Name: Peter Gall
Nationality: German
Occupation: Drummer, composer, producer
Current release: Peter Gall 's Love Avatar is scheduled for release September 27th 2024 via Compost.
Recommendations: One of my all-time favourite jazz albums is Miles Davis' Nefertiti. Tony Williams' drumming on it is incredible.
And there is an amazing painting called "Dark Matter XX" by Ena Oppenheimer from Munich. Check her out, she is great! I feel even more honored that she agreed to let us use her painting for the cover of Love Avatar.

If you enjoyed this Peter Gall interview and would like to know more about his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram.

For a deeper dive, read our earlier Peter Gall interview about drumming.



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?

Both. I listen to music in all sorts of situations. While running in the park, on the subway, cooking, practising or checking something out from an analytical point of view. So my body reacts depending on the circumstances.

But a lot of times good music will make my body move, sometimes I get goosebumps or I sit on the couch, close my eyes and feel really connected to the music in a lucid dream kind of way.

Entering/creating new worlds through music has always exerted a strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to listening to and creating music?

I think the first thing I seek when I listen to music is emotional satisfaction. Music can make me feel good and give me strength. It can also be healing and help me escape from bad feelings. When I create, I also naturally reach for something soulful and emotional, whether it is energetic, complicated or melancholic.

But especially in writing, it is also very important to me to get out of my comfort zone, to explore new worlds and to take risks. And I think - at least for me - it is a natural process in this matter that both the good old stuff and the new worlds need to keep the emotional connection going when listening/creating.

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 remember at that point in my life I was lying on my bed for countless hours listening to music ... And I spent countless hours in the basement of my parents' house playing drums, piano and exploring my brother's synthesizer with an old Atari computer. It was at this age that I realised how much music had become probably the most important part of my identity.

Also, back then good quality music was not so easy accessible like it is today. So I spent all my money buying CDs and I discovered how great it is to be magically touched by music. Music means still the world to me. But I also look for distraction in other arts, sports, friends, to keep the musical hunger alive.

Tell me about one or two of your early pieces that you're still proud of (or satisfied with) – and why you're content with them.

I remember a couple of things I tried to make when I was in high school. They had this naivety about them, a natural desire to copy and explore. And I was really trying to break through the boundaries of knowledge and skill, just to get something down.

But usually I am more satisfied with my newer stuff, still I can accept most of it when I classify it as part of my development. In a way I  am still proud of my first album, it had a certain thing to it so it was hard work to make a worthy successor without repeating myself.

What is your current your studio or workspace like? What instruments, tools, equipment, and space do you need to make music?

I work in two places: a bigger room where I can practice, rehearse and record drums. The other "studio" is basically my apartment, where I can write on the piano and where I have a sort of producer's desk with some good speakers and some analogue synths to experiment with. This is where I finish most of my stuff.

But what's actually more important than tools and equipment to make great music: great people to play and explore music with!  

From the earliest sketches to the finished piece, tell me about the creative process for your current release, please.

This time some of the songs actually started on the drums. I did a lot of recording, trying to find grooves and loops and taking them home, trying to find harmonies, melodies, bass lines, trying to get it all into shape. I tried to take the demos as far as possible.

I had the honour of recording with amazing musicians: Wanja Slavin, Reinier Baas, Rainer Böhm and Matthias Pichler. They are incredibly creative and bring their ideas to the studio.

We are a permanent band, so we also work together on the songs, make decisions together, try out stuff. Change arrangements after a few takes and see what works best as a group. It is very important for me to hear their pure personalities in my music, so I am very open and grateful for their input.

[Read our Wanja Slavin interview]

After the studio days, I did endless hours of post-production, taking inspiration from my peers' playing and framing it differently at certain moments with some additional layers, sounds, etc ... to have some more dimensions for the record.

After all that I had some very intense late night remote mixing sessions with the great engineer Dave Darlington in NYC. The engineer is usually the last step between the artistic performance and the listener's ears, so this process is pretty important to me.

What role and importance do rituals have for you, both as an artist and a listener?

