20 questions to: Umberto Echo

Your name: Umberto Echo
You live in: Munich
Title of your last album: Lift Dubs, March 15, 2013 Enja Records

What is your definition of Dub?
Instrumental music based on reggae with a little vocals and sometimes extreme effects, not necessarily echo but often and happily, sometimes solos.

What distinguishes a good from a bad Dub?
A worse Dub gets boring quickly because it is predictable. You can always hear a good one.

How would you your Dub-Describe style?
Eclectic maximalist.

How does the creation process of a typical Dub-Tracks from you?
Ideally, I have an idea in advance that I can then implement. Sometimes I end up somewhere else, which doesn't necessarily have to be bad.
I open the session, mix the tune so that all elements sound good and then start taking individual elements in and out and alienating them. Then I am in my world for a few hours. When I have a good feeling with the base, I take a break and listen to the whole thing with a little distance.
Then it's time to fine-tune. I go over individual passages and refine the transitions and remove unnecessary parts. Possibly. I play a few tracks myself and or invite a musician friend so that he can play a little something for me. If I am satisfied with everything that is going on, one more lap will only be honed on the sound.

When are you with one of your produced Dubs satisfied?
If I can listen to it several times in a row without wanting to change anything and find it interesting every time I listen to it.

What are your personal Dub-Top 5 albums?
Aswad: New Chapter in Dub
Mad Professor vs Le Scratch Perry: Dub Take The Voodoo out of Reggae
Scientists: Dub From the ghetto
Earl 16: The fittest Dub versions
Umberto Echo: Dub Train

Who is the greatest for you Dub-Artist of all time?
Lee Perry, I've been happy about him so often. It's not necessarily the best, but the coolest.

And who is currently the most interesting Dub-Artist?
Umberto Echo

What is the musically most interesting decade for you? Why?
70s. Warm sound, real vibes, real musicians, optimism.

What do you hear besides Dub?
Jazz, HipHop, Soul, Funk, Afrobeat, Electronic Music, High End Pop, Classical, in the past a lot of Punk, Hardcore, Rock.

What is your current favorite album?
Antun Opic "You Can Spare A Dime"

In what form do you buy your music: vinyl, CD, download, subscription? Why?
CDs. I grew up like that, haven't changed yet. Price performance (sound) is especially good for older albums.

Can you make a living with music?
I produce a lot of music for other people in various genres and live from it exclusively. I hardly make any money with my own music.

Which artist would you like to work with?
All who will come

What is your particular strength?
Good hearing, having fun, musicality.

What do you enjoy most about your job?
Producing my own albums and being able to make all the decisions on my own.

What do you dread in the studio?
Badly prepared musicians with out of tune instruments.

When you're not at Dubs screwing, what is your favorite thing to do then?
Record and mix good music.

Which music website do you prefer to visit?
I rarely do it, tend to look for certain people (musicians) who interest me, you always end up somewhere else.

How do you see the future of Dub?
Positive! Dubstep will sink further into the mainstream varieties and new people will become the old ones Dub- Reinterpret concepts in unexpected ways.