Stelarik is made up of two young German musicians, Max & Amin, who share a passion for techno music. With their melancholic melodies, driving rhythms and classic analogue sounds they create their own musical world.
Not so long ago they came knocking on our door with a demo. It took us just one second to decide to sign the release. The sound they produce is pure. Also the sets they play are full of energy and the track they chose are well thought out. Tune in below to their set they played during our streaming marathon on May 16.
Sit down and read the story about this great duo, Stelarik.
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Hey Max, Amin,
Hope all is well with you guys? How are you coping with the current situation?
We are currently making the best out of the situation. We are using all the time we have in the studio for new tracks and live sets. In fact, we try to look at the positive side of things so we have finished material ready when we’ll have less time. We use this time to develop as musicians as well.
Tell us about your fresh formed duo, Stelarik. Who is who and how did you get together?
Amin had been known in our hometown as an event organizer and DJ for a long time. At some point Max tried to contact him and annoy him until he finally got to play at one of his events. After a few DJ sets together, we soon realized that we harmonize quite well, both musically and personally. Since we both have been producing electronic music in different styles for a long time, we decided to make music together quickly. The first track was done quickly and the rest is history.
How would you describe your sound and style?
We always like to describe our sound with a mix of organic elements from progressive house and melodic techno. Our “Stelarik Sound” comes from the mixture of the many of analog synthesizers from Moog, Roland, etc.. In interaction with this are the many drones and atmospheres to create this outer space, dystopian kind of style.
How has your music been influenced by other artists, musicians, or life in general?
Amin used to listen to a lot of metal and punk. At some point he discovered French Electro for himself, which opened the doors to electronic music for him. After that he was in clubs like Harpune in Düsseldorf a lot and got to know the scene. At that time he listened a lot to Rekorder (Stephan Bodzin & Oliver Hunterman) or Plastikman.
As a child Max listened a lot to the rave songs from the 90s, because his family listened to this music a lot. But besides that he always listened to the soundtracks of video games and movies like Blade Runner. Only because of the soundtracks he started playing the piano. Sometime in the 2000s he listened to Daft Punk’s One More Time on the radio, which brought him to electronic music.
What’s your creative process when writing music? Do you have an idea in mind or do you somehow experiment and see what’s coming?
Mostly our songs are created by Happy Little Accidents while playing around with the synthesizers or when Max improvises on the piano. If one of us has an idea, the other one builds in his ideas and by pushing ideas back and forth, our music and our sound are created. Basically we inspire each other.
What do you do to push the energy?
We never put ourselves under pressure when we don’t have an idea. Forcing something in music always leads to a bad song. If we have a blockage, we simply make a break for some time. At some point one of us gets inspired and the flow starts again.
What are things you still want to learn in the music industry?
For us the whole self promotion is something we want to deepen and learn more.
And what do you find most challenging about the music business?
Nowadays, the industry seems to be more like it’s all about reach on social media. If you don’t have a “big” name, you have the feeling that your music is not even noticed by major labels and artists. On the one hand this is understandable but nevertheless we would like to see that in the future the actual music and not the “marketing” of the artists are more in the spotlight.
You just released a track on ‘Black Square’. How did this one come together?
“Obitar” is actually the first track we did together as Stelarik. In the first studio session, we did together the track was born. That surprised us how quickly we both found a musical commonality. And that the second label we sent the promo of Obitar to, wanted to release it. That motivated us a lot.
“Obitar” is out via Black Square recordings. Find it on Beatport.
Looking at the months ahead. What else is coming?
The most important thing for us is, of course, the release of our Phantom EP on Tanzgemeinschaft in July. Furthermore, we have made a lot of songs in the last weeks which we hope to show at gigs soon, once the whole pandemic will be over.
TGMS: “Phantom” can be heard in a promo mix for our upcoming VA compilation “Hier Kommt Die Parade #1”. Stelarik’s “Phantom” EP is due near the end of July
Thank you
