The PILLBERT Interview.

After being blown away by PILLBERT's incredible debut album (review here) I wanted to find out more about this singular young artist, and she kindly agreed to answer a few questions.

Congratulations on your amazing debut album, I've been playing it a lot, and I’d love to find out more about you, let’s start at the start. Tell me a bit about your roots, and early musical inspiration and education.

Thank you so much!!! I grew up on the country side in Germany and was always in the choir or played the recorder (obviously) and I started playing violin when I was quite young. I went to a montessori school and there I played in a lot of musicals and plays which then led to me wanting to become a musical theatre actress so I took acting, singing and dancing classes and I loved it so much but I strayed away from that idea over time. When I was starting to write music I was about 13 years old and mostly inspired by bedroom pop and especially Cavetown, Conan Grey in his youtube days and Dodie. I learned ukulele and Guitar because of them and then Imitated their setup. I was also a huge fan of Declan Mckenna and despressno. Basically, I got a lot of my music from youtube. I then had a period where I was into Jazz and would go on these jazz-camps trips and learn the Saxophone for a while. Still I never really had a proper education in music in terms of theory, I mostly played by ear even when I was learning violin and I’m not properly trained in either piano nor guitar.

In my excitement at the album I actually overlooked your previous singles and EP which were released about five years ago. It seems like you've been on an alternative music path from day one. Were you ever a Harry Styles or Taylor Swift fan like the rest of the girls at school, or weird from

day one?

I have a kind of complicated relationship with taylor swift actually. When I was starting to study pop-music and also in the wake of her re-recording her albums I thought I kinda had to study her too in a way but that was when I was already nineteen. I then listened to her new albums and watched loads of Video essays on her lore and analysis of her lyrics and everything. I was also really fascinated with the Eras tour but eventually I was really put off of listening to her seeing how she prioritizes monetary gain over solidarity with smaller artists, pushing charting with unnecessary new versions of vinyls and overconsumption. In this political climate it is also reckless to stay silent on issues of social justice and painting oneself as a victim while being one of the most powerful, influental and rich people in Music. Not to mention her carbon footprint. So then I stopped listening to her again, even though I like some of her songs, especially from her album ‘Evermore’. As a family we listened to a lot of Seeed, Peter Fox and also German rap when I was growing up. But I mostly loved Musicals and I was obsessed with Lindsey Stirling when I was younger and tried to imitate her as I was learning violin. I thought the dubstep/Violin combination was the best thing ever. She was also my first concert. I listened to a lot of pop or alternative pop and rock like twenty one pilots, Melanie Martinez and Cage the Elephant. Early Youtube Bedroom Pop was really the thing that made me want to write my own music and they all had an outsider feeling to them. I definitely thought I was a weird one because I felt that when I would reject the popular music I could enjoy what I was listening to in a more private way and it would belong to me more, still I wasn't as far from the mainstream as I thought.

It appears you're a multi-instrumental, composer and producer. Tell me more about your musical ability, approach to making music and your studio set up.

My set up is very minimal. I have a Midi-Keyboard, Sennheiser HD 26 Headphones and I mostly use this very weird Microphone which looks a little bit like an egg. A man at the carboot sale that's always on saturday at princess may road gave it to me for free because he said he doesn't know what it is. It makes these little crackles sometimes which are sometimes really aggravating but I really like the microphone so sometimes I leave them in and I think it gives all of the songs some kind of common denominator. I also have my Guitar which I have had since middle school, my violin and a harmonica. Most of the other sounds are made by random objects or recordings I collected. I need to extend my weird instrument collection. It's really good to go look for them in carboots and charity shops and they are always really fun to play around with. I still like to keep my setup small even though I will probably need some speakers eventually, but it's easier at this point in my life because I plan to move around a lot. I think the best way to start a song is from one specific sound or texture. I also really like photos or videos as a starting point. For me it's mostly about collecting. Objects or words or pictures or anything really.

I think I’m in a funny spot about my musical abilities because I know in some ways very little. I have had a basic education, I can read chords but the only thing I learned properly was singing. That can be really frustrating at times because it makes me feel like I’m not a real musician and it's harder to realise certain ideas. But I also like the atmosphere that is created when things aren't played in the ‘right’ way and I can also become better at my instruments so I try not to stress too much about it.

I noticed that there was a live show with Simon Popp - who I've reviewed and playlisted in the past, and you supported Joanne Robertson, whose recent album was another TSMM favourite. Are live shows a big part of the musical plan?

Yess!! Both of these Shows where such great fun and I would love to do more!! Simon Popp is such an incredible musician and I was really really excited for him to play with me, especially because I saw ‘Fazer’ the band he plays in when I was only fourteen. It was also incredible to support Joanne Robertson. She is such an interesting person and she gave me some really good advice about performing. I think especially figuring out stage design and costume and visuals and all of that is such an amazing elevation. Playing with other people is also so interesting and cool because they always elevate the music so much and it changes the whole experience. I would love to play more and with different people and instruments, especially horns and electronic elements.

