Patrick Knoch set up Elektrostaub in 2007. Elektrostaub  can be defined as Electro/Future-Pop and is a solo-project with guest singers. After the first official album “Birthday And Death” released in 2017 on Echozone, the German project joined hands together with Alfa-Matrix. The new album “Reliance” features guest singers Patrik Hansson (Vanguard, Uncreated), Henrik Iversen (Namnambulu), !DISTAIN, René Anke (Logic & Olivia), Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton), Jan Dieckmann (Norderney), Alex Rush (Unity One), Claudia Uhle (X-Perience), Damasius Venys (Mondträume, Mental Exile), Alex Nórdika (Nórdika) and Darrin Huss (Psyche). The work is a diversified, danceable and ambitious piece. I asked a few questions to Patrick Knoch.

(Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)

Q: Patrick, tell us a bit more about your music background and how did you come to set up Elektrostaub? 

Patrick: I received musical education in my childhood at a Yamaha music school, mainly on the electronic organ and keyboards. In the early 2000s I founded a band and later decided to start a solo project to better implement my own ideas and ideas.

Q: Elektrostaub is clearly driven and inspired by different forms of Electronic music, but ‘Pop’ definitely appears to be the main source of inspiration.  What are your examples and references in music and how would you analyze your own composition? 

Patrick: I’ve always been a fan of Electronic music and I liked the music of Depeche Mode, Camouflage, Erasure to name a few. Later, Silke Bischoff, Vnv Nation, Solar Fake, for example. So it was relatively obvious that I should try to make music in this direction myself.

Are you looking for powerful beats, flying, melodic and dreamy surfaces as well as modern sounds and catchy Electro-Pop songs? Then you’ve come to the right place with Elektrostaub. Due to the large number of singers involved, the styles of the respective bands also flow into the project and increase the spectrum of versatility.

Q: You mentioned the large number of singers so why do you prefer working with guest singers instead of a real band singer? And what’s your connection with the guys of !Distain? 

Patrick: In the beginning, the main idea was to do remixes and write instrumentals. Later on the idea came up that I could have guest singers set it to music. 

On this album all lyrics come exclusively from the guest singers. I think it’s important that my guests can get involved in the project themselves.

I have known Manfred and Alex from !Distain since the beginning of Elektrostaub and they have become very good friends of mine. Producing songs together is similar to do house music with your family… lol.

Q: How did the writing- and production process of “Reliance” happened? And how did the collaboration with the different singers happened?  

Patrick: First I write the arrangements and instrumentals. When that happens I think carefully about which singer could sing the song best. In most cases I choose artists whose music I also like and whether I personally like the voices or would simply go very well with the song.

When the process is finished I write to the respective artist and ask if they are interested.

After receiving the vocal tracks, I embedded them into the arrangements and then created the final mixes.

Q: There’s an impressive evolution in sound and production from your debut album “Birthday And Death” (2017) towards “Reliance”. How do you look back at your debut work and the transition to “Reliance”? 

Patrick: Thanks so much. I would think it’s just a constant development and advancement. Perhaps the experience gained plays a role. I don’t really like to look back, I love to look forward 😉

Q: How do you expect Elektrostaub evolving and what are the further plans regarding aspects like live shows, remixes, singles and clips? 

Patrick: I will start work on the third album soon. I will write several arrangements and instrumentals again and then proceed as always. I still have some remixes to do in the near future. I’ve been doing a few lately and they’ll all be out soon. Live shows are not planned or very feasible due to the fact that I don’t have a permanent singer.

In which direction will Elektrostaub evolve? I can’t say that today. I’ll just try to develop myself musically and hope to take the next steps.

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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Genre/Influences: Electro-Pop, Future-Pop.  

Format: Digital, CD.

Background/Info: Four years after the debut-album “Birthday And Death” released on Echozone, Patrick Knoch unleashes his second full length featuring an impressive list of guest singers. “Reliance” was preceded by two singles/EP’s, which especially in Germany became pretty successful.

