Names: Niklas Kramer, Joda Foerster
Nationality: German
Occupations: Composer (Niklas), Percussionist (Joda)
Current release: J Foerster / N Kramer's Habitat II is out via Leaving.
Recomendations: J Foerster: The work of Lily Clark. She is designing and building these water features. We are lucky to have one of her fountains as the cover artwork for Habitat II.
N Kramer: Ettore Sottsass - Architettura Attenuata. These collection of drawings inspired us to start our Habitat series.

If you enjoyed this J Foerster / N Kramer interview and would like to stay up to date with their music, visit Joda on Instagram, and Niklas on Soundcloud.



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?

J Foerster: Listening to music allows me to dive into a different realm outside physical reality, where I connect to my emotions and senses in a more direct and pure way. When I close my eyes and focus intently, the sound can take on an almost architectural presence that I can move through.

N Kramer: When I listen to something with which I deeply connect, I feel excitement. But I also have my analytical mind running in a parallel thread, trying to understand what's going on.

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?

N Kramer: As soon as I was able to play my first three chords on the guitar, I tried to write my own songs. I always see instruments as different kinds of expression.

My experience with creating music later revealed that I had a big curiosity for sound, so learning how to produce my own music felt like a really big step for me.

J Foerster: I had music lessons as a child, even before I started to realize that music can offer a form of self-expression and self-investigation. To me, being an artist means being a curious person with the focus to channel that curiosity.

My curiosity tends to bounce around like a stray dog. Therefore, keeping focus is the most challenging part for me.

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?

J Foerster: At the age of 13, I started my first band as a drummer and became a total music maniac. It was all about jamming with my friends, writing songs, practicing drums, and listening to music.

There is a well-kept archive in my memory reserved for the songs that I listened to as a teenager. I think everyone has this special place.

N Kramer: I was also playing in my first bands, and discovering new music and sounds felt like the most mind-blowing thing ever. Much of how music was made remained a big mystery, and I couldn't wait to learn more about it.

J Foerster: We actually played together in two bands before we started the "Habitat" collaboration. It was not during our teenage years, but in our mid - twenties.

This experience still creates a special bond, as we went through the ups and downs of tour life together.

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

J Foerster: When I perform live, I seek to be fully submerged in the moment with all my senses and to share this unique moment with other people. It doesn’t work always though, but I am craving this feeling like an addict. Writing and producing music has a similar quality. Creating something that resonates with other people validates the human connection.

So I’d say connection is my main motive. When we had our first session for this project, it has been years since we made music together. I remember that it felt like we tapped into a source.

N Kramer: Making music on my own is a process of exploration and learning, as well as continuous change and iteration of ideas. On the other hand, I also enjoy the communal aspect of music creation and collaboration.

Ending up in spaces that I wouldn't have explored on my own is incredibly enjoyable and so much fun.

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?

J Foerster: I like Rick Rubin's take on this:

“Source makes available.
The filter distills.
The vessel receives.
And often this happens beyond our control.“

So the creative act is a combination of receiving and designing.

N Kramer:I prefer to think that ideas are discovered, as making music for me is a process of constant exploration.

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?

N Kramer: I'm always striving to find a balance between the familiar and the unfamiliar. I enjoy being surprised, but I also like to feel grounded, and I love hearing old ideas combined in new ways.

I have developed a deep interest in engaging percussion sounds, especially when working with Joda.

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”?

J Foerster: I am stunned by the rhythmicity of nature and physics, such as the perpetual pulse of breaking waves or the rattling sequences of a grasshopper.

There is even a bird that has made its way into the J. Foerster/ N. Kramer composition vocabulary: the woodpecker. It occurs when we send a percussive sound through a delay and then add some pitch glides, much like when a woodpecker is working up and down a log at high speed.

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?

J Foerster: Although I am a drummer, I love the low end of the dynamic spectrum, especially when it comes to gradually diminishing the volume and/ or density. By doing this, I can expand the listeners' sensitivity and create space.

N Kramer: I'm personally very drawn to subtle movements and the act of giving elements their designated space. This often leads to beautiful in-between places that can then be explored.

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?

J Foerster: In our collaboration, we developed a two-step compositional process, now referred to as the "Habitat" recipe.

First, it's a kind of "first thought, best thought" improvisational approach to recording and indexing ideas. In my studio, I have a setup with various percussion instruments and mallets, providing patterns, textures, and musical motives that are then layered, looped, and processed by Niklas. He primarily uses a code-based sampler (Norns) with a script that is limited to 8 tracks, each with a maximum recording time of 15 seconds per track.

This is how most of our ideas start, and many of them end there. If we're not excited by what we've created, we clear the buffers and start another idea from scratch.

Then, in a second step, we go to Niklas's studio, import the loops into Ableton, and begin to arrange and add synth sounds and long-arching elements to the tracks.

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

J Foerster: We do work with certain concepts or recipes. This could be harmonic structures or certain audio processing methods.

But there is always a chaotic factor in our act of composition as we are often using asynchronous loops, that do not follow a certain general structure or time code.

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?

N Kramer: Making music, as well as listening to it, means ideally being open to new ideas, learning from others, and remaining curious to me.

J Foerster: That's true! I learned so much in this project about music production, composition and just listening. It never stops.

There is always something to learn about yourself, 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?

J Foerster: Music is just one form of human expression. It’s a language that I chose to express myself. For someone else, it might be dancing, free-climbing, pottery or devoting yourself to brewing the most amazing coffee to fill that cup.

There is so much music out there, that is produced to fit a purpose, a market, a playlist. Thats inherently mundane to me and I’d rather get that cup of coffee instead.

N Kramer: I like the idea of making music something mundane. I often feel the pressure to create something special, but these are never the moments when I create the work I enjoy the most.

Sometimes it helps to keep doing it until things fall together in the right way.

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?

J Foerster: When I listen to "Sedna" by Efterklang, it feels like my heart rate is going down by half. It helps when I am stressed out or when I can't sleep. It's like a haven of serenity.



N Kramer: Laraaji - Essence/Universe



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

J Foerster: I would like to see where music and art in general would be going if there would be less economic pressure and less gate keepers in the music industry.