Tonic Walter is an electronic music production duo from southern Germany made up of Maximilian Nestmann and Marcel Vckov. Formerly based in Munich and Berlin, the duo realized they could find true inspiration in their hometown of Altenstadt in the Bavarian countryside. The two originally met in elementary school and started a band with other classmates where they initiated their love for music production and their long-standing friendship. Max and Marcel soon turned to electronic music and bonded over their love for artists like The Blaze, Bicep, and Moderat among others. Using analog synthesizers, live instruments, and organic drum grooves, Tonic Walter creates a blend of melodic house, deep house, and techno while retaining the organic feeling of a live band. To date, the duo has racked up over 20m streams and over 47k creations using their sounds across social platforms resulting in more than 128m views. As the electronic community takes notice and their fan base continues to grow, Max and Marcel plan to travel the world and leave their mark on electronic music.
What do you feel when you hear this track?
While there is no formal press release for their new single, Tonic Walter released “FEEL” on April 12th, the first song off their new EP. Matt Jacobs reached out to help promote their new release and I fell in love with their sound. I turned on Tonic Walter and sat there for hours just listening to the music. Thank you to Matt for bringing this music to me and I can’t wait for their next release. While they work on their next single and ready the EP, I got the chance to sit down with the duo for an exclusive interview. This was a ton of fun for me and I am grateful for this opportunity. It is my pleasure to introduce you to Tonic Walter.
What’s the story behind how you all met, and how many years have you been involved in making music together?
We got to know each other in elementary school, which was more than 20 years ago now. That’s where our great bond and our long-standing friendship comes from, which you can hopefully hear in our productions. We started making music together over 10 years ago. Back then, it was under different names and in different constellations in bands. Gradually, however, it turned out that we were both most serious about music and we became more and more interested in music production and electronic music. This led to the formation of the Tonic Walter project at the beginning of 2019.
Once situated in Munich and Berlin, you opted to return to your roots in Altenstadt, nestled in the Bavarian countryside. Can you tell me more about that journey and what life is like in Old Town?
Altenstadt is great for finding a quiet place to focus on music production. In the bigger cities, there are often far too many distractions to get fully into a creative project. The possibilities seem bigger, but it’s also easy to lose focus. As we both grew up here and our studio has always been here, it felt very natural for us to move back.
Can you share a bit about your musical background and early influences?
We both discovered our love for electronic music relatively late, as before that we only played in bands and didn’t produce. With Tonic Walter we wanted to keep the whole live character of a band and combine it with electronic music. This is not the norm in our genre, but at the moment live sets by electronic acts are becoming more and more popular. Other electronic music duos that play live such as The Blaze, Odesza, Moderat, and Bicep have had a huge influence on our sound design.
How did you come up with the name Tonic Walter?
There is no particular reason for the name. We just thought it was a funny wordplay and needed a name for the project really fast. Now it’s always funny to read the different versions of our name when people don’t get it right.
Could you tell me about your new single “FEEL” and what inspired you to create that track?
This track started with the vocal sample that has, “Can’t you feel,” as lyrics. In addition, the heavy synth chords give a very strong emotion and at the same time the lead sound is very simple. Overall, the track has just as many elements as it needs and is therefore much simpler than what we normally produce. In the end, the song is very simple but still sounds big, which we found to be a very nice combination.
I absolutely love the album cover! I was wondering, who was the brilliant mind behind its design? Also, could you share a bit about the thought process behind choosing the photo for it?
We create most of our covers ourselves. We like to limit ourselves and set ourselves artificial boundaries. We shot all four covers for our next three singles and the following EP in one shooting on just one roll of film. That’s what makes it exciting, using simple tools to create something that leaves a lot of room for interpretation and can evoke different emotions, which is what “FEEL” is all about.
What’s the story behind the release of your single “The Ghost” and how you got selected for the cover of the Electronic Rising Playlist?”
After our track “Into The Night” went viral, of course many eyes were on us and of course Spotify didn’t miss it, so we ended up on the cover of the Electronic Rising Playlist with our next single “The Ghost”, which we are very proud to be featured here alongside various very great artists that we have looked up to and been inspired by for years.
