Name: Peter Voigtmann aka SHRVL
Nationality: German
Occupation: Producer, keyboardist, drummer
Current release: The SHRVL debut album Limbus is out via Pelagic.
Recommendations:
1. I recommend watching the video clip of "Come Near Me" by Massive Attack. I think it’s an amazing piece of art.
2. All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the most important movies lately - for obvious reasons.

If you enjoyed this SHRVL interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit his official website. He is also on Instagram, and bandcamp.

Peter Voigtmann is also part of The Ocean. For the views of his bandmate David Ramis Åhfeldt read our The Ocean interview.



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?

The ideal way of listening to music for me is to either lie down with headphones or to sit in my studio in complete darkness with my eyes closed, absorbing every detail, while trying to keep track of the full picture.

If this leads to full immersion I get a warm feeling of comfort in my belly - and best case - shivers all over my body.

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?

My very first steps must have been drumming along my grandparents’ records on a pillow with wooden spoons when I was very little. At the age of 7 I started to have classical guitar lessons, but I changed to drums when I was 13 because this just felt like the perfect instrument to me. I spent hours and hours playing along my favorite CDs with my stereo system blasting to the max behind me. The neighbors probably loved it too …

With 16 I started to buy two cheap microphones and a tiny mixer which I connected to my mum’s laptop - this started my passion for recording drum-sounds and fooling around with production tools. When I listened to these first baby steps lately I was surprised how much of the core sound kept being part of my sonic DNA.

In my opinion being kind of naive should be preserved, no matter how much experience is gained in the meantime. Nowadays I just get to satisfying results way quicker because of more developed technical knowledge and personal taste. But the most convincing ideas were (and still are) the ones which just happen without overthinking.

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?

At that time, music gave me a safe space in times of complete insecurity. I felt understood and it gave me a refuge I could identify with.

Not much has changed since then, except the kind of music I am listening to.

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 guess trying out different drums, cymbals, sticks, heads, microphones and pretty much any possible variable regarding this instrument made me listen with much more attention to detail. Also having to adapt to a lot of different rooms when playing live was a good lesson.

When I started to get into analog synthesizers, I had no clue what I was doing. But they kind of forced me to understand frequencies, volumes and their sweet spots. The Roland Juno 60 in combination with some guitar pedals was a true game changer for me.

[Read our feature on the Roland Juno 60]
[Read our feature on the Roland Juno 106]

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

I try to capture moments and real performances.

Almost every sound you hear on my album is a first or second take of me basically jamming with myself with a real instrument. The next step is to chop up these takes and sounds in a way which I would consider enjoyable. This process can lead to  working on lots of very tiny details with heaps of automation involved.

It’s crucial to me that decisions and commitments are made quickly, so I don’t get too lost in possibilities.

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 would say my sound is a mixture of "in your face" and "lots of space" while being clean and dirty at the same time.

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”?

I think listening to the ocean is one of the most soothing and moving sounds one can witness. Also the combination of wind and rain can create a very strong atmosphere.

I recorded lots of these sounds on my phone which I use as textures in my music, for example the very start of "Response". The intro and outro of "Recurrence" I recorded by putting two microphones on my studio’s window sill.

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?

All these aspects are valuable and have their right to exist but lately I like it more quiet and moody, while beats and drums should be fat as fuck at the same time.

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?

I was never really into classic song structures - I rather go with the flow - whatever feels right and appropriate works for me. Repetition is crucial for me in order to create long build-ups with lots of space to reflect and relax.

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?

Most of my initial ideas come from just fooling around with one of my instruments without any outcome planned. As soon as I hear something remotely moving I try to develop this idea to an extend that I feel ready to record as quickly and good sounding as possible, so it would be in theory usable for a final mix.

From there everything can happen. But if things start to feel like a drag I put them aside until I eventually find something interesting to add. If not, I just move on with something else.

Every track on the album is chronological in this regard. The first notes you hear are the first things I came up with.

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

Everything I am doing feels like an experiment. But over the last few years I also tried to understand and learn the physical aspect of recording - like room acoustics, speaker behavior, microphone placement and phase correlation.

This stuff can get very scientific but helps not to run against walls in such full force anymore.

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 going with the flow and doing what feels right in the moment is a key part of how I live.

The range of fulfillment by living like this can reach from pure enjoyment to total devastation - only wanting to do things which feel right and awesome can become quite delusional. I’m still trying to figure out some kind of balance in this regard …

So yes I think we can learn a lot from music - it confronts us with all the aspects of our way of thinking, feeling, working and living.

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 see a real difference - it’s all creating something (hopefully) valuable - no matter whether it’s coffee, a picture, a chair or audible waves flying through the air.

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?

"Menu" of the soundtrack of a video game called "LIMBO" would be a good example. It only consists of pretty basic ambient sounds, but something about it soothes and moves me in a way I can’t explain.

There’s also a version of this piece which was played by an orchestra, which I really like.



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

Being paid accordingly to the amount of work and time one puts in creating this art would be amazing.