Three albums, five releases, countless thoughts about music, lyrics and the question of how not to lose yourself in it all – “Sometimes Possessed”, the new album by LAUNDROMAT CHICKS, was released on January 24, 2025. TOBIAS HAMMERMÜLLER talks about the art of intertwining melancholic songs with magical realism, why a misunderstood Gram Parsons lyric inspired a song, and how to keep challenging yourself when making music. He also talks to Ania Gleich about why he often focuses more on technique than live performance, how a runaway horse shaped his music video and why he actually prefers to drive himself rather than be chauffeured.
Has it sunk in yet that the album is out now?
Tobias Hammermüller: Yes, completely. It feels very satisfying because we’ve been working on it for over a year and there are a lot of emotions attached to it. I’ve never made such a long album before, so there are a lot of conflicting feelings involved.
Has there already been any initial feedback?
Tobias Hammermüller: Compared to the other two albums, this one is very all over the place. The others had much clearer directions for me. Nevertheless, funnily enough, most people tell me that this album best reflects our live sound.
You’ve grown organically with your band, haven’t you?
Tobias Hammermüller: It’s not really a “real” band, because I did most of the recordings. But that’s my concept now: I write songs that I think the others would enjoy playing live because I just love playing with them.
How does the third album feel compared to the second?
Tobias Hammermüller: For me, this method of counting is strange. Before the first album, at 16 or 17, I had already uploaded an EP and a demo album when I didn’t even know what mastering was. So you could say this is the fifth release. But if you look at the “real” releases, my goal was to make a proper album. The first one was a post-punk home recording, the second one we recorded in an attic with Martin (note: Rupp) from the band Jansky and it sounds much more folky and acoustic. This time, before I went in a completely different direction, I wanted you to feel that this is Laundromat Chicks.
“WHEN YOU BRING IN A FAKE ELEMENT, THE EMOTIONS CAN FEEL MORE REAL”
How did you come up with the name?
Tobias Hammermüller: I just think that the word “Laundromat” looks and sounds nice. I also love it when there are laundromat scenes in movies and music videos. I wanted something where you don’t know exactly what it means. But the name doesn’t have a deeper meaning!
Despite all the band experience, do you still feel that Laundromat Chicks is your sound, or has all the live playing changed that too?
Tobias Hammermüller: That definitely influenced the sound. I often try to imitate Resi (Theresa Strohmer) or Felix (Schnabl) on drums or guitar parts because I’ve noticed what works well live. And I’m experimenting more and more with Resi singing as well, with us taking turns or singing together. Resi even wrote “How Do You Know” on this album.
Were there certain moods and emotions that were particularly present on “Sometimes Possessed”?
Tobias Hammermüller: The first ideas for the album came from a break-up. I wrote a lot of songs back then and immediately thought to myself: This is going to be an album! After a few weeks, however, it occurred to me that it might be embarrassing and that I wouldn’t want to play the songs in six months’ time. Nevertheless, this first batch of songs became a basis for the emotions in the album. I then tried to capture a Magic Realism vibe in the lyrics and bring in some mysticism because I just find it amusing.
What do you like about magic realism?
Tobias Hammermüller: That’s an interesting question, I’ve never thought about it that much myself. I’m not so familiar with the literary style, but rather refer to movies. For example, “Donnie Darko” or Japanese films like “August in the Water”. When you bring in a fake element, the emotions can feel more real because feelings are often not rational. For me, it was also a way to make things extra dramatic and not take myself too seriously at the same time. It also made it easier to write about such deep feelings without it becoming uncomfortable because I could get into character.
Is there a song where you are yourself the most, or do you always take on a role?
Tobias Hammermüller: Probably “Secrets”. That’s where most of me is in it.
Why is that?
Tobias Hammermüller: Because it’s the only song from this first batch of songs!
I imagine that a lot has happened in the last three years since your first proper release. How has that shaped you as an artist?
