Simon Bahr

Is your music fundamentally different from pop music?

It fascinates me when a piece presents its very own ingredients and approaches and conveys the feeling that anything could happen at any moment. I often perceive this feeling of openness in contemporary notated music and I also try to achieve it in my own music. Pop songs often stake out a smaller field in which they then move. A strong reduction and a clear commitment to very specific elements are often precisely qualities of a good song. That is one difference, for example. However, I don’t see such differences as categorical, but rather as different approaches to music, forming one continuum.

Which instrument has yet to be invented?

For me personally, none, because the existing ones still puzzle me enough. I like to work with things that already exist: Sounds, idioms, technologies… and also instruments.

Artificial or musical intelligence?

Always both! Algorithms – whether AI or not – can deliver very surprising musical results and challenge your own musical intuition. Without such a confrontation, musical ideas can often be much less original than they first appear. I therefore always try to combine the two.