Brand new rock outfit, Off Lights made their debut just last year with their first single, “Back To Life“, a vulnerable track that marked an epic start to the band. Now, with their latest single, “Man Or Machine“, the group is slowly but surely introducing listeners to their dynamic sound and emotional range, all leading up to their debut EP, coming soon.
The Berlin-based group consists of experienced songwriters who came together in in the midst of a pandemic to create a project with its feet solidly planted on the ground, but with a sound undoubtedly international. With “Man Or Machine” out now and more new music on the horizon, we caught up with the band to discuss their journey so far and plans for the future. Read more now below.
Prelude Press: As a relatively new band, can you tell us a little bit about Off Lights’ journey so far? What brought you all together to begin this project?
Off Lights: Thorsten, Sascha and I (Julian) got together during the pandemic to create an outlet for the music that had built up over the years. We all played in other bands for many years before and are happy to unite our experiences in this project.
You guys made your debut just last year with your single, “Back To Life”. With it being the first song that many people would hear from Off Lights, what made “Back To Life” special to you?
“Back To Life” was the first song Thorsten and myself wrote together. Our way of writing has changed constantly since then and the sound has changed a bit since then, but nevertheless we always came back to this song when it was about presenting ourselves to the public for the first time. The song combines emotionality and power, the facets that make us up well at first sight. It’s like an old acquaintance that maybe doesn’t have the biggest hit potential but has presented us in an honest way, with all our facets.
You also just recently released your new track, “Man Or Machine”, which touches on human connection in today’s society – can you tell us a little bit about the track? What initially inspired it?
Thank you! We are happy to hear that. After “Into The Night” we wanted to release something more positive and hopeful with “Man Or Machine.” The song deals critically with the topic of artificial intelligence and reflects in everyday situations, symbolically the inevitable conflict that manifests itself in the question, “are we man or machine?”
What would you like for listeners to take away from “Man Or Machine”?
Through the interplay of melancholic lyrics and positive sounding music, we wanted to reflect the ambivalence of the subject in the song and encourage through the hopeful message, despite the increasing mechanization of the world, not to lose faith in the truth and in our own humanity.
Both songs, as well as “Into The Night” arrive ahead of the release of your debut EP, out soon! What are you most excited for fans to hear on the EP?
The whole thing at once 🙂 Its not a concept EP but still there is some kind of journey feeling when listening through the 6 tracks and that’s what we would wish for others to experience.
Did you have any goals you set out to accomplish when you first started working on the EP?
Honestly, just the hope for people to hear and enjoy the ideas and emotions which we carried around for so long.
Lyrically, were there any subjects you wanted to touch on?
After trying to write about topics that I thought would appeal to a lot of people, I ended up writing about topics, feelings and situations that I relate to or have actually lived through. I’ve found that on the one hand it’s much faster and on the other hand, and this is much more important, it’s honest and from the heart. I think at the end of the day the listeners will always feel that.
How do you feel you’ve grown as musicians, or even just as people, since the start of this project and through the writing process of the EP?
First of all, it is incredibly inspiring and nice to see that all the hard work we did upfront is now appreciated by the listeners who celebrate this music. This is absolutely motivating and makes us take the project and our music more seriously than ever. Musically, we will certainly develop further on the next record. Nevertheless, for us it remains important that we keep the sound and style, that we have now defined with off lights for us and reinvent ourselves within this trademark.
Do you have any other big plans for 2023? Any upcoming shows?
It looks like we are supporting Written by Wolves on their German Tour dates this November 2023 in Germany. Once its 100% confirmed well share the dates on our social medias…it would truly be a perfect wrapping for our first year of existence and releasing.
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