Name: Lasse Winkler
Nationality: German
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, producer
Current release: Lasse Winkler's new album Weltflucht is out via SMARAKT.
Global Recommendation: Berlin's Arab supermarkets. The landscape of the Auvergne.

If you enjoyed this Lasse Winkler interview and would like to know more about his music, projects, and upcoming live dates, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, and Facebook.  



Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in writing lyrics or poetry? How and when did you start writing?

I used to hang out a lot in youth clubs, where I was primarily exposed to rap music. So hip hop was my gateway drug and I often sat in the back row at school and wrote my rap lyrics.

Later, I realised that I was best at singing the hook lines and often left the rap verses to others.

Entering new worlds and escapism through music and literature have always exerted a very strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to writing?

It's a topic with more than just one cause. But I need to be empty inside. That tends to be the case after a night of drinking, for example. But harmonies that inspire me can also do the trick.

In general, the lyrics often come all by themselves when I have a great musical framework in front of me that carries me away.

What were some of the artists and albums which inspired you early on purely on the strength of their lyrics? What moves you in the lyrics of other artists?

As far as lyrics are concerned, I have no role models.

But when interpretation is concerned and how to bring the lyrics into the music, no one exceeds Thom Yorke.

I have always considered many forms of music to be a form of poetry as well. Where do you personally see similarities? What can music express which may be out of reach for poetry?

I think it depends on who's listening. I can definitely imagine that there are people who are more moved by pure poetry than by music.

In music, lyrics are always interpreted in the same way, just like in film. People often say: "but I thought the book was better".

Here, of course, music has the advantage that the words often don't even exist in print.

The relationship between words and music has always intrigued me. How do you see it? In how far can music take you to places with your writing you would possibly not have visited without it?

For me, they're inseparably connected. One can not exist without the other.

What are areas/themes/topics that you keep returning to in your lyrics?

Nature, buildings, my feelings at the time of writing, snapshots.

I simply observe my surroundings and see how I relate to them. It's rarely specifically about other people, but definitely about feelings towards another person.

On the basis of a piece off your most recent album Weltflucht, tell me about how the lyrics grew into their final form and what points of consideration were.

The ballad "Seelenverwandte Bordsteinkante" is about a very formative time for me.



I wrote it within 10 minutes in the rehearsal room while the other musicians were trying to find common ground. So it was very loud around me. I was sitting in the corner and was somewhere else entirely.

I was in my late 20s at the time and just didn't manage to resist the allure of Berlin's party life. I even went out partying on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and on the days I didn't go out, I was recovering from the nights I did go out. I think many Berliners can tell you a thing or two about that.

I didn't get anything done, at least that's what I thought. Looking back, it was perhaps the most creative time of my life, at least lyrically.

Do you tend to start writing with what will be the first line of the finished lyrics? The chorus? At a random point? What are the words that set the process in motion?

It's different each time. There are no rules for this.  

When you're writing song lyrics, do you sense or see a connection between your voice and the text? Does it need to feel and sound “good” or “right” to sing certain words? What's your perspective in this regard of singing someone else's songs versus your own?

Yes, absolutely! I'm not one to try and squeeze a pre-existing text into a straightjacket, that attempt has never worked. It really has to feel right.

Melody and lyrics need to enter into a symbiosis. This is especially true for the German language, which tends to be heavy on consonants.

I would love to know a little about the feedback you've received from listeners or critics about what they thought some of your songs are about – have there been “misunderstandings” or did you perhaps even gain new “insights?”

I keep getting positive feedback on "Seelenverwandte Bordsteinkannte" in particular, but also on "Trip", and not just from Germans. I think the feeling just comes across, even if you don't understand the lyrics.

That certainly has something to do with the way I sing the lyrics.I  often elongate the syllables a lot, which is otherwise very unusual in German pop music.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing song lyrics or poetry 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?

Ultimately, with any activity, it depends on how much passion you invest in it.

But as far as production is concerned, I personally have more options to shape the final result  with music compared to a cup of coffee :-))