Today I’m very pleased to welcome Maya Berlin of Cold in Berlin. With the release of their powerful new album Wounds out now via New Heavy Sounds, the doom gothic rock band returns after a six-year gap with a record that feels both deeply personal and universally resonant. Described as a visceral and strange celebration of human endurance, Wounds explores themes of trauma, survival, and strength through compelling storytelling and bold musical experimentation.
Welcome to Maya Berlin from Cold in Berlin
So, Maya, I wanted to welcome you here, and I wanted to ask you, how are you and how everything is treating you and how everything’s going?
Thanks. Well, thank you very much for having me. It’s a pleasure to be interviewed by you guys. Yeah, everything’s treating me pretty well. Things are going nicely. We’re preparing for some live shows, some of the songs that we haven’t performed yet, live from Wounds. So that’s quite exciting. And the album’s going really well, so. Yeah, very happy.
The new album Wounds from Cold in Berlin
Thank you. Yeah. So let’s talk about Wounds. And first of all, I wanted to ask you. Well, between the last album and Wounds, there are six years in the middle. And I wanted to ask you, when did you realize that the material that you guys had collected was the right one for a new release?
It’s quite a hard question, actually. I think COVID stalled the world, so we kind of. That. That’s also that. Yeah. So there was a kind of natural break, maybe. And then I think. I just. I don’t know. We knew we wanted to start writing again. It just took us a little bit of time to decide what we wanted to do next. You know, we never wanted to produce the same album over and over again. If people have listened to our previous work, they know that each one, we try and do something kind of different and interesting, but stay as Cold in Berlin.
The impact of COVID on the new album
So, you know, and also, I think after COVID, maybe we didn’t know if we had a full album. You know, we did an EP and we had a few other bits and pieces. We warmed back up very lucky with the band. You know, we know each other very well, we create together very well, and we can let things kind of grow organically in the room. And so it always takes a bit of time and a bit of space to do that with music.
You know, it’s not one person’s. Yeah. It’s not one person’s direct vision. It is a collaborative process of kind of. We bring things and we let things move and dance and enjoy and see. That takes time. And I think the natural time away from doing that during COVID probably meant we had to warm back up into that.
Probably everyone experienced something different during COVID that individually, everyone just had to kind of deal with. And, you know, some people are still dealing with that now, but I’m sure that would have played into it a little bit. It didn’t feel like six years in between, I have to say [laughs].
The six-year hiatus
Well, I’m glad to hear that because it was the same for me. So I felt like it was the other day, the previous album. So then I checked. Is it really six years? Because I don’t feel like that I.
Something has definitely happened to time [laughs]. I don’t know what it is.
The six-year hiatus (cont)
Yeah, I don’t know. Me neither. But yeah, indeed are six years. And yeah, you know, it’s also, in a way, a biblical era in the musical industry because for me, six year and for you, I think in the normal life are almost nothing. However in the musical industry it’s like geological era in a way. And I am, I’m laughing about it because it shouldn’t be supposed to feel like it’s a lot of time because every band has its own nature and decides the timings accordingly.
Yeah. I think what was good about taking a bit of time though is that we ended up with something that I’m really proud of. And maybe if it had been two years, we wouldn’t have got what we wanted in that way, you know, it would have been very different.
I had an idea for this album before it was born in a way. This Wounds project for me and you know, I just wanted to think about a very strong female characters in the songs and kind of female based stories and issues that people could bring their own interpretations to. And you know, I suppose it’s. It’s kind of complex on a different level when you’re trying to produce songs like that.
Wounds as a visceral, strange celebration of human endurance
Yeah, I agree with that. And you called Wounds as a visceral, strange celebration of human endurance. At the same time, you stated once, it’s a series of songs about different ways people live with and process their vaunts of their lives. So it’s. If I just analyze this sentence and I start to think about it, I also understand why it took six years because approaching in general human life is difficult. What does make it more challenging is also speaking about wounds.
Yeah. When, when you’ve got a kind of theme like that, you need to be quite careful. You need to not kind of drift into telling your own story. You know, I always wanted our music to be something that people can connect with and drop their own bits of self into and hear bits of stories that resonate with them. But then write their own ending or, you know, the other way around. They’ve got a beginning, but the ending is slightly different.
And I, I think because, you know, trauma, wounds, loss, survival, strengths, finding people that have been through the same kind of thing as you. You know, communion through music is very universal. I wanted to be careful to try and get that right. And also I think musically we wanted to do something different as well. You know, we want it to be a little bit more experimental. Try a few more things that we tried out on the EP The Body Is the Wound that had kind of gone quite well and, it allowed us to do that.
Working with Mike Bew from the Full Studios in Galles
And about this, I wanted to ask you, how did you approach recording at the Full Studios with Mike Bew? Yeah. Considering the whole body of lyrics that you had and the ideas, I’m curious also to understand, how did you approach it with him? All of you? So how in general how you guys did approach this next phase with Mike?
Yeah, I mean, we were so, so lucky to be able to work with Mike. I mean, he really got the best out of us. He’s such a great guy and he’s got such a great ear. And he really listened to what we were trying to do and he really added some interesting textures and layers. He really works around the band, so if you are night owls or if you like to get up really early, you know, he can accommodate all of that. You’re in the middle of the countryside in Wales.
Working with Mike Bew from the Full Studios in Galles [cont]
It’s so beautiful and the scenery is so brilliant. The night skies are so glorious. You know, the arm of the galaxy is hanging over you in the evening when you, when you leave the studio. There’s also something about staying together and kind of living together during the period of recording. Indeed, that really adds a kind of, I don’t know, a beautiful intensity to what you’re doing.