Well, the first thing that comes to mind is coffee. Nothing works without it.

Apart from that, I'm not really very structured, the best results in making music happen when the music pulls me in and I can't escape. That can be at 5 o'clock in the morning or on the train with a little keyboard and a sandwich. The song “Closing The Chapter” from the new album was actually written on a train in a very short time, it just was there suddenly.

When it comes to listening, a nice ritual is: hide your phone, put vinyl on the turntable and listen to both sides of the whole record.

Are you acting out parts of your personality in your music which you couldn't or wouldn't in your daily life? If so, which are these?

Probably this should be answered by musicians friends. At least I can say, I never felt I need to be a different person when it comes to music.

Late producer SOPHIE said: “You have the possibility [...] to generate any texture, and any sound. So why would any musician want to limit themselves?” What's your take on that?

Sure, it's great to have endless choices. But sometimes limits can be helpful. We can easily be overwhelmed by the possibilities, and it can sometimes hold us back from actually making stuff.

When composing, it can sometimes help to reduce the task to a simple idea. As well as not having too many instruments around you to choose from. The stuff that really WANTS to come out of you is usually the strongest.

Do you feel that your music or your work as an artist needs to have a societal purpose or a responsibility to anyone but yourself?

Art is rarely separated from social responsibility, and jazz in particular has a history of artists taking responsibility for societal and political issues. But music can also stand for itself.

I can't claim that my music makes the world a better place, sometimes just the songtitels give a little food for thought, like “Echoes Of A Dystopian World” or also “Love Avatar” which can be interpreted in various ways.

But ideally, my music resonates with people, gives them opportunities to explore their minds and feelings in a positive way and is part of a diverse cultural landscape, which is good for every society.

Once a piece is done and released, do you find it important that listeners understand it in a specific way? How do you deal with “misunderstandings?”

There is probably no such thing as 'misunderstanding' my music. I could have specific intentions of what a song could mean and be associated with, but that could be something completely different for someone else, and that is the interesting part. I can't say "you've got to love my record, don't you hear this chord progression and this complex rhythm and this hip melody" or whatever …

It's not about that the listener only "understands" the track ‘Unreal’, for example, by recognising some Messiaen type of chords in the outro. People should just get the heavy vibe these chords create. In general, of course, having technical insight into a composition and music history can help you get closer to it. But also a super complicated track can blow you away just because of the vibe.

A lot of the time, "understanding" a piece to your personal benefit in an emotional way happens when you listen to it at the right moment. Some music takes more time to enjoy than others. Music can be the soundtrack to many different lives and situations, so I guess it is up to the listener to define the "understanding" part. But beeing open to new music is always a good thing.

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”?

It may sound clichéd, but the singing of birds when I went to bed late at night, the rhythm of the waves on the ocean, the total silence in the Alps with the sound of cowbells from somewhere, the dense sound of rain in a tent ... these elements could have been great "musical" experiences in a broader sense.

You can always hear a rhythm, a pad, a drone, a melody, interaction, improvisation, time and space in nature ... you can be creative with non-human sounds.

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?

I thought so when I was younger. I wanted to listen to music every second of the day and hoped to benefit from it. But the older I get, the more my ears and brain need a break sometimes.

Silence can be powerful, and so can not listening for a while - then suddenly you see a band playing in the park, or you go to a show in a club, or you put on a great record - and then the power of music hits you again!

It's important to keep your ears fresh. When I was younger it was easier to be excited all the time because there was more to discover and less repetition.

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?

Well, a great cup of coffee can be pretty amazing. Also, there are a lot of aspects of music that require a pretty "mundane" work ethic. At the end of the day it's just work, since I make music for a living - but it's a very personal, deep and fulfilling task.

But back to coffee or food in general: whether you're making a coffee, cooking food or writing music, the point is to create something really tasty.

What is a music related question that you would like to ask yourself – and what's your answer to it?

I'd like to ask my 45 years older self what my music and drumming will be like in the future. Hopefully my answer will be: it's OK!