Exclusive Interview with BROMSEN

Richard and Karlo Bromsen, who created the Berlin-based indietronic duo Bromsen in 2021, adore infectious melodies set by high-voltage synthwave and forward-driving guitar sounds. Their debut single, “Merryman,” was just released on October 14, and Karlo and Richard want your help to get it rolling.

Karlo and Richard performed alongside their pampelmuse friends in nearly every Berlin indie rock club during the mid-2000s. The band finally disbanded in 2006, just before their anticipated breakthrough, and it took Richard and Karlo many years to reunite and form Bromsen.

The song Merryman is about being yourself and allowing your inner “Merryman” to emerge so that he can help you enjoy life in these chaotic times. Check out the song and the exclusive interview below:

1. Can you tell us a bit about where you come from and how it all got started?

BROMSEN: Richard and I have made music together already back in the early 2000ers with our old band “the pampelmuse”. That band broke up in 2006 and each of us had a longer break in making music. Richard and I have met up again though and towards the end of 2021 we’ve decided to form our band “Bromsen” and give it another try to conquer the world ;).

2. Did you have any formal training or are you self-taught?

BROMSEN: We are both self-taught.

3. Who were your first and strongest musical influences and why the name ‘BROMSEN’?

BROMSEN: Karlo – it was Nirvana, followed by the Beatles and all that great music from the 60’s. I also love the 80’s vibe but discovered that later. Richard:it all started with Nirvana and Metallica…

The idea for the name Bromsen was born long time ago – actually it came to our minds already around 2005 when being on a train from Berlin to Munich, where we played a concert with our band “The Pampelmuse”… Our manager Benedikt, was never convinced of our band name “The Pampelmuse”, but he was convinced of us as artists. Now Karlo and Richard were fooling around on the train to Munich, looking for a new “band name”… Richard said: “I’m Richard Bronson” (his father liked Charles Bronson in the 70s). To which Karlo replied: “Hey,sounds great, let’s call ourselves “Die Bromsenbrüder” with an “m” (engl. The Bromsen Brothers). We laughed a lot, but our bandmates were not fully convinced. Around 15 years later we took up this idea again and shortened this name to “Bromsen” (without knowing that its meaning “brakes” in Swedish, but actually liking that ;)).

4. What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?

BROMSEN: I would say all our songs have some kind of positive drive accompanied with some element of melancholy, so you could say that each song is like a janus head. We also love to integrate wall of sound elements to our songs, so that they can feel like a hypnotic wave which carries you forward.

5. 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, which is known as INDIETRONIC?

BROMSEN:

It’s basically like playing with Lego – as a kid you’ve started with these fix sets and the more time passed, the more your trucks, castles, spaceships etc got de-constructed and at the end you had a big box with simple building blocks and created the most fantastic castles, landscapes etc on your own.

6. 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?

BROMSEN:

You can compare songwriting with painting as good pictures live and create feelings – same with good songs. Rather than storytelling it comes more from the angle of expressing/transporting feelings in a way which at least we are not able to express just with words.

7. Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it or are you expecting something more, or different in the future?

BROMSEN:

We are quite happy with how things go but some great concerts with a huge crowd and some great sync deals would be great – we also want to make at least one of these historic albums, like the “Rumours” “Pet Sounds” etc.

8. Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song? Do you usually start with a tune, a beat, or a narrative in your head? And do you collaborate with others in this process?

BROMSEN:

It’s not always the same but the usual way how things come into shape is, that Karlo has a certain “feeling” grabs his guitar and creates a rough song structure which may have only some nonsense words etc as text. Then he plays it to Richard who – in case he can feel the feeling- locks himself up in the studio and does some magic, arranging the song. When he plays the first arrangements to Karlo, Karlo is often inspired to complete the text and they both complete the song.

9. What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?

BROMSEN: Most probably the breaking up of our old band back in 2006 and nearly a year ago the collapse of our recording hardware due to a “system update”….

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

BROMSEN: Wow – the first time being played on an international radio station with great DJs who introduced our song and let the audience know what they felt when hearing it – that was amazing (thanks to cashbox radio and SLE Radio- we love you).