EchoStorms is comprised of Katya Fadeeva and Ben Locke, a Russian/Brit pair who have been on a hitting streak since their formation in 2020.
Bali, Indonesia – Given their different backgrounds, Katya Fadeeva and Ben Locke might make a somewhat odd professional couple, but the Russian/Brit combo have been on quite a hitting streak since their 2020 formation.
As EchoStorms, the multi-instrumentalist/DJ/production team broke out in 2021 with “Tidal Wave,” a shimmering, urgent, and trancey tune that benefitted from Chapter & Verse’s propulsive, techy remix. Successful follow-ups included 2021’s roaring earworm “Delirious” (a collab with R3WIRE), 2022’s frenetic, piano-house rouser “Move On,” and 2023’s cheeky banger “Hallucination.”
During that time, the duo launched its own label, Galactica, gained support from the globe’s top jocks (from David Guetta to James Hype), hit the Top-10 charts on a variety of platforms (U.K. club, iTunes, Beatport, Spotify, etc.), and racked up more than 10 million streams. On the live side, they’re currently in the midst of a summer DJ residency at Canna Bali in Indonesia.
EchoStorms’ sound features a melting pot of styles – house, techno, even smidges of acid, hip-hop, and speed garage – while maintaining a firm hold on melody and a playful affection for vocal effects. A preview of EchoStorms’ work-in-progress debut album revealed a variety of such flavors and more – rubbery basslines, sunny synths, slammers with big hooks. And the group’s latest single, the upbeat “Creator,” sports an urgent hip-house-styled vocal sprinkled over a raw, punchy rhythm. Tightly produced and eminently tuneful, EchoStorms’ latest range of tracks remain as diverse and memorable as anything they’ve done to date.
We recently connected with the Bali-based Katya Fadeeva and Ben Locke to discuss their backgrounds, their artistic process, and, of course, their music.
DJ LIFE Mag: Ben… musically, what were your first influences? Any traditional instruments?
Locke: My grandmother was a music teacher who retired when I was about 3-years old, so I had the amazing advantage of being her only pupil for the coming years. She taught me piano and introduced me to artists such as The Beatles and Elton John. Shortly after this, I got into more electronic artists as well, such as The Prodigy, The Chemical Brothers and Basement Jaxx, to name a few.
DJ LIFE Mag: How did you make the transition to creating music in the studio?
Locke: In my teens, I started hanging out at the local studio and eventually working as an assistant in exchange for downtime, which I used to record an album that would eventually be signed to a sub of Universal. After a few well-received singles, which were played on BBC and two years of solid touring – including some pretty tasty festival slots – the band [Visitors] in which I sang and played guitar and keys and the label parted company. That’s when I really got into pure producing. I was given the opportunity to work on a project with a well-known indie rock band [White Lies], which was happening at an amazing studio in Belgium. Subsequently I worked on numerous other projects there and basically never left until I was given the chance to work alongside Timbaland out in the U.S. three years later.
DJ LIFE Mag: Right, you’ve worked with a lot of urban/hip-hop acts – what brought you into DJing and EchoStorms, this EDM project?
Locke: I actually started DJing while I was in the band. One of my first gigs as a DJ was at a festival where the band was playing, and they asked us once we were already at the festival if we fancied playing the dance stage. In hindsight, one of the artists that had been booked probably pulled out last minute and they were just desperate to fill the slot. We said yes, unaware of the fact that we would be playing to a tent full of thousands of festival-goers, some of whom had been on it already for two days and counting!
During the period when I was living at the studio in Belgium, my passion for electronic music really flourished as a contrast to the work I was doing with the bands. I started doing more and more DJing, starting locally and building up to shows which included Ibiza Rocks and a residency at one of the biggest nightclubs in Poland [Enklawa]. Being the only house DJ in a circle of hip-hop producers proved very beneficial during my time in America and I ended up playing some really cool shows over there, including P Diddy’s Grammy event!
DJ LIFE Mag: Katya, tell me about playing raves in Russia? What kind of music were you DJing at those events?
Katya Fadeeva: My musical taste is very eclectic and what I played really represented that. I like to take people on a musical journey – sometimes I’d start at around 100 BPM and end up at over 150. I felt myself at one with the people and let my senses guide where we were going. At the start in EchoStorms, it was quite strange for me to stay within such narrow parameters when it came to style and tempo, when previously I’d been used to having a totally free reign. But, as some of you might have noticed, our recent releases have been getting increasingly higher in BPM and more varied in production style, so little by little we’re getting there [laughs].
DJ LIFE Mag: How do you two approach DJing together?
