To start the new year, we're launching a new sister label called Driftworks, with an adjoining community called Inner Echo. We launched this private online space late last year with a few 'pilot' members who helped test it for us. Many will know already from recent blog posts and communications, that Driftworks will be run and curated by Andrew Heath who has been releasing music on, and design CD packaging for Whitelabrecs for a few years!

We thought to announce Inner Echo publicly, we'd ask its members to come up with some interview questions with us so that you can learn more about what this new community is all about! One of the initiatives inside the community is an 'art vault' where members submit photography and artwork which could be used by the labels or others inside the community. Some of this very artwork is on display below throughout this post...

INNER ECHO COMMUNITY INTERVIEW

What kind of community would you like to see Inner Echo turn into in the future? ⬛Pete Kvidera

Photo by Samuel Death

HT: I'd just like to see it alive and thriving more than anything else. I think any community that is thriving from the opinion of its members rather than creators, is one that is already successful. We want the opportunity here to be bigger for the members than for our record labels, and so I think together we can create a wonderful place and the community can grow from the ideas of us all as a collective. I certainly want it to be positive and helpful, that’s the vision I have. I know things can be challenging for people, for artists too, and so there are points of negativity out there that need to be discussed - but I think a community can really help. Someone with a bit of knowledge or expertise stepping in to help someone else in need is a wonderful thing.

AH: Harry puts it very well indeed, we will need to judge its success in the long term by how inspired its members feel about it. I hope it will grow into a really mature place where fans and artists can engage and chat openly about projects or their process. I think in the ambient sphere most artists welcome the chance to be questioned about their work and Inner Echo can provide that conduit between the elements of our audience. What it isn’t, is a place that seeks to further push things to sell to fans. To be honest, I’m really impressed with the range of things being posted - it’s far beyond what I expected and as a result, it’s a great place to hang out already. So if it’s the future we are thinking about then more of the same please.

What makes Inner Echo so special? ⬛Fabio Keiner

Photo by Bob Burnett

HT: I think the community is so new still, that it’d be tempting to reply ‘ask me in 6 months time’. But we’ve already got over 65 members in a short space of time, who love Ambient music and its related genres. Some are artists, some run record labels, some buy physical music, some prefer digital. We’ve got photographers, writers, poets and other creators. So there’s a nice mix in there and Inner Echo has bought all of these people together. It’s honestly wonderful to see some of the people I’ve been posting orders out to for many years, chatting to musicians, or to people who have come across Whitelabrecs or Driftworks recently. Before this, it was all down to a much more direct and personal email or direct message yet this didn't bring these people together. So Inner Echo creates a sort of social media space, just without an algorithm.

AH: It’s lovely to see how people are not just posting about Ambient music. They are drawing parallels with landscape and nature photography and more. So the fact that all these creative disciplines are being poured into the same melting pot is already making it special I think. And… for sure, there is no algorithm! and that’s quite a significant thing. It’s a truly egalitarian community that is free from spam or ads or ‘sponsored posts’ or bots… goodness, how so much of of our lives on line in what we thought we great communities (Facebook - I’m looking at you!) but have become hijacked by these inventions. Everyone is equal here. One other thing that I think is quite an important difference between Inner Echo and the social media sites is that Inner Echo does not have profiles as such, so the main emphasis is on the discussion or dialogue rather than the person and I think that’s very important.

Do you see it as a kind of safe space, where Ambient fans and musicians can meet shielded from the outside world of doom metal and retro cyber punk? ⬛Fabio Keiner

Photo by Samuel Death

HT: Ha ha, yes quite possibly! This is one of the main reasons we wanted to restrict the access from being open more widely. We want the people joining to at least be curious about what we do at Whitelabrecs and Driftworks, enough to receive emails from us. Because the style of music we release should hopefully in turn attract the people that enjoy these styles. When someone subscribes to receive our email newsletters, first we tell them a bit about our labels and our background over the course of a few emails. Then they’ll get the invite to the Inner Echo and will have to answer 3 simple questions. This may seem to some like a bit of a faff, but it’s purely to help make sure the people who join are in it for the right reasons. I’m all for self promotion because if you’re sat on something you’ve made that’s special, then sharing it is a crucial step, especially when it’s shared with the right audience. But if you glance at some of the open communities out there, it moves towards the realms of spam and that’s something we don’t want the Inner Echo to be.

AH: Gosh, doom metal and retro cyber punk! I quite like a bit of very early Tubeway Army or The Pentangle… might have to declare that on the member’s register. Seriously, yes. I do see it as a safe place by virtue of that fact that the membership is drawn from the subscriber base. So there is already a commonality to us all.

