Interview with Severin Kantereit

I think I just wanted to start with a nice beginning with four songs. For me, the question was rather the opposite: Should it even become an album - and not just one song after another? Until I realized: I do want to present a collection of four pieces as a first step. Because then you can also tell a little bit musically. Tell in the sense of: It's a special sound that holds these pieces together. An album never really came into question. Because I of course have this kind of work extensively in the band. And also in the future, I see my solo stuff more as something that I continuously and irregularly release alongside the band. In other words: As soon as something is finished, it goes out.

If you listen closely, these pieces do take place, at least a little bit, in the AnnenMayKantereit cosmos. I also use instruments. And for the band, I produce a lot as well. These four pieces were created on my laptop. I have a big folder with demos and ideas. I regularly show it to the other guys. They then pick out what they like for the band, and we work on it. And these songs also come from that folder. I just put them into a different form at the end. One that I personally like and find beautiful right now.

A very long one. My first concert that I ever went to was one by Kraftwerk. My father took me to that. At the Köln Palladium. I was about 12, 13 then. And that was an immediate influence. I also had a school band before AnnenMayKantereit, in which we leaned more towards this musical direction. The love for electronic music has always been there. I have pursued it more intensively again in the last five, six years. And after the last tour with AnnenMayKantereit, I then had a bit of space, a bit of time to work on it.

Thank you! (laughs) Yes, that's true. But it must be said that I owe this to my father, and I admit I also had quite funny moments at Kraftwerk, because this performance and this music were a bit overwhelming for me. Let's put it this way: It was disturbing – especially since someone in front of us fainted due to the heat in the hall. And at the same time, it was beautiful. Besides that, electronic and handmade music aren't actually that far apart. Both have minimalist elements that are often repeated. There are rock bands that play the same riff over and over. And they also use synthesizers. Ultimately, I draw my inspiration from everything.

Definitely! This is quite well described. In electronic music, there is more room for interpretation, while in a band like mine, there are real lyrics that one can identify with directly. You listen differently. Electronic music allows for more freedom. In my own pieces, I don't want to provide too much lyrical content accordingly. I was looking for one or two nice sentences that sound good and that I can then use, processed vocally, almost as an instrument. I think it's nice when such pieces contain spaces in which one can also get lost. When they provide room.

In my own studio in Berlin, where I now live when I'm not in my hometown Cologne. I've set it up so that I really have access to all instruments. I've wired everything up, have everything I need – and this way of working is currently the best for me. I stack a lot on top of each other. I collect. And I build my sound world out of everything. I spend a lot of time on the computer. However, the first step to a new song is always an analog, a real instrument. I need real audio signals that I can record and then work with electronically.

This urge has existed for a long time. It just lacked the time for it. The band has meanwhile become a huge apparatus that has priority for me, of course, and is in first place. But now there was this time gap after our final stadium concert – and I took advantage of it and finally got to work.

I can also lie on the sofa quite well. (laughs) But after a week at most I get bored, as I somehow always have this inner urge to make music. I admit: It’s sometimes annoying too. It’s not always cool. Even when I go on vacation, I always have a laptop and a guitar with me just in case I feel like making music. And what should I say: Most of the time I do feel like it. Nevertheless, one shouldn’t forget: I don’t have the urge to play huge concerts with the solo stuff right now. I’m just happy about my music as a parallel path. It’s a bit like starting over and seeing how you earn something through playing.

So: I wouldn't call it a tradition for me now. But I have of course had contact with this scene early on. Among other times during school and youth. I was out a lot in Cologne. You pick up on it then. This minimal techno has always been fascinating to me. And it shapes you when you grow up in a city and area where electronic music is happening and lived. Cologne is sometimes almost cooler than Berlin in this respect. Because in Berlin there is an oversupply. Here in the Rhineland, it's more familial.