Now based in Tbilisi, ambient mastermind Steve Hauschildt’s eighth album, Aeropsia, finds him channelling a period of profound personal and global change.
For over two decades, producer and composer Hauschildt has remained a quietly transformative figure in the ambient electronic scene, tracing a path from his days in the kosmische-inspired trio Emeralds to a prolific solo career defined by shimmering synths and glistening arpeggios.
Following a six-year absence, Hauschildt’s latest album balances the tactile world of analogue synthesis with digital production using the album title, Aeropsia, as a guiding metaphor. Drawing from a visual phenomenon that causes hallucinatory static to cloud the perceptual field, Hauschildt’s immersive soundscapes inhabit the liminal spaces between clarity and distortion, presence and abstraction.
Across eight tracks, Hauschildt reconstructs his signature analogue synth architectures into more fragile, organic forms, assisted by cellist Lia Kohl and guitarist Michael Vallera. Their contributions infuse Aeropsia’s electronic core with tactile textures that lend warmth and gravity to its weightless construction.
We sat down with Hauschildt to find out more about the obscure plugins, generative techniques and creative processes behind Aeropsia.
As a fan of cosmic rock, German kosmische and ‘90s IDM, were you attracted to the synths and gear used during those eras?
“I learned synthesis through using the Micromoog, so I’ve always had an appreciation for those kinds of synths. For my solo work, the Prophet ‘08 was very important to me, and I still use the sequel to that - the REV2.”
“I actually started with a string synthesiser called the Moog Opus 3, which is very simplistic – in fact, you could barely call it a synthesiser because it doesn't synthesise that much. It does brass and string sounds and is very poor at emulating those, but it does have a very cool and distinct sound. After that, I used the keyboard version of the Novation Bass Station, which was more digital than analogue. I now have more of a hybrid setup, but tend to lean more towards digital because it has more connectivity, automation and parameter control.”
You recently relocated from Chicago to Tbilisi in Georgia. What precipitated that move?
“I've toured through Western Europe quite extensively over the last couple of decades and first performed here in 2019, but I stayed a few extra days because I'd never been to this part of the world and wanted to see what the culture was like - then I ended up meeting someone who became my fiancé.”
“I really enjoyed my time in Chicago, but the healthcare system in the US was a big factor for me to move, alongside disenfranchisement with bureaucracy and a move towards authoritarianism and political extremes that were wearing me out. The downside of moving here is that it's on the other side of the world, so I couldn't bring all of my equipment.”
Tell us about your latest album, Aeropsia – a word that presumably has some sort of conceptual connotation?
“It's a word that describes a kind of visual impairment or medical condition that has to do with hallucination – or visual snow, which is a phenomenon whereby you see a distortion of the visual field, or something beyond the realm of the visual. I like the idea of having a conceptual umbrella or theme when working on tracks and tend to do this with all of my releases.”
“It's not like I always have a concept before I start, sometimes it congeals or comes together when I'm in the middle of working on stuff, but this condition was definitely something that was in the back of my mind when I was working on Aeropsia. The root etymology of the word is Greek - as is a lot of medical terminology and I was self-diagnosing when I encountered it.”
You invited a couple of collaborators to work with you in cellist Lia Kohl and guitarist Michael Vallera…
“I came up in a band where we always felt comfortable improvising and collaborating, especially live, but when I started releasing solo music it was primarily synthesiser-based. After I moved to Chicago, I started opening up my solo music to collaborators and different instrumentation and found that it was quite humbling to let go and have other people express themselves on my records.”
“Starting with Dissolvi in 2018, I began working with a session guitarist and vocalists on a couple of tracks and even began working with a mix engineer on albums like Strands. Lia Kohl played cello on a track from the previous album and I’d performed with Michael Vallera on tour in the US. Having them on board was a no-brainer because I'm a fan of their work. Rather than write parts for them, I gave them free reign over whatever they wanted to contribute and mixed it later.”
