The Babelsberg film orchestra can once again be heard on your new album. How important is opulence to you?
Balbina: I am extremely happy and grateful that I have been able to work with the Babelsberg film orchestra regularly for several years now. For me, string arrangements are the most beautiful sound experience that music has to offer. Therefore, I find it as a great privilege to be able to use these wonderful instruments and to perform with them. Of course, this always remains a question of feasibility, but if it had been up to me, I would always implement any kind of project I design with an orchestra – ideally with my favorite orchestra, the Babelsberg film orchestra.
Recommendations of the editorial team
The album does not come out on vinyl or CD, instead as an elaborate 260-page magazine with QR code. In your opinion, is the physical sound carrier dead?
The physical sound carrier is not dead, but the definition of how it is designed has changed fundamentally – it has a different status than ten years ago. I actually consider my visual album as a kind of sound carrier, because all texts are stored in it. At the same time, the QR code leads directly to all digital formats. But I do not rule out to ever produce a vinyl or CD again.
You moved from Warsaw to Berlin with your parents at the age of three. To what extent do early childhood experiences still set the tone for your work?
It is fascinating how deeply a insult can be anchored in us, and I wrestled with myself for a long time to talk about it. Because I see it as a privilege that I have arrived here in Germany as a migrant. I would never question this, and I don’t feel rejected – on the contrary, many doors were opened here. Nevertheless, it took a long time to reach this point, and the path was full of challenges. In my song “Between 2 Worlds”, in which I am musically confronted with an emotionality that I cannot control.
Artwork and style play a major role in you. How long do you think about your visual image in advance of a publication?
Visual has always played a central role in my life because it is the skin of my soul. I fully design the world through staging, to match my music and myself. I find it remarkable if third parties perceive my visual concept as a lack of authenticity, because for me it is the deepest expression of my nature that I reflect on the outside.
On May 16, 2025, the new album from Balbina was released with Infinity Tunes.