Name: Katja Seiffert aka Blush Always
Nationality: German
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Blush Always's debut album You Deserve Romance is out via Embassy of Music.
Recommendations: Momma – Household Name; Patti Smith – Just Kids

If you enjoyed this Blush Always interview and would like to keep up to date with Katja Seiffert and her music, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, and Facebook.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I often find myself closing my eyes at concerts when I feel safe and really dive into the music. These are the best kind of moments for me.

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

I grew up with music, learning piano from an early age, but I only found my voice in music through writing songs on the guitar. I’m self-taught and use open tunings for it to be easier to play by ear.

I think the urge to let feelings out through some art form may have to be there, the form itself can be learnt.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

During that time luckily my piano teacher noticed my urge to write songs and encouraged me to keep going.

I hated everything I wrote on piano. Finding the guitar as my instrument was important and only happened 10 years later

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?

Most of my songs are written in emotional moments which makes them very personal.

I mostly write about personal relationships and writing the song helps me understand my feelings better

The partner of a musician once told me that he often felt jealous of her guitar. How would you describe your own relationship with your instrument, tools or equipment – is it an extension of your self/body, a partner and companion, a creative catalyst, a challenge to be overcome, something else entirely?

I love my red strat, but it’s still just my guitar. I see it mostly as a creative catalyst

Are you acting out certain roles or parts of your personality in your music which you couldn't or wouldn't in your daily life? If so, which are these? If not, what, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music?

I’m a horrible actor unfortunately, otherwise I might be able to hide my nervousness better.

Performing doesn’t come naturally to me, but I do it because my music means a lot to me and I want to show it.

Music is a language, but like any language, it can lead to misunderstandings. In which way has your own work – or the work of artists you like or admire - been misunderstood? How do you deal with this?

I always tell the people I write songs about that they’re about them before they are released

Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and about discovery. How do you retain a sense of playfulness as things become more professionalised and how do you still draw surprises from equipment, instruments, approaches and formats you may be very familiar with?  

I don’t know much about music theory on the guitar so my way of finding chords I like is always by trying things out and sticking with sounds I like. This process hasn’t changed

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

If anything I notice silence in nature more than I used to and appreciate it very much

There seems to be an increasing trend to capture music in numbers, from waveforms via recommendation algorithms up to deciphering the code of hit songs. What aspects of music do you feel can be captured through numbers, and which can not?

What comes to my mind now is that bragging about metrics is something I’ve started to hate, especially on social media. I wish that didn’t exist as much

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

I find out what I’m feeling through my songwriting. My writing is very expressive and impulsive.

We can surround us with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold? What role do headphones play for you in this regard?

I love listening to music, especially albums. I put on albums more than I listen to playlists to appreciate the medium more. I love silence too

Do you feel as though writing or performing 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?

Deep feelings I normally wouldn’t share with anyone I suddenly share with the world through music

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values which don't appear to have any emotional connotation. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a seemingly counterintuitive way – and what, do you think, is happening here?

I guess growing up with English music and not understanding it had a similar effect on me.

Music is a feeling

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

I wish more people would make music because they love music not because they want to be famous.