I becomes so much more than just arrive at the studio, do your bit, go home, repeat. It becomes, you know, a proper creative experience. And you’re kind of, you know, the songs are growing together, you’re growing together, you’re making these decisions and it’s was just wonderful. And, you know, to have someone like Mike to kind of steer us a little bit and listen to what we wanted and help us get there. We’re very, very lucky. It was a great experience to work with him.
Collaborating with Bow Church
Yeah. And you know about that. I know that Bow Church is a longtime collaborator of the band, but I think he had a difficult job this time, considering all. So I wanted to ask you how he did imagine his scenes based on the body of work that Cold in Berlin has created together with Mike.
So, yeah, I mean, I always feel very grateful to have such talented musicians around us, you know, and in the band and,you know, Bow Church is so talented. And again, part of his talent lies in listening to what we’ve got.
Obviously we had synth parts, we had interesting things that we wanted to try. And, you have to have collaborators that you can communicate with and that you have a shared language. You know, the language of music, but the language of emotion and feeling and, you know, the texture and stuff. So, yeah, I mean, he’s very talented. I mean, I would have found it incredibly difficult to do what he does. Whether he actually found it difficult, I don’t know [laughs].
The challenge for Bow Church
However, you can give it to me that it was also challenging for him more than the previous time. In a way, I felt it like that because let me tell you, I really like the album, but I’m also trying to put myself in the shoes of Bow Church and thinking, what the hell. How I did manage. But that was my constant thought when I listened to the album. So in a way, it is mission accomplished.
Yeah, definitely. I think also he’s worked with our bassist for a very long time. Since they were very young and that really helps because Lawrence is very talented. They’re able to work together, arrange things, put things together that. Bring the best out of each other. And as I said, that kind of listening and tuning in to what other people want is such a talent to have, you know, so very lucky.
The two singles
Now there are already two single out, which one is Hangman’s Daughter and 12 Crosses. Actually, I also saw the videos a couple of times. Even there, you can see how everything is work to the detail. They looks like mini movies in a way, not commercial video clips. If you understand me, what I’m trying to get here, because for me, someone that takes time and also to work to the detail. It’s not something that it would be commercial then. You know, it’s just for the sake of the of the good art.
Yeah, that’s very complimentary. Thank you.
“I really enjoy shooting the videos”
I wanted to ask you about working on this video. How was it to work on them?
I really enjoy shooting the videos and guitarist Adam is often the driving force often for some of the ideas. We often work with a similar group of people. Again, very talented, lovely people that we have around us. So it’s very fun. It’s hard work, but it’s fun. But it means that we can come up with slightly more interesting ideas.
Hangman’s Daughter video
And I mean, I used to always want live elements in our videos and I think because we were coming from quite a DIY angle and I think what we try and do is get the real feeling of the song. Hangman’s Daughter was the first video where we enlisted the help of some actors and it just worked really well. They were just up for trying different things. They enjoyed the song, you know, met and talked everything through.
“There’s a contribution to be made by art”
It was just all just one shot and it wasn’t not even a particularly very long day. So we were very focused. We felt that we do make our music because we want to make our music and we feel like there’s a contribution to be made by art. And so we like art, we like music, movies, films, you know, books, theater. As art galleries, sculptures, like as much as we can get.
“Help get our voices and stuff out there”
It’s really important at the moment that people remember that there’s a place for that. And that the small and medium size artists in any field can produce something relatively quickly, relatively cheaply that is still in line with what they want to create. While it’s great that we’ve got loads of online tools and things that can really help get our voices and stuff out there. I think just creating something is, so important and I hope we don’t lose that.
The next plans
Absolutely. And you mentioned before that Cold in Berlin is preparing for some live shows. What can you tell me about it, Maya?
We’ve got a couple of UK dates at the end of January, so we’ve got a Bristol show on the 24th and a London show on the 31st. In this matter, we’re practicing hard to get a really wonderful live show ready for those shows for the start of the year. And then we’ve got four dates in Poland which I just can’t wait for in February, which are just going to be so much fun. We’ve had such great support over there and the shows are always excellent.
“We are essentially a live band”
I think if you really like Cold in Berlin, you should try and see us live. We are essentially a live band. The album sums us up in one very particular way. And, like I said, I’m very proud of it. And I think it’s a great piece of work. I think the guys did an amazing job. But live, I don’t know, you can just get the real feeling of what the songs can be.
“Sometimes there’s a different version that we can play live”
Not always, but sometimes there’s a different version that we can play live because we’re a bit freer, you don’t have to have. And I like to be out in the audience. I like to be dancing and moving around. You know, I’m very much Maya Berlin on stage. You know, not always that in person, but definitely on stage [laughs].
It’s I’m very lucky to be able to have that experience. But, music is emotion and feeling, and it’svery visceral for me. I want to be out there and experiencing it. So, yeah, I’m really excited about the live shows.
The next plans [cont]
Absolutely. Is Cold in Berlin planning any, you know, tour also in mainland Europe?
I think there are plans coming up, but I’m not sure we can talk about what exactly is happening yet.
Closing words
I want to ask further. I understand. Maya, I wanted to thank you for your time. I hope you did enjoy it, and thank you for your time to accept the interview, to make it happen. So by my side, I want to thank you, and I hope you did enjoy it.
Oh, I did. Thank you so much.
You’re welcome.