From the end of November through February, he will hit the road on the Small Town Friends on Europe Tour, performing across 22 stops and bringing both new music and fresh stories to the stage.
„Countless Feelings But So Few Words“ is the title of your debut album. If you had to choose just a few words to describe it, what would they be? How many songs are on the album?
I’d say it’s warm, honest, and dreamy. There are 10 songs on the album.
The album releases on November 14. How long did you prepare for it?
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly how long it took. The last year was about finalizing everything, but some of these songs have been with me for over three or four years. I also started thinking about how the album should look and feel months in advance, and planning with my team how to bring it to people. It’s hard work spread out over quite a long time, which is why it feels like such a relief to have it out now finally.
How do you write your lyrics? What usually comes first, the melody or the text? Could you tell us a bit about your process?
Songs start in all sorts of ways for me, but most often I have a melody first and then the lyrics follow. Usually, I mumble something into the microphone, whatever comes to mind or feels right in that moment. Then I try to find words that imitate that feeling or match the phonetic vibe of the mumbled line. It’s often quite hard to find the right words because once you do, things can become too concrete and destroy the feeling they had before. So the lyrics are definitely the hardest part of the process for me.
„So I am walking straight, and forget what I wanted to…“ from the song „Time In The Afternoon“ is such a poetic line. Can you tell us more about it?
Well, first of all, thank you for saying it sounds poetic. I wrote that line at a time when I slowly started losing those free afternoons I used to spend with my friends, just hanging out. I realized I was making all these plans and chasing goals, a career, an identity. I was so focused on those things that I stopped noticing what really mattered, like simply going to the beach with my friends in the afternoon. That’s really what the line is about.
Do you try to capture memories in your music, or are you creating entirely new places of imagination? Is desire and longing part of that?
That’s a beautiful question, and it’s not so easy to answer. I write music as a translation of my feelings, and a lot of them are connected to memories. But sometimes it’s also some strange, dreamlike desire toward something that I can’t really grasp. Sound then becomes a medium, like a smell in a bottle that reminds you of something, and it really helps to process those diffuse feelings.
Why is the past important to you, and what makes a touch of nostalgia so appealing?
I think what I find so beautiful about nostalgia is its bittersweetness. The past shows you the impermanence of life, of yourself, and of relationships. There’s something painful in knowing you can never return to a certain point in your life; those moments only exist in your mind now. But that’s what makes it bittersweet: it’s both sad and strangely comforting, because it reminds you of how magical it is to experience life. That feeling moves me deeply and is such a big trigger to create something.
Tell us about your „Small Town Friends on Europe Tour.“ Which cities will you perform in, and is there one you are especially excited about?
We’ve got 22 stops lined up for the tour. It’s going to be super exciting because my friends and I are visiting so many cities we’ve never been to before.
We’ll play in Amsterdam, Paris, Zurich, Vienna, Munich, Stuttgart, Cologne, Hamburg, Berlin, Bremen, London, Warsaw, Prague, Budapest, Oslo, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Hanover, Leipzig, and Frankfurt.
I’m especially excited because this time we’re performing as a trio with a completely new set, playing songs we’ve never played live before. I’m particularly looking forward to Stockholm, because I’ll get to see friends I met at Burning Man last year, and I haven’t seen them since then.
You moved to Berlin in your early twenties. How did that transition influence your music?
I’d say it wasn’t so much Berlin as a city that influenced my music directly, but more how it influenced my life. I always had this picture of myself as one of those metropolitan guys making it as a music producer in Berlin. But instead of fulfilling that image, I learned to be honest with myself and to find out who I really am. I rediscovered my longing for the people back home and for the place where I grew up. Understanding that helped me realize what kind of music I wanted to make. When I came back from Berlin, I started orbit.
When you are not at home, is there another place that also feels like home to you?
I feel comfortable in many places, but there’s really no other place that truly feels like home to me. For me, home is so connected with my friends and my family, and they’re here. Even on tour, I start missing this place after just a few weeks.
„Perspectives“ brought you a large audience. What do you think made that song resonate so strongly with listeners?
I think „Perspectives“ resonated because it captures that phase of life in your early twenties, where you feel a bit lost and unsure who you are. I was searching for myself and longing for a sense of direction. I think many people can relate to that. It was also the first time I really dared to create something that felt genuinely like me, and I think people can hear that honesty in the song.
What are you listening to in private these days?
Actually, I’m not streaming a lot of new music right now. I’ve been exploring these old cassette tapes that the previous owner of my garden plot left behind, lots of Dire Straits, Pink Floyd, and other old stuff. It’s such a different listening experience, and I really enjoy it.
What was the last concert that genuinely moved you? And what moves you during your own performances?
One concert that really moved me was Kiasmos at a festival we played at. Later that night, the headliner performed for about ten thousand people, but we didn’t really connect with the show, so we wandered over to another stage. Kiasmos were playing in a tent for just a few hundred people, and I remember standing there with my friend Morlin; we both had tears in our eyes. It was just so beautiful. What moves me most during my own concerts is when the whole room suddenly gets quiet and hundreds of people fall silent together. You can feel everyone sharing the same moment. That kind of stillness is something magical to me.
orbit – Small Town Friends on Europe Tour 2025
(Vienna Tour stop: Dec 1, 2025 @ WUK, Vienna)
All you need to know: Tour stops & tickets
orbit – www.instagram.com/orbitnotthechewinggum/, www.summersomeday.com