BED Interview: Queer Shoegaze from Berlin’s Underground

Last Updated on 2025-05-25 by a-indie

BED’s Roots

BED’s Musical DNA: Three Influential Albums

-Yuuki Takita: Your music seems to be influenced by Grouper, My Bloody Valentine, and Cocteau Twins. Please tell us about three albums that have influenced BED’s music. Also, please share which aspects of each album influenced you, along with any related episodes. If that’s difficult, could you tell us about albums that each member likes and stories related to them?
Sol: We love the heavy textures of My Bloody Valentine, the siren-like voice of Cocteau Twins and the deep ambient nostalgic sound of Grouper. We find inspiration in our darkest, saddest times.
Nico: So I would say Loveless (MVB), Heaven or Las Vegas (CT) and Dragging a Dead Deer Up The Heel (G). I would also like to add Pretty On The Inside by Hole.

Contemporary Artists They’re Conscious of and Inspired By

-Yuuki Takita: Are there any bands or artists from your generation, or currently active, that you’re conscious of or inspired by?
Sol: We both went to the same Placebo world tour gigs as teenagers. Being queer in Latin America marked us. Currently we like Blonde Redhead, Jessica Prat, MBV.. so many. You can check our playlists on our artists page.
Nico: And also friends that are part of the same scene where we play, like the projects of our producer Pablo Thiermann such as Telemat, Hombre Animal or our newest collaborator Nino Theys.

Art and Culture That Influenced BED

-Yuuki Takita: Your music has elements of shoegaze/dream pop and post-punk. And those sounds also have an aesthetic and profound beauty reminiscent of gothic art. Could you tell us about culture or art outside of music that has inspired and influenced your musical style?
Sol: Nico is a visual artist: Tracy Emin, Courtney Love and Buffy the Vampire Slayer influenced us. My all time favourite band was The Cure. As a filmmaker I always enjoyed goths in films, the weird characters that didn’t fit the norm.
Nico: Yeah, we drag influences from visual arts, films, pop culture in general. When it comes to visual elements, BED is very based on the mixture between expressionism and queer punk aesthetics, from Tracey Emin to Mapplethorpe, crossed by Francis Bacon and Edvard Munch. Our lyrics are heavily influenced by the writing of Courtney Love but also by Gothic Literature like Wuthering Heights.

New Album “everything hurts”

Emotions in “everything hurts”

-Yuuki Takita: Now, please tell us about the album “everything hurts.” First, about the title. What emotions or atmosphere are reflected in the title “everything hurts”?
Sol: We had horrible relationships and we think that love shouldn’t make you cry.
Nico: Yes. The title of the song and of the album comes from an exhibition I did in 2021 in Leipzig, about love withdrawal and low feelings.

Sound Refined Through Collaboration

-Yuuki Takita: It seems the album was composed by Astorga and Astolfi, then Schiller joined, with Pablo Thiermann handling production and mixing, and Jari Antti doing the mastering. How did you discuss, exchange ideas, and proceed during production?
Sol: Our friendship fueled the first writing ideas, Ema had beautiful guitars, Nico deep lyrics and Sol punchy bass lines. Pablo took our whatsapp audio demos and made them into songs, like a magician. Nico sits with him for very precise instructions in the mixing. And Jari mastered the album, a very sensitive team.
Nico: Usually the songs start very impulsively, we jam and do drafts of ideas. Then after we have a structure, I write the lyrics also in an unconscious kind of flow and without so much editing. Pablo helps us to make those drafts into powerful songs since he totally understands where to take out sound and he shares some of the same references.