DEVOTION IS A WONDERFUL THING

For Finn Ronsdorf, Berlin-based singer and songwriter, the process of creating music is something that can’t be rushed. ‘Music comes when she comes, she can't be forced to manifest. If she wants to play hide and seek, even a bright and unfurnished room won't make her more visible,’ says the artist. In his debut EP ‘Odes’, Ronsdorf creates a beautifully melancholic landscape of love and loss - he opens up completely and encourages the listeners to create their own meaning to his lyrics and melodies. We spoke to Ronsdorf about the process of exploration in his music, his upbringing in the evergreen German region of Black Forest and the ongoing collaboration with filmmaker and photographer Matt Lambert.

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Your EP ‘Odes’ came out a year ago. How do you look back on that work and the time you were creating it?

 The EP was recorded almost three years ago, in 2018. The songs were finished way before that. So all we needed was a nice studio, a piano and my voice. We recorded the whole thing in one day. Those songs are all one-takes as far as piano and singing are concerned. Here and there we added some subtleties afterwards. It was a lovely day; just a few people coming together. You can hear them spontaneously singing with me on the song 'Blue'.

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What are the emotions or themes that you are looking to explore with your music?

 I can see that the songs have some devotional fragrance to them. Devotion is a wonderful thing. It is the holding of a very intense emotion in silence, without any resistance. But this is nothing intended per se. You must know, I'm not really looking to do anything. Factually, looking to do something and exploring don't go together. If I have any intentions or pre-built results in mind, exploration is impossible.

What environment do you find most inspiring when working on new music?

 Music comes when she comes, she can't be forced to manifest. If she wants to play hide and seek, even a bright and unfurnished room won't make her more visible.

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I read that you grew up in the Black Forest area.  What was your upbringing there like and how that influenced you as an artist?

 The smell there is truly special. We have mighty mountains and remarkable trees. And it can be really silent. But there is also a lot of noise coming from the people. I grew up in a small town, people are always busy talking, 'this is good', 'this is bad'... I know this is the case everywhere, we're all grown in bad soil. What else can I say? My father played good music, my mother painted, my brother developed a very sharp mind, I was in between and in doubt.

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When did you first realize that you wanted to pursue music?

 There used to be a strong will when I was a child. But at a certain point, I found this desire rather exhausting. This is not the case with music only, it's with any desire. They're ever-changing, projecting themselves on something new, but they can seem very sticky, too. Today, I cannot say I pursue music.  It might pursue me, but it is not my doing. It is you putting me in this position, asking that question, and I will take it.

“Factually, looking to do something and exploring don't go together.

If I have any intentions or pre-built results in mind, exploration is impossible.”

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You worked with Matt Lambert on videos for ‘Blue’ and ‘Ode to a Love Lost’. How does his work reflect the subjects that you are talking about in your music?

 I don't have any subjects to talk about. Those are words filling the sound, forming the melody. I don't have any message to offer. But if you truly understand that, you will see that you'll yet find some sort of message, created by your own thought process. If you see that very clearly, you might find that almost everything you see and experience is your own image-making process.

Matt has a great visual eye and knows how to put things in the right place. He has what you could call 'taste'. There was no ideological discussion between us, or anything of the sort. It is just two people coming together and working with sound and aesthetic. The rest is your business!

You’re currently doing some live shows at festivals. What do you love most about performing live?

 The people, the places. But there are people and places everywhere. Even now. Performing for me has no more value than any other activity.

What have you been working on since ‘Odes’?

 There is a lot of material. I think there will be a song and a video coming out soon, both finished. Now it's a matter of outer circumstances.. let's see!

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Interview by Martin Onufrowicz

Photography by Yaël Temminck

Fashion by Leendert Sonnevelt