Name: Peter Kruder
Nationality: Austrian
Occupation: Producer, composer
Current release: Peter Kruder teams up with Roberto Di Gioia for ,,--------,,, out May 26th 2023 via PEYO.
Recommendations: "Poemotion 1-3" by Takahiro Kurashima; Skyspace Ta Khut by James Turrell

[Read our Roberto Di Gioia interview]

If you enjoyed this Peter Kruder interview and would like to know more, visit his official website. He is also 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?

When I hear music that I really like, I get a massive energy boost and the whole world feels alright for a moment.

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?

When you first start out you are basically happy with any kind of results you're getting out of your efforts. With more experience you become more judgemental and that feeds a desire for that naiveté of those first steps of your beginnings.

This is also main reason why people buy new equipment or plugins all the time.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music meant to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

I had a before / after experience when I was about 11. My older brother played me Pink Floyd's Wish you were here on his brand new B&O stereo system.

This was like a complete reset of my musical mind and nothing was the same ever again. Since that moment, I’ll forever keep searching for that feeling.

Over the course of your development, what have been your most important instruments and tools and how have they shaped your perspective on music?

I started playing the guitar in bands at an early age but was never really any good at it. When I then discovered the AKAI S7000 sampler and MIDI on an Atari ST, it opened a whole new universe for me.

I’m still floating around in that universe, discovering new galaxies every day.

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

I want to surprise myself and work as long as it takes to get that feeling.

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?

Music always has to provoke something in you and that is what I listen for in every record, not only in my own.

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”?

The absence of sound is nowadays the most astonishing thing to experience. Silence will be become something very hard to obtain and rather expensive in the future.  

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?

It’s rather easy to do too much and really hard to say a lot with just a little.

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

If you're in tune with the music you make, the music tells you pretty much what it needs.

As soon as realize I keep piling on layer after layer onto my work, I stop the song and return to the first idea or press delete and start from scratch.

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?

Our song “Clock Tick Tock” started with Roberto picking a string on the piano and that sound and tempo created an instant mood. This mood then becomes a map that you can follow to the final destination the song wants you to go.



Mind that it’s almost never a straight road from start to finish.

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

I probably tried every trick in the book to of how to approach music in different ways. But at the end of the day it’s all about the work you put in.

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?

In music you have the expression that you play “in the pocket.” It’s mainly when a drummer hits the snare and the off beats a tiny little late. But that makes a groove really GROOVE!

So I generally like to live in the pocket.

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?

At the end of the day everything you make with love and passion for the process will turn out great and will be much more enjoyable for others.

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?

A piece of music that always affects me in a very special way is “Ghosts” by Japan, a song that meant one thing to me when I was 13 another thing when I was in my thirties. Now, in my fifties, it opened another new perspective.

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

Music that surprises.
Albums that are great from start to finish.
Sounds that I have not heard before.
Sub bass frequencies that makes you faint.