When Ameli and Paul’s paths crossed in 2016, they immediately felt the urge to fuse their approaches of making music – the succinct productions of Paul, with Ameli’s inherent songlike musicality and sentimental voice. Constantly evolving their live performance over the last few years, the duo stands for a stirring electronic sound that ranges from cinematic excursions to pop-like song structures. Synthesizers, field recordings, vocals and guitars join forces across their musical playground as the pair creates thrilling dance tunes to dive into and get lost in. Playing live in renowned clubs and festivals, Ameli Paul are increasingly known for casting a spell on their audience. It’s this unique, multifaceted sound that is effortlessly melting genre boundaries and listeners’ hearts around the world. Today, Ameli Paul unveil their stunning debut EP on newly-born record label Meiosis with Beyond Reason – a melancholic and unvarnished trip for all the longing ones out there. We were lucky enough to spend some time with the duo to talk about the inspirations and production processes behind the work, life under lockdown, growing up in Germany and plans for the rest of the year.
Hey guys, thanks for taking the time to chat with us. How are you both?
Thanks for having us! We are doing good, hope you too!
First things first, who are Ameli Paul?
We are Ameli and Paul, both based in Cologne, Germany. We produce electronic music with Ameli on vocals and synth and Paul on Ableton, guitar and synth.
Tell us some background about yourselves and how you got to this point?
Paul: Ameli studied opera and jazz vocals and I am a studied psychologist. We met four years ago and instantly felt a good energy between us. Which lead to first sessions, tracks, concerts and the wish to take the journey a bit further.
Growing up in Germany, what was it like musically? Do you remember the first time you experienced electronic music?
Ameli: I was about 18, when I went to my first Techno Party. I loved the free and easy atmosphere and the way people treated each other. But I also listened to indie music and RnB a lot.
Talk to us about your new EP, Beyond Reason.
Beyond Reason is the result of the lockdown month November. All the venues had to close again, concerts got cancelled. In order to flee the inertia, we blocked the studio for the whole night and hit the record button. The track Beyond Reason is pretty representative for our mood at that time.
We teamed up with Meiosis for the release and added Open Fire, the powerful counterpart to the rather melancholic title track. Because we were all missing concerts we recorded two live versions of the tracks that you can watch on youtube.
What was the production process like? Do you adopt very distinct roles in the studio?
Paul: Beyond Reason was an improvised jam, with fantasy lyrics and a rather rudimentary beat. So the first idea was pretty intuitive and fast, the final design took a while.
Ameli: As for Open Fire, Paul sent me a first sketch of the instrumental. Instantly I had a vocal melody in my head, recorded it, sent it back and we took it from there.
Paul: In certain aspects we have distinct roles. For example I would never dare to sing. But we share our opinion about everything and at the end it’s a mutual product.
The past year has been difficult for everybody in the industry. How did you survive 2020, and what got you through it?
It’s been a tough year and still is. We had some artist scholarships and government aid to get us through financially. But the lack of perspective is the most frustrating and makes you doubt your way at a weak moment. Still we kept believing in our project and did everything to come out of it stronger.
Did you manage to stay creative whilst in lockdown?
The first lockdown in Spring 20 was super creative, the unusual free time unleashed a lot of creative potential. It also encouraged us to produce music that would not necessarily be part of our live-set but for an album for example. Producing dance music nowadays feels super strange when there is no chance to play it. We are also missing inspiration that we usually get through meeting new people, traveling or going to concerts and festivals.
What are you most looking forward to doing once we return to some degree of normality?
Hugging each other without the fear of closeness, playing concerts away from home with a packed dance floor, discovering different countries through music, going to our favorite restaurant or sauna and many more things.
Finally, do you have anything else in the pipeline for 2021 that you’d like to share with us?
We’ll be releasing our first Vinyl in Spring on Drosssel and our album should be ready at the end of 2021. Can’t wait to showcase all our new material on stage, too! Fingers crossed!
Ameli Paul – Beyond Reason EP is out now via MEIOSIS
