Born from a deep collaboration between sonic explorers _studio416 and vocalist Até, Feuer Lust Licht is a genre-fluid journey that blurs the lines between techno, trip hop, and experimental textures. Over the course of 2.5 years, this Berlin-based trio sculpted a body of work that’s as emotionally charged as it is rhythmically complex. We sat down with Henne, Svenne, and Até to uncover the layered creative process behind the album—from late-night studio sessions in Marzahn to the unexpected moment when they realized they weren’t just collaborators—they had become a band.
You’ve described studio416 as an audiovisual oasis, a break from daily life. What kind of emotional or psychological space do you hope this album creates for listeners?
Henne:
I hope listeners simply have a great time listening to FEUER LUST LICHT. They leave everyday life behind and enjoy themselves. We live in crazy times, where it’s becoming increasingly important to treat ourselves to some time off.
The blending of visual and sonic elements seems important to the project. How do you approach building a complete sensory experience?
Henne:
Our goal from the beginning was to perform the songs live with Até and record that live performance, even if it was just in our studio. That’s why we produced the songs for FEUER LUST LICHT several times. After we had finished the actual songs, we made a live performance version of each piece, which we jammed over and over again. In the end, the live versions became the release versions because they were simply the best.
Svenne:
In the beginning there were the tracks and Hendrik managed to bring an idea for a video into the conversation. After he told us what his idea looked like, we were immediately enthusiastic and started preparing for our video session.
What does Feuer Lust Licht mean to each of you, personally? How do you relate to the title and its themes of desire, fire, and illumination?
Até:
FEUER LUST LICHT is a spoiler alert. In the track we ask each other “Pos itan” – meaning “how was it” in Greek, and then “do you wanna do it again?”. Every time we performed this track for the live session we felt a strong HELL YEAH!
Henne:
FIRE LUST LIGHT is the craziest production I’ve ever done in my life. These three words reflect the mood and feelings I felt during production. FIRE…the energy we shared together in the studio. LUST…to push ourselves and do things (like singing) we’ve never done before. LIGHT…to be happy about what we’ve accomplished.
Svenne:
For me it was the biggest musical challenge so far with many learning steps, such as: how do we manage to bring Até’s voice and our voices together in the tracks without it sounding exaggerated or how is it possible to create a kind of live set with our DAW (Cubase), which we used in our videos.
In an era of short attention spans and singles culture, why did you decide to make a cohesive, long-form album?
Henne:
That was actually a coincidence. My goal was to have at least more than just one song. But during our studio sessions, we often got really into it because we always had a great flow. After about a year, we realized we had quite a lot of material. When we ended up with seven songs, Até said… «OMG… That’s an album!»
Svenne:
This decision came after we had produced several tracks with Até. We realized that the individual tracks tell a story. Thanks to Diffuse Reality for the opportunity to release the album.
How do your live performances expand or transform the album material—what can people expect when seeing Feuer Lust Licht live?
Henne:
The album songs are practically live performances. Only they took place in our studio. It’s obviously a big dream and also a goal we want to achieve: to present FEUER LUST LICHT like a band on stage. What happens there is unpredictable. But if we can transport the feeling we had in the studio to the audience, that would be fantastic.
As already mentioned, live performances of the songs have been the goal of the entire FEUER LUST LICHT concept from the very beginning. Performing live simply has a completely different dynamic. And I hear that in the songs, too, when melodies are played a little differently, or the vocals are expanded in places where there wasn’t anything in the original.
What role does intuition play in your artistic decisions—do you rely more on feeling or on technical mastery?
Henne:
Intuition played a big role. That’s why the songs on FEUER LUST LICHT are so diverse and cross genres. We simply didn’t think much about what musical styles we wanted to explore. We just went with it.
Technical mastery was often a big challenge. Working with vocals was new to us. We had to learn a lot to get it all right.
Svenne:
It’s the feeling and the current emotional state that influence me a lot in the production process. Decisions such as which sounds to use, what rhythm the track should have or how the voice can be staged come from my gut. My technical skills help me to transport my gut feeling in the DAW.
What’s next for each of you individually and as a collective—where does this project fit into your broader artistic evolution?
Henne:
Personally, this project gave me the kick to want to release a bit more _studio416 music. There’s a lot of material that’s been developed over the past few years, just waiting to be released.
Collective… We’re a band now. Where exactly we’re headed is unpredictable. We’re already working on new stuff. If none of us loses interest, we’ll just pick up right where we left off. Maybe we’ll see each other at one of our shows sometime.
Svenne:
The next steps are clearly to make new music together.
Pre Order
Beatport https://www.beatport.com/es/release/feuer-lust-licht/5029007
Bandcamp https://diffusereality.bandcamp.com/album/studio416-x-at-feuer-lust-licht-te0201
Socials _studio416 & Até
https://www.instagram.com/_studio416/
https://www.facebook.com/studio416music
https://www.facebook.com/ate.prxmc