Fadeeva: We generally have a pretty clear idea of the journey we are going to be taking when we’re playing shows, as nowadays we’re generally playing only our own productions. Of course, if necessary, we go a little off script, but generally we know what sort of crowds we are going to be getting by doing a little research of the venues and plan a set to suit.
DJ LIFE Mag: In the DJ booth, what gear do you use and why?
Fadeeva: We use Pioneer DJ CDJ-3000s as the pitch-shifting is so good and we often nudge tracks up or down a semitone to be able to mix in key with the adjacent track. Mixer-wise, we are very torn between the Pioneer DJM-900NX2 and DJM-V10 and have used them both in live situations. They both have features which we really love, and in an ideal situation, we would make a hybrid of the two – the Send Effects section of the V10, which is not there on the DJM900NX2, is amazing as it makes it possible to use reverb or delay independently from the filter, and Beat FX, which gives much more flexibility and options for increased creativity. However, we much prefer the filter section on the DJM-900NX2, as it allows you to low-pass on one channel and high-pass on another, whereas on the V10 you can only low-pass or high-pass on all channels, as you have to select which type of filter you want from a macro button, not from each individual filter dial.
Locke: We were really hoping that Pioneer would fix this with the DJM-A9, which they have just released, and it would incorporate the best features of the DJM-V10 and DJM-900NX2, as a lot of other DJs have been saying the same thing as us, but sadly this was not the case. Until Pioneer DJ makes the perfect hybrid mixer, which would tick all our boxes, the best solution which we have found is adding a Pioneer RMX-1000 to the DJM-900NX2 mixer on a send/return.
DJ LIFE Mag: Do you have three tracks – though, not your own – that are always available to play in your DJ box?
Fadeeva: The first track has been a staple in our sets since 2021 and we’ve actually done our own edit, so it fits perfectly. The track is “String Theory” by Absolute, an insanely talented producer from the U.K. This track never fails to go off and has a really iconic and unique string line.
Locke: Also, “Sandstorm” by Darude – we play this in our shows as a mash-up with our track “Delirious” and it always works a treat!
Fadeeva: The third track is “Every Step” by D.O.D., another super-talented U.K. producer. We fell in love with this track from the moment we first heard it on New Music Friday and have been playing it ever since. It’s such a lovely, feel-good record.
DJ LIFE Mag: Which DJs do you admire?
Fadeeva: We admire different DJs for different reasons. Obviously, we have a lot of respect for DJs like David Guetta, Carl Cox, Tiësto, and Norman Cook for being able to stay at the top of the game for 25-plus years. That’s definitely something which we aspire to do ourselves.
Locke: We also admire the DJs who managed to turn the Coronavirus pandemic, which was a very dark and negative time for the world, into something positive. It was amazing to watch all these communities build online around DJs like James Hype and the whole Stereohype community. We’ve been loosely involved with those guys over the last couple of years and they call their community the “Hypefam” – and it really is just that, a big family. So big respect to those guys – without all the fantastic live-streaming they did during that period and continue to do now there would have been a lot more lonely people in the world. Music should be something which unites people and brings us together, and they did just that.
DJ LIFE Mag: I watched EchoStorm’s performance on the Fundraiser Stream for Ukraine in 2022 and, aside from the very compelling musical program, I was moved by the fact that a Russian was onstage playing with such deep purpose. Considering the often-hedonistic culture of electronic-dance music, it’s not often that its artists have the opportunity – and take the opportunity – to make a unique and powerful statement like this. Katya, can you explain the emotions that went into playing this gig?
Fadeeva: Playing this fundraiser set was the greatest honor for me. I wish I could do more to help the victims of this ongoing act of terror. I believe that this war is a horrible crime and reincarnation of the worst cruelty. I don’t support the violent actions of Russian government.
Looking back, I can barely remember exactly how we prepared for this set because after the 24th of February [the invasion date] I could not sleep and found myself in deepest sadness and feeling of sorrow. I do remember that in a matter of a few days we produced most of the set from scratch. The music we played has a strong message and relevance to the ongoing situation. Back then, I never imagined that it would still not be over today. I would do anything to contribute towards peace and the safety of those who are suffering right now.
DJ LIFE Mag: Getting back to the studio… on your original productions, you certainly like to play with effects on the vocals. Where does that come from? What effects unit?
Locke: We’ve always loved manipulating vocals right from the very start when we had our makeshift studio in the U.K. during our unplanned extended stay in the first lockdown. Probably one of the first effect plug-ins we ever started working with together was SoundToys Little Alter Boy. That has played a massive part in our sound so far and can be heard in tracks such as “Move On” and “Do It For Me.” Like all old habits, which die hard, there is a lot more of that to come on the tracks which we are preparing for the album.
