Deeply personal and introspective, Glanz Null is German rapper APSILON’s newly-released second album. Building on the scially consioucous themes of his acclaimed debut, Haut Wie Pelz, the work explores fading trust, identity and the search for meaning in a world shaped by uncertainty. We caught up with artist to find out more…
GLANZ NULL feels incredibly introspective. Looking back now, what did making this record teach you about yourself?
What I love about music is that, especially when it comes from a deeply personal place, it allows you to experience and understand the world emotionally. Through that, you begin to realise that many of our struggles are universal. We’re all carrying the weight of these apocalyptic times in one way or another.
Berlin feels less like a backdrop in your music and more like another character. What does the city reveal about people that nowhere else does?
Berlin is where I grew up, and it’s shaped me into the person I am today. I like the idea of thinking of the city as an old friend – someone you love deeply, even if they occasionally get on your nerves. At the end of the day, though, I owe that old friend a great deal. Berlin has taught me a lot.
If GLANZ NULL wasn’t an album, what would it be – a place, a film, a weather forecast or a conversation?
The simplest answer, and probably the truest, is that it would be a film. We approached this album as an audiovisual project from the very beginning. As soon as the first musical sketches existed, we started talking with our design and video team about the visual world we wanted to create. We drew inspiration from filmmakers like Theo Angelopoulos, Akira Kurosawa, Andrei Tarkovsky and Edward Yang, as well as photographers such as Wolfgang Tillmans and Abdulhamid Kircher. Having the opportunity to feature the latter two in our accompanying magazine was a huge honour. That magazine became a way of bringing together many of the inspirations that shaped this record.
What’s something you’re still trying to unlearn?
Being anxious. Always expecting the worst possible outcome. Fuck Murphy’s Law, man.
What kind of conversations have you been having more often lately?
A lot of conversations about friendship. About how it’s completely normal, and healthy, to have fewer close friends than you did when you were at school. I’ve come to value the friendships that give you peace, allow you to be yourself, and still challenge you honestly. Those are the relationships worth holding onto.
What have you become more protective of over the past few years?
My inner peace – or at least I’m trying to be. And the people and relationships that help me find and protect that sense of peace.
What’s the most un-rap thing about you?
I think people are always trying to define what is and isn’t rap. Personally, I believe it’s all about attitude. I could dance ballet – if the attitude is right, that’s hip-hop too. But if I had to name something, it’d probably be my car. Haha.
What’s something you’ve become unexpectedly obsessed with recently?
Watching League of Legends tournaments.
9. If someone who had never heard your music before asked what drives you – not as an artist, but as a person – what would you tell them?
I’d probably say that I don’t have enough things that truly calm me down, but I have plenty that drive me. Beyond the more selfish motivations, like wanting recognition or success, it’s the people I love, my anger at the existing order, and my belief that a fundamentally different world is possible and worth fighting for. One day I’d like to have children, and I don’t want them to be born into a dystopia.
