Stoked after getting to preview a couple of songs from the forthcoming OIAG record, I got to chat with Sebastian about making the album, what he’s been reading, listening to, and watching, and how to get over football disappointment in grand style, among other gems. Here’s how it went:
E: first of all, congratulations on what sounds like is going to be a brilliant new record, from the tracks i’ve heard. have you settled on a title yet? if so, do you want to talk about where the title comes from?
S: Thank you very much. The album’s title will be “The Dropout Cats”. There is a song on the album which is called the same. It’s about being tired of living in a society which is appealing and disturbing at once. It’s one of the rare rather pessimistic songs of the album. When I finished the song, i thought that the song’s name could as well suit as the whole album’s name. But that doesn’t mean that the whole album is pessimistic too. On the contrary!
E: your lyrics have always been quite thoughtful and smart — what do you draw inspiration from? i get the feeling that literature, philosophy and so on are influences — are there any particular writers, thinkers, film-makers, etc. that inspired this record?
S: There are quite a few literary influences. If i had to think of some specific names, there’d be philosopher Kwame Anthony Appiah, who wrote a brilliant book about the philosphy behind cosmopolitanism. One other author that comes to my mind is physicist Stephen Hawking, who wrote fascinating books about the universe and all the crazy stuff that is going on there.
As for film-makers, Wes Anderson, Richard Kelly and Hans Weingartner always manage to impress and inspire me with their works.
E: i sort of believe that all music, like all creative endeavors, is in some way autobiographical. to what extent is this a record about you and your life?
S: hmm.. i don’t think the lyrics tell stories of my life. Maybe in some cryptic way, i dont know. I usually write what i feel and what comes to my mind. But i think the mood in the particular songs reflects what i was feeling when writing the song. I also often find myself listening to my own lyrics already recorded, then suddenly realizing what i could have meant and wanted to say when writing these lines. Then i’m like: “Oh, now this absolutely makes sense!”
E: on a related note, i know you’ve moved to a new city in the past year or so. has that change of scene affected your creative process?
S: Yeah, i moved to Cologne last year. I think every move affects one’s life. I don’t know how exactly it has altered my creative process but it surely has somehow.
E: nick drake comes up often when people hear your singing voice, but you clearly have a wide range of musical influences. who else was really influential to you, music-wise? and what have you been listening to lately?
S: There are lots of influences. Nick Drake, Horse Feathers, The Acorn, Animal Collective, Radiohead, Dirty Projectors, At The Drive-In, Coldplay, Frederic Chopin and Felix Mendelssohn Bartoldy are just a few of them. Lately, i’ve been listening to Best Coast, The Morning Benders, Beach House’s “Teen Dream” and Wolf Parade’s “Expo 86″. Great bands and records.
E: brian eno is often talked about as the guy, or A guy at least, who really approached the studio as an instrument — your new record sounds to me like you’re continuing to move in that direction, experimenting with production approaches. can you talk about how your thinking about recording itself has changed over the past three records? what are you doing differently lately?
S: i think i just gained some knowledge over the past few years of how to record properly. lately, i took more care of frequency ranges of individual instruments, compression, smoothness of bass and clearness of treble and stuff like that. But i have to say that i feel that it is a pity for me having to put so much effort into the technical aspects of recording instead of focussing on writing and composing. Maybe i should talk to Brian Eno.
E: on the topic of playing live — are you performing much, or do you plan to do so?
S: I’m planning on doing some live shows in the near future. At this time, i haven’t fully sorted out how to do this. If i’m to do it alone, there has to be lots of stuff coming from a sampling machine, as there are often multiple instruments in the songs.
Another way is to seek help and rock the stage together. One way or another, i’d love to do some live shows.
E: finally, what was the best day you’ve had recently like?
S: That’s an easy one! I was watching the soccer world cup semi-finals with some friends. Germany went down to Spain and thus was kicked out of the match. After this defeat, we were frustrated, drank wine and listened to sad music. We soon began to sing for ourselves with me playing the guitar. In the end the frustration was fully gone and we were just celebrating. It was a very funny day.
E: anything else you want to add?
S: in vino veritas.
Agreed! Look for this stellar recording here on the site as well as at your preferred online music retailer soon. More details to come…
