Name: Stella Sommer
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Nationality: German
Current release: The new Die Heiterkeit album Schwarze Magie ("Black Magic") is out via Buback
Current event: To support Schwarze Magie, Die Heiterkeit will perform a string of concerts in Germany. Catch the band live here:

29.06.2025 Lärz, Fusion Festival
29.08.2025 Berlin, Pop-Kultur Festival
10.09.2025 Jena, Trafo
21.09.2025 Frankfurt, Brotfabrik

Recommendation for Berlin, Germany: Sotto in Wedding.
Topic that I am passionate about: I'm super interested in all things Elvis. I woudn't exactly call this a topic no one else is interested in but it's not exactly the no.1 topic in German indiemusic - and I don't understand why that is, as his singing transcends everything.

If you enjoyed this Die Heiterkeit interview and would like to know more about the group and their music, visit their official homepage. They are also on Instagram, and Facebook.

For a deeper dive, read our earlier Stella Sommer interview.



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 started writing when I was 12 or 13 years old. And it was most definitely influenced by my earliest musical experiences.

I first became a superfan of the Beatles when I was really young, like 8 or 9 years old maybe. And then I discovered Bob Dylan and he made me want to become a songwriter.

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?

There's just a certain magic to writing. I don't know what it is, it's like you're channelling something from your subconsciousness. You never know what the outcome will be and sometimes you find stuff in the most unlikely places.

Sometimes you sit down to write something and the writing happens in a certain speed or rhythm and its like its being magically written and you don't have a clue where it comes from. Other times you have to work really hard to get to a place that you feel satisfied with. It's like this ongoing thing that you can't really control.

Sometimes it's a battlefield and sometimes it's like going for a walk, picking flowers along the way.

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?

Bob Dylan has always been the most inspiring to me when it comes to writing lyrics. He's like the north star for every good lyricist.

I think he broke down so many barriers with his writing and just went to places no one really went to before. Or maybe they did but they only got 1 or 2 songs from those places - but Bob Dylan just went further and further into this strange songwriting abyss.

Have there been song lyrics which actually made you change (aspects of) your life? If so, what do you think, leant them that power?

Well I think Bob Dylan made me want to change my life and become a songwriter so I guess that kind of counts for something.

It happened early for me, when I was a teenager.

It is sometimes said that “music begins where words end.” What do you make of that?

Yeah I guess there's some truth to it. Sometimes words just don't do emotions justice as some things don't translate well into language.

It's not just music though, I guess any kind of art can begin where words end.

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?

Well for me, ideally, both go hand in hand. It just helps when you're writing lyrics to have a certain melody for them. And when you're done writing them, you can actually sing them in the song format.

For me that is much more satisfying than just writing a poem.

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

Loneliness.

On the basis of a piece off Schwarze Magie, tell me about how the lyrics grew into their final form and what points of consideration were. 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?

Sometimes I start with the song title, sometimes the first thing I have is the chorus. Sometimes it's the verse. It depends.

If I could choose my favourite starting point for a song, it would be to have the song title or chorus first and then go from there.

Sometimes it's also good to have a good verse as a starting point that has a clear structure to it, as it makes it easier to write the actual song.

I'd love to know how you think the meaning or effect of an individual song is enhanced, clarified or possibly contradicted by the EPs, or albums it is part of. Does the song, for example, need to be consistent with the larger whole?

For me, personally it always helps when writing songs to think of them as being consistent with the larger whole.

I, for example, love knowing what the first song and the last song of the album will be and then already thinking about the track order when writing the album - it makes you write songs that you maybe wouldn't come up with if you'd just write 10 tracks that have no connection to each other.

And you sort of have all these tasks like "ok but what would the song no.7 sound like on this album?"

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 elses songs versus your own?

You just sort of have to own whatever you sing. And make the words your own.

I was never really interested in doing cover versions. I do sometimes like to sing songs from other artists at home but I guess I'm more interested in actually writing and recording my own songs than recording songs that have been written by someone else.

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?”

Well, the thing with songs is, I don't know if they're ever really about one thing or another. It's hard to get a grip on them. And you don't want to hold them too tightly, otherwise they'll just vanish into thin air.

I think of every song as something that contains the whole universe, and by saying "this song is about one thing only" you sort of trivialise something that shouldn't be trivialised.

A song is whatever you want it to be, whenever you want it to be just that. They can change their meaning over time as well.

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?

I don't know, for me writing songs is just something I do. I don't know what I would do, if I hadn't discovered songwriting. It sort of defines who I am or rather what I believe in.

Making a coffee is something different. I might do that as well. But it doesn't define who I am or what I believe in.