Mihalis Aikaterinis (aka Miktek) talks about Elsewhere, his first full length album on Lyon-based boutique record label, Ultimae. Read further to find out what Mihalis is listening to these days and check out the lovely album video teaser created by Magnus Birgersson if you haven’t yet.
Igloo :: Hey there Mihalis. Please tell us a little bit about yourself and the Miktek project.
Mihalis :: Hello! Well I’m Mihalis, you already know that, I’m from Lesvos Island, a calm and beautiful place in the Aegean sea, pretty close to Turkey! I spend most of my time in the studio composing/experimenting; you can say I’m a home cat actually. Making music is a way of expressing my feelings, my emotions. My own therapy to be exact. The Miktek project was born in 2006 after various other project names. I do like the name Miktek as it’s simple, just like my music is simple and easy to listen to! As Miktek I cover a large spectrum of electronic music, not staying in one style or genre. Crafting only what I feel inside and not what I have to create! One big dream is to make a documentary about my island that will be audio/visual only, performing it live in the local theater with free admission.
How did your relationship with Ultimae start? Were you influenced by the label’s sound before you became a part of its roster of artists?
The most interested relationship in my music life started with the 2 compilations in Ultimae, Ambrosia by Fishimself and Greenosophy by Mizoo. You can call it luck, fate or destiny, or I was at the right place at right time on the internet. After meeting Vincent Villuis (Aes Dana) and Haris (Fishimself) in Athens I was more than close to my favorite label and to people with whom a warm friendship started to grow. As a huge fan of Ultimae Records for more than 10 years now I’m influenced by the label’s sound obviously, it’s my everyday soundtrack…
What can you tell us about your new album?
Elsewhere is as the title says.. elsewhere, in my opinion. Every track is a different story coming with strong feelings from the summer of 2012 through the winter to 2013. The full album is like a personal diary of deep thoughts, experiences and ideas. Feels like it gives the listener the opportunity to think, feel and create his own images on each track. Most people including me can hardly describe the sound and style… I call it Audio/Visual that gives you the feeling of melancholia or we can call it Ambient/Downtempo. Well this is something that may differ greatly from one person to another. My best moment making this album possible was in Lyon (France) at the Ultimae Studio realizing that this is actually happening, many hours of mixing and mastering and maybe some headaches at the end of the day but having in mind that the best things possible have been made so Elsewhere can have shape and color!
As most of Ultimae’s physical releases, Elsewhere comes in a 3-part digipak that also includes a 16 sheets booklet. What can you tell us about the artwork?
The artwork was a long process still a fun one though. Having to choose from hundreds of great pictures! For sure there’s a “Miktekish” taste in the artwork, more grey things, landscapes, just to fit with the mood and the music inside without becoming too dark and without getting away from the Ultimae theme. Everything blended smoothly. I’m really happy with the result!
Let’s talk a little bit about your taste in music—what music inspired you as a child and what are you listening to these days?
As a child I listened to Drum n Bass / Breakbeat stuff, discovering psychedelic trance music after. Beside the trancey part of my life I was fascinated by the ambient tracks that mostly no one listened to in psychedelic trance compilations or albums, most of the time they were the last tracks on the releases (1996-2000)! So you can imagine that discovering Ultimae Records almost at their beginning was a huge turn in my life with ambient music! Started discovering all styles of ambient soon after, most glitchy stuff, experimental and IDM music and this exploration continues till now. Not to mention that I do like post rock music, post punk to selective industrial music! My favorite bands are: Aes Dana, Kattoo, Flaque, Loess, Autechre, Amon Tobin, for rock, post punk Bauhaus, Joy Division, Tool, NIИ and in more industrial Front 242.
Any live shows planned for the coming months?
I will be performing live, also presenting my new album at S.U.N Festival in Hungary, July 24–28. I’m very happy to be invited to play at their first festival and it will be a great joy to share my music with this audience! Hope to see you there!
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