About three years ago, ALEXANDER GRUEHN and MORITZ WUNDERWALD started an electronic music project under the name LAIKKA. One album, one techno EP and one pandemic later, the duo will release their second album “Bleach” on June 2nd and review the past year. Among other things, LAIKKA talked to Katharina Reiffenstuhl about their influences, the many facets of their artistic work and club cultures.
Your second album will be out on June 2nd. What will be different?
Moritz Wunderwald: A lot has changed in terms of sound. “Morning Glow” was a bit more of a classic electropop album with indie influences. In the meantime we’ve picked up quite a few new influences and looked a little further afield and heard a little weirder stuff. In between we also had the techno EP, where we got into much heavier electronic stuff. With the new album we wanted to start a bit from scratch. Especially as far as the genre is concerned, that it doesn’t stand too much in the foreground. We wanted to free ourselves from that and find new ways. We played with other structures. All in all, the songwriting approach felt more radical.
Alexander Gruehn: I think a big difference is that it’s also significantly faster. With “Morning Glow” everything was relatively worn and now we’re moving quite fast. The first album was made in the middle of the pandemic and was also very much shaped by being at home, being alone, feeling locked in. The second album has now caught more of the vibe where it’s back out there for everyone and there’s a cool energetic vibe.
Why did you call it “Bleach”?
Alexander Gruehn: This is actually an onomatopoeic description of the whole thing. Apart from the fact that we experimented a lot with blonde hair color (laughs)it was like, for me, the smell of that bleach and that artificial pungent fit with the sound of that album.
Almost two years have passed since the first album. What have you been up to in that time?
Moritz Wunderwald: For me it was a change to a completely different social environment. Shortly after the album I started studying art. I was in completely new circles and thus had even more opportunities to redefine myself a bit. As it is when you move and nobody knows you yet. For me, the two years had a lot to do with breaking down boundaries and showing more of what’s really happening inside, without great barriers.
Alexander Gruehn: For us as a band, one of the most important things was that we played live, everything that went with the times. It’s still difficult, but we’ve had some really cool experiences. We were allowed ETNA on the Austria tour and have also played many great concerts that Hydra in Linz was definitely one of the highlights, playing in the church with our sound was really great.
“IT IS STILL RELATIVELY DIFFICULT ABOUT THE LIVE SECTOR BECAUSE EVERYTHING IS VERY OVER-SATURATED”
That’s a thing with you guys, you started your band at a pretty difficult time, right at the beginning of the pandemic. Have you struggled to get into that live play since it’s been off for such a long time?
Alexander Gruehn: We had our first little concert when we released our very first song – and then it was over. Accordingly, it took a while before we could really play live again. That was the first time again Waves. It’s still relatively difficult in the live sector because everything is very saturated. That was certainly a little different before the pandemic.
Moritz Wunderwald: What I can also say on the brighter side is that it forced us a bit to think about what we wanted to do live. That was a pretty positive effect from this start into the live business, because we first had a year to build on our live show and that’s how we realized how important it is for us not just to take care of the music , but that we have a polished light show and visuals and we think about the performance.
You said in a previous interview that LAIKKA for you is a total work of art made up of music, visuals, graphics, fashion and videos. When you align that, which part is the base for you?
Alexander Gruehn: That’s an exciting question. The music was of course the first element we dealt with. But now it’s not that easy and you can’t say it so clearly, because it’s mainly about what you want to express. That’s in there everywhere. We also do outside of LAIKKA different artistic things that maybe don’t belong in this band context, but play into it automatically.
Most of these things probably require a concept and clear planning. How much time do you invest on average in a track including video?
Moritz Wunderwald: It starts with writing a song. It doesn’t have to be such an active process where you think about it: “Now what are we putting in this music video?”. You then do other projects where you realize “Ah, that element and that element goes with this song that we wrote back then”. Things collect in your head and at some point you reach the point where it’s mature enough to produce it. We don’t do everything alone either, we are always in contact with artists who either take over complete videos from us or work with us.
Alexander Gruehn: The whole thing is definitely complex, but sometimes it’s the case that these are conceptually planned things and on the other hand there are also things that come about in one night.
“THE RAW ENERGY AND MUSICAL INFLUENCES FROM EARLIER ROCK DAYS ARE ALSO AUDIBLE”
Your sound is versatile. Where do you get inspiration from?
