Who said romance was dead? Both working for the Berlin-based collective Live From Earth, the collaboration between Tim Lindacher and Yosh Schreiner slowly blossomed into a strong friendship. They have found a symbiotic, easy-going way of working together over the last couple of months and have recently created a new visual identity system for the vinyl concept of Live From Earth Klub. Their portfolio spanning music, events, fashion, and video production, LFE are known for their multidisciplinary approach and thus needed a flexible, adaptable system for their sub-label. LFEK aims to re-interpret techno with no boundaries to sub-genres, like hardcore and trance, in pursue of the collective’s own vision of modern electronic music. An initiative that supports upcoming artists with a focus on electronic music, Tim and Yosh worked to give each artist the chance to individualize each record to their own liking.
We spoke to the duo about their process and why it always involves a lot of fun and creative freedom.
How did you both end up working for the collective Live From Earth?
Y: Actually, I wanted to spend three months of my internship semester at LFE. But then it turned into a romance. Tim held out a ring to me and I said yes—and then I was adopted. Now I’ve settled in and work here alongside my studies.
T: Haha, yes! Yosh feels like a soul mate to me. I love spending time with him. Everything feels so natural. It’s more like spending time and hanging out together, rather than hard work.
You have recently established a new design system for the LFEK vinyl concept, leaving lots of creative freedom to the respective artist. Please, tell us more about it!
Y: lt is a classic deconstruction. So the system builds on the previous vinyl concept. We have rearranged all the elements that were used before and broke up the existing structure. Since there are always different designers and artists designing the covers, it is not possible to create a lineage simply through the style. So we needed a system in which each designer has the freedom they need.
T: We wanted to give the designers the opportunity to move within a framework that was as free as possible without losing the common thread. It was also about rethinking the concept of vinyl packaging and doing something different without losing the reference to our previous design. You should still immediately recognize: This is an LFEK record.
Why was it important to you to leave each artist some sort of creative freedom?
Y: Each of our artists chooses the designer who will do the cover design. Of course, with the ulterior motive of matching the design to their sound.
T: We also tried to put ourselves in the role of the external designers. What would we find cool if we had the possibility to design within a fixed framework? How many different possibilities of design can we offer without losing a common thread?
The system was first used for the newest release, LFEK012 ‘Burn Rate’ by New Frames, choosing the theme of long exposures and streaks of movement. Why did you decide on this specific visual theme?
Y: The musical concept of Burn Rate is based on racing. When we started working on the first drafts, we realized that the racing look was already a pretty exhausted visual source. So we were looking for something that takes up the theme but doesn’t look too abstract so that an association is still possible.
How does it feel like to see your design on the physical object for the first time?
Y: It was actually not that exciting, because everything arrived here bit by bit and the record gradually came together. The thing had been cobbled together piece by piece, using samples in the beginning. So we have already had a clear conception of the outcome. Nevertheless, the first record with all the final components was a satisfying moment.
T: For me, it is always special to hold a self-designed vinyl in my hands. But as Yosh said, we were extremely busy with the redesign and had built countless mockups to represent the physical release. Nevertheless, I’m very excited about the upcoming external designs. Let’s hope we’ve created a system that allows other designers to be creative, haha.
What makes collaboration between you so fruitful?
Y: We eat at least one Kinder Riegel together every day, drink cold coffee, and never brush our teeth. This creates a bond that is hard to put into words.
T: We don’t take ourselves too seriously and just want to have fun. The workplace at LFE offers us just the perfect place for this. I am super grateful to have found my place in this great family.
What can we expect to see from you in the next months? Any projects in the pipeline?
T: There are a lot of things happening right now and hopefully we can look forward to some festivals and parties in the near future. I can’t wait to finally meet people again and get some live feedback
