Tap Into the Mind of Rising House Artist Ekonovah

If you’re a fan of groovy basslines and shuffle-inducing house music, Arizona’s Ekonovah is an artist that needs to be on your radar.

Arizona-based producer Ekonovah has been slaying dance floors with his hard-hitting house beats since first arriving on the scene. Over the past year, he’s shown immense growth and his fresh take on the beloved house genre has quickly made him a fan favorite. He’s blessed fans with sets at Shady Park, appeared on Space Yacht Radio, and even was a guest on the Underground Society Podcast.

On the release front, Ekonovah impressed with Floating, a three-track EP highlighting a new side of the producer’s style – as well as his own vocals on the title track “Floating” and “All Around Me.” Released on Space Yacht records, it surely set the tone for what’s to come from this dynamic artist as he continues to climb higher and higher through the ranks of the scene.

For anyone who may just be discovering Ekonovah, you came at the perfect time because he’s honing in on his sound and about to take the dance music scene by storm with his addicting beats. Speaking of those tasty tunes, Ekonovah has ever so graciously put together an exclusive mix for us, as well as sitting down to chat more about his production style, Shady Park, and more. So check it out below and read on for the conversation!

Stream EDMID Guest Mix 281 || Ekonovah on SoundCloud:

Hey Ekonovah, thanks for taking the time to chat with us today. To start things off, where did the name Ekonovah come from? Is there any particular meaning behind it? If so, what is it?

Of course, thanks for having me! I was really careful about choosing a name. I had been in bands before and started other EDM projects too, all of which the name didn’t mean anything to me. And I guess I didn’t really like that feeling.

Ekonovah is a misspelling of the words echo and nova. Echo = sound, nova = new in Latin. Put them together and tweak the spelling and it means ‘new sound’. Keeping my production style fresh and unique is always my #1 priority, so naming myself after that idea keeps it front of mind.

You have a discography full of house music and its sub-genres, what is it about this particular style that really hooked your attention and drew you to create it yourself?

Back in high school, around 2011 or so, I discovered dubstep and from there found my way into the SoundCloud house scene. Big room house was starting to emerge in popularity and I found myself really allured by the melodic side of big room progressive house back in the day. But what I’ve really always loved is a great groove. Once I finally got into tech house in 2017ish, that’s when my eyes really opened.

In your most recent Space Yacht release, Floating, you put your own vocal touches on “Floating,” and “All Around Me.” Aside from the vocals, how else did that project differ from previous ones?

Ahh yes, I really love this EP. Really proud of myself for how this one came together. “Floating” and “All Around Me” are two examples of tracks in my discography that sound totally distinct from the rest. Even in my unreleased catalog no two tracks really match the same sort of energy. Which I like in a way. But it might be fun to make a sort of sequel to Floating in the future. I really love how that one has this nice steady groove but still feels delicate.

When you sit down in the studio and prepare yourself to start making beats, do you have any rituals you do before? Where do you draw your inspiration from?

I used to have a ritual of lighting a candle before working to classically condition myself to smelling a candle and being productive with music. I started to see results, but when I recently moved I forgot all about that practice. I should start it up again!

Inspiration can come from anywhere. These days it’s usually a concept of a word or a short phrase that I develop into a tangible idea. Otherwise, I just make a nice drum groove and try to freestyle off of that until something catchy comes out.

Arizona is known for its beloved venue Shady Park. It must have been pretty cool growing up there and having access to that venue whenever you liked. How would you say attending and playing shows there helped shape you as an artist?

I am so glad you asked this. Shady Park has influenced my music in a very real way. I love that place. Sometimes I will be making a song and I’ll literally think to myself “this would play really well at Shady.”

It’s truly my favorite venue. I’ve never had a bad time at Shady Park, which says a lot because I am (counter-intuitively) very much a homebody and not one to enjoy going out. I know that doesn’t make any sense given my career choice, haha but Shady Park is the one place that I find reliably comfortable and welcoming.

Earlier this month you were the guest on Underground Society Podcast, what was it like getting to be part of an up-and-coming platform such as that one?

It’s always fun to be a part of something in its early stages! Whether you are an artist, a blog, a podcast, a promoter, a venue, whatever it may be – we all start from nothing. So it’s fun to team up with these people because their fire and motivation is always so contagious.

Congrats on being a part of Goldrush this year. Is there anything you can tell us and your fans about what we can expect from your set?

Ahhh, thank you! I am so excited. It has been hard to keep it a secret. I’m juggling between about 7 tracks at the moment trying to decide which ones are my priority to have finished for the set. I’ve got a lot of vocal sessions ahead of me and sleepless nights but I am just so eager to play some of these out for the first time!

The new year is more than halfway over, what else can fans expect to hear from Ekonovah as we dive deeper into 2021?

It still feels like early 2021 to me. What a strange year and a half time has been. The rest of this year holds a lot of new music from myself. Starting with a new single called ‘Fusion’ coming out on July 30th!

Thank you again for taking the time to chat with us. We hope to catch a set from you soon!

Thanks once again for having me, really appreciate your time and the questions you asked.