Photography by Max Hartmann and Press Agency

Wolfskind and Magnus Hesse aka BAYUK are both solo artists who despite their young age have already proven their success. Immediately when they met for the first time in 2018 there was a musical spark between them and ever since then it has been the pure love for music that bonds the two, beyond the rules of the labels and music industry. In 2019 they released their first collabo EP and after more than two years being on their own journeys now, the urge to create something new together, resulted in their new upcoming EP “Your Social Batter”. Today we celebrate with them the release of their second track out of it and chatted with the Berlin based duo about how the city influences their art, why the longing for uniqueness sometimes makes a lot of people look the same and why deleting Wolfskind instagram a year ago was the best decision ever.

Your new single “THE JUGGERNAUT” is super reduced and somehow charming. What is the story of this song?

Bayuk: I remember that it had been a while since Lucas and me had made music together. So we just recorded all kinds of things and didn’t think too much about anything. We didn’t hear a song though in any of the jams and ideas. So at the end of the day I just grabbed a guitar, played those chords and sang a melody, which Lucas then played around with and gave it that nice pitchy weird sound. It felt like coming home again after both of us had been on their own journeys over the last two years. We knew that this was a new start of something new.

On the EP “Your Social BaGery” you also collaborated with the artists Mani Orasson and Llucid. How far do you get into each other’s work when you create with other artists?

Wolfskind: As a producer I try to create an environment that allows the artists to express themselves freely. I want to connect different artists with each other and love big sessions with many musicians in one room. Our track „Matter“ was written on one of these days with legendary producer. „P*nut“ and some of my best mates: Niall Healy and Yannick Ernst!

Bayuk: Both tracks we really liked the idea of but we felt they could need some extra touch or a different kind of style to make it even more special. So we invited them to rework and feature on the tracks. They gave them the necessary magic and we are super stoked to finally release the tracks.

Wolfskind: Exactly, we let the boys to their thing and didn’t interfere too much. After receiving the vocals from Llucid for example we spent two more days in the studio together and finished the song as a team.

What do you like and appreciate about each other?

W: Magnus is gentle soul, a very creative mind and a great friend. He accepts me the way I am and always supports my ideas. I like how we can disagree but always try to find a way that works for both of us. I enjoyed our times at the baltic sea, where we have written quite a lot of the new music, but also went swimming in ice cold water together and binge watch Euphoria. Love you <3

B: I like that Lucas is an honest and humble character. I like that he doesn’t have social media and rather takes a walk in the park with his girlfriend and his dog Edda than scrolling down feeds. I like that he has a perfectly clear vision musically of what he likes and what he doesn’t identify himself with. Most of all I like him as a friend, who I can talk to anytime about anything and who I know will always listen and be there.

And is there anything that bothers you about the other? (smile)

W: The fact that we agreed to go to the gym every Friday 3 months ago, but only been there 3 times since. (laughs)

B: Haha. I guess this is rather about his dog. She farts….like a lot. Which..during sessions can be tough to take.

“It felt like coming home again after both of us had been on their own journeys over the last two years.” Bayuk

To what extent does Berlin inﬂuence your music and creative work?

W: Berlin has certainly been the most influencing thing in recent years. Both positively and negatively. The city is super vibrant, there are things going on everywhere and artists from all over the world come to visit. I’ve met so many amazingly talented people here and my work has progressed immensely. The darker side is that Berlin can get very overwhelming for me. It’s big and loud, there is a lot of weird stuff going on as well. Half of the year its grey and dark, peoples energies and the overall vibe changes. I am very grateful though, that I got to make music with friends and process a lot of my emotions with them. But honestly, I can’t wait for the day that I don’t have to spend wintertime in Berlin anymore.

