Formula Indie Sessions _ Interview with ASTRAYA
What is your earliest memory connected to music?
When I was nine years old, I started listening to The Bangles and instantly fell in love with their song Eternal Flame. My friends and I performed it at school a few times. There was a show in Germany which was called “Mini Playback Show”. We applied for that with Eternal Flame, but never got in.
From a very early age, I dreamed of being on stage. At the same time, I was extremely shy and anxious, and I struggled to communicate with strangers, let alone sing in front of them. Nervousness was a major challenge for me, and I was terribly afraid of making mistakes.
How did your passion for creating music begin?
At the age of ten, I began playing the saxophone, though the instrument never truly captured my heart. I also joined the school choir, where I discovered that singing was my greatest passion.
My brother introduced me to countless bands from the rock and metal scene of the 90s, and at a very young age I started listening to groups such as Dream Theater, Paradise Lost and Anathema. When I saw The Gathering live at Summer Breeze in 2002, something shifted within me — in that moment, I knew without a doubt that this was exactly what I wanted to do.
What’s the story behind your current music project?
Our guitarist Benny and I have always made a lot of music together — mostly cover songs, played privately for ourselves on the sofa. Over the years, he started a few band projects, but most of them fell apart because he could never find the right singer.
At some point, we began writing songs together and quickly realized that his musical ideas blended naturally with my lyrics. That was when we started searching for additional band members and a rehearsal space. In 2018, we founded ASTRAYA and released our first EP, Black Awakening.
Of the original founding members, only Tim, Benny, and I remained. Finding constant members with the right level of commitment proved challenging for some time. Our bassist Tobi joined us in 2019, and for the past two years we have been complete with Klaus on the drums, growing into a strong and cohesive team.
That is why we do not like to refer to ASTRAYA as a project. We are a band. 🙂
In 2022, we released our first full-length album, Myth of Dike, which received a great deal of positive feedback and glowing reviews from several well-known music magazines, including Rock Hard, Legacy and OX-Fanzine.
In 2024, something truly wonderful happened: the Italian label These Hands Melt signed us. As a result, our upcoming album, scheduled for release in 2026, will no longer be self-released but brought to life in collaboration with a label.
How do you describe your sound to someone who has never heard your music before?
We find it somewhat difficult to define our music within a single genre, and there are only a few bands we feel truly comparable to. The vocals are classically influenced, while the music weaves together many elements of post rock, as well as metal and doom.
This is how we describe it on our website:
ASTRAYA is a captivating post rock band from Germany. Their distinctive sound emerges from a parallel universe, where spherical post rock intertwines with metal, creating an emotional tapestry that resonates deeply. Each note is infused with a sense of world-weariness and a yearning to escape to distant realms.
Through their music, ASTRAYA reflects on the harsh realities of society while grappling with profound questions about our existence. Their mission is to enchant their audiences with their mesmerizing soundscapes. Epic vocals, exceptional guitar riffs and a hauntingly melancholic spirit craft an experience that lingers long after the last chord fades.
What is one thing that you`ve learned that completely changed the way you make music?
What I’ve learned from writing lyrics is that you mustn’t be afraid of a blank page. You simply have to start writing. Afterward you highlight the ideas that matter the most or sound the best.
When it comes to singing or playing instruments, I believe it’s incredibly important to stay persistent, keep evolving and not limit yourself in terms of genre or the kind of music you want to create. This openness allows many different stylistic elements to come together naturally.
To succeed as a band, it’s above all essential to get along well on a personal level. A certain level of routine and consistency in rehearsals is crucial, as is clear communication and a defined distribution of responsibilities.
What tools, instruments oder software are essential in your creative process?
We use GarageBand for demos and Logic for recordings and mixes.
I use a Sennheiser E835 and these are my bandmates instruments and amps:
Tim: Feder Jaguar Blacktop; Cort Tele, Amp: Engl Screamer
Benny: D´Angelico Bedford; DIY Jazzmaster Style; Amp: Orange Rockerverb
Tobi: Fender Jazzbass, Amp: Mesa Boogie
Klaus Drumset: Gretsch Catalina, Cymbals Zildjian
Which indie artist or song are you loving right now?
Lately, I’ve been really into Dool, Habitants, Soen and Dymer.
How have your personal experiences influenced your music and artistic vision?
I have been struggling with depression and anxiety for a long time. Also, a certain sense of world-weariness and disillusionment has always seemed to accompany me. Music has helped me process and channel these feelings.
Experiences such as the loss of loved ones, childhood memories or breakups clearly find their way into my lyrics. Books, poems, and other inspirations also weave themselves in. As a result, our songs are tinged with a certain melancholy and darkness.
What emotions or messages do you hope listeners take from your work?
Sad music has always held a certain comfort for me. It made me feel less alone, a quiet reminder that others were facing the same struggles I was. That’s exactly what I hope our music can do too: to say, “Look, it’s not all so terrible — we’ve faced this before, and survived!”
What´s the most important lesson music has taught you so far?
Hmm, I think I wouldn’t have made it through the darkest phases of my life without music. That’s why I’d say music is my best friend — one that never leaves me and reliably allows me to escape the present and dive into another world.
What is a dream venue or festival you would love to perform at?
My all-time favorite concert was Dredg at Colos-Saal in Aschaffenburg. That’s why it would be my dream venue — a place I would truly love to perform one day.
If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would it be and why?
Ideally, I’d love to perform with Anathema. I adore the energy, the harmonies, and the way their songs are built and unfold — and I especially love that they often feature multiple vocal layers.
Where can our listeners follow and support your music? (Website, Spotify, IG, Links)
www.astrayaband.com
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/intl-de/artist/0Yflyf1DPHA1YJSWQYdHXB
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/astrayaband/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/astrayaband/
Looking forward the future, what’s your dream for the next chapter of your musical journey?
My dream is that our fans love the new album just as much as the last one, and that with its release we can reach even more people. I would also love to perform at a bigger festival or open-air show someday.
What do you hope listeners will discover about you along the way?
I hope our listeners can sense that our music is authentic and handcrafted, made straight from the heart. We are truly grateful to every single person who resonates with it and finds something of themselves within it.
