As soon as you sit down in Berlin’s Dorle on Oranienstrasse, someone spills a sticky-sweet drink over the table. Nils Keppel gets napkins, stays relaxed and solution-oriented – and then has a lot of stories to share.
We actually wanted to meet in the Little Philharmonic Hall, but then I had to cancel due to illness. Now it has become the Dorle. I’m sorry for that. What do you like about the Little Philharmonic?
Nils Keppel: It’s just really nice there. Great drinks, great people. And it’s brighter and the music is quieter. I like that best. Otherwise I’ll get tired.
Ugh and then Radiohead is playing loudly and the lights are dimmed over time.
There are much louder bars in Leipzig. That’s already possible here. And I’ll be at the concert quickly – I want to go straight to Die Nerve at SO36. There is even food here. And at a fair price, that’s crazy. (delves into the map) Shall we share bread chips with hummus?
Gladly! And what are you drinking?
I’ll have a Pornstar Martini.
I’ll take the Nero d’Avola. The name sounds so beautiful. What luxury do you allow yourself?
Health insurance as a self-employed person. Cooking yourself and train tickets. I often travel from Leipzig to Berlin. I pay less rent in Leipzig, so I can spend more on train tickets.
I thought you’d tell me about your instrument collection.
I’m a sucker for equipment and look for specific things. But once they’re there, they just stand around most of the time. I can’t really play an instrument, so the worst guitars in the world are enough for me.
Then why the extensive search?
Because I imagine that I could suddenly play like the people I learned the instrument from.
That sounds self-critical.
Okay, in other words: I like to produce myself. I completely wrote and pre-produced the album so that Lukas [Korn] and Anton [Zimmermann] really had to argue with me in the studio about what else they were allowed to change. I’ll probably do that on the next record too because that’s part of the fun.
Do you also enjoy nibbling bread chips?
This is really salty. I say this even though I always have salt in my pocket – I really like salt. But I wanted to reduce my salt intake a little this year.
Your resolution for 2026?
Exactly. And drink more water. I’ve been trying to do that since I was six, though.
Let’s talk about your stage name – or the fact that there isn’t one. Very down to earth. Was that always the approach?
With SoundCloud I never thought about it, I just released music under my name. I only switched to Spotify because friends recommended it to me. It was clear to me that I wasn’t going to come up with an artist persona for this.
How much energy does making music cost you?
Breaking down an album into singles, posting a lot on Instagram – and sometimes playing a concert. In addition, you have friends around you for whom you are responsible because you support them through music. That’s a lot. I didn’t go viral at 15, it all develops organically. I didn’t have a big band to begin with. This came about because I realized that with my skills, I couldn’t play bass on stage with a laptop at the same time. I also saved a lot of money to buy a machine to apply reverb to the vocals. Then, thanks to a mixer, I eventually found out that he and his colleagues could do it live without any problems. I could go on forever: For example, I went to concerts with my cables in Rewe bags – everyone thought that was totally goofy. They first had to explain to me that you need cases so that everything doesn’t break. Because I wasn’t born into the music business, I figure it all out backwards.
How do you go about writing songs – is everything written down by hand in a Moleskine?
I have a WhatsApp group with just me, that’s my notebook. It’s called “Group with Myself.” When I’m working on a song using a line from it, no one is allowed to come into the room, ring the bell or anything else. I need to be able to fully concentrate on it and not have anything else planned for the day. I only write a few songs overall. I wrote all the songs on the record in one year.
Quality work. Let’s toast to that!
My point is not to make music if I don’t fully feel like it. I don’t want to have that kind of relationship when writing songs. That’s because of how it started for me: I wrote sensitive music in a male-dominated small town environment where most people played football and did hip hop. I only got involved with hip hop as a producer because it meant I could buy a mini keyboard and speakers at Christmas. At first I worked on my own music secretly and only showed it to my closest circle. What I miss about it now is the feeling of writing music as if no one would hear it.
Why can’t you continue to work like this?
If I don’t do anything, nothing happens. I don’t have proper management. But I also don’t want to flood the world with new sounds when there’s enough music out there anyway.
Which artists, dead or alive, would you like to have a drink with?
It’s not that easy. I love Slowdive but was hesitant about meeting them. What if they aren’t what I imagine them to be and I end up ruining my ability to listen to their songs? Then I was playing at the same festival as her and my friends made sure that I suddenly stood in front of Rachel Goswell, greeted her and gave her my tape. Luckily it went well. Nevertheless, I struggle when meeting people whose art means so much to me that I would burden a meeting with too much – especially in a negative sense. Patti Smith and David Lynch would probably be okay, as both are or were remarkably accessible in the interviews I’ve seen and read. The conditions would be different.
More about Nils Keppel
Born in Kandel in the Palatinate in 2000, Nils Keppel now lives in Leipzig. From there he released his first EPs until he released his post-punk debut album “SUPER SONIC YOUTH” on February 13, 2026. In the past, Keppel has supported Bilderbuch; In the spring he completed his first major tour of his own.
More about “At the Bar”
In our “At the Bar” series, artists meet with ME host Hella Wittenberg in a cozy atmosphere at the bar for a deep talk.