Content: Patrick Knock had some good company with Patrik Hansson (Vanguard, Uncreated), Henrik Iversen (Namnambulu), !Distain duo, René Anke (Logic & Olivia), Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton), Jan Dieckmann (Norderney), Alex Rush (Unity One), Claudia Uhle (X-Perience), Damasius Venys (Mondträume, Mental Exile), Alex Nórdika (Nórdika) and Darrin Huss (Psyche). Sound-wise Elektrostaub brings a perfect mix of electro-Pop driven and somewhat harder Future-Pop inspired songs. The different singers inject some extra diversity to the work.

The album features previously released singles “Wake Up” and “We Are Dreamers”. There’s only one single song featuring female vocals. !Distain –being good-old friends of Patrick Knock, contributed to 3 songs, one of them featuring French sung lyrics.

+ + + : First of all we have to salute the contribution of some real great and talented singers like Darren Huss, Henrik Iversen and Stefan Netschio, but also brilliant singers from the ‘latest’  generation like Damasius Venys, Patrik Hansson and Claudia Uhle. The single female vocalist injects a heavenly touch to the album. Several songs sound like they were conceived to make people dance and get happy. I also enjoyed the somewhat harder Future-Pop driven cuts and I especially recommend “Futurism” featuring Norderney, which will appeal to VNV Nation fans. “We Are Dreamers” featuring Patrik Hansson remains a great piece of music for its boosting Electro-Pop. There’s also a cool ‘female’ version featuring Claudia Uhle who’s definitely a great singer. Last, but not least I also recommend listening to “Dust” featuring Damasius Venys who’s according to me one of the most charismatic and sexy voices of the scene.

– – – : I expected a bit more from the songs featuring !Distain –an established Electro-Pop formation I’ve always liked. It’s also a pity there’s only one single female singer featured.

Conclusion: Elektrostaub has achieved an ambitious, but accomplished album, which sounds like the perfect crossover between Electro- and Future-Pop.

Best songs: “Futurism feat. Norderney”, “We Are Dreamers featuring Patrik Vanguard”, “We Are Dreamers featuring Claudia Uhle”, “Dust featuring Damasius Venys”, “Save Me featuring René Anke”, “Loneliness featuring !Distain”.

Rate: 8.

Artist: www.elektrostaub.de / www.facebook.com/Elektrostaub

Label: www.alfa-matrix.com / www.facebook.com/Alfa.Matrix

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

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After the two chart-hitting singles “We Are Dreamers“ (#1) and “Wake Up“ (#4), German synth pop act Elektrostaub is about to release the 14-track album “Reliance” featuring quite and impressive list of artists who surround him on future pop / synthpop album.

On this record Patrick Knoch works with Henrik Iversen (Namnambulu), Nórdika and his good old friends from !Distain. But he also invited a sort of “who is who” from the indie synth pop scene on this release, with special additional guest singers in the likes of Stefan Netschio (Beborn Beton), Darrin Huss (Psyche), Damasius Venys (Mondträume, Mental Exile), Patrik Hansson (Vanguard), Claudia Uhle (X-Perience), René Anke (Logic & Olivia), Alex Rush (Unity One) and Jan Dieckmann (Norderney).

Impressive to say the least!

You can expect a mix of melancholic synth pop and dancefloor future pop with a harder EBM edge. The release is available now in pre-order on CD and as download via Bandcamp where you get 2 tracks already.

Check out the album trailer below.

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Chief editor of Side-Line – which basically means I spend my days wading through a relentless flood of press releases from labels, artists, DJs, and zealous correspondents. My job? Strip out the promo nonsense, verify what’s actually real, and decide which stories make the cut and which get tossed into the digital void. Outside the news filter bubble, I’m all in for quality sushi and helping raise funds for Ukraine’s ongoing fight against the modern-day axis of evil. Besides music I’m also an SEO and AI content flow specialist and have an interest in everything finance from stocks to crypto. There is music in everything!

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Genre/Influences: Electro-pop.

Background/Info: This is the fourth full length album for the German band Logic & Olivia. René Anke,
Kalle Vogel and Matthias Trompelt recently released the impressive EP “Night Of Despair” so I was really wondering how their new creation would sound like.

Content: Previous albums of this band didn’t really impress me, but as I already mentioned the song “Night Of Despair” made me curious. All songs aren’t comparable to “Night Of Despair”, but globally speaking this band improved the global production. They clearly deal with electro-pop with a more personal approach, avoiding this way the synth-pop clichés. The songs are well-crafted while the most noticeable cuts have been supported with cool melody lines and a refreshing sound production.