Where do you think Inner Echo fits into the Ambient music scene?⬛Samuel Death

Photo by nmcr

AH: It’s almost like discovering your house has another floor level! I see the Ambient music scene as being quite extensive but also quite fragmented and I hope Inner Echo will start to make connections for people. It’s about giving people a voice (if they want it) and because it doesn’t have any physical place it can bring people together from all over the world (which I still think is amazing). But I also think here, that it’s something that can be guided by the members and that interesting little links will pop up which will be incredibly important to some members and that will have made the whole thing worthwhile.

HT: I think it will fit in as many of the artists and Ambient music fans support other labels and parts of the wider Ambient community, which I very much see myself a part of. So whilst the rule of entry is to subscribe to Whitelabrecs or Driftworks, this community will also support the wider scene. I also think that with the power of the community, we could ultimately look at occasional live events and involving the wider scene in these too. An Ambient festival for example, although maybe I'm dreaming too far ahead for a moment!

Do you think it could be a danger to go commercial as a community such as selling compilations, merch and promoting members?⬛Fabio Keiner

Photo by Samuel Death

HT: Through my reading, communities can definitely be 'monetised' and there can be a mutual benefit to that, so it’s there as an option - but it would never be an all or nothing situation. We can offer courses and events inside the Inner Echo and that’s something we’ll explore. Merch is something that could be done as a print on demand, and therefore not involve much of a cost, if members feel they’d like to bear the logo on some clothing! The platform does also allow members to be promoted to moderators, or it’s possible to have a private channel. I do want the community to be something where the people can get involved, so for me a ‘promotion’ as it were wouldn’t be the route to do this. We will have some projects where members can get involved in creating or running things, whether it be events, albums or creating mix shows or blog posts for example. But I also think that at its core, it has to always be somewhere that the main functionality and purpose of this space, is free.

AH: I think in my mind there is a difference between using an online space such as Inner Echo to be a shop front and promoting genuine opportunities that might be open to all members even if there is a cost to that. I’ll give you an example. Without naming anyone, I recently was made aware of an amazing week long residency/workshop in tape manipulation - one which I’d love to have gone on and one that I would have genuinely learned from. I wouldn’t see the problem with promoting it on Inner Echo as I wouldn’t be benefiting from that. Equally, it would be interesting to report back on how it had all gone and equally, people could learn from that. Harry and I have deliberately left a space called ‘Label News’ and this is appropriate I feel as Inner Echo is a hub for the wider Whitelabrecs and Driftworks community and I’m sure we will post about things that will be released. That’s a way that members can hear about things ahead of places such as Instagram but I also like the idea of posting (as I did a short while ago) about some of the workload behind our two labels. I think It’s quite nice to open up the process for people to see.

In what ways will you know if the community has succeeded in its aims?⬛Adrian Newton

Photo by nmcr

AH: I think when it is a self sustaining thing really. As well as someone sending me a personal message saying how amazing it is! It’s like being part of any small organisation - you get out what you put in. In that for any community to succeed, it needs communication and boundaries. I’m not sure if we can actually measure the amount of communication going on in the Inner Echo, not sure if we have the tools to do that but anecdotally speaking, there’s always things to catch up on when I log in which is great. I don’t think we should see it as trying to compete against the social media platforms as they are really different entities and in fact as those social media platforms role out their AI programmes to generate not only AI profiles but AI posts and comments as well, that will move them further away from what the Inner Echo is. And, as an addendum to that, it's why (I believe) that these closed networks will ultimately succeed - otherwise it’s just bots talking to bots! So to try and answer your question, if it continues and is used and enjoyed.

HT: Can only echo what Andrew says really. For me, if the community is being used, has plenty of conversation and creativity in it, then we're exactly where we wanted it to be.

How can the community cater for different preferences of people and keep the engagement? Some may prefer online Zoom calls or, to the contrary, prefer it to be a posting board for each member to chat virtually?
⬛Fabio Keiner

Photo by Samuel Death

HT: I think just as with the possible ‘paid for’ features mentioned above, these things can be optional and we look to cater for everybody. So online video calls to chat to those who want to join would be a really nice thing to do and something we’ll look at for sure. But not everyone is comfortable getting on camera or making conversation in this way, so I wouldn’t want people to feel left out. So any such video calls would be infrequent and the Inner Echo forum would be there for people to express themselves as they wish. Beyond a mutual love for Ambient music, I'd also be really keen to get the perspectives of as diverse a range of people as possible. Just with society, this is really important and so everyone is welcome; you don't have to do anything in particular to 'fit in'. I know from doing a survey in the past, how different people are when compared to me; interests, location, age etc and this all brings a wealth of different experiences that are really valuable.

