The term ‘overnight success’ is often overused. But for Blumengarten, the pop duo from Velbert, North Rhine-Westphalia, the description is pretty accurate.
Singer Rayan Djima and producer Sammy Eickmann’s mix of R&B-inflected, indie-pop ballads, full of coming-of-age emotion, has given them a huge dedicated fanbase, even though they are themselves are nascent rising stars
The band officially formed in 2021 and in that time the pair has released two EPs, a debut album in addtion to two viral hits. And today they released a new EP, Radio, a collection of intimate and atmospheric tracks that feel both personal and universal.
We caught up with the duo to find out more…
Listening to Radio feels like stepping into your inner world while finding reflections of our own experiences. What were you hoping to share with listeners on an emotional level?
At its core, Radio is about growing up – and everything that comes with it.
It’s about change, self-reflection, and learning to take responsibility for the person you’re becoming. Over the past few years, we’ve both gone through a lot of personal growth, and with that comes the uncomfortable but necessary process of looking back at your choices, your mistakes, and the experiences that have shaped you.
We wanted to capture those moments with complete honesty. While many of the stories on the EP come from our own lives, the emotions behind them are something almost everyone can relate to — love, regret, uncertainty, hope, loss, and the constant challenge of figuring yourself out. In that sense, Radio may be personal, but it’s really about experiences that feel universally human.
Your songs often capture the feeling of being caught between places, emotions, or stages of life. Do you see uncertainty as a creative catalyst?
Definitely. A lot of our songs come from moments when we don’t yet have all the answers. Uncertainty can be uncomfortable, but it’s also where some of the most interesting thoughts and emotions emerge.
Writing music helps us process those feelings and make sense of them. In that way, uncertainty isn’t something we try to avoid creatively. It’s often the very place where the creative process begins.
Friendship seems to be at the heart of Blumengarten. How has your relationship evolved since you first started making music together?
It’s always a balance between being close friends and creative partners. Over the years, we’ve learned that open and honest communication is what makes that balance work.
We try to talk about everything, whether it’s music, business decisions, or personal matters, because transparency helps us navigate both the creative and professional sides of the project. As Blumengarten has grown, we’ve naturally had to become more structured and professional in certain areas, but our friendship remains at the heart of everything we do. It’s the foundation on which the entire project is built.
Do you think the versions of yourselves that wrote your earliest songs would recognise the people you’ve become today?
Hopefully not.There are definitely parts of us that haven’t changed — the curiosity, the obsession with music, the drive to create. But if we were still the exact same people we were a few years ago, something probably would’ve gone wrong along the way.
Growth comes at a cost. You collect experiences, make mistakes, lose people, gain perspective, and slowly start understanding yourself a little better. All of that inevitably shapes not only the music you make but also the way you move through the world.
If our younger selves met us today, we’d hope they’d recognize us, but we’d also hope they’d be surprised. More confident, more self-aware, maybe a little less reckless. Not because we have everything figured out, but because we’ve learned that growth isn’t about becoming someone else – it’s about becoming more honest with who you already are.
What’s a question people never ask you in interviews that you wish they would?
To be honest, there isn’t a particular question we feel is missing. Every interview tends to bring its own perspective, which keeps things interesting.
If there’s one question we probably wouldn’t mind retiring, though, it’s how we came up with the name Blumengarten. We’ve answered it so many times over the years that it has almost become part of the standard interview checklist.
These days, we’re much more excited to talk about the music itself, the ideas behind it, our creative process, and the things that are currently inspiring us both as artists and as people.
If someone spent a day with Blumengarten completely off duty, what would surprise them most?
Probably how normal and grounded our lives actually are. People often imagine musicians living in a constant state of chaos, excitement, or adventure, but the reality is usually much quieter.
Most of the time, we spend our days with friends and family, watching films, listening to music, and doing many of the same everyday things as everyone else. In fact, a lot of our inspiration comes from those ordinary moments. It is often the small, seemingly insignificant experiences that stay with us and eventually find their way into our music.
For all the romance and melancholy in your music: who is objectively worse at replying to messages?
It’s probably an even split, to be honest. Neither of us can really point the finger at the other.
There are days when one of us disappears from a chat for hours, and other days when the roles are reversed. It usually comes down to whatever is happening at the time. So if someone is waiting on a reply from us, there’s a good chance we’re both equally responsible. At least that’s the excuse we’re sticking with.
If you swapped roles for a week, what would go horribly wrong?
We probably wouldn’t have much new music to show. Rayan can’t really play any instruments, so we’d run into some fairly serious problems pretty quickly.