Throughout your career, you’ve frequently used arpeggiated patterns, and they reappear quite a bit on Aeropsia. Do these patterns act as a structural basis for songs?
“Most of the time, the bedrock of a track is created through chord structures, so I'm starting from a harmonic point rather than a sequence or arpeggio. Once I have that harmonic foundation, I’ll use some sort of aleatoric randomisation or programme a sequence or arpeggio into the sequencer.”
Do you find it useful to create generative patterns as an aid to finding new ways to approach composition?
“It’s a really good question because I’ve certainly trended towards a certain style or hallmark sound over the last few years. I guess people associate me with a certain way of using synthesisers, which is partially why I’ve opened myself up to collaboration because it brings an entirely different texture to the music that’s not attainable through traditional synthesis.”
“Outside of that, I’ve explored using different kinds of, not necessarily generative techniques, but patch mutation techniques through the use of modern plugins as well as some older synthesisers. On this particular album, I was using the Nord G2 Modular, which is an older digital synth from the early 2000s. Its workflow involves this idea of interpolation, where you basically have a visual representation of synth patches and can connect it to editing software on the computer.”
Can you explain the concept of interpolation in relation to the creation of these synth patches?
“First, it's an openly modular environment, but you can also control everything on the keyboard itself – and that’s what was so innovative about the Nord G2 at the time, because you could see these boxes that visually represent the way that the parameters are set and either randomise things or interpolate between different versions of patches.”
“For example, you could interpolate between something that you’ve made and something that's completely different-sounding, and then whatever stage you’re at between the two, you could quickly arrive at that sound without having to adjust every single parameter. I never really used the technique prior to this album, but there's a more modern plugin called Synplant that uses similar techniques.”
“That’s definitely allowed me to open myself up to non-traditional ways of programming, where you’re able to let go of controlling every single parameter and just let things change so you’re directing and curating the sound, but I’ll still automate various parameters to make them sound good. I think it's important to use other techniques to create sounds that you probably couldn’t make on your own as long as you’re still shaping and mutating them yourself.”
Since ambient music is so rooted in texture and sensation, how important is it for you to physically engage with your instruments?
“It’s important for certain applications, especially in a live performance setting. When using plugins - if you want to make the most out of them, it's important to be able to map their parameters to a controller so you can play them live.”
“That’s a huge part of what I do, but I think there’s a flip side to what you’re saying because sometimes you don't necessarily want emotion - and that's equally important. It’s about balancing the tactile, human side of it and the cold, sterile, non-emotional machine-type sounds. I like blending those things.”
Which DAW are you using for sequencing?
“I was using Fruity Loops when I started out at the turn of the century, and I'm sure it's evolved quite a lot since then, but shortly after I moved to using granular-based software called AudioMulch, which is a sort of poor man's Max MSP. I’m comfortable in that environment, but I admit that some of my friends have done incredible things with Max and I should probably put more time into it.”
“I have used some Max for Live stuff and been using Ableton Live since my first solo album, Tragedy and Geometry, but I’ve taken an autodidactic or self-taught approach rather than tutorials or classes and have found my own way of using it.”
Which plugins are you using to generate some of the ambient sounds that we hear on Aeropsia?
“There's a small company called Fors who make a plugin called Chiral, which I like a lot. I don't know if it could be described as a wavetable synthesiser, but it’s a VST instrument that has a very distinctive sound. They consider it to be a holographic synth, although I don't know what that means. I like automating that stuff, because if you don't it just stays in one place and doesn't sound alive.”
Would it be fair to say that there’s more of an impetus towards processing when it comes to making ambient music compared to other genres – and will you process through outboard or in-the-box?
“I do both and treat them with kind of the same reverence, but you’re right to suggest that, in my world, processing is just as central to the sound as the recording of instruments. For me, it takes a lot longer to mix than to record tracks, especially when you're dealing with lots of overdubs or tracks in one project file. On Aeropsia, I used the SSL 500 Series stuff, especially the Ultraviolet EQ and Waves’ 560 API graphic EQ, and for compression I prefer the Dramastic Audio Obsidian 500G comp clone, which is similar to the SSL glue compressor.”
