Name: Rikas
Nationality: German
Members: Chris Ronge (guitar, vocals), Ferdinand Hübner (drums, vocals), Samuel Luca Baisch (bass, vocals), Sascha Scherer (guitar, keyboards, vocals)
Current release: Rikas' new single "Up All Night" is out now.
Recommendations:
1. I recently rewatched Talking Heads' Stop Making Sense. An absolute timeless live performance, it’s just great in so many ways. Musically, performance wise, dramaturgically.
2. The art & graphics of Otl Aicher. He was a German designer, living from 1922-1991. His work was very colourful and positive; he designed. e.g. the iconic CI for the ‘72 Olympic Games in Munich or the outlook of Lufthansa.

If you enjoyed this Rikas interview and would like to stay up to date with the band and their music, visit their official website. They are 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?

I rarely listen to music without doing something on the side, so I mostly listen with my eyes open.

If I’d just sit and listen to a record, I’d probably close my eyes and get lost in my thoughts, and drift aways in whatever way or vibe the music puts me in.

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?

I remember being able to have a much bigger creative output songwriting-wise in the early days of my musical development. I didn’t overthink and just did it. (Not that the songs were particularly good though, haha.) But at least I created something.

This got a lot harder over the years, trying to live up to certain expectations, my own as well as others. So looking back, I really enjoyed this musical “innocence”.

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?

Since I was a kid, I always wanted to play in a band. At age 13, we formed our very first group and started rehearsing very often, working on that dream we all shared.

Regarding this, not much has changed ever since. Of course we got better and our influences got more divers, but in the end it still comes down to four friends having fun and making music together!

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

Literally, the most important instrument for me has been my guitar, since that’s what I play haha.

Figuratively, I think it’s been the friendship and positive vibe and atmosphere between the four of us that holding the band together for almost 15 years now. This is the basis of everything.

So we do all we can and use every tool we have to maintain that. A big part of that is to not take yourself too seriously sometimes.

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

There’s no general concept behind our music, but I think the unspoken motivation might just be having fun - that’s why we started making music together in the first place. Fun for ourselves of course, but also for everyone listening. We want people to leave our shows happy and full of positive energy.

Not that we wouldn’t also have deeper or more introverted songs and / or lyrics, these topics are of course also a part of our lives, but overall we want to spread good vibes. There’s nothing more rewarding than a crowd of people dancing with smiles on their faces at your concert.

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?

I think this is pretty true and accurate when it comes to ourselves. Of course there are songs that pop out because of individual qualities, such as good lyrics or a nice arrangement of chords. But what is catchy in the first place is what we like to refer to as the “vibe”.

Music is more than the sum of its parts. And said vibe is definitely one of them!

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 most moving and definitely poignant experience I’ve had with music or sound so far was, ironically, the total absence of it.

It was on top of Mauna Kea, Hawaii’s tallest mountain. I just sat down and realised there was no noise around whatsoever. Since some sort of sound is around us basically anywhere, anytime, be it from leaves in the wind in a forest or a highway or plane somewhere far away, this was a very, very fascinating moment.

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 found it interesting how music and sound in general can directly affect one's mood. Not just real “songs” that touch you because of their lyrics or else, but also just plain sounds or beats.

I was in a sound museum once, where you could measure your pulse while listening to rhythms in different tempi. Depending on the beat, your heartbeat got faster or slower. I didn’t know there was such a direct and physical connection between humans and music.

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?

So far, since we’re making pop music, we mostly stick to classic verse / chorus-arrangements of some sort.

Of course we break free from that every once in a while, but those are definitely the exceptions.

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?

A classic way for us to develop a song is that one of us comes around with a new idea, chord progression or melody of some sort. Sometimes these ideas are already pretty precise, sometimes they are more of the earlier mentioned “vibe”. We then come together in the rehearsal and jam along to it, starting to form the song. Later on we usually track a little bedroom-like demo, further shaping it.

Also we’re a band that likes to play songs live from a pretty early stage, to see how people react to it.

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

No, I don’t think we’ve done that so far.

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?

Probably, in some way. For ourselves, I think we like to go through life not too seriously and try to have a good, carefree time. This approach is also found in our music or artistic output (videos, photos, graphics, merch,...) in general.

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?

In a way, making music is like any other craft you can learn to do. Like making a good coffee, you can learn and practise to play an instrument. The difference is, you might not have to be very creative to follow instructions to make coffee, once you learned how to operate the machine.

Making good music requires inspiration and creativity you can’t really learn, but have to look for in your everyday life. Once found, this is what you can express through music and art.  

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?

I do. For me it’s the song that I bring in connection with a certain time or situation in the past, when I used to listen to it.

It’s quite random because the song itself does not has to have anything to do with the feeling or situation. But still they are deeply connected. So it is a totally individual and personal thing.

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

Make handmade live music great again!