Name: THE INTERSPHERE
Members: Christoph Hessler (vocals, guitars), Thomas Zipner (guitars), Moritz Mueller (drums), Daniel Weber (bass)
Nationality: German
Current release: THE INTERSPHERE's new single “All we need” is out now.
Recommendations: Humankind - Rutger Bregman; Silverchair – DIORAMA,  one of the best albums ever made :-)

If you enjoyed this THE INTERSPHERE interview and would like to know more about the band, visit their official website. They are also on Instagram, and Facebook.
 


For a while, it seemed as though the model of the bed room producer would replace bands altogether. Why do you like playing in a band rather than making music on your own?

It's all about the exchange of ideas and, above all, the energy that only arises when a band stands together in a room, interacts and feels the music together.

Bed room producer records are really difficult to realize in rock unless you put the whole band in the bedroom.

What, to you, are some of the greatest bands, and what makes them great?

Oh. there are so many, depending on which angle you look at them from. Uniqueness, personality and talent are the most important qualities and of course great songs with beautiful melodies and meaningful content.

For us The Beatles, The Police, Genesis and many more ...

Before you started making music together, did you in any form exchange concrete ideas, goals, or strategies? Generally speaking, what are your preferences when it comes to planning vs spontaneity in a collaboration?

I usually write the basic structure of the songs and record it as a demo in my studio. Then I send it to the guys and if everyone is inspired by this, we work on the song together in the rehearsal room.

Sometimes we end up with something completely different. We just let our ideas carry us and work on the songs until everyone loves them. We don't really have drawing board ideas or strategies

There are many potential models for creativity, from live performances and jamming/producing in the same room together up to file sharing. Which of these do you prefer – and why?

The best way is to work together in the rehearsal room, sometimes on specific ideas, sometimes a jam out of nowhere.

In fact, the last album was also created via file sharing due to the pandemic. That was also a good experience because everyone was able to work more intensively on the song ideas and try lots of different approaches.

Nevertheless, we prefer to work together because shared creativity is simply more fun and you can try things on the fly without sending files back and forth.

How do your different characters add up to the band's sound and in which way is the end result – including live performances – different from the sum of its pieces?

The way we play our instruments and how we create our sounds is hugely important for our band sound.

We also attach great importance to our recordings having an organic and energetic sound and the character of the individual musicians coming through clearly. In times of drum samples, digital bass and guitar sounds and vocal tuning, we try to avoid using all that stuff, because every intervention and editing kills a part of your individuality and in the end all bands sound the same.

Special equipment, the creative use of it and trying out unconventional things is much more exciting.

Is there a group consciousness, do you feel? How does it express itself?

Yes, of course. The idea and creating something new for us is the driving force, everything else is secondary.

Tell me about a piece or album which shows the different aspects you each contribute to the process particularly clearly, please.

We experimented a lot on the Wanderer album. We wanted to give each song its very own, special sound. That's why we did a lot of pre-production work beforehand, working with different drum sets in my studio, differnt drum tunings.



Moritz adding extra drums and also trying out new ways of micing. Dani programmed a lot of bass sounds, as the demos often contained bass synths and he then built sounds that could also be implemented with the electric bass using various pedals. For the guitar sounds, we spent 4 days checking different amps, guitars, cabinets and countless pedals to find the right sound.

There is a lot of attention to detail everywhere and with everyone.

What tend to be the best songs in your opinion – those where you had a lot in common as a band or those where you had more differences? What happens when another musician take you outside of your comfort zone?

Hard to say. There are both. It's always important that everyone is 100% behind it and can convey it.

Moving out of your comfort zone is always good and also an important part of our band. 50% of the demos for the Wanderer album were far outside of our comfort zone and completely different in the writing process to challenge ourselves and didn't have much to do with the actual The Intersphere sound.

We only brought the songs back into our cosmos in the second step, but in a way that you haven't heard from us before. It's always good to take off your blinkers and allow everything in the writing process.

What are your thoughts on the need for compromise vs standing by one's convictions? How did you resolve potential disagreements?

Compromises are very important, as is your own conviction. That's why we talk to each other a lot and work on the songs until the track is right for everyone.

Of course, there are times when we don't get it right. Then the song just falls out or we find a way to realize the song later…

Do any of the band's members also have solo projects? If so, how do these feeds into the band's creative process?

No, there are no other solo projects. We are still partly on the road as musicians with other artists.

In a live situation, decisions between band members often work without words. From your experience and the performances of your current tour, what does this process feel like and how does it work?

That feels wonderful.

We've been making music together for almost 20 years now, we've played over 700 shows, spent a lot of time together and everyone has found their place in the team. It's just nice to see how we've all grown together over all this time, how we can rely on each other blindly and how this also creates a safety net when things don't go well on stage or one of us is feeling bad.

In addition to the music, the human component is always very important to us, also with all the people in our team and the people who are on the road with us

How has the interaction within the group changed over the years? How do you keep things surprising, playful and inspiring?

The interesting thing is that, on the one hand, we are developing as a band and new influences are constantly being added, but also that each individual is facing new challenges in their own lives. We all have families, Kids and other jobs now.

It's often the case that the band is our personal secret place where we can live out our creativity alongside our everyday lives. But it's precisely this interplay that makes things so interesting for us.

Have you worked with outside contributors - from sessions musicians via producers to other songwriters? How did this change, improve or challenge the established dynamic and how do you look back on that?

We are always open to new influences and are already thinking outside the box, working with producers, songwriters and guest musicians on our music.

From experience, it always makes the result better.

Most bands eventually break up. What makes you stay together? What are essentials for a successful band?

Creativity, muse, empathy and, above all, fun.