Name: Celina Bostic
Nationality: German
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Celina Bostic's Nie Wieder Leise ist out via Lagerfeuer.
Recommendations: Point and Kill – Little Simz; Homegoing – Yaa Gyasi

If you enjoyed this Celina Bostic interview and would like to stay up to date with her music and tour dates, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, and Facebook.

For the views of one of her (live) collaborators, read our Judith Holofernes interview.



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?

Mostly when I’m listening to music I am doing stuff – like showering or cleaning up with my kids oder dancing.

So yeah – my eyes are open.

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 definitely learned being an artist by performing and being on stage.

I always had my solo projects where I was the lead singer, but I think I learned the most by singing background with other German artists and observing how they would work the crowd, what they would do if mistakes happened on stage - or their overall presence on stage.

That was my musical education – learning by doing.

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?

I listened to two types of music during that time. I started going to the scouts when I was 13 and we learned lots of German and Irish folk songs, sang in harmonies around the campfire and played the acoustic guitar.

And I started listening to rap and RnB – Missy Elliott, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, Biggy, The Fugees, OutKast – which really gave me a musical home and a place where I could feel cool and sexy and bad ass and strong. It was empowering!



Those two hearts beat in my chest till today and I think you can hear it in the songs I write. It’s got hip hop elements through the beats and folk elements through the melodies and guitar harmonies.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

My motivation for creation is definitely the connection to and the empowerment of my people.

I don’t make music for the sake of making music – music is just my medium to get a point across or getting out my frustration and anger about certain societal issues and injustices.

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

I hardly create anything. Music comes to me and mostly I have nothing to do with it.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

I want to see if the feeling and the emotions I want to portray come across. Am I touched by what I hear? That’s more important than the sound or if every note is on point to be honest.

My personal sound … hard question … I call my music empower-pop. And I love harmonies and body- and mouth percussion.

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”?

I was in a 4-story tree house at least 40meters off the ground in the jungle in Laos listening to the gibbons (monkeys) and they sounded like sirens – it was amazing.

Everything can be musical right? Even the raindrops on your windowsill. That’s one of the most soothing sounds – no matter where I am.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

There’s certain harmonies that always give me goosebumps or make me teary eyed. I’ve only ever heard them in RnB music – but I guess their origin is gospel music.

I am a self taught musician and I never did much of music theory so I don’t really know what it is. But I listen to a lot of Anderson.Paak and he uses those harmonies a lot.



Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

I love to play with my loop station because I can stalk my voice endlessly and see what harmonies or rhythmic things I can come up with.

My single “Doppelmoppel” was written completely on the loop station. I also don’t like using midi sounds to write music – everything has to be “real” – at least for the demo or for me to get into it.

That’s why many of my songs have mouth- or body percussion elements in them – just cause I don’t know how to play the drums and I make the beat by hitting my desk or my chest or by beatboxing.

Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

No. Music for me is all about feeling and I am not a theoretic or scientific person at all. :-)

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’m all about the lyrics and I’m very personal in my music. What issues I am thinking about right now is what you will hear in a song later.

For example: I wrote my anti-racist song “Nie wieder leise” (Never silent again) in a time when I was becoming more vocal about racism and injustices generally in my personal life as well.



So my music is always a reflection of my struggles or realizations in my personal life.

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?

I actually don’t think that music is that different. A great cup of coffee can make you feel something – maybe the smell brings you back to a certain experience or place and that will make you as emotional as listening to a song.

But for me – I can bring across emotions best by singing. If I could write – I’d be a writer, if I could paint – I’d be an artist.

I think it’s because I am a very emotional person – I wear my heart on my tongue and I’m very straight forward. So when I sing you can hear that.

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. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

One of the best song ever and that makes me feel happy and sad at the same time is “Electric Relaxation” from a Tribe Called Quest.



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

I have wishes for the music industry more than for music. I wish the streaming companies would pay the artists what they deserve!