Tobias Hammermüller: Back then, everything was a little bit more carefree, people didn’t take it so seriously. Now it’s a bit more serious, especially in terms of time management, because some of us now have fixed jobs and planning is more difficult. Another thing I’ve noticed is that I find it difficult to make music like on “Trouble” nowadays. Those were teenage love songs for me. That mindset is very far away now. That’s why I sometimes struggle with continuing to make such power-pop music, but at the same time writing lyrics that don’t make me feel stupid or like I’m stuck.
What would be bad about getting stuck?
Tobias Hammermüller: I think as soon as you try to do something again, you can’t do it as honestly. What I like about “Trouble” is that it came from a very honest place, and I couldn’t do that now.
Was there a song on the current album that surprised you the most in terms of how it developed over time?
Tobias Hammermüller: Yes, probably “Time-Zones”. I was listening to Gram Parsons’ demos at the time, a country rock singer from the 70s. But the demos were from the 60s, when he was still a lot folkier and just accompanied himself on guitar. Anyway, I misunderstood the lyrics when I heard them and then thought to myself: well, if he doesn’t write it like that, I can do it. So I wrote a first version of “Time Zones”, but something didn’t quite fit. So I put completely different chords below it, and Martin (Rupp) played a drum machine over it. Fortunately, it still fit the melody. After that, I thought it would be exciting to do that more often: Write a melody over an instrumental and then lay a completely different instrumental over it.
You used to play the instruments yourself. How has the production process changed for this album?
Tobias Hammermüller: I recorded the first album and the Bandcamp demos alone in my room. From “Lightning Trails” onwards, I recorded the albums with Martin Rupp. And the longer we worked together, the more I relied on him. He has a very specific style, which I tried to hold back at the beginning, but at some point I thought to myself: if I’m going to work with him, I’ll let him do it. On “Sometimes Possessed” he plays drums on every song, a few bass parts and sometimes keyboards.
Was it clearer or more chaotic for you to work with him?
Tobias Hammermüller: It’s more chaotic. When recording, I always find it exciting to realize how difficult it sometimes is to judge for yourself whether something is good or not. Having another person with you makes it easier and more difficult at the same time, because you suddenly have one more opinion. Martin motivates me to be more confident with the vocals and to step out of my comfort zone. On the other hand, he also tells me when he finds something bland. I listen to a lot of genre-specific music, and Martin likes to mix different sounds.
“THAT’S OUR WAY OF AVOIDING CONFLICTS – EVERYONE DOES THEIR OWN THING AND STILL HELPS OUT.”
What genres are these for you?
Tobias Hammermüller: I’ve always identified a lot with 80s jangle guitar music. That’s partly because of the sound – because it’s fast but not aggressive – and partly because it has a different mood for me compared to indie music, where people often sing directly about their own lives, and I don’t get bored so quickly. With bands like The Go-Betweens or The Smiths, it often has the atmosphere of an old Hollywood movie or a heightened reality. I’ve always been attracted to that. Because I have a strong connection to that, I sometimes try too hard to imitate that sound because it’s my comfort zone. But Martin often brings in completely different elements: pitched voices, some weird keyboard parts. Sometimes I don’t like it at first, but when I listen to it a week later, I suddenly think it’s really cool.
And within the band: what is your dynamic like?
Tobias Hammermüller: What’s a very cool dynamic in our group of friends is that everyone has their own projects, but helps out with the others at the same time. For example, Felix, who plays drums with us, plays in a garage rock band called Salamirecorder, where I used to play bass. Resi and Lena (Pöttinger) also have Topsy Turvy. I think that’s our way of avoiding conflicts – everyone does their own thing and still helps out.
I assume you are a big music collector. What modern influences have accompanied you on the album?