So the album was inspired by your move to London from Germany. What prompted the move, how are you enjoying the city, are you staying and do you have any favourite spots you've discovered that you'd like to share?

I moved to London to study popular music at Goldsmiths. I graduated last year and so I recently moved back to Munich, though I don't think I will stay here for long, I just don't know where to go next. I love London but I don't think it's the right place for me and so I moved on quite quickly but it has a really special place in my heart. I loved this one cafe a lot! It's called ‘Moko Made’ and I think it's the best cafe in London. But honestly just riding the bike anywhere or going to the bank when the tide is low is great.

There are a lot of different sounds in the album, united by an experimental ambient vibe. Do you have any major musical influences and/or recordings that inspired you or the album?

When I first listened to Phoebe Bridgers Album Punisher in 2021 that really influenced my music making in general. I used to take really long walks through London to get some kind of orientation of the city and just put on one album to listen to and that was one of them. It really inspired the album. Someone that I am also in awe of is Adrienne Lenker. I think she is one of the best songwriters that I ever listened to. The things she is able to express just leave me speechless because she is able to put things into words and music that are so ungraspable or so fleeting. ‘goodnight dad I love you’ by wishing was also really important to me. When I first heard that song it touched me really deeply and I felt like it was exactly right, a perfect song. I feel like when it comes to ambience I don't really listen to a lot of different artists but it feels more like I want to scratch an itch and find a specific texture that feels right.

In the end what I am most influenced and inspired by are books, movies, my relationships and my sister. She is a really big role model for me in how she approaches life and creativity and just being around her makes me have more ideas.

You’ve got a great sound, a suitably quirky website and an Instagram account, and my feeling is that Squama were a good choice of label for your debut - you seem pretty organised. What’s the plan, are you going to continue working with labels? Are you au-fait with the business and marketing side of the music industry?

I also think Squama is an amazing fit! Also because they are just great people so I would really like to release my new projects with them as well! I think I am pretty organised, I don't know if I know that much about the business side of the music industry though, but I know a little bit.

There’s a lot of noise about streaming remuneration these days, any thoughts as an artist on the issue? Is it even possible to make a career from music these days, and if so how are you going to do it?

I think how artists are remunerated through streaming is obviously bad. It's not just that, now as a small artist you also have to take into account that when your music is available on Spotify they can train AI with it and use it to create even more of their weird AI artists. At the same time, especially if you are small, you feel like you don't have the choice to take your music off of Spotify because you have a small audience and restricting access to your music is counterintuitive to trying to be able to live in any way off of being a musician. Still, streaming is such a big part in how everyone consumes music and I don't blame anyone using it - I stream most of the music I listen to. I might feel a bit better about myself because I use Tidal instead of Spotify but in the end it's not that different really. Streaming devalued music in a way that can't really be solved through changing the streaming service. At the same time it is also really good for finding new musicians and artists so I find it difficult to say one thing or the other really. Still, they should pay their artists more.

From what I have experienced you have to become flexible on how you manage your income when you want to become a musician. I also make music and sound design for fashion adverts, editorials, short movies and am now trying to get more work in theatres and exhibitions. I also have to say that I'm still being supported by my parents. I also worked small jobs as AC’s or in editing and recording videos, or in a cafe. I think you can have a career as a musician, and it's definitely something I am striving for, but it's not easy and you really have to have an eye out for any kind of opportunity on how you can get your projects funded and that is a lot of work in itself. I also don't want to complain as I have always been in a really privileged position and have always gotten help from really talented and amazing people and I love being a freelancer.

Do you have any physical release ambitions, or has that ship sailed for the younger generations?

I love physical media and I think a lot of my peers feel the same way. it feels as though there is a fatigue when it comes to the digital sphere but maybe thats just a specific bubble of people. I hope not. its not just a lot better for the artists, I think, especially discovering music through physical media makes you treat music different.

I am also releasing my album on vinyl and I think in the future I would like to think of more things that I could do to give the releases a physicality. I actually planned on releasing ‘Memoria’ with a zine but maybe thats more a thing for next time. There is so much fun stuff you can do and thats definitely something that I would like to explore more. I don't think the ship has sailed at all!

How are you consuming music these days?

I cancelled my Spotify a while ago and moved to Tidal and Bandcamp. I'm sure there are even better platforms but for now that is how I get my music. What changed my way of listening to music in the last years was also to listen to more albums rather than just singular songs.

I’m always on the lookout for exciting new artists across all sorts of genres. Do you have any tips for me?

When it comes to recommendations I honestly love the music my friends make. Plainhead is amazing, Shā Mò (沙漠) and Hallway as well. They are all part of ‘new basement’ which is such an incredible DIY label here in Munich and they are such a pillar of the music community here. Seren Forever and Lora are also amazing musicians I studied with which are very worth checking out!

If you like PILLBERT you might like TSMM's Ambient Pop Playlist: