2024-04-01 05:34:04
44 years ago the Einstreichen Neuhäusern were founded in Berlin. During this time, the band around singer Blixa Cash not only built up their very own sound universe, but also constantly looked for new distribution channels and co-invented crowdfunding. A new album based on live improvisations will be released on Friday, “Rampen (apm: alien pop music)”. Previously, Cash spoke to the APA regarding broken bones, speaking tools and the roar of helicopters.
APA: You’ve performed “Rampen” live before and then turned it into finished songs in the studio. This time, however, an entire album was filled with it. Are these improvisations a kind of search for something new for you?
Blixa Cash: It’s not so much a search for something new. What homogenizes the album is that they are all ramps from the 2022 tour and were all played on the same instruments, which we then brought into the studio. What always takes up a lot of time with new buildings is the research that we initially carry out. So what do we play with: What works, what doesn’t work, what new materials and instruments can we make or build? That’s all gone.
APA: You always say that you have to find a language and a solution to the problem of music. How was it this time?
Cash: I was not spared this aspect. We played supported ramps on tour though. I didn’t want to jump into the deep end every night and rely on divine inspiration to be with me. That’s why there were the smallest minimum agreements, for example in the sense of who would start. I loaded small fragments into my teleprompter that I wrote at some point but didn’t follow up on. These form the basis for the skeletal texts, which I then add flesh and bodies to. This part of the research still exists and I have to find a solution for it.
APA: Did this make dealing with the topics different for you?
Cash: Yes, that was definitely the case. But I mightn’t pinpoint exactly why. I conjured up a foundation that I had to deal with. Otherwise I’m usually left with nothing because first the music is created and then it’s like: Hey hey, that’s your problem now. But this time there was something there. I also left everything in, the various layers and approaches are still intact. It’s also regarding the need to leave the language altogether. In “Gesundbrunnen” it says: “My speaking tools no longer want me.” And before that, several words appeared that actually don’t exist in German or didn’t exist until now. This is a moment where I already leave the language.
APA: A different, alien world is opened up, which is already suggested in the subtitle “alien pop music”…
Cash: I thought it was time to invent a new genre term once more. Abbreviations with three letters are very popular. Back then, “Geniale Dilletanten” was a necessary invention to describe something that journalism had no name for. The new genre concept is the idea of pop music that does not border on populism, but rather pop music for those who are different. I am different, I am strange, I am queer, I am alien – but it is pop music. And then the writing on the cover, a strange fracture with Art Nouveau protrusions. That’s the way it has to be! Overall, we are quoting the Beatles’ “White Album”, only in completely yellow. It’s a conscious game with quotes. In a parallel universe we are the Beatles. (laughs)
APA: In the opener you sing “Everything already written, everything already said”. Is it a creative driving force to counteract this?
Cash: Sure. I never meant it seriously, so to speak. (laughs) But it describes what will happen to me in the next few months: My chest will be swept out. The rummaging around in my mental state and my subconscious is as present as usual. When we started recording the record, I had broken my leg and was in a wheelchair. I might no longer sleep and was hospitalized. At some point I gave myself the freedom and recorded this album with the new buildings. Somehow I was still able to operate in this bubble, in this womb. With people I’ve known for decades, in places I know. I was somehow safe and protected – despite being in a wheelchair. But in this state of total insomnia, the perforation between consciousness and subconsciousness is of course much more pronounced than it normally is.
This is also evident in pieces like “Everything Will Be Fine”: There are six takes, and in each one I say something different. I finally fleshed it out and finished it on October 7th following the “Tagesschau”: Hamas attack and then of course the overall situation, AfD, shift to the right in Europe and the world, will Trump be president once more? Then the discussion arises between the couple: Where should we go now? This is reflected in this: “Everything will be fine, whoever believes it will be happy.” At the same time cynical. All things are anchored somewhere and justified in my life and are not just linguistic constructions. The preoccupation with gender and identity, which occurs several times, is something that is present in my life and family situation. That’s what I’m dealing with and I have to think it through.
APA: How optimistic are you that humanity will learn something from all of these things?
Cash: People don’t exactly say that I’m optimistic. Let’s put it this way: I’m not giving up hope. Not yet, not yet. This piece, “Ick wees nich (nich nich)”, is an improvisation from Vienna, from the arena. Then I thought to myself: You’re insulted, I’ll give you Berlinerisch back.
APA: Your new album tour will begin in the fall with an open-air performance in the arena.
Cash: Yes! That was a very nice concert recently. There is a rescue center next to it (ÖAMTC base, note). Then the helicopters flew over and I thought: Wow, I might never have paid for a gig like that. Fit wonderfully, I thought it was good.
APA: What happens to you when you go on stage?
Cash: It is well known that I play barefoot. On stage I leave the normal space-time continuum and enter another area. There is a certain respect for the stage situation. I leave something outside. I’ve probably injured myself many times on stage, but I don’t notice it. When I fell off the stage in Rome, I finished the concert with a broken leg. First standing, then they kindly brought me a chair. And then the tour was over. (laughs)
APA: What role does transience play for you?
Cash: At some point I had to promise my wife that I wouldn’t discuss the topic once more. No more songs regarding death, thanks! But yes, transience, time, change, it’s all definitely there. There are also a few loose ends that I can continue to work with. For me, making music is not just a solution to a problem, but also an attempt to think through music. So an attempt to gain knowledge. I hope I can do this for a while.
(SERVICE – Tour kicks off on September 5th in the Vienna Arena; https://neubauten.org/de)
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