Written by: Monsoon Season’s
Founder & Editor-In-Chief
☁ Garth Jones ☀
▼ Clean up on aisle #2, Eckhaus and Squeak have spilled the tea on their new collab, Self Checkout.
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Before we jump into the interview, it’s important to get a mental snapshot of the creative genius at play with Self Checkout. From its ominous relatability to its bone-crushing bass lines – this tune truly shakes the ground beneath the grocery store.
Instantly, with a sense of helplessly impending doom, the two create a suspense-laden experience with the usage of checkout scanner beeps that truly resemble the soul-crushing task of checking out your items at the grocery store’s self-checkout terminals.
Why we despise this task is beyond me, but there is nothing to despise here with the emergence of Eckhaus and Squeak‘s debut collaborative effort Self Checkout.
From what we understand, there is a second collaboration between the two already in development. We’ll be sure to cover the forthcoming matter, more on that later.
Get lost in the thought-provoking nature of Self Checkout today, as we have it uploaded on our Spotify, SoundCloud, YouTube, and more.
Eckhaus and Squeak share this prior to the interview:
”This tune started as Eric’s idea. I added some structure and sound design to the then idea. And so it turns out that it became a Self Checkout experience gone terribly wrong that turned into a dubstep song”
– says Eckhaus
“Self Checkout for me had initial influence from YOOKiE in the early stages. The original plan was to be a random meme track that might not have seen the actual light of day but turned into something better than expected.
I wanted to capture the feeling of dread and frustration that arises when using self-checkout at stores. It was meant to have a repetitive sound design that had just enough variation to not bore you to death but keep you on your toes.
The vocal and record scratch breaks act as something relatable to everyone who has used self-checkouts since there always seems to be some sort of interruption in the process.
When Eckhaus added his additional structure and sound designs it helped bring the flow together and add extra layers of depth for the intro, build, and drops.
– says Squeak
💬
Let’s Chat w/
Eckhaus & Squeak
Q1. Why a self-checkout? What made this monotonous activity in our daily lives seem so amusing, alluring, or interesting to utilize for such a neckbreaker?
Eckhaus: I felt like it was relatable. Like, everyone goes to the grocery store for something ya know.
Squeak: The self-checkout idea was just messing with sounds to come up with new and out of the ordinary. It’s like replacing a laser filler sound with the beeping to add some flair.
Q2. Can you tell us of a time that the grocery store was a not-so-ideal place to be?
Eckhaus: I used to work in a grocery store during the pandemic so it was not ideal, at all. I had to take my temperature every day and wear a mask throughout my whole shift.
Squeak: I used to work for a grocery store in high school. I was a bagger and cart pusher. Several times at my job I’ve had people back into me with their cars while I was collecting carts and it never failed to not be caught on camera leaving me with no proof.
Q3. Are we supposed to feel a sense of impending doom with Self Checkout? The intro gave me this feeling that assistance wasn’t really on the way.
Eckhaus: Oh, there is a huge sense of doom, and help is most certainly not on the way!! (laughs)
Squeak: The impending doom was intentional! The self-checkouts can be annoying to deal with especially if you accidentally scan an item twice and it’s taking social interaction away from daily experiences!
Not to mention, the feeling that the associates hawk you to make sure you’re not stealing which gives a sense of unease.
Q4: Do you ever throw on a pair of headphones and hit the grocery store? If so, what are you rocking out to while you forget half your list?
Eckhaus: What I listen to while I grocery shop is usually my unreleased folder.
Squeak: I’ve actually never worn headphones inside a store before. I like to be aware of my surroundings and not being able to hear what’s going on in a store would make me paranoid.
Q5: Do you think the grocery store experience would be different if bass music played over the PA system/loudspeaker? Less Karens, or more?
Eckhaus: I don’t know how that would shake out, I could see big room [house] being played at the grocery store but the Karens might not really dig it.
Squeak: If they played Self Checkout over the PA that store could guarantee one thing – an unimaginable amount of email and social media complaints!
This definitely isn’t your average mainstream grocery store music and is curated for the neck-breakers!
Q6: What’s next for Eckhaus and Squeak in 2024? More music, new events, or even more collaborations?
Eckhaus: Well the both of us have another collab in the works so keep your ears and eyes peeled for that.
For me, I have two sets at OneZen Festival and a few other bookings coming this summer!
Squeak: For Squeak in 2024 I’ve got several completed unreleased tracks that I plan to make public over the coming months!
I’ve been working on the next stage of production and expanding to a wide range of styles that I’m excited to share!
Thank you for the opportunity to release Self Checkout on Monsoon Season and I look forward to working together again in the future!
SELF CHECKOUT
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