Another vocal plug-in which we use a lot is Infected Mushroom’s Manipulator. We’ve often lost ourselves for hours playing around with vocals using that. Another one we’ve been using a lot is iZotope VocalSynth – it’s like a vocoder on steroids!
We often add a good dollop of ’80s chorus – Studio D, Juno, etc. – for good measure. Then, it all gets run through our vocal chain, which is FabFilter Pro Q3, taking out all the muddy low-end frequencies, into the UAD 1176, LA2A, Massive Passive, and the Maag EQ for a nice bit of air, and then we add a bit of analog warmth with the UAD Studer A800 Tape Machine. For reverbs, we generally tend to use Valhalla or Arts Acoustic Reverb for something that requires a massive cathedral-like reverb and for delays, it’s usually SoundToys EchoBoy, EchoBoy Jr. or Waves H-Delay.
DJ LIFE Mag: From your main studio gear, what’s your DAW? Vital hardware? Other favorite plug-ins?
Fadeeva: We work primarily in Logic. It’s just the best fit for our workflow.
Locke: We couldn’t live without our UAD Apollo. It totally revolutionized vocal recording for us, as it meant we didn’t need to have a physical Neve 1073 or Tube-Tech LA2A anymore, as recording directly into the Apollo with the UAD Unison versions of the previously mentioned hardware achieves an indistinguishable result. We believe in it so much that many of our friends – admittedly, with a small pinch of peer pressure from our side – have cast aside their Scarletts and moved over to the Apollo, and never looked back.
Fadeeva: For plug-ins, we use a lot of the old favorites – Serum, Nexus, Sylenth, Massive, Diva, etc., but the one we really would hate to be without is the Arturia V Collection, and its incredible, all-including browser instrument, Analog Lab. It opens you up to a world where your only limit is your own imagination.
DJ LIFE Mag: Which producer/remixers do you most admire and why?
Locke: There are multiple producers who we admire, and who inspire us, but right at the front of the pack has to be Max Martin. His ability to remain at the top of the game for the best part of 30 years is incredible and the amount of records which everyone knows he has been involved in is unbelievable. To really grasp the full magnitude of his influence on the music industry in modern times, just search on YouTube “songs produced by Max Martin” and there will be a few mixes of his discography on there that will blow your mind!
Fadeeva: Another producer who is really killing it right now is Jack Antonoff. His work with The 1975 and Taylor Swift recently has been top-drawer.
Locke: Of the electronic producers, Chris Lake and Dom Dolla are always at the top of the pile, consistently releasing quality dance music. We have a lot of respect for Calvin Harris for his all-round abilities. The guy can do everything – he can write, he can produce, he’s a multi-instrumentalist, and, if necessary, he can even sing. Add that to the fact that he’s been at the top of the game for over 15 years, that makes him one of the best.
DJ LIFE Mag: What are the next releases from EchoStorms?
Fadeeva: First up is “Do As I Say.” It’s an acid-infused, underground track and I’m on vocals for this one. It’s been in our sets for almost a year now and it always goes off, so we are really stoked to finally releasing it! It’s out on Nervous on July 14.
Locke: After that is a collaboration with Able Faces and the track’s called “Whisper Through The Noise.” This is definitely one for fans of our more melodic work with a big vocal! It’s out on Altra Moda on August 11.
DJ LIFE Mag: You mentioned your work on an album. In an age of not-so-many albums, why an EchoStorms album now?
Fadeeva: It was always our plan right from the very inception of EchoStorms that we’d move towards a more album-cycle based approach to releasing music when the time was right. Albums are a wonderful way to provide definition and an identity for each era of an artist’s career and development of sound. For EchoStorms, whose sound is continually evolving, this approach is definitely the way forward for us.
DJ LIFE Mag: Creatively, how are you approaching this new album? Are you including any of the earlier singles like “Tidal Wave,” “Hallucination,” and “Delirious”? Among those tunes, there’s a real range of electronic music there…
Locke: Even if we wanted to, as “Tidal Wave” is on Sony, “Hallucination” on Nervous, and “Delirious” on Stereohype, they are all signed to different labels, it would have been a nightmare to try to put all those records on one album. Furthermore, it was never our plan to include those tracks. Although we love all our previous releases, they were released with the clear purpose of building profile and finding the audience that our music resonates with.
We started work on the album with a totally blank canvas and developed many different musical ideas embracing a wide range of influences with the strongest ones being built into fully finished songs. It’s a work in progress and definitely won’t come out until January 2024 at the earliest, but it’s already shaping up into what we consider our best work to date.
