Name: OK Wait
Members: Michel Jahn (guitar), Lutz Möllmann (drums), Florian Zeh (Bass)
Nationality: German
Current release: OK Wait's SIGNAL is out via Golden Antenna.
Recommendations: M: I’d like to recommend The Sirens Of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut as a novel that has such a unique voice and offers a bit of humorous escapism until suddenly it doesn’t, when it homes in on the human condition with an unforgivingly loving eye.
You didn’t ask for a movie, but I hope it’s also ok: Wristcutters, I love that one: It has cut wrists, Tom Waits and insignificant miracles!

If you enjoyed this OK Wait interview and would like to find out more about the band, visit them 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?

M: I often listen with open eyes, but play with closed eyes, no idea why.

Generally speaking, music is an emotional experience to me; it rarely (but sometimes) happens that I approach it on a technical / intellectual level. I mostly feel my heart rate change with music, which is weird but not uncomfortable.

F: Right, music is deeply emotional. For me it evokes memories, both abstract and sometimes concrete ones.

There are very few pieces of music that I want to listen to with my eyes closed. Maybe because I like to think that mostly music is enhancing my current state of consciousness rather than fully taking it over.

What were your very first steps in music like - and how do you rate gains made through experience versus the naiveté of those first steps?

M: My first steps in music were actually playing the cello. You can hear those roots on the record, actually! I try to preserve some naiveté by refusing to learn too much.

Honestly though, I couldn’t have made this record in the past - I strongly believe in experience and progress; in the musical value of time.

F: I started learning to play instruments at a very young age, like the recorder, trombone and keys, and later took up the electric guitar, drums and bass guitar. Almost nothing of the regular theoretical education stuck with me, but I am sure having learned the roles and workings of different instruments shaped how I perceive music in general, and also how I approach writing music now.

Like Michel, I try to follow my instincts. That said, the more experienced I get, the more I am convinced that any level of theoretical and canonical knowledge of music will help me widen the boundaries of the music I create.

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?

M: Aw fuck, the Nu Metal years! Haha, but for real, music back then was mostly emotion for me, a vent for bad emotions, especially. That hasn’t really changed.

F: It’s all about the coming of age – the development of personality. And music is a major part of that for so many people. You start looking for new experiences and how they resonate with you. The rebellious, angry energy of bands like Kyuss, Korn and Slint became my soundtrack.



I guess still today, I am looking for new energies that resonate with the current times.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools and how have they shaped your perspective on music?
 
M: I have played a crazy long time without a single pedal between guitar and amp, so when I opened that world for me, it was quite impactful. Yet I think that focussing on just your guitar and amp and how they sing to you is most important.

F: Since I took up the guitar, I used effects and dabbled in recording / mixing. This probably made me a more analytical musician by including awareness of the sonic landscape/production – both when playing and consuming.

At one point I noticed that I can’t purely enjoy music anymore and since have learned to tone back on the analytical part.

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

M: I aim to feel through my music, make my guitar scream and cry so I don’t have to. That’s also the motivation – if I don’t play, stuff piles up inside and makes me hard to be around.

F: Honestly, in the context of this band, I often work off of the idea that everything is a remix. I like to get consciously inspired by the music and sound of certain artists. As their music resonates with me, some part of it becomes a part of me and thus becomes part of my creative vocabulary, that wants to be used and becomes the music again.

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?

M: I’d define my sound as precisely that – personal! I feel that with SIGNAL, I have actually found a sound that feels like me. I listen for the intensity, the emotion – if I can still hear what I felt when I wrote or recorded something, all is well.

F: I like to picture it as diving in and out. Stay at a distance to find out what makes the overall sound enjoyable. And the medium being the amalgamation of three individuals’ diverse expressions.

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”?

M: I once heard a recording of narwhals, the sounds they make underwater. It’s so utterly alien, yet quite familiar to anyone who ever dicked around with a synth.

Generally speaking, underwater animal sounds - like from whales - are very musical to me – more so than reminiscent of some form of language.

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?

M: I love contrast! Noise and dissonance by themselves are not as impactful – to me – as when contrasted with melody and harmony. To have music constantly move through beauty and nastiness like a dolphin which jumps while swimming feels most natural to me.

F: What really tickles my earlobes is texture. As in distorted sounds of single instruments, but also in overall compositions. The means of reception also have a huge impact on the emotional response, being able to feel a certain physical bass punch in a live setting or intensely following a cerebral composition.

From symphonies and traditional verse/chorus-songs to linear techno tracks and free jazz, there are myriad ways to structure a piece of music. Which approaches work best for you – and why?

M: No structural goal works best! Every song will arrive at its own form, and allowing that to happen is easier for me than trying to force an old structure on something new.

F: In other words: form follows function. The function, in our case, is creating a piece of music that best translates our feelings while playing it while making it digestible for other listeners.

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?

M: For me, the process starts either with a sound or a melody. In the case of our song “DAMAGE”, it was both.

Any idea then lives or dies when we try to jam on it – this one lived, and very instantly had its first half written. We then wrote the second half during pre production and changed the ending a bit before recording.

To me, that is the dream process: a perfect balance of feel and immediate inspiration, deliberate work and “letting it sit for a while”.

Sometimes, science and art converge in unexpected ways. Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

M: Experiments - yes! Sometimes I try to spark creativity by deliberately trying something new, like a strange setting on a pedal, different chord shapes or weird synthesiser patches.

Do I make use of scientific insights? Probably not! Does it help anyway? Often!

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?

M: I like to live honestly and intensely, and I hope I manage that and make music that sounds like that.

As to the second question - I think it’s the other way around: We understand life on a deeper level by listening to music. If there are any lessons to be learned, I don’t know …

F: There’s this quote by Frank Serpico (paraphrased): “I strive to be the person I want to be when listening to music.”

The person I am while making music, and also in general has to have a purpose, enjoy himself and the togetherness and help create new value, in our case music for others to enjoy.

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?

M: Ok so making music or a great (!) cup of coffee: those are both not easy, take great tools, meditative concentration, experience …

As for mundane tasks: do those express anything? Music magically elevates us from our mundane, physical existence and lets us be but a soul, at least for a moment.

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?

M: I’ve never managed to explain how music affects me!

F: I witnessed Colin Stetson perform music from his first three albums in a small club setting. He played up to 15 minute long solo pieces on tenor and bass saxophone using circular breathing and amplifying both the key’s percussion and undertones from his throat with mics while also shouting in his instrument while playing.

The term ’awestruck’ comes closest to what I experienced. I wasn’t able to move, my eyes teared up, I crushed my cup of wine that was fortunately made of plastic and wasn’t really able to speak for several minutes afterwards.

I never fully understood what had happened there, but his music sounded like my inner thoughts. I dare not dream to create this effect with my music.

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

M: I would love to see a resurgence of underground and truly independent music. The scene has suffered too much in the pandemic and the dichotomy of mainstream / underground must die. I think it stems too much from the notion of art as a business.

F: There have to be more and better communal cultural places that provide early and easy access to experiencing and creating music.

Countries like the Netherlands and Belgium are good examples of how open “temples” of independent culture in the midst of society can help shape a way more vibrant, valued and visible cultural scene.