Chris Eckman: Producer & Co-Founder of Influential Global Label, Glitterbeat Records
SAMA was proud to host Chris Eckman on a livestream on Oct. 12, 2020. Watch his livestream highlights below!
ABOUT CHRIS ECKMAN
Chris Eckman: Photo by Jaka Babnik
Chris Eckman (b. 1960), an American musician, composer, producer, educator and label owner, started navigating the music business as a member of the mid-80's Seattle music scene. His band The Walkabouts was one of the first acts signed to the legendary "grunge" label Sub Pop and later went on to international success due in part to two highly acclaimed mid 90’s albums released by Virgin Records.
As a musician he has worked with a diverse group of collaborators including Brian Eno, The Tindersticks, members of R.E.M and Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds and currently, the cutting edge, borderless rock band Dirtmusic (featuring members from Turkey, Australia, USA & Czech Republic). He has also been in the producer's chair for over 30 albums working with esteemed global music artists like Tamikrest, Aziza Brahim and Bassekou Kouyaté.
In 2013, he co-founded Glitterbeat, a record label dedicated to "vibrant global sounds." Glitterbeat was the winner of the prestigious WOMEX Label Award for five straight years (2014-2018). In an era when the “world music” industry is under serious threat, Glitterbeat has provided a major platform for both traditional musics and global beats with leading artists from around the world. Some recent albums include the avant-garde fado of Lina_Raul Refree; a reissue of the 1981 Brian Eno produced debut album from the Ghanaian afro-funk band Edikanfo, Bixiga 70, from Brazil, indie Turkish-psych sensations Altin Gun, Tamikrest from Mali’s deep desert; and Songlines Best Artist winner Gaye Su Akyol from Istanbul.
As an educator Eckman has been a keynote speaker or panelist at music conferences, festivals and universities throughout the world. These include: Le Guess Who? (Utrecht), BIM (Sao Paulo/Brazil), SIMM (Bogota/Colombia), WOMEX (2016 & 2018), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), MENT (Ljubljana), Eurosonic (Groningen), The School of African and Oriental Studies (London) and Middlesex University (London). From 2012 to 2016 he was a lecturer in the audio production BA program at the SAE Institute in Ljubljana. In 2019 he joined World Pitch, an international mentoring program for young music business professionals.
Chris Eckman currently lives in Ljubljana, Slovenia where the main office for Glitterbeat Records resides, as well as Studio Zuma, his personal recording space.
