Name: Maria Basel
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, composer, producer, multi-instrumentalist
Nationality: German
Current release: Maria Basel's Bloom is out via Listen.
Recommendations: Yebba – "Yebba’s Heartbreak"; Samora Pinderhughes – "Process"

If you enjoyed this Maria Basel interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit his official homepage. She is also on Instagram, Facebook, and 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?

I normally listen with my eyes open while moving, doing something. I unfortunately tend to be quite restless.

But sometimes I find songs that make me super calm or stir up my emotions or remind me of something or someone and pull me out of my rush. I like those moments very much.

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 was raised in a family of classical musicians and started to play the piano when I was 5 years old until I around the age of 18. So music has been an important part of my life as long I can think. I am super thankful for having had all these years of training that gave me that classical base and musical hearing and understanding.

I started producing my own music around 10 years ago just by trying out Logic, gaining experience with time. Still learning, still evolving.

To be an artist you need a strong will, good nerves, perseverance, and belief in yourself (just to list a few traits). I think some of those things you can learn, some of them you need to have naturally. But it also depends what kind of artist you want to be. :-)

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 actually started to write my first songs at the age of 15 by accompanying myself on the piano and making up lyrics with my teenager fantasy English :D

So this age was indeed incisive for me because this was the first time stepping out of the predefined ways of classical music.
    
What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

I need to make music. To create music gives me the most sublime feeling nothing else has ever given me.

I tend to write my best pieces when I am in a darker mood. It is a way to let out things that weigh me down. It can be a valve, a way to self-therapy, a confrontation with myself.

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?

Honestly at times for me it feels like I am the recipient and I have the luck to receive this Idea from a higher instance/ a muse, however you want to call it.

And then it’s up to me to deal with this gift in my own way. To give it even more depth and to fill it with my personal meaning.

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?

Making my album I tried to focus on the overall sound. Still, I always caught myself focusing especially on the vocals and piano parts.

I struggle to define my own sound. Sometimes it’s a cinematic piece, sometimes you can clearly hear my classical background, others are pop songs with powerful beats and synth sections. Maybe the thing that unites my songs is a bittersweet feeling.

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”?

Somehow, I always felt drawn by the sound of the ocean. It can sound like a whisper, a roar, pulling and hypnotizing and calming at the same time.

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?

I like contrast – like the mix of acoustic and electronic elements.

I also like stacking vocals/choirs. I tend to overdo choir parts in my own music and I often have to stop myself from recording too many ...

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?

The process of creating my album Bloom was driven by the subjects of growth and change, new beginnings, letting go of the things that weigh you down, and of how important it is to be more loving and patient with yourself in order to not get overrun by the fast-paced world we are living in.

In contrast to my EP Layers which I did completely on my own, this time I produced my album with the musician, producer and dear friend of mine, Jonas David.



He pushed me out of my comfort zones and made me grow in many ways, which I am very thankful for.

Also this time I recorded with other musicians like Milo Isgró (drums) and Charlotte Jeschke (Cello) and Jonas (Guitar, Drums, Flugelhorn) which gave the album the necessary organic and warm sound next to the many electronic elements.

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

Sometimes, yes. Here is a small example for an experiment we did for the first time: for the last track of the album Fearful Men we created a “Shepard tone” with Charlotte’s Cello.

It gave the piece the necessary drive and vertigo-like feeling building up in a dramatic crescendo.

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 believe that by making music or listening to it we can learn to become more compassionate, loving, open up to our emotions, be vulnerable, feel empowered, be connected through it beyond words.

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 don't put much effort into my coffee preparation. :-)

When I make music I express thoughts, feelings and experiences in a way that words can often not describe. It’s this inexplicable magical power that only music has for me.

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?

Throughout my life there were some songs that made me speechless, left me in awe and stayed in my heart for a long time. Mostly, they were connected to an emotionally intense moment or memory.  

Some examples are Pete Josef – “Hope,” Sufjan Stevens – “Fourth of July,” Thom Yorke – “Unmade.”



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

I would love to see a more balanced music industry. The industry is still very masculine and old fashioned and unfortunately often paid very disproportionately.

Also I wished that things would slow down a bit. The music industry nowadays is moving extremely fast. You write a song, put all of your heart and soul into it and it gets “eaten” up super fast and forgotten the next day. You are expected to produce one track after the other like a factory.

We live in a fast paced superficial world with an overload of information and no time to slow down and really cherish a moment, a musical piece.