Moritz Wunderwald: It’s quite a wild mix, I think. For me, huge inspirations right now are acts like EARTHEATER, SHY GIRL. But I don’t think you can relate that directly to the music, but that it’s more like artists who move between the pop and art worlds, who do independent, weird things, but always with a connection to pop culture. The raw energy and musical influences from earlier rock-heavy days are certainly audible as well.
What rock-heavy days?
Alexander Gruehn: We were both socialized into music in our first bands in the emo punk hardcore genre. That definitely comes across in the energy, especially live. Also because we are a DEFTONES– Have cover art on the album. That was the first point of contact with music for both of us. But apart from that, electronic music is a very big point. As we mentioned before, this phase of coming out of the pandemic is extremely present and techno played a big role in both of us. The escapism and this letting go, which techno has in itself, is an important influence.
Did you develop together in this electronic, digital direction?
Alexander Gruehn: So that really only developed within our common music. What we both had before that is this cross-genre thing. We think it’s great when acts manage to mix a lot of different music together, or release albums that sound completely different in terms of musical style, but still always sound like this one artist.
Moritz Wunderwald: There are also certain connections to Hyperpop. It’s not exactly pop at first glance, because it’s wilder, more distorted and heavier. It still claims to be catchy and beautiful.
A few weeks ago you released the song “Leeches” as a feature. Why did you want exactly ANTHEA on the track?
Alexander Gruehn: We have ANTHEA both very much celebrated. With the song, it just made sense. It’s a contrast, on the one hand the mood harmonises very well, but at the same time a lot is different in terms of rhythm and expression. We just asked and ANTHEA was right there.
Do you have a personal favorite on the album?
Moritz Wunderwald: I have two. “Cracking Knuckles” and “Flames”.
Alexander Gruehn: When it comes to playing live, “Flames” is also very far ahead. Otherwise I like “Hunger” very much, that was the first song that came about and started it all. I associate it with a feeling of that time.
“VIENNA IS MUCH MORE EXCITING THAN BERLIN, FOR EXAMPLE, THERE’S MORE DYNAMIC AND COLOR”
How do you feel about the electronics scene in Austria? Do you think that you move in a niche with your music?
Moritz Wunderwald: I think Vienna is incredibly lively artistically at the moment. Even if not everything that happens is on the radar yet. But especially in this field between experimental and pop we have with artists like before ANTHEA, KENJI ARAKI or TONY RENAISSANCE probably a lot of potential. I’m very excited to see what’s going to happen in the near future, even if the names get a little bigger. I think the scene in Vienna is much more exciting than Berlin, for example, there is more dynamism and more colour.
Alexander Gruehn: Vienna is fresher. Maybe also because Berlin is a bit of a cliché.
Moritz Wunderwald: I think you notice it in the club culture. In terms of feeling, Berlin is a bit more stuck, almost a bit commercialized. You know exactly what you’re getting. The thing here is that there are a lot of parties where people from all different genres perform or where people express themselves more through clothing. You have much less sense of a dress code, everyone does what they feel like doing.
The release concert for the new album promises a “multi-sensory 3D concert experience”. How much are you willing to reveal?
Alexander Gruehn: It will be a 360-degree audio concert. That means boxes are set up around the audience, a total of 38 speakers, I think. We do this format with Livelayers, for them it’s also a kind of pilot project. We’re working pretty hard on that right now. In any case, I can only recommend that you take a look, it will be really awesome.
“EUPHORIA AND APOCALYPSE”
And what happens after the concert?
Moritz Wunderwald: There’s music for afterwards. (laughs)
So always one step ahead.
Moritz Wunderwald: We’re going to release a few individual songs after the album, right after they’re made. That feeling as an artist when you’ve just finished the song, that’s something very special.
Alexander Gruehn: On the one hand, you have such a momentum. That’s a vibe you have when you’re writing the song, and then bringing it out within that time is exciting. Because you have a completely different relationship to it yourself. When you achieve such immediacy, it’s something completely different than when you have to put yourself in the shoes of that feeling again a year and a half later. It’s livelier and more direct.
Then why did you decide to wait until you collected a whole album?
Moritz Wunderwald: It’s just awesome to have it. (laughs) Also precisely from the thought that it is a collection of life experiences. It’s exactly one year on “Bleach” and each song reflects a moment in that year. It’s really nice to have collected that. For me, this album can be summed up in two words, and that would be “euphoria” and “apocalypse”. This contrast sums up the whole feeling of the past year 2022 well.
Thank you for the interview!
Katharina Reiffenstuhl
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Live:
Release concert, June 8th, 2023, WEST Space
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Links:
Laikka
Laika (Facebook)