We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Christoph Bietz. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Christoph below.
Christoph, thank you so much for taking the time to share your lessons learned with us and we’re sure your wisdom will help many. So, one question that comes up often and that we’re hoping you can shed some light on is keeping creativity alive over long stretches – how do you keep your creativity alive?
This is kinda hard, but of course I try to do my best! Usually for me it takes quite a long time to finish a song, and sometimes I feel like, okay, now it’s happened, I’ve finally run out of ideas. But after having lived through some ups and downs in terms of creativity already, I actually know that I just have to be patient, and eventually, it’ll come back. The moment will come that another flash of inspiration will hit you and let you finish a song or create a new one that you could have never imagined before. I think it helps a lot to not put yourself under to much pressure when it comes to creativity. You’ve got to let go your insecurities, make yourself comfortable, create a cozy atmosphere, light some candles, pour yourself a glas of red wine and just get into the mood. I also record riffs and ideas immediately in order to not loose them. Because this is a very tricky part with ideas – if I don’t hold on to them, I tend to forget them, and then they’ll never return. Isn’t that crazy? Keith Richards once recalled that he invented the riff for Satisfaction, one of the most iconic rock riffs of all time, while dreaming. This proofs that good ideas are magical. What makes them so special is the fact that they are like magical sparks in a very short moment in time. Then you better be fast and catch them. What also helps is new instruments. Just holding another guitar or any other new instrument can be incredibly inspiring. Instruments speak to you, and something new emerges from the conversation with them.
Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?
I’ve been making music since I was a teenager, getting some piano lessons and teaching myself how to play guitar on an old acoustic guitar of my father’s. As a kid of the 90s, I soon found myself in a first cover band playing Rock and Grunge songs in a friend’s basement and eventually also in the school auditorium – which was a pretty cool thing when you’re 16. We started throwing in some self-written songs after a while, but it took much longer until I formed my first band doing just original tracks. This was also the time when I switched from writing in English to German, my native language. That was a pretty consistent step enabling an artistic development that was closer to what I wanted to be and simply more authentic. After a three years break due to a change of job I founded Von Flocken, a Berlin based indie act starting off as a duo but soon evolving into a full band. So that’s where I am now, having just released the first full-length album of my life – “Palmen von Cannes”. The fact that it’s also available on vinyl is a long-held dream come true – and I am really happy about the many nice reviews the album has received, one of them (GoodTimes Magazine) concluding: “Von Flocken’s melodies are catchy without being flat. The chorus lines get stuck in your head. The arrangements make every 80s fan happy. If there was still a functioning radio landscape, half of the songs on this record would be hits. PALMEN VON CANNES is one of the most beautiful throwbacks of recent years.”
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
One very good advice I got on my journey was telling my stories – my lyrics – in my native language. I was a fan – and still am – of American and British rock bands, so it came natural that I was writing English lyrics, too. Back then I presented my songs to a producer team. They liked the stuff, but they also said I was sounding like I tried to be someone else – and suggested I try writing in German. First I was a little reluctant, but then I gave it a try. It took me some time to find my own style, but then it turned out to be a very smart decision, as writing in my native language allowed me to express my thoughts more authentically, and it even led to a different kind of sound and songwriting that was more “myself”. So one quality was probably being open to adjustments and advice. Two was probably a kind of persistence that I have kept during the years. I always knew I couldn’t do without the music, without my guitar and a band. So even during times of doubt I kept holding on to making music. This is what I’d suggest to younger folks or people who are at the start of any kind of journey: stay true to yourself, try to connect with who you really are. Of course, it sometimes helps listening to external advice, but the answer always lies in yourself.
How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?
With the album released, videos filmed, summer gigs behind us, the creative clock has reset to zero again. It feels great to have room for new ideas, but that’s always challenging, too. Will I find the time and peace to work on new ideas? Will something come to me, do I still have something to say? I have another job and a family, so I’m right in the midst of what people call the “rush hour of life”. I deeply value all of this, but quite often, the weeks run by without me having taken a little time for the music. On the one hand, this frustrates and annoys me, but on the other hand, it’s important not to be too hard on yourself and to take things easy. Because only then can the creative flow be set in motion again. The only thing you can do to achieve this is to give yourself space from time to time for something new to emerge. And deep down I actually know that eventually, some new songs will come to life.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/vonflocken
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/von_flocken/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@VonFlocken
Image Credits
Aloha Burn
Ralph Pache
Maximilian Koenig
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