Cold in Berlin will appear in Poland at the Castle Party festival and at several concerts in selected cities. This goes hand in hand with their latest premiere. After the singles Dream One and Spotllight, their EP debuted entitled The Body is the Wound. Despite the busy times ahead, the team found a moment to answer my questions.
Krystian Błazikowski (KB): What inspired the creation of the EP The Body is the Wound, and how does it fit into the broader Wounds project planned by Cold in Berlin?
Adam (Guitar): After releasing 4 albums in ten years, we wanted to do something different. An EP provides the opportunity for experimentation, with less pressure than an album. We also wanted to experiment with release formats and schedules, in an attempt to mess with music streaming. Streaming doesn’t work for 90% of artists – something has to change for independent music to survive.
Lawrence (Bass): It’s a bridge between the last album and the next. You rarely get to hear bands mid-reinvention so we thought it made for an interesting document.
Maya (vocals): I had an idea, a theme and a few poems and I wanted to see what they would become but I knew ‘Wounds’ was bigger than one EP, or one album. I am excited to see what it will become.
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KB: Can you describe the evolution of Cold in Berlin ‘s sound, particularly in relation to the diverse genres, such as kraut rock, post-punk, and doom, explored in the EP?
Adam: We are just fans of a wide range of music. During the pandemic we had some very long rehearsals where we realised we were writing songs you could describe as krautrock. Then we found if you play the same stuff in half time things start to sound like our favourite doom bands.
Lawrence: The band started in the post-punk space a long time ago and has evolved from there. We had a fleeting doom obsession but a lot of it is bland and sounds the same. Hopefully we’ve breathed new life into a few old genres.
Maya: We all love music and are interested in a wide range of types of music. For me, I am fascinated by feeling in music rather than one particular genre. I think our music has a flavour from lots of different genres rather than being one particular thing.
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KB: How does the thematic content of The Body is the Wound, addressing topics like sex, violence, murder, suicide, and unfulfilled dreams, contribute to a cohesive narrative that allows for individual interpretation?
Maya: I hope our listeners are able to interact with our songs in their own way. I am interested in creating strong images and ideas rather than complete pictures. I do write from a female perspective, and I try to allow the complexity of that to come through. The female, the feminine, the strength and pain and of course the experience of the male gaze- these are all themes that wind through all our songs. ‘The Body is the Wound’ is a series of stories about the ways in which the darkness and light connected with the theme dance together in all the beautiful and devastating tiny ways, the listener is connected through their own experiences and can make the story their own.
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KB: In what ways has the band’s approach to songwriting and musical composition changed since their last album, Rituals of Surrender (2019)?
Lawrence: I think there’s a sense that we’ve done four albums now, so if we are going to do more then we might as well experiment and do something different. Do people really need five Cold in Berlin albums? If they do it’s because we are a very different band from record to record. That’s what we’re trying to do in our approach.
KB: Maya mentions drawing inspiration from psychology and Buddhism in the EP’s lyrics. Could you elaborate on how these themes are explored and their significance to the overall message of the EP?
Maya: Lots of religions, therapeutic approaches and ‘ways of seeing the world’ understand that the human experience involves loss and trauma but this is not the ‘end point’ and nor should it lead to hopelessness. Rather, these experiences can lead to growth, resilience and a deeper understanding of the self and the world. On a recent trip to the West Coast, Adam and I drove around listening to hours and hours of random Buddist audio books. I was struck by the deep understanding of this, a sort of resignation and hope in what could come next and how this thread runs through different psychological approaches also. Ultimately, the wounds we carry form us and become us and wounds can come in many forms.
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KB: What was the experience like recording The Body is the Wound at Dalston’s Bear Bites Horse studio with producer Wayne Adams, known for his work with Green Lung?
Adam: Wayne has the perfect small studio. He uses every inch of the space to maximum effect and volume. His collection of gear leads to some fun experimentation as you try running a rare pedal through an amazing amp.
Lawrence: It was our second time working with Wayne. He works incredibly quickly, which suits bands like ours who can’t afford to pay for months of studio time. But it means he doesn’t take time to sugar coat it when things aren’t working. We leave the experience with our egos slightly knocked and a much improved band.
KB: Could you discuss the choice of singles to represent the EP, such as Dream One and Spotlight, and how they embody the essence of the entire collection?
Adam: We wanted to release Dream One first as a statement of intent. It has the strange unwinding structure and pointed to how we would be using synths and samples going forward.
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KB: What influenced the decision to perform at the Castle Party festival in Poland and the selected cities for additional concerts?
Lawrence: We’ve had our eye on Castle Party for years. It seemed surreal that you could play a show inside the grounds of a castle. We try and visit a geographical spread of cities when we are in Poland, but haven’t made it to the north yet. Hopefully next year!
KB: How do you view the impact of Cold in Berlin ‘s live performances on their overall recognition and success, especially considering the unique setting of the British Library during the ‘Terror and Wonder’ exhibition?
Adam: We started as a “live band”. It was all we had. We were playing hundreds of shows a year in our early years. We would trash around and smash our cheap gear, anything to shake the apathy out of London audiences. In 2014 we played a show at Whitby Goth Festival and famous British Photographer Martin Parr was there documenting the festival. A photo featuring Maya was in the exhibition, which was an excellent curation of the Gothic genres across the arts.
Lawrence: We’ve always been a live band first, it’s what we do best.
Maya: The live experience is really important to me, we don’t just play the songs, we ‘perform’ and the audience is an important part of that- I want to connect with the room, the people and the space between. If you like the records, but haven’t seen us live yet you haven’t experienced the whole CIB.
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KB: Looking back at the band’s discography, from the debut album Give Me Walls to the latest EP, how do you perceive the continuous evolution of Cold in Berlin ‘s music and the critical acclaim received over the years?
Adam: I don’t understand how bands can write the same sounding albums one after another. I think some critics may recognise our name with each release over the years and be surprised by what they hear. Something new and different to what they may remember from the last.
Maya: People get quite caught up with the idea that every album needs to be the same or stay within a certain genre. I think all our recordings are distinctly CIB but somehow they are unique. The songs have grown with us over time.
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