“The Photograph” is being described as “hits hard” by listeners. For the eclectic Berlin duo Bromsen, it certainly is a special track with rich backstories. Inspired by faded photographs and the drastic, emotional experience of nostalgia, Bromsen tap into old and lost dreams that still haunt them to these days. In the creative process, they also call upon their old bandmates for a musical reunion.

“The Photograph” is inventive and full of sonic metaphors that one could really delve into. There are moments that intricately emotive, and there are moments that draw to the horror of uncertainty. “The Photograph” is unavoidably immersive and hard-hitting. It drags out something vulnerable and true from the dark corner of memory and incorporate the sounds to capture those feelings that lie between reality, memory, and fantasy—something so raw and psychedelic, yet a little washed-out, warm, and sparse.

Read our interview below with Bromsen and learn more about the making of “The Photograph.”

Punk Head: I like the soundscape in “The Photograph.” What is the inspiration behind it?

Bromsen: It is often the case with old photos that, although they are faded and worn, they can quickly evoke memories and feelings from bygone times. We tried to transport the whole thing into one song (hence the distorted voices in the verse as an element) and of course our personal history with our old band also plays a role here. The sometimes very stressful and exhausting times play a role here, as well as the high phases and luxuriating dreams that you have when you think you are the biggest band in the world. These different moods are all reflected in parts of the song.

It is also a co-production with Claudio Manzari, a former band member from our earlier ‘The Pampelmuse’ days. He is currently still on the road as a solo musician and we gave him the raw song, which he had always liked, for a first arrangement. We were very taken with his pre-production but it was still very poppy. So Richard took on the whole thing again and completed the production in the form of snappy 80's synthesizers and the sound design of the vocals.

PH: What do you like the best about this track?

Bromsen: Everything about the song, but we are particularly fond of  the little athmospheric break between the bridge and solo - the void. 

PH: What is your creative vision as an artist?

Bromsen: We primarily want to transport/express feelings with our songs or create them in the listener. It's like good pictures—they are able to evoke feelings in the viewer which can vary from person to person but a good picture ‘moves’ something and that's exactly what we want to achieve with our songs, that people be able to connect something with the music and still be able to recall feelings years later when listening to the music. A small message is often contained as well, such as with the Merryman that it does not do any harm to be a bit crazy/foolish from time to time and with ‘The Photograph’ that you should keep your beautiful memories, since these can give you so much strength in later days.

PH: Who are your biggest influences?

Karlo: Probably Nirvana & The Beatles. 

Richard: for me it all started with Nirvana and Metallica

PH: What is the one thing that you’d like your fans to know about you?

Bromsen: That we celebrate friendship and the good things in live - let's get a new word for that: I would say that we are ‘bromsimistic.’