´re such a fan?
The band Tool will always be my favorite band because I have lots of nostalgia tied to their music. I'm also a superfan of the producer Monte Booker. He embodies almost everything that I aspire to be as a producer. He's produced a large amount of songs for artists that I'm fans and he's never failed to impress me with his craft.
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What was the biggest mistake you made when you started making music and what would be the number one tip you could give to a newcomer musician?
Not learning mixing and mastering along with production; it took me about 2 or 3 years of producing before i actually made a concerted effort to learn how to properly mix and master songs and there was somewhat of a steep learning curve for me.
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How do you get gigs? Can you share any tips?
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Do you have good promotion tips for other musicians?
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Do you have insights on how to grow your audience on soundcloud that you want to share with our audience?
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What has been your biggest challenge right now? Have you been able to overcome that challenge? If so, how?
My biggest hurdle right now is overcoming writers block and lack of inspiration. I often start many tracks and have trouble knowing what to do after getting the chords I'd like to use down. I haven't been able to overcome it yet, but when I had this problem in the past it rectified itself in time.
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How do you personally discover new music?
Mostly through recommendations from friends and other artists that I'm acquainted with.
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Once you discovered new music, do you tell others about the new music/artist you discovered? If yes, how exactly?
“If I'm with friends I'll usually play them a song or two from the artists I've found, or I'll send a link to them of the most accessible song the artist has in my opinion.
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What is your number one tip to improve your music production or songwriting skills?
Get creative with your percussion elements. Foley sounds make your music much more interesting and you don't get stuck using the same old sounds for every track. You can even go around and record random sounds on you cell phone to sample later.
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What is your best tip for those who struggle with finishing their tracks?
Analyzing songs with a similar style to your own and incorporate elements from them in your own way has helped me finish tracks that i hit roadblocks on
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We meet again in one year. What has changed?
I would hope that my writers block has disappeared, that i've played at least two live events whether they be a gig or open mic, and that I have more original tracks produced for artists.
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https://www.facebook.com/Eckstraordinary/
https://www.instagram.com/eckstraordinary/
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Enter your questions to the artist in the facebook comment section below.
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