+ + + : I like electro-pop formations, which aren’t Depeche Mode clones. “Louder Than Words” is made with an own sound DNA, which is refreshing although not innovating. This formation gained in sophistication and has found the right formula to get songs danceable and melodious. Next to the remarkable “Night Of Despair”, the song “I Like” could be another EP-title song.

– – – : Next to a few cool songs the album also features a few forgettable cuts. I’m sometimes also missing passion in the vocals.

Conclusion: Logic & Olivia is not exactly what I would call a leading synth-pop formation, but this new opus is definitely their best work to date.

Best songs: “Night Of Despair”, “I Like”, “Run”.

Rate: (7).

Artist: www.logicandolivia.de /  www.facebook.com/Logic–Olivia–official-189449534417916

Label: www.infacted–recordings.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Infacted–Recordings/124099254321690

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop.

Background/Info: German formation Logic & Olivia is already active for several years now and can look back at different productions released on Danse Macabre and Infacted Recordings (since 2014). This new EP is meant as a teaser to the new full length “Louder Than Words”.

Content: The title song is a great piece of electro-pop music, which is mainly carried by an impressive lead, a deep, vibrating bass line and a retro touch on top of the song.

We next get remixes by Dominatrix and Edobot plus a cool, instrumental B-side song, which sounds as a kind of extended version.

+ + + : This EP reveals a great title song, which in my humble opinion also is their best song to date. I especially like the phenomenal and somewhat vintage-like lead running through the song. But the song “Despair Of The Night” also is a great B-side. The song has been progressively built up and has a sort of transcendental-pop feeling.

– – – : The only minus point about the EP is that both remixes don’t really add a bonus. I can’t say the remixes are disappointing, but they remain under the high qualitative level of the original version.

Conclusion: This EP is exactly what I expect as a teaser announcing a new album; a great title song and an excellent B-side cut. The new full length sounds promising!

Best songs: “Night Of Despair”, “Despair Of The Night”.

Rate: (8).

Artist: www.logicandolivia.de /  www.facebook.com/Logic–Olivia–official-189449534417916

Label: www.infacted–recordings.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Infacted–Recordings/124099254321690

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com

Genre/Influences: Electro-pop.

Background/Info: Logic & Olivia is a German trio active since 1999. After having released 2 albums on Danse Macabre they now have joined Infacted Recordings to unleash their latest opus.

Content: I honestly didn’t have this band in mind and so “Pink” sounded a bit like a re-discovery. From the very first notes you’ll notice a solid electro-pop sound featuring some melancholia. Some songs are accomplished with bombast and rather classic piano arrangements. Some guitar playing can be heard as well, but globally speaking it remains first of all an electronic formation.

The last part of the album features a few noticeable songs, which might appeal to Depeche Mode lovers. The last song is a cool ‘dance remix’, which is the right song to conquer dance floors.

+ + + : Logic & Olivia clearly tries to compose a very own pop interpretation based upon electronics and reinforced with guitar and some bombastic intrusions. The best tracks can be heard in the last part of the album. Some tracks are not as original although more efficient and I especially refer to “Where Our Home Is”. If you like melancholic pop music you’ll also like “Because Of Your Smile” while DJ’s will be more interested by the remix of “History”.

– – – : Despite a few cool tracks, I’ve found less harmony between melody lines and the songwriting. It for sure is an easy listening album, but without a real climax. The best cuts come at the end so you’ll have to be patient.

Conclusion: “Pink” a cool and easy to remember title, but unfortunately the album can’t totally convince me. I’m missing a real spirit and only a few cuts could convince me there’s more in this band than what they’ve shown thus far.

Best songs: “Where Our Home Is”, “Because Of Your Smile”, “History – Past Dance Remix”.

Rate: (6).

Band: www.logicandolivia.de / www.facebook.com/Logic–Olivia–official-189449534417916

Label: www.infacted–recordings.de / www.facebook.com/pages/Infacted–Recordings/124099254321690

Inferno Sound Diaries

I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.

www.side-line.com