Freie Sicht – the brand new single from Berlin and Vienna-based production duo Oberst & Buchner and German vocalist Acud – is out now via Heimlich Musik. Landing alongside a brace of remixes from Tal Fussman and Shubostar, and an incredible new music video which you can check out below, Freie Sicht is the latest single to be taken from Oberst & Buchner’s upcoming studio album Marble Arch, which drops on September 16. We caught up with the in-demand duo to find out more.

Hi Oberst & Buchner, pleasure to have you at We Own The Nite!

Thanks for having us!

Please can you introduce yourself to our readers?

We are Sebastian and Andy, we are best friends and ‘Oberst & Buchner’ is a combination of our last names. We are currently living in Berlin and Vienna and have been making music together for a long time already. Our second album called ‘Marble Arch’ which will be released soon is another milestone on our musical journey.

How has 2022 been for you so far?

It’s safe to say that it was pretty intense. The release of our album is around the corner and filling out the roles as artists while being part of the label at the same time was quite challenging. Nevertheless, we learned a lot while curating this project from the beginning until the release. At the same time life came back slowly after the pandemic and we had a great festival summer. We were able to check the Fusion Festival from our bucket list and were lucky enough to see new places making new friends.

Going back to the start, how long have you been making music together, and how did you meet?

We met at a skiing camp organized from our school at the age of 14 and 15. The following summer we founded our very first punk band. Andy, who played the rhythm guitar, couldn’t even play one chord on his guitar at this time. From this starting point our musical journey evolved more and more in the sound that we stand for now.

Congratulations on the release of your new single ‘Freie Sicht’. We’re absolutely loving it here over at WOTN! Can you talk to us about the record and the creative process?

The first idea of ‘Freie Sicht’ was recorded in a 250 years old house somewhere in Bavaria, Germany where we spent some time collecting ideas for the album. Back at home we re-arranged the initial sketch, re-recorded some elements if necessary and realized that the song is missing some vocals. Luckily our friend Lasse aka Acud lent us his voice and recorded what was missing.  

Will there be a music video?

Yes! We asked Harry Delgas & Nico Ohnesorge, two guys from Stuttgart, for the video after we’ve seen some of their work that we really liked. We had a good feeling about this after the first call already and started to collect ideas together. After a mood video they started shooting. When they sent us the final result we were stunned about how they executed the whole idea including every little detail we were talking about before. So we can definitely say that we are super happy with the final result.  

Tell us about your new album ‘Marble Arch’.

‘Marble Arch’ started as a pretty rough concept: We knew that we wanted to get together for a longer time in a surrounding that we do not know yet to spend the summer producing. We wanted to get out of our usual surroundings since the time during the pandemic had not much to inspire us as musicians. We also knew that we were aiming for an album. In the end, it was a coincidence where we found a suitable place, a 250 years old house in the Bavarian forest, that in the end had also a big impact on the sound. We used instruments that we found in the house, you can hear and feel the room as well as the weather on the recordings we made there. The artwork as well is inspired by that location.

We think it’s our most ambitious work yet. We produced 10 Tracks in 7 days After the collection of the initial sketches we worked one and a half years on those songs to shape them to our satisfaction. We asked friends and idols to collaborate on some songs like ACUD, Aydo Abay, Mimu, Kalipo and Faber. We worked together with genius minds like Jakob Hagelsperger for mixing or HP Mastering studio for the final touch. Not only the music but the vinyl became a beautiful piece of art with a lot of specials and things to discover. Andy himself created the whole artwork and we are very proud of the outcome. We don’t want to talk too much about the music yet. But it is safe to say that it’s a good mixture of all different styles that shaped or sound over the years.

Interesting name — is there a specific message behind the title?

The name is an homage to the village where the house was located and where we recorded the first ideas for the album. It reflects the old medieval buildings we visited during the breaks.

What roles did you each assume in the studio when making the album?

We try to play equal roles when working in the studio but over the years it established that Andy has a bigger impact on the melodic section while Sebastian is rather oriented on the rhythmic section. 

What are your favourite pieces of studio equipment right now? 

Our all-time favorite will never change. That is the Roland Juno-60 for sure. Aside from that we use our TR-606, the Korg Minilogue XD and the Dave Smith Prophet 6 Sequential in almost every track.

Top 5 favourite records you love to listen to at home right now (please feel free to answer separately)?

Sebastian: 

Infravision – Illegal Future

Moderat – MORE D4TA

Weval – Time Goes

Wallners – Prolog I

Minru – Liminality

Andreas
Warhaus – Warhaus

Robohands – Violet

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizzard – Omnium Gatherum

James Blake – Friends that break your heart

Darkside – Spiral

What else do you have coming up over the rest of the year? Any other projects you can tell us about?

We are quite excited to get our album finally released. We are very curious how it will be received after this long process. After the release and a summer full of festivals we hope to regain some free time to produce new originals and remixes. And of course we will play some shows if there won’t be another lockdown again. 

Where can we see you live this year? Any plans to come to New York at any point?

At the moment we have confirmed shows for Vienna, Munich, Berlin and Innsbruck. There is no date fixed for New York so far but let’s see what the future brings. 

Do you have any final words for our WOTN readers?

Mehr als leben wird nicht! (meaning: You can’t get more than life!)

Oberst & Buchner’s new album Marble Arch will be released on September 16 via Heimlich Music.