Name: Christina Kubisch
Nationality: German
Occupation: Drummer, percussionist,. composer, improviser
Current Release: Christina Kubisch's new album TUNING is out April 17th 2026 via Faitiche.
Current event: Christina Kubisch is one of the artists appearing at the Archipel festival for experimental and contemporary music and sound art taking place in Geneva, Switzerland April 17th-26th 2026. For more information, visit the festival's website.
Recommendation for Berlin, Germany: Take a bike ride around the Müggelsee.
Things I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: Planting vegetables in my raised bed in our community garden.

If you enjoyed this Christina Kubisch interview and would like to know more about her music and upcoming live dates, visit her official homepage.



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?

Normally I do not have sudden impulses. Most projects need a longer time to become a precise project, but then it's often immediate. Travelling is a good moment for this or walking in nature, brushing my teeth, care for my plants etc.

Many of my pieces are about moving and travelling such as "Bewegungen nach entfernten Orten" (2010) or "Below Behind Above" (2017).



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?

I have a general idea when I start a new work but the final piece depends on many different elements: architecture, collaborators, available sound sources, how much time I have for the production, the financial situation and last but not least unforeseen events.

I often create site-specific works which have to be developed together with the landscape or architecture where it is to take place. I just finished a series of sound installations for the Ludwig Forum Aachen. In one room, there are 5 different smaller installations from different periods but all based on the theme of copper.

Listening to them together for the first time in one place was a new experience. I started to work out the musical relation between them and created a kind of special acoustic ground floor. It suddenly became glued together as a new composition.

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'?

I often like to work in series. Some pieces like "CLOUD" or "La Serra" change with every installation.

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?

None of these. The only stimulans is the inner need to make visible/audible something I want to realize.

For TUNING, what did you start with? If there were conceptual considerations, what were they?

I was invited to make a vinyl and the editor had good ideas about the final choice of pieces.

Tell me a bit about the way the new material developed and gradually took its final form, please.

In "Gaming in silence" for example I used a large collection of electromagnetic sounds made over the years at the ZKM in Karlsruhe. Quite noisy and nervous sounds.

I am very fond of silence and I remembered a song about silence I had recorded once in Shanghai. I added this song at the end .This was a spontaneous idea and it worked out.

When I work with my sound files for multi channel compositions, I treat the sounds as if they were colours. My back ground is painting which I studied for two year before changing to music.

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 or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

I like to get lost during the process of composing. But in the end only certain parts "survive".

It's always a balance between strict order and unforeseen surprises.

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?

There is no special "creative state." I would say it's mostly continuous ongoing work with ups and downs.

I like the word "installation" because it reminds me of manual work and craftsmanship. And that can be seen perhaps as spiritual as well.

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

It depends. When the the piece or installation is mostly ready, I sometimes need special technical help for certain aspects - such as multi channel routing etc. I like to listen to the work several times, maybe I have some smaller changes or insert a new sound file.

But when it's done, it's done.

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? In terms of what they contribute to a song, what is the balance between the composition and the arrangement (performance)?

I have some friends who take care of the mastering. I've been working with them for a long time and trust them.

As for the balance between composition and arrangement I cannot say much. But in my case the mastering should change the original as little as possible.

Music and the accompanying artwork are often closely related. Can you talk about this a little bit for your current project and the relationship that images and sounds have for you in general?

Sounds and visuals belong together in my installations. Listening can change your way of how you see the world.

This often happens in my Electrical Walks, where people hear something which usually is hidden and inaudible. Walking through a world of electromagnetic fields changes the way how they look at their surroundings  

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?

No sense of emptiness. This seems to me an almost  romantic idea about being creative.

Creativity is a continuous state of mind which I cannot switch on and off.

I would love to know a little about the feedback you've received from listeners or critics about what they thought some of your songs are about or the impact it had on them – have there been “misunderstandings” or did you perhaps even gain new “insights?”

I do not use social media.

Sometimes people come especially for the presentation of a new installation or participate in a guided Electrical Walk because they know my work. Of course that is a nice and encouraging feedback

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?

Mundane tasks are part of my creative way of life.

I make the music but I do not like to talk so much about it. Other people are much better at that ...