AH: I think it’s about making the space as accessible as possible without getting into a logistical twist. I think people are now very familiar with how an online space works and indeed… when Harry and I started talking about the idea of building a community, we realised that it could work any other way. I think the community is already quite a broad one and imagine that this will only develop further. As mentioned previously, we have posts on many subjects and so keeping engagement and catering for different artistic pursuits is already happening quite organically which is a very positive thing to see in this day and age.

Would it be possible to have a regular feature where members share their favourite ambient releases in their music collection. Music that has really moved and changed them in some way?⬛Will S

Photo by Bob Burnett

AH: That’s a great question Will. I think the idea of bringing some schedule or format to the community is an interesting one and something like ‘inspirational music’ is just one that would have really broad appeal. I think we’ll look into the nuts and bolts of how that can happen beyond just posting as some have already done.

HT: I'd really like to see some things being shared publicly, where the origin of the idea came from inside the Inner Echo; this very blog post being the first example! So members' own music collections being shared in further blog posts and mixes, or other creative outlets are exactly the kind of thing that I think is to be celebrated, and hopefully people outside of the community can enjoy seeing, reading and listening to the ideas of those who are part of the label's community. Otherwise, it's just me, and I think I've done several 'all time favourite records' features over the years...

How does The Inner Echo differ from other communities that have developed for this kind of music, such as one managed in Patreon for example?⬛Adrian Newton

Photo by Samuel Death

AH: I’m really not that familiar with other communities and to be honest, Inner Echo is pretty new to me - refreshingly so. So I’ll bow to Harry’s better understanding of them.

HT: I'd say a lot of the communities out there are being managed by artists through a Patreon or Substack style platform, with either free or paid for behind the scenes content. There's the discussion boards on the likes of Reddit and Facebook Groups; I've spent some time looking at the Reddit one in particular for Ambient music and this is a great space for sure. It's very big and understandably, very broad but I found it to be a useful area to share things and whatever I shared was met with positivity. I also contributed by passing on some of my knowledge, experience or musical recommendations and this was well received too. So it was sort of proof long before Inner Echo that there's a keenness for a community. I'd say that Inner Echo differs from the Patreon model, in that we're more about the people inside the community rather than the owner of the community being the ones people show up for. That said, there's a similarity in that any of the labels' artists are able to share behind the scenes things with the members, so you get a free and multi-Patreon effect from the artists that use it in this way. It differs from the public groups, in that it is more curated, with members being part of the Whitelabrecs or Driftworks email newsletters. So there's a more specific style that people are coming for and therefore, hopefully more synergy with members.

How do you see that we can learn together from each other - styles, visions, experiences, even production tricks?⬛Fabio Keiner

Photo by Adrian Newton

AH: Talking (or posting) and answering questions about your practice is a very good way to grow as an artist. The more that we can share the more that we can all learn from each other. I’ve never really understood artists (both visual and musical) who try and keep their process a secret, for me, it’s all about trying things out and I feel we in the ambient community are very much ‘process led’ and so the more ideas you can have about trying out different approaches, then the better.

HT: Originally I was thinking we could have a community space for fans and a separate one for artists but in eventually made sense for everything to be together. Lots of music fans are dabbling with, or even vastly experienced at music creation themselves regardless of whether they're an artist on the label. Those learning a skill or even something creative, may progress quicker by learning from others. I saw this a lot when looking at the Reddit or Facebook Group communities, that you get beginners asking questions from a position of starting a journey of Ambient music production, running a record label, music marketing or even non-musical elements of creativity. So I think people will have lots of different ways to learn from others or to seek validation or feedback on what they're doing within the Inner Echo community. This might be through posting a question in one of the channels, asking particular members a question in the chat or perhaps we may at some stage facilitate Q&A sessions to help people in a group call. Then as above, in time we may also be able to get some course material created and offered as a free or low-cost course to support common needs in a bit more detail.

*With the imagery shown in this blog post, all rights are reserved with the credited photographer or artist and this is not permitted for use outside of this blog post without the express permission of the person credited.

The Inner Echo is an Ambient music community group, accessible by those who are part of the Whitelabrecs or Driftworks' email communities. The group was set up by Harry Towell and Andrew Heath as a special place for members to share behind the scenes information, get involved and chat to other community members.

Here you can read the latest label news from Whitelabrecs and Driftworks, ask questions and discover behind the scenes information on the labels and their artists. You can also share feedback and ideas, or get involved in sharing your own artwork and creativity. There are also spaces for you to share your musical recommendations, or have a general chat about anything.

If you'd like to join our community, simply sign-up to the Whitelabrecs email newsletter using the form below or alternatively (or as well!), you can join the Driftworks newsletter HERE. If you're already subscribed to one of these newsletters and have not yet joined Inner Echo, send us a message and we'll share the link with you.