Interview: Steffen (2025)

by Marcel / 02.03.2025

In DE/VISION's 37th year as a band, the guys never tire and continue to delight their fans with a number of shows.
But Steffen also surprises us with new projects in the still quite young year 2025. After a long time, I had the opportunity to have a chat with Steffen again.

Hello Steffen, I'm pleased that we have the opportunity to inform the fans about news from you again. Before we get straight into it, how are you and Thomas?

 
Hi there!
We're doing well. Even though I can only speak for Thomas from afar, as I rarely see him at the moment. But when I do see him, everything is as usual.

You recently released your and Ken's second release, the STKKP project. I remember you started working on it shortly after the release of OBSERVER (2022)! How intensively have you pursued the whole thing in recent years, what was the process like this time?

 
The work was very intensive. Initially, the approach was similar to that of ‘Observer’. I presented a basic musical concept, which Ken and I then worked on bit by bit. Due to both of our jobs, the production took longer and, after various considerations, we decided to present individual tracks on ‘Dark Data’. The reactions to ‘Observer’ were positive, but many people had a problem with the length of the track.

You kept your word. In our last interview, you said how much you appreciated Ken's work and that you were working on various projects. And so it came about that you launched another project called ARVION on 28 February. More of a dance-pop genre, it might be an interesting new thing for you. Can you tell us a bit about it?

 
Yes, Ken is a great person and musically it just fits very well. Of course, it would be ideal if he lived in Berlin, but I haven't been able to convince him of that yet :)
ARVION is a new project of ours, because in addition to working on STKKP and DE/VISION, we are also creating other ideas. ‘Falling’ was written and produced by Ken. Andre Bachmann (Soundmietzen) also gave a few tips here, as he simply has more experience in the dance sector. I've also had various collaborations, so I was also able to add my two cents. We have plans to continue the project, but of course we are also a little dependent on whether it will be financially viable. In any case, we've made a start.  

And another really exciting chapter this year should be your joint tour with Daniel Myer with the DEVISION REDUX format. How did that come about?

 I've had the idea for a new DE/VISION format for a long time. When you've been in music for so long, you personally want to try out new things. At least that's how I feel. Since I quit my permanent job in October 2024, it was clear to me that I wanted to spend more time on the road with music again. A new job was out of the question for me. I then met Daniel at a party in August 2024 and, as I really appreciate his work, I outlined my idea to him. 24 August 2024 can be marked as the birth of DEVISION REDUX. Since then, Daniel has been working very intensively on the musical realisation. I'm keeping a very low profile here, otherwise it would go too much in the actual DE/VISION direction again. But we are now on the home straight and the tracks are becoming very strong. We are looking forward to presenting the format live soon.

Are there also plans to release the whole thing via stream or even physically?

 
Nothing is planned yet, we're just waiting to see how the format is received. At the moment, the focus is still on the live shows. We don't want it to be a flash in the pan.

As a DE/VISION fan, you're really spoilt at the moment, whether it's the release of various albums on streaming platforms or the remastering of earlier music videos, which I personally think is really great. What was your idea behind this, including the fact that you are now more active on social media again?

As I said elsewhere, I quit my permanent job after almost 5 years. A lot has happened during this time, but we've also made ourselves very scarce as a band. Our jobs didn't allow us to invest more time in DE/VISION. We also agreed after Citybeats that we wanted to take a break for a few years.
I'm now back in the business and of course I have to catch up on these 5 years, a lot of things have been left behind and so much has changed. Fortunately, I have various people who support me and with whom I regularly exchange ideas. Harald Löwy (Chandeen) has given me so many good tips along the way and the guys from Forced To Mode have also given me great advice. I don't really need to mention Dennis Burmeister here, he's been with us for a very long time now and supports us wherever he can.

Of course you have to be present on social media, even if it's sometimes very exhausting. You just get too much other rubbish that you don't want to be exposed to. But the positive feedback makes me very happy and encourages me that I've taken the right path.

In 3 years it will be 40 years of DE/VISION! It's amazing how time flies. Have you already thought about it or even made your first plans?

 
I'm not thinking about anything else :D A lot can happen in 3 years, but if everything goes normally, we'll certainly be celebrating 40 years of DE/VISION.

Be honest, do you already have plans for the future of DE/VISION? You also have the new, previously unreleased songs ....

I can't say exactly what will happen next at the moment. I have to realise my other ideas first. Thomas also still has his day job, so of course he can't work as intensively on DE/VISION. Of course we can understand that our fans would like to hear a new album. At the moment, however, this is not our top priority, we may release individual songs, but unfortunately a complete album is not yet feasible.

Steffen, thank you very much for the interview, stay healthy and all the best for the numerous projects this year. The last words are yours.

 
Thank you and of course all of you for your loyalty. It will definitely continue and I look forward to seeing you at the DE/VISION and DEVISION REDUX shows.