Jonathan Hohl, composer and guitar player for hubris.
Nathan Gros, composer and drummer for hubris.
When did you start making music and what was the contributing factor that made you to do so?
Jonathan: I was 6 and my parents forced me to take up piano lessons.
Nathan: I started playing the drums when I was a child, but I actually started creating music much later when I was around 16. The contributing factor was having played some shows and wanting some more.
How hard was it for you to create, record and release your first material?
Jonathan: If you have fun doing it, it’s always really easy.
Nathan: Very hard.
What is the main art form that influenced you in creating? Was it only music or did movies and other forms of art influence your creative process?
Jonathan: Books for sure and paintings to a certain extent.
Nathan: Movies, film’s original soundtracks and dance.
What are the steps that an idea takes before becoming a fully fledge song? And how does that idea affect the way you build an album from the ground up?
Jonathan: Jamming along on my guitar, I would get one single melody line which sometimes ends up in an entire song.
Nathan: Jamming along on instruments, listen to it again and again, record some pre-prods and also compare it to other similar music tracks.
What do you consider the most important traits that a song and an album must have before you consider it to be completed?
Jonathan: You must hear the fun of making music in it.
Nathan: A nicely woven structure and very strong links within the songs and more broadly in between songs for the album to feel like one whole inner-voyage.
What are the actual steps that you take when you are creating? Do you need to enter or go to a certain setting in order to get creative?
Jonathan: It depends on my mood. It usually works better if I’m alone though.
Nathan: It’s really random.
Except art are there any other external or internal factors that influence you when you create, if so what are they?
Jonathan: My current emotions/mood. I usually feel best about composing when I’ve had a tiring day hiking or playing sports. My mind is therefore free to wander because I’ve left my worries behind and they can’t come back while I’m playing.
Nathan: My physical and emotional state and the environment I’m in (i.e. what instruments/tools have I got at my disposal)
What is your main motivation to create and be creative?
Jonathan: Enjoy myself.
Nathan: Expressing my emotions.
How long does it take to go from a song to an album from scratch to the fully recorded version?
Jonathan: It really depends on the people I am working with. Sometimes it’s weeks, sometimes years.
Nathan: At first more than a year and now less than 4 months.
Do you take multiple takes of the songs before settling on the final version or do you go with the flow and just do one take?
Jonathan: I usually go on shot through the whole song and then re-arrange a few details down the line.
Nathan: Both, it depends.
During live shows what do you like to do more, experiment and improvise on the basis of the existing album and songs or you are more likely to recreate the recorded material as faithfully as possible?
Jonathan: Recreate the recorded material as faithfully as possible. I admire improvisation and you have to be really competent at it for it to yield the same results as careful execution.
Nathan: Recreate the recorded material as faithfully as possible and improvise a tiny little bit depending on my mood and the atmosphere in the venue.
What are the main ingredients that makes a live show special for you?
Jonathan: Volume, lights and fun.
Nathan: The quality of sound, the stage presence, the lightshow and how the audience responds to the music.
Do new ideas appear during live performances? If so how to do you proceed in order to materialize them?
Jonathan: Since I usually don’t improvise, no.
Nathan: Yes, I often create new drum breaks while playing live and then use them later on again.
What is the perfect time of day and weather that makes you creative?
Jonathan: Every single minute of the day is perfect time of day.
Nathan: Very early in the morning or very late at night.
What are your future plans and what advice do you have for people that want to get into creating music?
Jonathan: Making as much music as I possibly can and don’t forget to have fun. That’s what it’s all about.
Nathan: Making more music with less stress or worries. Focus more on emotions and fun than anything else.
