Contributing WriterSounds Of Khemit builds on the success of their first release by quickly following up with a superb various artist collection. A broad mix of artists from around the world all contribute to what is a brilliantly diverse album.
We caught up with label A&R Nhii to discuss their highly conceptual compilation ‘Khepri’ & more.
Hi Nhii, we’re very excited to get the chance to speak to you about the new label ‘Sounds of Khemit’ and its second release ‘Khepri’ on which you’ve contributed the track ‘Dreamers’. How are you feeling about being a part of this first compilation album?
In ancient egypt it is belief that life constantly moves in a circular manner, passing through five distinct stages – from dawn to dusk; five cycles in life, from birth to death, and five cycles of the universe, consisting of “Khepri” representing the dawn time, “Ra” (the morning sun) , “Oon” (the afternoon sun), “Aten” (the wise) golden hour, up to sunset time and “Amen” (the dark or veiled or hidden) evening time. We believe that the dark times of Amen ended in 2020 and now we are living in the Khepri dawn time. Accordingly this compilation represents the starting phase of our journey with Sounds of Khemit. We are so happy about feedback to the first release “Feather of Ptah” (including Hraach, Fabian Krooss, Wild Dark and me). We could not have wished for a better start. So being on this compilation with all the super talented artists is already feeling exciting, even before the release. I am super thankful that all artists involved in this release share our philosophy of music and sound.
You not only A&R for the label but you are also a partner in it, who do you run the label with and how did the project come about?
The Label is run by Wael, the founder of Sounds of Khemit (SoK is not only a label, it will have many branches), Row Weber and me. That said, the two really trust me with the music and I have a lot of freedom. Wael is a big music fan and he contacted me and came to one of my shows in Brooklyn. Over the next weeks we started to chat more on Instagram and Patreon. Pretty soon the idea of a label was born. Row Weber is a very experience artist and label manager. So teaming up with him is a blessing for us.
We’d love to get a brief overview of all the artists involved with the compilation, what was the thought process behind the album’s curation?
As we are a new label, we didn’t receive any demos so it was all about spreading the news in within our community. Over the last 2 years i was fortunate enough to grow as artist and meet many other djs and producers around the world. The idea was definitely to live up to the name “Khepri”. I wanted to involve established artists as well as newcomers and talents inbetween. The tracklist came along very nice for the first 9 tracks, but as the deadline came closer i was a little afraid we couldn’t get the album to 11 tracks (11 is an important number in ancient khemit). A week before the deadline i recieved the bombs from Jim Rider and Sarkis Mikael. And the best news was, that we are adding a vinyl exclusive track from my favourite UK Duo and friends Fluida. Death on the balcony, Ykonosh, Holed Coin, Fairplay, Fabian Krooss, Wild Dark, Vruno, Serkan Eles and B.o.T complete this album in a beautiful way. We have some downtempo beauties as well as some darker Berlin club vibes, all aligning with our philosophy of sound and sound design. The BPM range is 108 – 122 BPM.
It’s a varied release featuring an abundance of talent, does the compilation serve as a teaser of what’s to come? What’s in store for the label moving forward?
So the label will be a solid foundation for more projects of Sounds of Khemit. I don’t want to spoil the beans here. The Label will release on a monthly basis. The format will mostly be a three-tracker from three different aliases. The goal will be to achieve a little journey inside every EP from different minds. We will also have bigger releases like the Khepri compilation, once or twice a year. All release will be available on vinyl too.
Sounds of Khemit seems like it’s derived from Kemet, an ancient name for Egypt, and Khepri is the scarab-faced god from Egyptian mythology. Where do the mythical inspirations behind the label come from?
The answer is easy: from Wael. He is Egyptian and understands a lot about ancient khemit. Obviously a lot of mysteries surround this time but there is knowledge hidden which can be used nowadays, e.g. the way sound waves are able to move or heal certain things. This is definitely the biggest inspiration. It is a highly interesting topic which deserves urgently more scientific research in the next years.
The label manifesto states it aspires to unlock hidden DNA codes through frequencies and vibrations, could you tell our readers a little bit more about your mission?
Sounds of Khemit wants to be more than just a label. We strive for a community and bringing the music we love to the masses. You know the feeling when you are in a crowd, dancing or swaying to the music. It has a healing character. Certain frequencies are proven to be useful for reducing stress for example. There is a lot of knowledge we want to bring to life. There will be SoK events and retreats, where we are going to have leading personalities of this field teaching and artists performing.
The project seems very conceptual and spiritually strong! We love the artwork, does ’Sounds of Khemit’ work together with any specific artists or designers to convey its vision?
Very happy to hear that you like the artwork. Our designer is Michelangelo Greco, Instagram “ Dudegraph”. We left him a lot of freedom and when I saw the first design of the Covers and Ci, I was blown away.
You also run a Planet of Nhii patreon, what do you provide for your fans and how has it been building a community over the last few months?
My Patreon Channel has been so much fun. It is great to connect with people all over the world who have the same interests. That was especially healing during the lockdown phases. I offer different tiers on my patreon. The standard tier gets access to exclusive remixes i made. The second tier gets access to that and the monthly sample pack. The samples packs are actually really fun to create. I am sampling my analog equipment, or record drums with the same setting i use for my productions. The third tier gets access to walkthrough videos of my songs, where i go into details of my productions. The last tier, has access to it all plus a monthly hour of a 1 on 1 session on Discord with me.
Really appreciate your questions and your interest in our new project. We are also just launching our website www.soundsofkhemit.org otherwise you find us on Instagram.
‘Khepri’ releases December 2021 on Sounds of Khemit