B: I guess it does either way. For me personally it’s a city that brings me a lot of sadness but also an incredible amount of joy. I feel like it’s hard to find love in Berlin since so many people are going through some sort of phase and aren’t happy with their lives no matter how much awareness they have in their lives and how many health-blogs they read. I guess that kind of vibe and that feeling of knowing a thousand people but only being in close contact with a handful gives me a lot to process, which one way or another finds its way into my and our music.

Despite all confessions of individuality, it seems everyone always tries to belong to a group. I would describe you as typical hipsters. (smiles) Is that a conscious decision, or does this assimilation of clothing & co happens naturally with you? By the way, I used to be a (conscious) raver. (smiles)

B: Haha, that’s interesting cause it fits the topic, we just talked about. I never thought of myself as a hipster to be honest and probably never will. I do consciously choose my outfits because I found out that it changes the way I feel about myself. There’s something like a feeling of wholeness when your appearance matches the image, that you feel is the most “you”. So I don’t try to be or look like anything specifically but I know when it feels right and then I go with it. Luckily in Berlin people are not judgmental at all most of the times when it comes to style, I guess that makes a lot of people feel more courageous about their appearance.

W: As much as I love well dressed people and the idea of fashion, it’s one of the few things creatively that I have very little interest in. Whenever I go back to my small hometown though, I realize that Berlin certainly has changed my style. Berlin is super acceptive and you can wear literally anything. So I end up with Birkenstocks and tennis socks at the end of most days anyway. Funnily especially here in Berlin where everyone tries to be super cool and individual, the longing for uniqueness makes a lot of people look the same.

Wolfskind, your Instagram is completely empty. Everything deleted or just nothing uploaded yet?

W: I deleted my IG a year ago – the best decision ever. For the new releases I reactivated my account to post some stories every now and then. I already hate it (laughs) On the long run, I want to get rid of most social media and find other ways to connect with people. Something very little people know: I post pictures of my life on my Spotify artist profile regularly.

BAYUK, you have a great home studio as far as I see on instagram. How much time do you spend in it?

B: I wish it was a studio haha, it’s just the most basic setup you can imagine. But I love it. I wanna spend even more time like this because I realized that not being in a ‘proper’ studio makes a difference. You feel more like a child playing with a friend in the afternoon avoiding to do your homework. It’s very liberating also because I’m just getting into production myself and with only a basic setup you have to come up with good stuff and a good performance, that doesn’t depend on a good production. So I usually get a very authentic and intimate vibe, that I really like, when I work from home.

Our generation is basically doing better than any before. Everything is always and at all times available to everyone. Travel, entertainment, food from around the world, etc. When was the last time you decided to forego something? And what was it?

W: That incredibly sweet but super tasty cookie from the café downstairs this morning.

B: Good question. I remember that I ran out of shows to stream recently and that for quite a while I felt like “this is actually a good thing”, because I was trying more to entertain myself by meeting people in the evening or going for runs or doing other things, that are fun. Generally I try to ride the bike to most places instead of a car and I don’t eat meat.

How often do your parents listen to your music? (smile)

B: I wish I knew to be honest. I think they’re very proud of what I’m doing, but I don’t think they listen to a lot of music in general these days. So if I show them a new song, they’re gonna listen to it and they have their favorite songs and all but usually I talk to them about other stuff or about how it’s going in general with ‘the music thing’ without letting them know about everything I’m releasing.

W: My mom is a dancing teacher and she has used most of my tracks in her classes since I started making music. Big love Mama <3 My dad has played guitar on my first tracks and I think he sometimes still listens to them. Since then the music wasn’t always his taste. There is another track on the upcoming EP that he really likes though ;)

Any last words to our readers?

B: Thank you! That was really fun <3

W: Take a walk today :)

Thanks so much for your time!

Follow them for more:
www.instagram.com/wlfsknd
soundcloud.com/wolfskindmusic
www.facebook.com/wolfskindmusic

www.instagram.com/bayukmusic
www.tiktok.com/@bayukmusic
www.facebook.com/bayukmusic