How do you explain the immense success of your single “Into The Night” on TikTok, which has sparked over 39,000 user creations and amassed a staggering 110 million views? What keeps you motivated following such widespread exposure?
What made the song so strong is probably the prominent lead synth line in the drop of the track, which inspired a lot of people to make a video to this track. The song is also very long by our standards and tells a complete story over more than seven minutes, which makes many people want to listen to it again and again because they can always discover new elements. This is also what inspires us to keep making new music, to create new sound worlds, and to keep surprising people with new combinations and details in songs.
Are there any intentions to drop an EP or a full-length studio album in the upcoming year, considering the numerous singles you’ve already released?
“FEEL” is the first single from our new EP with five tracks, which will be released this summer.
Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations you’re particularly excited about?
We have another collaboration coming later this year with an act that we’ve been following for years that we’re working on right now but can’t talk about at the moment, but we’re really looking forward to this release.
What’s your approach to live performances? Do you maintain a standard setlist, or do you modify it to reflect the atmosphere and audience response?
Of course, we always respond to the audience and the atmosphere in the venue, if only because we play every track live and can act quite flexibly here. However, there are also natural limits here, as we only play our own productions and can’t access many other songs like in a DJ set. But that also makes it very exciting for us, as we can take the listener on a very individual journey through our music. This is a unique experience they can only have at our concerts.
Can you talk a bit about the contrast between performing live and being in the studio? And I’m wondering, are there any tour plans on the horizon for you this year, or are you currently in the studio working on your next single?
We are currently finalizing our next releases, which will be released as an EP over the summer, and in the fall, we will go on our first own tour with concerts all over Europe.
Playing live is much more intuitive and letting yourself go and responding to the reactions of the crowd. In the studio, it’s often also about working intuitively and getting into a creative flow. But a lot of it is also detailed work, tweaking sounds until you like them 100%, which then happens less in the moment and can often take a long time.
How can fans access your music and stay in the loop regarding your latest projects? Do you have a newsletter, do you engage on social media, or should we simply check your website?
The best way to stay up to date is to follow us on TikTok or Instagram. That’s where we’re most active and where you can keep up with everything best.
What’s your preference: smaller, more intimate gigs or playing at festivals on the big stage?
Again, the answer would be both. Of course, it’s great fun to play a huge festival stage, but often the vibe at a small intimate gig is unbeatable, as you get more of a sense of how the audience feels the songs.
Do you ever feel anxious when you’re on stage? And if things don’t go as planned, how do you puke and rally?
No, we never feel anxious on stage. Of course we’re nervous, but that’s never really bad, it’s usually more of an excitement.
I’m interested in learning more about the release of “Falling – Montee Remix.” How did the collaboration unfold, and could you discuss the logistics of releasing a song with various contributors involved?
The collaboration actually came about because Montee wrote to us on Instagram because he liked the original track so much. We already knew his music and really liked his productions, so we asked him if he wanted to remix the song for us. We only really got to know each other in person when he opened for us at our show in Berlin in February. It’s often the case these days that many collaborations only come about online. That’s why it was so much fun to get to know each other in person. The highlight was that Montee also played the remix in his set at the show.
I’m getting a nice melodic trance vibe. This is music I could turn on and zone out to. Is that by design? And how has your sound evolved over the years?
We hear this reference very often, so something must have subconsciously inspired us in the sound design. It’s funny because neither of us actually listen to trance and our productions are at a very different tempo. Our sound has evolved over many years of constant experimentation with synthesizers and samples.
When you’re not in the studio, what music moves you? I’d love to hear about the influences that shape your creative process.
We both used to listen to a lot of indie music, as we both came to music from the same band background. We always want to keep the organic and live feeling in our music and adapt it to electronic music.
It’s been a great conversation so far! I’m really enjoying this. Is there anything else you can share about Tonic Walter that we haven’t covered yet?
No, your questions were great, and we were able to talk about everything. We’re simply happy for everyone who gets to know our music through this interview or comes to see us on our first own tour this fall.
Thanks for doing this, guys. In all the interviews I do, I always give the artist the last word. Go.
Thank you for the interview, it was a pleasure to answer all your great questions!
For more information about Tonic Walter, go to:
Website | Spotify | Instagram | YouTube | TikTok
