“Echoes of Home is a step in a different direction from my previous work,” Sanoi starts. Challenging conventional music production norms, the 12-track album, with 8 tracks available on a limited edition vinyl + 4 remixes for the digital release, is a kaleidoscopic journey towards Sanoi’s production and artistry. “I have tried to challenge my usual approach, and move away from my old writing habits. With this album, I tried to challenge that impulse and not take the easy route,” he says.

Created at his home in Auckland and road-tested at multiple live performances across New Zealand and Australia over the past two years, Echoes Of Home is where we see Sanoi’s composition and production step up another level. “The sound of the record is driven by foley textures and organic percussion, with mellow pianos here and there. I like to use naturally occurring sounds and recordings to find the rhythm of the world around me,” he explains. The album traverses warm, bouncy and melodic house music with touches of deep-house, techno and organica, creating a trance-inducing atmosphere for listeners. “This album is all about writing and creating beautiful and interesting music, and I am very happy with the result,” he finishes.

Here, we connected with Sanoi to expand further on the album release, his creative process and the experience of solo-producing his own work.

Watch the album’s live performance…

Read the full interview…

Can you talk to us through your artistic upbringing? What initially drew you to a career in music, and what artists or experiences have influenced your musical journey?
I come from a family of musicians – my mother is a singer and my father is a guitar player. I remember being about three years old, lying on a sheepskin under the grand piano, listening to my mother practising with her singing professor. Music was the thing I always felt I understood even from a young age, and I was lucky enough that the adults around me always encouraged me to go for it and pursue music. Although I feel like I have only really started to understand what I am doing within the last four years, just making music out of the need to just do it was always my biggest joy in life and provided the soundtrack of the journey that has taken me to where I am today.

How would you describe your overall musical style and the genre you feel most closely aligned with?
My musical influences are all over the show, but I think I would say it’s related to a deep melancholic organic version of deep house and electronica that artists such as Stimming, Max Cooper, Frank Wiedemann or Christian Löffler have been writing.

Can you tell us a bit about the album and your inspirations behind it?
The intent was to push myself musically, and try to spend more time on the finer sonic details. Where my first self-titled album was a way to process childhood and the pandemic, this new album is full of ease and being content. Thematically it might not be as deep, but the tracks all still come from a personal place.

How did the experience of road-testing your music affect the final composition and production of the album?
It actually helped a lot hearing the mix out and being able to make mental notes like “Ah I have to take this thing down a bit…. uhh that sub is waaaay too loud…”.

Could you share some insights into the remixes featured on the project and what led you to collaborate with these specific artists?
All the people that I was lucky enough to get for a remix are artists that I look up to in one way or another. Each one has a unique voice and point of view, and I could not be happier with the outcome. In the past, I got some remixes from other artists that I did not like that much, but every one of the remix artists for Echoes Of Home has done such a sensible job and really respected the original tracks. That’s something that is a bit rare these days and looking at it now, the record would not be complete without these additions.

In what ways did you challenge conventional music production norms while working on this album, and how does this set it apart from other releases?
I think producing everything myself from demo to final mix is not that common, as it does give me the ability to craft my own unique sound. That is what I love about what I do. If it sounds good or makes you feel something, it doesn’t matter how you got there.

Can you talk about the role of experimentation in your music and how it has evolved over the course of your career?
I believe that if you want to create something interesting that a listener wants to go back to, you have to experiment and get creative. I always try to mangle, stretch, bend, distort or squish some elements in my tracks to create some sort of ear-candy that makes me feel like “oh that is interesting”.

How was the experience of filming this “Live Album Performance” video? Can you elaborate on the idea behind the project?
I have been aware of XR (extended reality) technology for a while through a friend who we ended up working with for this project, and it just tickled my brain in the right way. I knew I wanted to record some live performance videos, but once we all decided to work with XR, I got really excited. From there, it was just a collaborative effort between me, the label, and the artists at the company to get my ideas on screen and prepped for the performance. Since we also streamed the event live, it was a nailbiter because the team of around 15 people in total were more used to working on film sets with lots of setup time and then shoot and reset. So it was a great challenge for us all and I love how it turned out.

As an artist, how do you see your music evolving or expanding in the future?
I think I want to collaborate more on the next record and explore a more accessible sound and song structure. It feels natural, and I can’t wait to start writing again.

Are there any new projects or collaborations on the horizon that you’d like to share with us?
Oh I can’t talk about that yet! But you can follow me on Instagram and stay up to date with any exciting upcoming bits and bobs – @sanoimusic