Names: Matthias Lindermayr
Nationalities: German
Occupation: Trumpet player, composer
Current release: Matthias Lindermayr and Masako Ohta's Nozomi is out February 14th 2025 via Squama.
Recommendation for his hometown of Munich: The northern part of the Englischer Garten. Beautiful and surprisingly calm in the middle of the city.

[Read our Masako Ohta interview]

If you enjoyed this interview with Matthias Lindermayr and would like to know more about his work, visit his official homepage.

For a deeper dive, read our earlier Matthias Lindermayr and Masako Ohta interview.



What were some of your earliest collaborations? How do you look back on them with hindsight?

As a live-performing musician, I grew up collaborating with others.

However, the first people I wrote and produced music with were my closest childhood friends. This collaboration was a formative experience that deeply influenced my career as a musician and composer, and I am incredibly grateful for it.

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

I explore and practice many different forms of collaboration, each with its own unique advantages and challenges.

Rather than favoring one over the others, I appreciate the variety and am grateful that I don't have to limit myself to just one approach.

How did this particular collaboration come about?

We both received a music scholarship from our hometown in the same year.

We first met at the award ceremony and decided to reconnect afterwards to improvise together.

What did you know about each other before working together? Describe your creative partner in a few words, please.

We share a deep passion for excellent sound, and Masako Ohta is the most sonically remarkable pianist I’ve had the pleasure of playing with.

Her approach to improvisation is truly unique, and she is also a kind, peaceful, and charismatic individual.

What do you generally look for in a collaborator and what made you want to collaborate with each other specifically?

I am drawn to collaborating with people who inspire me, whether through a strong personal voice on their instrument or their unique approach to composing music. Equally important to me is having a good personal connection.

I also like working with those who understand and appreciate my musical vision.

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 believe I have always preferred spontaneity.

In this particular case, we began by improvising freely before I started composing music for our duo. This approach allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of what our collaboration could and would sound like.

Describe the process of working on your latest release, please. What was different from your expectations and what did the other add to the music?

I had a good sense of what to expect, as this was our second collaboration.

Masako brought my small compositions to life, and I made a conscious effort to give her as much creative freedom as possible, knowing she would interpret the pieces beautifully.

Is there a piece which shows the different aspects you each contributed to the process particularly clearly?

The piece 'Agora' is a great example. I composed the melody and bass-line, and everything else emerged from our improvisation.

Masako even created the middle section spontaneously, and we decided to include it in the composition because it fit perfectly.

What tend to be the best collaborations in your opinion – those with artists you have a lot in common with or those where you have more differences? What happens when another musician take you outside of your comfort zone?

Both approaches can be great.

I enjoy being pushed out of my comfort zone—that's often where the magic happens.

Decisions between creatives often work without words. How did this process work in this case?

We do a lot of free improvisation on various compositions, but we also spend much time listening to recordings of our sessions and discussing them.

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

We have a great way of discussing everything—what we like and don't like about our collaboration, each other's behaviour, our concerts, musical decisions, and more.

We always find solutions that we both feel comfortable with. Compromise is essential in any collaboration, and it's what makes it interesting.

Was/Is this collaboration fun – does it need to be?

I suppose it doesn't always, but fortunately, all of my collaborations have been fun so far.

Do you find that thanks to this collaboration, you changed certain parts of your process or your outlook on certain creative aspects?

Throughout our collaboration, I had to adapt the way I write and notate music, as well as my approach to improvisation, to meet Masako in our shared musical language.

However, much of this process happened during our work on our first album, Mmmmh.