Tobias Hammermüller: There is a lot of music from today that I like. I like a lot of bands from the current shoegaze wave from the USA. But when I do something like this now, I’m only compared to these bands. So I try to make music that sounds a bit timeless. But I really like the band Hotline TNT, for example. I find their lyrical style funny because you often realize that they only use words because they rhyme. But somehow it still makes sense and the words look nice on a lyrics sheet. I’m certainly influenced by that. I also really like the band Wednesday. That was a bit of an introduction to country for me, because they combine country and shoegaze. That’s when I realized that country isn’t just bourgeois music, but that it can also deal with very cool feelings. There really are a lot of country songs that are quite self-deprecating or self-critical. The singer from Wednesday often takes quotes and incorporates them into new lyrics. They use them to challenge themselves. I think that’s very cool.
What challenge do you give yourself?
Tobias Hammermüller: For this album, I wanted to write songs that I wouldn’t feel embarrassed about in five or ten years’ time. But songs that have something about them that you can return to. For the future, I thought that I would like to write lyrics that really have a clear meaning and a clear metaphor. I’m listening to a lot of doo-wop songs from the 60s at the moment, where a metaphor often runs through the whole song. For example, the song “Up on the Roof” by The Drifters, which is about the character going up on the roof to calm down when life gets too much for him. That can say so much, and I find that exciting.
Do you actually do close readings of songs?
Tobias Hammermüller: Yes, at the moment I’m actually more interested in the lyrics because there are still so many directions you can go in. I’ve written almost all my songs on the guitar so far, but I’m getting a bit bored with that at the moment. That’s why I’m trying to find a new approach to making music.
“WHEN I SAW THE VIDEO FOR THE FIRST TIME, IT MADE ME CRY AT THE END!”
Do you have any other approaches or experimental pools?
Tobias Hammermüller: I read a lot of books.
Which ones?
Tobias Hammermüller: A friend recently brought me six books because we talked a lot about movies at our last meeting. One of them was “Heaven” by Mieko Kawakami, a Japanese coming-of-age story.
The album has a very positively charged emotion for me musically, while you touch on very dark themes in your signature style. Was this contrast intentional?
Tobias Hammermüller: Yes, I would say so. That’s probably also due to my musical preferences. I noticed that the other albums were about a third shorter. With a length like this, it would be hard for me to write every song in the same musical style. I just wanted to keep it dynamic. I would find it pointless if every song were consistently gloomy – that could get really tedious.
Does this have to do with your attitude towards life?
Tobias Hammermüller: I like variety in every aspect.
And maybe right now, you don’t need only sad songs all the time?
Tobias Hammermüller: Interestingly, the others in the band said that “Ruins” sounds really sad in terms of the chords. But for me, it’s not a sad song at all when it comes to the lyrics. With other songs, it’s the exact opposite.
In the last mica – music austria interview, you said you don’t want to become “famous-famous.” Has your attitude towards that or towards music as a job changed?
Tobias Hammermüller: Not really. I really enjoy making music and performing to some extent, but in other aspects of my life, I have real problems with being “observed.” Of course, that’s a challenge when you make music.
So how do you deal with being on stage?
Tobias Hammermüller: There’s always a point where I enjoy performing. I get into it by focusing on very technical things: How do I play the song? Can the others hear me well? Do we sound good together? This often helps me get into a flow. Of course, there are nights when it can be very exhausting due to the “being noticed” part. Interestingly, though, I love just driving and listening to music – that’s my relaxation between concerts. We’re going on a two-week tour with Topsy Turvy soon, and the others suggested taking someone to drive. Maybe I’m underestimating it, but I’d actually like to drive the whole tour myself because I find it so relaxing.
And when will it be “enough” attention for you?
Tobias Hammermüller: I think I’m going to reach the point soon, where the impact is large enough for me. Right now, we’re at a point where we have a booker and can play small club shows in Europe. That’s exactly what I wanted. To be able to organize concerts where enough money comes in so that I can live off it without needing a part-time job.
Thanks for the conversation!
Tobias Hammermüller: Thanks for the interesting questions!
Ania Gleich
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Translated from the German original by Arianna Alfreds.