Written by: Jen Dan
Stereo Embers had the pleasure of touching base with spellbinding German multi-platform artist Rosa Anschütz. She just released her personal and potent EP titled Rigid on May 24th via Quiet Love and it’s filled with heavy daydreaming atmospheres and her signature brooding vocals.
The miasmic synths and electronic sounds weave a mesmerizing and enveloping web, while Anschütz’s ruminative, suspended vocals slowly float along. Stylistically, one could call her music synthwave, perhaps, because of the synthesizer immersion and dissipation.
Anschütz’s vocals and lyrics are questioning and verge on the disquieting. She explains, “Feeling anxiety and numbness are both important to me, and I face them often in my daily life. It’s my duty to explore them and find their origin so that I can choose to overcome them or keep them, depending on the situation. I think that this is a way of learning something about myself.”
Stereo Embers Magazine: Hello Rosa! It’s so nice to connect with you and chat about your music. From what I understand, you are a Berliner. Is that correct?
Rosa Anschütz: Hello, yes!
SEM: Would you agree, then, that your sound and emotions are very much a product of this specific city?
Rosa: I moved to Vienna from Berlin and I think that both of these cities affected the production of the music. In general, the city aspect is important to me. The EP doesn’t refer to nature or natural landscapes.
SEM: Outside of producing music, you are also a multi-media artist. How does your work with other media influence your music?
Rosa: It offers me multiple perspectives on reflecting on my musical work. Working with visuals in different forms is also something that I do from scratch and from my imagination. It’s the same with music. Somehow the combination creates a nice symbiosis between music and visuals and in the end it all becomes one.
SEM: Will you be mixing your music with your visual art in the future, beyond just creating visualizer videos for it?
Rosa: The first thing I did as far as visuals are concerned was to make a video in collaboration with Raphael Haider. There will be more videos coming soon. I made a sketch of a VR landscape with wasps in it, and you can listen to my music there. I’m definitely going in this direction. Another project I worked on was turning objects into interfaces that trigger sounds when you interact with them. The possibilities with sound can be endless if you have a concept.
SEM: What are some untapped possibilities of virtual reality in regards to music?
Rosa: VR can create the environment that you were thinking of when you were writing your music. It’s like another headspace to get lost in.
SEM: Are there any other media technologies that you would like to see music interact with more?
Rosa: This is something I would have to think about. However, I am also happy having my mind on reality and thinking about the projects that I am already working on.
SEM: What are you currently working on?
Rosa: Right now, I am writing new tracks.
SEM: And lastly, what on the horizon?
Rosa: There are a few things planned for this year already. Another release will be announced soon and also a new video should follow. I am constantly working on new things.This summer I’m planning to go to the countryside, where I grew up. It is a huge space with a lot of different working spaces. I’m going to try new and old materials; maybe work on something with sound. We’ll see!
Find out more about Rosa Anschütz:
