by Aaron Russell for Abstrakt Reflections | January 8, 2011

Subheim is the personal music project of Kostas K. His cinematic, downtempo, experimental ambiance coupled with haunting female vocals (by Katja) have gained him an international following.

His debut album Approach on the respected label Tympanik Audio earned critical acclaim and appeared on a host of “Best of 2008” lists. Now, this past November, he has released the highly anticipated follow-up, No Land Called Home where once again he pushes the boundaries of electronic music while continuing to evolve as an artist.

We here at Abstrakt Reflections were fortunate enough to catch up with the the London based producer for a rare interview. Here’s what he had to say:

AR: Why did you choose the name “Subheim”? What meaning lies beneath?

Kostas: It results from the collage of two different words, however there is not just one specific meaning behind. ‘Sub’ can refer to several things but I prefer connecting that to low end frequencies and generally, bass. I write mostly downtempo music so bass is always present to add up to the overall liquid sound aesthetic. As for ‘heim’, it can mean shelter, safe home in German (as well as many other things), so let’s just say that this project is a personal shelter for expressing myself.

AR: What other artists (musicians and otherwise) most influence your music?

Kostas: Everything and everyone I associate myself with becomes an instant influence in what I do. Especially the people close to me and all the stuff they might be going through. To speak for music though, some of my greatest influences have been bands such as the old Fields of the Nephilim, the Cocteau Twins or Godspeed You! Black Emperor and composers like Max Richter, Craig Armstrong and Clint Mansell… The list is never-ending.

AR: What is your goal as an artist?

Kostas: To continue being honest to myself and writing music that I personally enjoy. If by doing so, more people embrace the music and new listeners join me on this journey, I will be happy. If not, I will still have no regrets as long as the music comes from the heart. In other pursuits, I would be happy to score music for film or other moving image work because I’m a strong admirer of the audiovisual experience that one receives when image and sound are beautifully glued together. It’s simply magic to me.

AR: How would you describe your music?

I tend to dislike tags although they can be useful occasionally. I suppose the presence of strong ambience and the extensive use of reverb characterize my music significantly. It is sad music because the themes are sad. The thoughts behind them are sad. My music could be the soundtrack to the tears of a lonely man that stands on a cold rooftop. It could be the agony of poor souls being hit and tortured. It could be a ruined, deserted land. Or the eyes of a dying dog in the middle of the street, in all the cruelty of it.

AR: As an artist you display a wide range of ability and interests beyond the spectrum of music. No doubt you’ve been an artist since birth. Which of these talents did you discover first? Which of these talents best expresses you as an individual?

Kostas: I’m not sure if I’m the talented man you describe. Composing and producing both involve a lot of hard work, sleepless nights and tremendous amounts of fatigue, both physical and spiritual. There are, of course, people that have this kind of ‘spark’, whenever they perform something or even touch a musical instrument or draw a perfect-shaped human body on a piece of paper at a very young age. I’ve never felt I’m one of them, although my tendency towards art had been strong from a very early age, when I used to recreate in paper all my favorite comic heroes. That was the world I’d use to lose myself into back then. I guess it has always been about that, finding my own protective shelter from all that is ugly and miserable around us.

AR: Your most recent release uses a very diverse and organic range of sounds. How did you achieve this? What are the primary tools you are using to create your music?

Kostas: I’m mostly an electronic musician, therefore my home studio with a computer and good speakers is the basic setup for all I do. For this specific album, I made use of acoustic instruments along with electronic sounds. Percussive elements, solo string instruments but also some quite unconventional non-music objects were used. There has been a lot of recording, both field and instrumental (and many vocal layers of course) especially for No Land Called Home and, although it was very hard to mix all those different sound sources, the challenge was fascinating and a great way to explore new sonic areas.

AR: As a native to Greece you hold a unique perspective. How do you feel the electronic music scene differs there from the rest of the world? Were there any unique challenges you had to overcome?

Kostas: Although I have met some deeply dedicated individuals and small organizations, the scene in Greece is quite narrow-minded, while people tend to see music as a way of exclusively having fun rather than entertaining themselves. Therefore, there is more fertile ground for the harder and aggressive genres but not much room for ambient and calmer music. I wish things would have been more open to creativity in Greece, in regards to electronic music. Unfortunately, there are very few musicians from my country who can produce music of high-quality and that is mainly because the entire system in this country is extremely discouraging towards young people that have a desire to experiment with art.

AR: Many were saddened by the closure of Spectraliquid. It has been nearly six months since the official announcement. Looking back, what are you thoughts? Is there any chance of a rebirth?

Kostas: No, there isn’t. It was a rather sad moment for me as well but without being able to financially contribute – at least in the amount I’d want to – and also without the availability of time, a rebirth sounds almost impossible to me. Running a record label is more time-consuming than one would expect. I remember being even busier than what I would have been with a regular day job and, on average, losing money more than earning any. I can’t do that anymore, although I admit I’m frequently thinking about it. However, I really hope that the very fresh, greek label Impulsive Art will remain active and deliver beautiful releases.

AR: What does the future hold for “Subheim” fans?

Kostas: Different music in every release. I know that some are put off with the direction we took in No Land Called Home, however this is something that will happen quite often. I’m easily bored and prefer exploring new ideas than walking on the same, safe grounds. To me, this is the purest realization of experimentation, regardless if it’s successful or not.