Name: Albrecht Schrader

Nationality: German
Occupation: Composer, songwriter, keyboarder, bandleader, label owner at Krokant
Current release: Albrecht Schrader's Soft is out via Krokant. He is also currently on tour with his band. Buy tickets here.

If you enjoyed this interview with Albrecht Schrader  and would like to find out more about his music, visit him on Instagram, and Facebook.



Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

This might be an unsatisfying answer but the truth is that they can come from anything and anywhere. I've been inspired by other works of art, personal memories that suddenly appear with a lot of impact, sometimes dreams.

This song was inspired by a line I read in a book by Rebecca Solnit:



I think that people who feel the need to create works of art are missing certain filters in their everyday life that would enable them to let go of experiences, dreams, whatever more easily. Things just stick with them and there is this urge to create something based on these experiences.

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

It usually means going through a lot of tiny notes and ideas that I am constantly collecting. So when I start to properly write I look through them and see what catches my attention. Sometimes a phrase or melody can be in my notebook for a couple of years before it finally clicks.

The line “Auf dem Golfplatz“ (“On the golf course”) seemed completely useless and stupid to me for at least two years. And all of a sudden it was the basis to a song:



I am not a very visual person so I don't think a visualisation per se is a tool for me. Instead I listen to what the song could sound like when it's ready. I imagine a finished production in my head and see if I like it.

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

It really depends. I've written songs with all my tools around me in an almost perfect writing decision that turned out to be useless. I've also been in everyday situations like standing in a queue for my lunch with no tools whatsoever, except my mind, when all of a sudden there was this great idea and I had to rush home and record a demo in the most basic way.

That's how this song was born:



Most songs have early versions, yes. Sometimes they change a lot, sometimes not. I always try to follow my intuition.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

I prefer writing when it's dark outside. Very dim light, maybe some alcohol, maybe not. That can either go really well or really badly.

This might sound cheesy but I need to be as close to my emotions as possible when I'm writing. So if that's easier with some candles on and a glass of red wine in front of me, than that's what I´ll do, even though it's a huge cliche.

Over the years I've learned to write in other situations, too. I think it has to do with increasing confidence.

What do you start with? How difficult is that first line of text, the first note?

Having ideas comes very natural to me. it's the work that is hard. Although not as bad as it used to be. The hardest part is not quitting and accepting that every now and then you´ll probably write something terrible and embarrassing. That's ok.

Writing songs is a fascinating endeavor and in my case it's changing all the time. I've sat in front of the piano with absolutely no idea for a first line or note. Other times songs just kept pouring out. I have no idea how all that really works.

When do the lyrics enter the picture? Where do they come from? Do lyrics need to grow together with the music or can they emerge from a place of their own?

It can be anything. I used to have a lot of songs without any lyrics because I found writing lyrics very hard. Especially when I put myself under pressure because I have a beautiful chord progression and a nice melody that just need to be “filled” with lyrics. Way too much pressure.

Recently I've been writing most of my lyrics away from the instrument so I don't think about the music too early. An instrument is usually just a few feet away but I try to go there only when it's absolutely necessary.

Apparently the great Stephen Sondheim did the same thing. When I read that I felt very relieved and motivated.

What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

Anything that Stephen Sondheim said about writing lyrics is true. They need to be simple, open and musical in their sound. Music is an incredibly powerful art form that can overwhelm people even without any lyrics.

Even though I've occasionally tried (unsuccessfully, I think) to write really big lyrics to really big music, I don't think that's the way to go for me. At least not in pop music. There are very few people who can pull that off. It's usually the small things that make a great song lyric great. Because the music does the rest.

This song is about therapy and luckily I was not once tempted to fill it with confessional lyrics. Instead it basically describes all the everyday elements that are the basis of therapy in a very small way. Hopefully the music does the rest of the job to make it an interesting song:
 


Once you've started, how does the work gradually emerge?

I usually just go for it, get started, write more than I will eventually need in order to create a problem that I then need to solve. That's a way for me to make the process fun. It's like being the detective in your own musical Whodunit-Movie. And there is alway a murderer / solution.

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control over the process or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

Sometimes the songs literally write themselves and leave you with almost no other path than the one they lay out for you. If that happens I am happy to step back and let go.

This is especially important when it comes to the song form. We are all familiar with the classic formula of verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus and even though we've heard it so many times it doesn´t seem to be out of fashion. But not every song requires that form. I try to only use it when it comes naturally to me and is somewhat dictated by the song.

I might be some sort of control freak when it comes to arrangement. It is hard for me to just let things happen in that area because I usually have a kind of old-fashioned idea of what the perfect arrangement sounds like. It has a lot to do with balance and space.

Recently I've tried to allow elements in my arrangements that take up more space than “allowed”.

Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?

If two or three approaches don't work I tend to leave the song alone and move on. Probably because I used to get stuck all the time when I was younger and less experienced.

I never record or even lay out different versions of the same song. I've had five or six versions of lyrics to the same song but the music was always the same. Like with "Diese eine Stelle".

I'm a very patient person in real life but when it comes to writing songs I just can't be bothered with trying different versions. I guess that I like to work fast.

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

Yes, I think there is some element of spirituality to it. But I don't really see the need to try and explain it because I don't understand it myself.

In my experience art has more to do with work than inspiration. As I said above: having ideas is easy. It's the work that is challenging. And once the work is going well, that's the greatest thing for me. Being completely focussed and obsessed with the creation of something that wasn´t there before, yet feels strangely familiar to me once it's finished.

Especially in the digital age, the writing and production process tends towards the infinite. What marks the end of the process? How do you finish a work?

I create deadlines. First they are more fluent and once I get the feeling that an album might be almost finished I set dates with other people (mixing, label, promo etc.) and thus create a soft pressure on me and the people involved that never really stresses me out too much.

No work of art is ever finished. It's up to the artist to decide when to move on. I always remind myself that it's the process of writing / producing / recording that I love so much - not the finished products. The products are great, sure. But it's the process that matters more. You could be incredibly creative for your entire life and never once release and album or even a single.

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? How involved do you get in this?

I used to be involved very little. The longer I've been releasing music the more involved I have gotten. Mixing can be a very creative and artistic process and I find it more interesting these days. When I produce music myself I include panning, effects, reverb, EQ etc in the process and usually don't want too much of that changed. All the songs on my new album are produced by me for the first time. Like this one:



Luckily music is my job and I do a lot of different projects. I enjoy being in control of production just as much as being only the arranger or the bass player.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

I know that many people struggle with this but it has never been that bad for me. There is always the next thing around the corner and most of the time I'm already involved in something new when my work is released. I guess it also has to do with my love for the process.

Music has the power to distract me from the struggles that come with releasing music.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Music is the most natural tool for me to express my sensitivity. Usually in the form of songs. If these songs then take on a life of themselves in the hearts and minds of listeners, that's a perfect situation for me.

I don't know if the same is possible with a great cup of coffee. Certainly with other works of art. Who knows.