“There’s enough random shit out there.”
The singer Clueso is 35 years old and has been making music for 20 years. He produced his latest album “Stadtrandlichter” under his own label and it went straight to number 1 in the album charts. Clueso was born in Erfurt and currently lives there in a shared apartment with 7 artists, where things are sometimes quiet and sometimes chaotic.
What is good music for you?
Two things are particularly important to me: talent and passion. A song has to have a basic energy. There is also honesty and a congruence with the artist's character. There are music that I don't think is that great at first, but then I get to know the person behind it, the whole work of art and if that fits, then I get into the music too. But first I can accept everything, as long as it's honest and not so bland, not arbitrary. There's enough random shit out there.
What is random shit to you?
Little taste, lots of pandering and concept. Anything that submits a little to please the listener. When you realize that someone hasn't wrung their heart out or experienced something bad, but that they're just trying to win people over with a lyric or a melody.
What do you mainly deal with in your songs?
Many of my songs are an ode to the now: to enjoy life and appreciate the moment. My music is about waking up, but also about dreaming, fantasy. I believe in the power of thoughts, that if you put a goal in the sky, you will get close to it. But the songs are also a lot about relationships, about interpersonal relationships.
Would you like to change the world or at least make it a little better?
I used to think that you could change a lot with music, but I don't believe that anymore. I believe that people hear themselves first and then me. And they decide what to change. But with music you can perhaps achieve that something is placed on the right side of the scales of yin and yang. And when it ends at some point, you were a small part of it.
What do you do when you're not making or listening to music?
I really have a bird when it comes to this: When I get off stage, I like to play music to relax. This is sometimes not so easy to understand for people around me. I don't do much else besides music. I still watch series: Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Peaky Blinders, The Knick, True Detective. And I like to travel.
You recently described yourself as a “little hippie” because you live in a commune-like 7-person shared apartment. How can you imagine that?
We all have a similar cycle, we are doers and there are times when fun and life comes in and then there are lots of people and absolute chaos. And there are times when everyone is sitting in their room building some kind of Fight Club-style bomb. Then there must be absolute peace.
Do you have to be alone sometimes?
Not so often. A little more often when the pressure increases and I'm on the go a lot. Or when I sit down at the piano and don't want anyone to walk in. I have my two or three rooms and a kind of cat door, I can walk in and out on one side without anyone noticing. And when the door is closed, then it is closed. But she's not there often, I think it's cool being around people.
Is there anything you're bourgeois about?
I absolutely don't like it when you're in the mood for breakfast bread with sausage and there's jam on the butter. And I can't stand tobacco lying around on the table. That leftover addiction that's near my breakfast - I fucking hate it. But that's all. Otherwise, I'm just narrow-minded when it comes to realizing ideas.
What does that mean?
I then have a pulse and a kind of vision and it takes a lot of work to do justice to that idea. I'm stuck along the way because it comes down to a big question: When does emotion work?
You have your own label and your last album went to number 1. What other artistic goals do you have?
Now I'll stop and get out... No, I think it's important to age "gracefully". And I still have many ideas. Next I would like to scale down. I'm no longer in the mood for big things, but rather spontaneous concerts, small halls, being close to the people and being close to my guitar. Otherwise I can't look that far into the future; half-year dreams are enough for me.
You said it doesn't have to be Erfurt forever. What is the alternative?
I can make music anywhere. From one day to the next I could go somewhere else. But that is not the case at the moment.
Clueso live: Missed the concert? Here you can find a complete version of the current festival tour.
The singer Clueso is 35 years old and has been making music for 20 years. He produced his latest album “Stadtrandlichter” under his own label and it went straight to number 1 in the album charts. Clueso was born in Erfurt and currently lives there in a shared apartment with 7 artists, where things are sometimes quiet and sometimes chaotic.
