A gem within London’s electronic music scene, Eich is a DJ, producer and founder of the More Cowbell online community. Launched in 2019, More Cowbell initially started as a place for Eich to share the love of dance music that existed within the realms of UK techno and bass music. The discussion page is growing continuously and has become a great place for new discovery as people within the community religiously post new music, radio shows and recommendations from across the globe. As More Cowbell continues to grow and become a dance music staple, the platform has evolved and expanded over the years with it now existing as a record label, club night and Rinse FM residency. Collaborating with like-minded platforms such as Keep Hush, More Cowbell has released records from the likes of Monir, Spektralsound, PAS1, Eyeza, and Aeus Deuz – in November 2021, the label put out their first ever vinyl release.
Being named as one of DJ Mag’s emerging artists to watch out for last year, Eich has been working on her own productions, releasing her debut track in August 2022 as part of a Woozy compilation. Eich quickly followed up with her first EP release in November, ‘Red’, which was released via her More Cowbell label. This tirelessly commitment to music and constantly working on her craft has not gone unnoticed. Touring across the UK and key dates in Europe, some of Eich’s most notably gigs include Dimensions Festival, Outlook Festival, GALA, fabric, HVYWGHT, Left, Right & Centre as well as playing for Warning and Awkwardly Social in Berlin.
To tie in with her debut EP release, we caught up with Eich to discuss her first introductions to electronic music, her journey to releasing ‘Red’, and the ever-evolving approach to More Cowbell. For the accompanying mix, Eich has returned to her house roots, showcasing the duality of the genre with the contrasting light and dark moods.
Hi Harriet, we’re excited to have you on board our mix series this month! Starting from the beginning, what was your first introduction to electronic music and what motivated you to start DJing and producing?
I think my first introduction to electronic music goes way back to when I was younger. Me and my brother always talk about how we gained all our music influences from our Dad, but in two completely different ways. He was really into the live band, indie kind of stuff and I picked up all the electronic stuff my Dad used to have on when we were kids, stuff like The Human League, The Prodigy, The Orb. I think that’s probably where it all started, then as I got older I discovered dance floors and got really into house and garage when I was about 19 through a little club in my hometown called Hideout. The inspiration for this to become basically my whole life started there.
Who would you say are your key influences and inspirations that have impacted you the most both personally and artistically?
I think Rinse FM had such a huge impact on my influence as an artist today. The first show I started listening to religiously going back about ten years now was the Mark Radford show. Me and my mate used to listen to it on playback in his car driving up the country roads to get to the rave in the city. Following on from that I was hugely into house music, I met a friend who introduced me to the Dance Mania back catalogue and got really into the bumpy Chicago stuff, which I think is really prominent in my production in its own kind of way. Everything always has a slightly darker undertone for me though, I think through listening to so much of the sounds coming out of Bristol at the time. Artists like Kowton have had a huge impact on my sound. Something slightly broken but still bumps to a nice groove.
Huge congratulations on releasing your first EP, ‘Red’, how did this EP come about? What is inspiration behind the release?
I really wanted to make a tune that told everyone what the label is all about, and when I made Red I really just thought ‘this is the exact sound I want to be putting out’. The track is quite simple, stripped back and minimal. That’s kind of my whole approach when making tunes; saying a lot without using a lot.
What has the journey been like in the lead up to releasing your first EP following on from the single on Woozy earlier in the year?
The Woozy release really gave me a kick to just get stuff out instead of just sitting on music because I was too scared to put it out. That release forced me to stop looking at my production so critically because I actually had a deadline to meet, so following on from that I knew I needed a deadline for the EP.
What have been some of the biggest lessons you’ve learned since you started producing?
Don’t rush. And make what you want to make, not what you think people want to hear.
In 2019 you launched an online community and record label More Cowbell, what inspired you to start this platform?
Honestly I just felt there was a space lacking for the sound, and I wanted to get a vibe going for it again. The sound died off a little bit for a while, so it was a nice way to get things moving forward a little bit. It’s been really lovely actually, I’ve made life-long friends from starting the online community page, who I now speak to every day.
What has it been like navigating running a label over the last few years? How do you see it evolving?
I feel like when I first launched More Cowbell, I didn’t really know what I was doing and I was very much winging it. Despite that the following was just so organic, people seemed really interested in what we were doing. It’s taken time for me to feel like ‘I got this, I know where I’m going with this and I know how to run this’. This year I’ve vouched to release more on the label after a quiet 2022 of releases. We’ve actually got a few bits in the works including a singles series that will be launching over the course of the summer with some of my favourite artists across the globe. Really excited to get that out into the world.
What has it been like transitioning the More Cowbell community from URL to IRL?
Super inspiring actually – the Spanners nights were just that. We’ve got even more of that coming again this Summer too 🙂
What is your approach to mixes? Do you usually have a concept or story in mind that you are trying to tell through it? Or is it more inspired by your emotions?
I guess as cliche as it sounds I just like them to have some kind of journey, probably based on my mood a lot of the time. Slow builds with long peaks, then big padded breaks to cleanse before going into something a bit deeper again. I’ve definitely found my groove with it over the last year or so, trying to find the perfect arc of a mix….sometimes it can turn into a bit of a rabbit hole that you never feel like you’ll be ever to reach though.
What is your routine for finding new music and how do you go about organising your tracks?
Honestly I’m rubbish at organising my music haha, it’s a bit all over the place. I usually go by show or by mix and make a folder based on that. I do like to have a little plan ahead before any shows or mixes to make sure my story arc is correct, it’s something I really value. So often I’ll go into Rekordbox and make a rough guide for order so I can make sure I have a slow build with lots of peaks troughs and all the rest. I feel this works best for me, then I can make sure the flow is right. Same goes for if I’m packing records, I’ll just make a note in Rekordbox of what I’ve packed so it’s all in front of me when I press play.
What was the idea behind the mix you have done for us?
Over the last year or so, I’ve really been going back to my roots in house. This was a genre that was super important to me when I first started getting into all this. I just like to try and put my own twist on it, mixing up dark with light and all with a UK twist. So I guess this mix is an amalgamation of all of that.
‘Red’ by Eich is out now via More Cowbell – buy here.