Bruno Kawelke:

BK: I start by collecting things. I have two documents on my phone. I wish I were the kind of person who only writes in leather-bound notebooks, but I always end up losing them or forgetting to use them. So, in the end, my phone became the slightly less romantic option. One document is called “Fragmente” and the other “Diebesgut” (“fragments” and “stolen goods”). Whenever I observe something in everyday life, listen to other people’s music or discover a feeling I want to explore, it ends up in one of those documents. In the studio with Sam, I go back to them. Sometimes it’s just a word or a sentence; sometimes it develops into rhymes, entire verses or a hook.

BK: I think the most important thing is to look closely. When I don’t know what to write about, I sit down for 15 minutes and observe how people move and speak, or what particular quirks they have. I also pay attention to how my friends and family express themselves. How things really look: A cloud, leaves, marble, waves, a rock, floors, paint, dogs, anything really. I think you can find patterns in all of that, like a map that gradually fills up over time.

BK: I find it difficult to prescribe one particular way of listening, because both work for me. The lyrics are essential, of course, but I sometimes feel that the music itself acts like a Trojan horse. It draws you in emotionally, and then you start listening more closely, discovering new meanings and references. There isn’t a single sentence or word in my music that’s there by accident. Everything is where it’s supposed to be, and everything has a meaning. Some meanings you can piece together yourself, while others invite you to ask questions.

BK: I think the songs have changed again and again, and I’m very grateful that this project has taught me to trust my gut. We’ve had songs that were essentially finished and ready to be released, but if something didn’t feel right, I scrapped them and said we needed to reopen the whole thing.

The latest single, “Wie du läufst, wenn du dich von mir entfernst”, sounded completely different at first. We’d already played it live in a very different version, but at some point I realized that I wouldn’t be happy if we released it as it was. The same goes for “Orcas”, where the entire ending wasn’t there initially. I’m grateful to have the freedom to make all these decisions myself. I want us to make the coolest things we possibly can without worrying about anyone else’s expectations.

BK: I think it’s fine to look at the numbers out of curiosity. What matters is whether you let them influence you. “Machen Götter aus Männern” was a song I thought would have performed differently in terms of numbers. But when we were making the vinyl and listening to the test pressing, I thought: This is one of the most incredible songs we’ve made. Regardless of the numbers, the song still means a great deal to many people. And above all, it means everything to me.

BK: I always have some anchor, a word or a sentence that works like a key to a portal, bringing me back to that memory. Then I close my eyes and write everything down. It also comes down to my relationship with language: which expressions work well together, and why do certain words that describe my story so well happen to rhyme? There’s something almost magical about it. It feels as though language and I are working it out together, creating something together.

BK: I’ve often wondered whether I should have started releasing music earlier. But I always come back to the fact that my experiences have made me the artist I am today. A large part of my work has involved engaging with other people’s art, analyzing it and writing about why it works. Journalism is ideally more objective, of course, but the tools are similar, and my journalistic work has helped sharpen them.

BK: I find it difficult to categorize myself because that would be another limitation, taking away the freedom I’ve worked hard to achieve. I don’t want to waste time wondering whether something fits into one genre or another. Ultimately, it just has to be really, really good. That’s the only category. What we make should have a strong aesthetic, good taste and be incredible art. That’s all that matters to me.