Lary was hailed as an R & B hope, but she did not want to play by the rules of the music business. Now she returns with a new album - and some questions to the adapted German pop industry.
Is that possible? Is it possible to do Pop in Germany differently than calibrated to the lowest common denominator and Schunkel rhythm? The singer Lary tried it in 2014 with her debut album: "FutureDeutscheWelle" and it sounded like this: Lasziv-erotic lyrics underlay her with quite sophisticated dubstep and electronic beats and thus did not create an alternative, experimental and emancipated soul-sound too withdrawn, but also not condescending.
German-language had been heard far too seldom, by Joy Denalane or by Glashaus. And that's why Larissa Sirah Herden, the Gelsenkirchen model with Jamaican roots that decided to make alternative pop music, was the bearer of hope. But only now, four years later, the 32-year-old releases her second album "Hart fragil". We wanted to know what has stopped the new German R & B wave so long.
NEWS UPDATE: When your debut came out, you thought: Now an interesting new artist is getting started. And then you were gone again. Why?
Lary: I did not feel like I needed to hurry. And not the need for it. Of course, I let everything grow naturally and continue in my own time, not in the time dictated by the business. The schedules within this industry are very tight, but somehow I thought, no, you can follow me! To be able to write, one must also be able to experience oneself. I have allowed myself the luxury of letting things go, only to look at it again in half a year, to finish the story first. And then finish the song.
NEWS UPDATE: At that time you also separated from your record company. Could you afford it financially?
Lary: Somehow it worked. For a long time, I did not know exactly where to go and was happy without a label. But I do not need that much either. In between, there was a modeling job or I played live. I never had much money and sometimes wondered how to pay the next rent. When I signed the recording contract with Universal, it was also the highest railroad.
NEWS UPDATE: Your music does not want to commit to a genre. She is catchy but often refuses listening habits. It does not necessarily push you into the radio or into the charts.
Lary: I'm totally into pop! But I want to make good music or just what I like - and often have a rather selfish approach. I know that I am a hit-and-runner because I never want to cut corners. But I also know that I have to have one or two songs that open my music to the people. But I'm an album artist, that was clear to the people at the label. So it was more about getting people to buy the album, not a single, in such conversations. That was cool.
NEWS UPDATE: If all this is so cool, why do not more pop artists in Germany make more characterful music?
Lary: Hardly anyone seems to have the eggs for that! Everyone is always on the safe side and keep in mind that their music has to work on the radio. I do not know if people are uninspired, or what it is. It's always very uniform.
NEWS UPDATE: Does this have structural reasons?
Lary: Yes, of course. There are no radio stations, no TV shows, no websites, just no platform for anything that is not mainstream. That makes it very difficult to move on. This also applies to the record companies. When I look at what is being contracted and published, I often think, what are you doing, why are you ruining everything? You have all the keys in your hand - open the doors! Help us, that we all get along together! It is often hard not to lose heart as an artist when everyone tells you that there is only one way.
NEWS UPDATE: What could the artists do against German pop misery?
Lary: It's actually in our hands! What confuses me so much: Everyone pretends to be the same person. When you go to the music, it would have to be one and the same person who wrote all these songs. I'm kidding: You have a talent, a voice, a charisma - and then you tell me: nothing.
SPIEGEL ONLINE: In the course of the debate on the echo scandal much was discussed about the attitude in pop: Why do you think German Pop artists are so politically or socially engaged?
Lary: Most people either do not have the right posture or are afraid to tease, that's why they're so successful. Commercial music is all about reaching as many people as possible. This often means to file all corners and edges. I guess we're back at the eggs that are missing.
