INTERVIEW: Pop-EDM Artist PRISMETICAL Hailing from Germany

Raised in the countryside of Germany, Prismetical rapidly grew apart from his peers to develop his unique personality, look and brand. Amassing over 100.000 streams after his first year in music and gaining attraction from thousands of people, Prismetical has proven to be one of the most promising Pop and EDM musicians in 2020. He has released plenty of successful collaborations with artists such as Blue Man, Arlekēno, Indy Seven and Tobre. Furthermore Prismetical is working with other artists like Paul Michael and TWOFLAGS.

Prismetical’s solo works, including This Is Where We Are Now, Body on My Mind and the arguably biggest hit Lava, have shown off the one-of-a-kind sound of Prismetical in the best way possible. Ranging from Drum’n’Bass to Dubstep, EDM, House and Pop. With the upcoming single Angelway, Prismetical is looking forward to grow and reach further milestones in his career. The track has already proven to be Prismetical’s quickest growing song to date.

Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how you got started?

Prismetical: I originate from a little town called Unterwössen in the deep countryside of Germany and I’ve lived there until I was 21. I’ve been singing my whole life, literally, apparently I started singing before talking even. My breakthrough was in 7^th grade when I sang an Adele song in front of my school and it went incredibly well. After that I began taking lots of singing lessons.

Do you handle the songwriting, production and singing on your songs, or do you collaborate with others?

Prismetical: I don’t play any instruments but my voice, however I am very musical and can write songs with my voice only. When I started out, having written multiple songs, I started looking for producers to make instrumentals on top of my vocals with my creative direction. That’s how my songs “Body on My Mind”, “This Is Where We Are Now” and “Lava” got created. Currently I am more writing onto instrumentals since many people contacted me after my debut, that’s how my new release “Angelway” came together. I am looking forward to many more collaborations though and I have made incredible connections with remixers of my tracks, such as Blue Man, Smly Fce and TWOFLAGS.

Who were your first and strongest musical influences that you can remember?

Prismetical: Thinking about firsts, Rihanna’s “A Girl Like Me” comes to mind, it made vibe to it and dance a lot. I’ve been very influenced by charts, since I watched lots of MTV in my childhood. Lady Gaga’s albums in the 2000s were also very influential to me. I think what shaped me the most was the 2010s, because 2010 was the year that I discovered the Eurovision Song Contest, which I now follow religiously every year. And in 2013 we received Artpop by Lady Gaga and this album will probably be my favourite forever. It is incredibly versatile, weird but also radio in parts and super futuristic, it’s what I am about.

What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners?

Prismetical: Definitely bringing power vocals back into electronic music. I want to give people a show and a story when listening to one of my tracks.

For most artists, originality is first preceded by a phase of learning and, often, emulating others. What was this like for you? How would you describe your own development as an artist and music maker, and the transition towards your own style?

Prismetical: Visually, it’s always been clear to me that I want to have blue hair and making that step to finally dye it boosted my star power. My name was also very important to me. Prismetical has never been used before at all, it is an easy search, it is memorable and I identify with it a lot. Musically, I think release by release I know more what I want, so I will keep doing what I feel like is right and see where it leads me.

What’s your view on the role and function of music as political, cultural, spiritual, and/or social vehicles – and do you try and affront any of these themes in your work, or are you purely interested in music as an expression of technical artistry, personal narrative and entertainment?

Prismetical: I am definitely focusing on speaking to people and giving them advice or possible ways to think or consider things. My songwriting is very complicated because I want people to think about what I am saying and interpret it. Besides the lyrical work, I am really interested in trying new and unexpected things, things that haven’t been done before. I am sure that there is still a way to go for me and my sound but I am happy with what I’ve released until now and confident that it sets itself apart from everything else.

Do you ever write a song with current musical trends, formulas or listener satisfaction in mind, or do you simply focus on your own personal vision and trust that people will empathize with your sound?

Prismetical: Mostly, I write with that I “objectively” think is what a listener would expect melodically and then put a twist on it. It ensures that the musical and lyrical components work together. Writing a song, I start just singing gibberish to it, to figure out what syllables sound great at what parts and to find the melody. It’s sort of a “what would I like to hear from this”, so it’s a mix of lots of factors.

Could you describe your creative processes? How do start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a beat, a melody, or a narrative in your head?

Prismetical: Yeah, I started out writing songs on my own and hiring producers to make instrumentals for it, which was a really hard task, but the producers always pulled it off. Now that my name is out there, people come up to me with instrumentals and I write onto those, which is easier for me. However, I still write songs myself with my initial process.

What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your career or life so far, and how did you overcome the event?

Prismetical: It must’ve been last summer. It was hard for me to find a suitable vocal engineer for my next songs, someone to work with on a regular basis. It took me months to figure it out and also finding and eventually hiring the vocal engineer for “Angelway” was scary to me, because until it was finished I wasn’t sure if they were the right ones. I’m happy with their work and I think hiring them more often will make them get used to my voice and I am sure it will only get better from here. It still put me in a scary place when I had no one to work on my vocals, since I felt stuck.

