Following the release of one of the most creatively unique and original EP’s of recent years, we caught up with Germany’s Gazers, to find out more about their musical journey so far, how the music was born, and what the future may hopefully hold. Here’s the conversation in full.
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Hey – thanks so much for the interview, really enjoying your music! For those new to your work, where are you based, when did Gazers first begin, and how would you describe your style?
I’m really glad to hear that. I’m based out of Saxon Vogtland, Germany, in a really calm and rural area near the Czech border, with a long history of music and instrument building.
Gazers started out in 2019 when a friend and I started making music together. I was learning guitar at that time, with the aspiration of doing some singer-songwritery stuff.
I love how creatively vast your repertoire is, almost impossible to pigeonhole amidst a single genre. What’s your creative process – do you start with a single instrument, a lyric or idea, production, or something else?
I don’t really have a proper process, but I think that helps coming up with new sounds. Each time I try to tackle making a song from a new angle. Sometimes it’s a guitar part I improvised, a beat I came up with in my head, or a lyric that’s left over from my scrapbook.
Tell me about the EP As One – which track came first, and what does the overall project represent?
Sands of Cellaset was the first one. The initial idea to that song was the 12-string guitar part you can hear in the intro, I used that to develop the rest of the song.
As One has a double meaning. The first is my friend’s departure from the project, making Gazers a one-man project. The second is a bit more intricate. It’s about a fantasy story, where a couple of lovers are trying to find each other in a chaotic world, but certain adventures and circumstances always keep them apart, and they can never be truly As One. They only ever meet briefly, and in their next (reincarnated) lives the same thing happens again. The cover art somewhat reflects that with the stalagmite / stalactite formation, which inches together slowly as the millennia go by.
Dyrtbag is brilliant, nostalgic alt-rock with a twist of experimentation. Who is our protagonist lyrically, and what inspired the writing of this?
The protagonist is me in that one. I’ve been going through a rough patch last year, and felt somewhat disappointed in myself. It’s been busy with work, and back home I felt too exhausted to get up to much of anything.
It’s about tackling some bad behaviours of mine that I tend to fall back to, which I’m working on fixing, so sometimes I feel like a real Dyrtbag, you could say.
Lyrically there’s a captivating balance of poetic imagery and personal revelation. What influenced you to pour so much authenticity into the writing, any particular musicians or other forms of art / literature / media?
I wouldn’t feel good if my lyrics didn’t convey my true feelings in some way. There’s certain lyrics where that happened in the past, and it’s not enjoyable to look back at.
“Lyrically some big influences of mine are Smashing Pumpkins, David Bowie, Bjork, Peter Gabriel, Talk Talk and Prefab Sprout.”
For Dieter Geiffler Blues we switch to chaotic live jazz vibes and the hum of electricity and amps – another really clever artistic underlining of mood and intention. How do you know when a track like this is finished and ready to be shared?
Usually when I feel that I can’t add anything more of value to it. I think it’s important to not overcrowd a song with too many elements.
Do you perform live much, and what’s the live scene like in your part of Germany right now?
I sadly don’t perform live. I’ve been planning to, but that requires either assembling a band, or reducing my songs down to simpler arrangements. But I would honestly be thrilled to be able to get up on stage one day.
In my local area there’s not much going on except for cover bands and the likes. If you want to see something interesting you really have to look hard, and it’s not every day. But I feel as if that’s starting to change lately, with a lot more interesting acts visiting the area.
Ticha is beautifully immersive – what’s the meaning behind this one, and does it make you feel a certain way when you listen back now, as opposed to when you first composed it?
Ticha is one of the characters from that fantasy story I talked about earlier. She’s one of the two lovers, the other being Shuude. Initially the song didn’t have a title, but the more I worked on it, the more it reminded me of the personality I wrote for her. It’s really adventurous, mysterious, cool, but also gentle and sweet.
Having made the song, I don’t think I can ever truly put myself in the shoes of an outside listener. When I hear it, I’ve got the whole DAW project open in my mind so to speak.
You’ve been working on a trilogy of EPs, The Fat Earth being a key part of that. What are the main differences between the three chapters, and why did you separate them in this way, rather than compile a longer album?
That trilogy came out when Gazers was still a duo, and at the time we were planning to make a new album. However most of the songs didn’t fit together.
In my opinion a good album should be a full experience from front to back, not just random songs in a queue – because then you might as well release them all as singles. So we figured out the middle road of multiple EPs with more consistent themes.
The main differences between the EPs are the mood. Solstice is very mysterious and moody, even a little aggressive. Haze.Net is a lot more optimistic and upbeat, and The Fat Earth feels somewhat more… down to earth and self-critical.
How important are visuals and social presence to you as creatives in the modern realm?
Very. I’ve honestly never been the most social person, but I’ve been trying to improve that. Anxiety’s a big reason, being judged and all. Perhaps it also plays into why Gazers hasn’t seen a stage yet.
“I’m trying to be more active on social media but I find it very hard. You just feel so wasted among the sea of content creators.”
Recently a good friend of mine got me some really nice business cards for Gazers to hand out. Preferably to band members at local concerts I manage to talk to.
What’s something about you that might surprise your listeners?
As a guitarist and bassist I’m entirely self taught. For what it’s worth. I still think I’m not that great at it, but it’s fun.
If you could collaborate with anyone at all, past or present, who would you choose, and why?
Probably some of my past and present friends that used to make music and quit. Same goes for Hangman, my former band mate. Another person I can think of is Benjamin, who made a music video for Gazers once.
“Collaborating is hard, I prefer to work with people who are more or less on a similar wavelength.”
Right now I’m in a small crowd of internet-based creatives, one of them is working on a video game, and I’m providing some soundtrack pieces for him. Soundtracks are also a corner I dabble in frequently.
What’s your greatest ambition right now?
Staying true to myself, so that I can keep enjoying what I do, and grow as a musician. Especially with such a relatively small followership, I’m thankful for every listen, comment and other form of appreciation of what I do.
Is there anything else we should know?
My next release will come out at some point later this year. I haven’t really started working on anything yet, but once things get rolling, it’ll be out faster than I know it. The ideas are partially there, and I’m very excited, with how As One has been received so far.
I also really enjoyed these questions, they really made me jog my mind about what I’ve been up to the last couple of years, putting things into perspective.
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