"For effects chains, I really like the Mäag Audio EQ4, because it has this Air feature that’s so unique-sounding"
“I'm also using plugins for certain tasks. I really love the FabFilter Pro-Q 3 and use that on pretty much everything. For effects chains, I really like the Mäag Audio EQ4, because it has this Air feature that’s so unique-sounding, and I pretty much put the Gullfoss plugin on everything when it comes to transient shaping. Oeksound’s Soothe and Spiff plugins were also used for a lot of the sound design.”
Ambient music often relies on subtle detail and spatial depth. How do you approach mixing to make sure those elements have depth and clarity?
“My entire approach to mixing has evolved a lot over the past ten years. I tend to mix as I go and then clean up and tweak a lot of stuff at the latter stages of the mixing process. At the same time, I think over-mixing is definitely something I think about, especially when doing overdubs.”
“It's critical to make sure each sound has its place in the mix and is treated with a certain reverence because if things are getting lost that can affect the listening process on a subconscious level. I also like my mixes to have a lot of depth, so people can pick up on something they maybe didn't hear on the first few plays. “
Is your creative process based on editing long takes?
“For me, it's balanced between capturing an improvisation or a session for anything between 10 minutes and an hour, using it as a starting point and then cutting or editing it down. In terms of continuity, the sequencing of the tracks is vitally important and something I'm thinking about as I'm working on an album.”
“Sometimes, I’ll rearrange the sequence just to try and figure out what the flow of the album is going to be based on and whether there's continuity between the instrumentation and certain sounds at the beginning or end of tracks. Aeropsia was originally conceived as a double album, so there was an entire side of the album that went missing. “
Why did you decide to shelve so much of the work?
“It’s probably based on the fact that the last track on the album was intended as a side-long piece, which is kind of a lost art form. I also think it's important to have some level of self-critique where you can step back and say that a piece of music is too overbearing. It kind of sucks when you’ve put dozens, if not hundreds, of hours into something only to not use it, but maybe that stuff will see the light of day eventually or has some archival purpose.”
The final track you mention is Among Automata, which has a 21-minute running time. Was that an example of you editing down a very long take?
“That particular piece was actually the first thing I recorded back in May 2020. I was doing some generative stuff and the original recording was probably around 1 hour and 20 minutes long, so the foundation of that track was pretty big and I was able to slowly tweak and adjust things on-the-fly.”
"Hopefully there will be a new Emeralds album out in the next few years… but I can't guarantee anything"
“That was one of the tracks where Mike played guitar, so I also edited some textural, abstract sounds later on to allow things to weave in and out. Those overdubs were probably recorded over six to 12 months, so it was quite a meticulous process, but the original sound that carries the track throughout the entire piece was all done in one session.”
Is Aeropsia best experienced on speakers or headphones?
“If I had to choose, I’d say headphones because there's lots of detail in the mix that you can pick up on, even with a good pair of earbuds. I do believe that music affects you differently when you're hearing it through the air, but having a closed headphone environment can be a more focused listening experience compared to speakers.”
“I write and record on headphones because that’s part of the necessity of living in a city, and I don't know if it’s a phenomenon or just in my head, but it does seem that using headphones affects the way I'm working.”
You reunited with your former band Emeralds in 2023 for some live dates. Are we likely to see new material?
“We’ve done a couple of reissues over the last few years, which involved bringing out a couple of tracks from the archives, and have a bigger project slated for release that would essentially be a box set of rarer recordings.”
“We’ve actually been working on newer music too, but it hasn't materialised into an album yet, partially because I live on the other side of the world. When I do go back to Cleveland to see family, we’ll continue to amass a good amount of recordings so hopefully there will be a new Emeralds album out in the next few years… but I can't guarantee anything.”
Steve Hauschildt’s Aeropsia is out now on Simul Records. For more information, click here.
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