On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your career so far?

Prismetical: I think the numbers on Spotify speak for itself. I don’t know who listens to my stuff, but having those people from all around the world spending their time to enjoy my music is so humbling. I am happy about every single one. Even in times where I didn’t release for months, I still had lots of listeners that were interested in my music on a long-term basis. It keeps me going and “Angelway” is looking promising!

How and when did the moniker Prismetical come about?

Prismetical: Back in the day, I was playing lots of fashion video games and the character I created was this green hair girl I named Prisme. Later on I was considering the male component of the name and came up with Prismetical. For me the word exudes power and confidence. The name purposefully contains “prism”, because I like the concept of a prism turning one thing into an infinite number of things. I feel like that’s what I do with music.

With social media having a heavy impact on our lives and the music business in general, how do you handle criticism, haters and/or naysayers in general? Is it something you pay attention to, or simply ignore?

Prismetical: I am very confident in saying that I am my worst critic and will always be. I take the opinion of others, but I will not let anyone get me off my path. Personally, I do not like judging people, I just accept them, because if you accept others you are the same way with yourself. Which is why I am sorry for people who spread hate, because they must have a hard time with themselves. I am very happy with myself.

Which aspects of being an independent artist excites you most and which aspects discourages you most?

Prismetical: Being an independent artist is fun, because you have control of every single thing and can create your vision as you want it in whichever pace you want. The bad side for me is the financial aspect. Quality and promotion is suffering from that for sure.

Where do you do most of your recording and production work? And do you outsource any or all of these processes?

Prismetical: Currently I am having long sessions with myself in my room with my microphone and it is working for me for now. I just try to have good isolation and then record vocals over and over again to make them absolutely perfect. At this moment, there are no plans to change that recording process.

Could you tell us something about your latest release, and what the highlights are to watch out for?

Prismetical: Oh, “Angelway” is an absolute bop. The producer Kay sent me this track, we changed up the structure a little bit, so I was also part of the creative process, and then I wrote on it. It was one of the quickest songs to be done, it took me about two months I think. “Angelway” is about letting people, that have ended their own lives, go and coping with that. I wanted to create a mindset for people to relate to and I hope they can see something in that for them. It is about those people having a life without their problems and in the end becoming angels that watch over us in this world. And I wanted to finally put a whistle note in a track of mine, so that happened.

Do you have a personal favorite track amongst your compositions that has a specific backstory and/or message and meaning very special to you?

Prismetical: I do have my favorite tracks within different contexts. “Angelway” is the one I love singing and performing the most. “This Is Where We Are Now” always plays when I am taking a walk and want some power. I love dancing the most to “Lonely”. And “Lava” is the first thing I always show someone when they wonder what Prismetical is about. “Body on My Mind” is the best for parties and “Say Goodbye” is always on full volume in the car. It’s a collection of bangers. My favorite story until now is “This Is Where We Are Now”, because it has great meaning to me.

Creative work in studio environment, or interaction with a live audience? Which of these two options excite you most?

Prismetical: Sadly, I haven’t had a chance to perform any of my songs yet, but I feel like I will absolutely adore performing. I just want to see the audience go crazy and animate them to sing and dance and have fun just like me. So, I think I might like the performance aspect the most.

Do you have a favorite motto, phrase or piece of advice, you try to live or inspire yourself by?

Prismetical: “Don’t harm.” In life there is so much you can do to make yourself happy without putting others down. In 2018 I decided, that I want to dress crazy colorful and have blue hair, because I wouldn’t negatively affect anything or anyone else. While people might think I’m crazy about looking like that or make jokes is their thing, I will not engage in that because I am confident in living a life that is about “not negativity” basically. It helps me with the “accept everyone” aspect that I have mentioned earlier.

How essential do you think video is in relation to your music? Do you have a video you could suggest fans see, to get a better understanding of your craft?

Prismetical: I think visuals are something that is an addition to music, not a must. It is a completely different area that you have to know a lot about if you want to start working on it. For me being at the beginning, I am just looking to make songs and cover arts and see what comes around. I think the music videos that I would consider until now would not be too story related, rather pretty to look at. Therefore, I don’t think it is essential for me for now.

What do you find most rewarding about what you do? And do you have a specific vision or goal set in your mind that you would like to achieve in the near future?

Prismetical: I’m just happy seeing what I can work out and create on my own or within my own motivation. My goal is that I want to come closer and closer to the style of music that plays in my head. My little music brain is full of ideas that are quite revolutionary and I am working on having the skills to put those ideas out in the world. And also keep doing music forever, I naturally keep writing songs and putting out singles.

OFFICIAL LINKS: INSTAGRAM – SPOTIFY – YOUTUBE