Completely surprisingly, you released your very personal project "STKKP -OBSERVER" on the ITunes platform on 12 February. But not quite so surprisingly, you've actually been planning it for a long time.

I had the idea of releasing a pure instrumental album for a long time. I just had to decide beforehand whether I wanted to do it alone or together with other musicians. Since I am very good friends with Ken and I appreciate his work very much, it was obvious to work with him on various projects.

Originally you had planned a solo album with vocals, why then finally the decision for an instrumental album?

Yes, in the beginning I wanted to release a solo album with Ken. But I realised very quickly that I didn't feel like it. I wanted to take a longer break as a singer, which has lasted until now. Since Ken is also a fan of instrumental music, I sent him a few ideas and so we started STKKP.

Who had the idea for the cover and what is depicted at all?

The cover idea came from Dennis Burmeister, the picture itself from Markus Ganßert. Markus had contacted me in advance and asked me if he could possibly help design the artwork. As I like many of his works very much, I naturally agreed. There were several motifs to choose from and in the end we decided on the current motif.

You can ask Markus about the artwork. (we will )

Personally, I really like "OBSERVER", nice suspense, interesting melodies and thank God no experimental outliers, a really round thing. Maybe you should consider releasing a small edition on recordings? And could you imagine continuing this kind of album concept?

At the moment we don't know if STKKP will ever be recorded. The record market is pretty much at the end of its tether and the sales figures for instrumental music are also quite manageable. In any case, we are already working on the successor. But we don't know yet how we will finally shape it.

Hand on heart, are there any thoughts about the musical future of De/Vision? Will there be more concerts with Markus and Stefan?

I was just thinking about various things today and DE/VISION will continue to exist. But we just don't know when we will come around the corner again with new material. There probably won't be any more concerts with Markus and Stefan. I think we had a great first event back then. When we repeated it, we had the feeling that the air was out a bit. Some things should be left as they are and you shouldn't hold on to something or an idea so tightly.

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The second part of the interview will follow in spring/summer with the upcoming fan club magazine.