Monolink Details

Monolink, known to friends as Steffen Linck, is in the middle of a studio session, working in a complex filled with studios in his home of Berlin. He’s fighting off a moment of writer’s block. “I’m a little bit stuck,” he says over the phone, avoiding sugarcoating his process, as he steps back to reset. This is a moment to take in the development of his new endeavor.

Linck started his Monolink project in the early 2010s. With the release of ‘Sinner’ on March 13th came the announcement of a new album to come in 2020, two years after his 2018 debut ‘Amniotic’ (and 2019 deluxe version). After releasing both on the Berlin-based Embassy One, he joined the home of artists like Röyksopp, Booka Shade, and Example. His upcoming album, as yet without a name or a release date, is still in the developmental phase.

“I’m still gathering ideas, snippets, and demos,” Linck says. He’s about halfway through with the project, and though his overall vision is clear, it’s just as easy to get out of rhythm as it is to get back into focus. “It’s like figuring out in which situation you’re the most creative, or in which situation your mind feels most creative and it can just flow. And the task is to kind of put yourself into that situation, to train yourself. And sometimes when it doesn’t work, I’m just gonna try the next day.”

The album has so far been a reflection on what’s going on in Linck's life right now: how he wants to live, what things are pushing him in the right direction, and what things he’d like to change. Attention has been turned to a recent break up, where he saw a stifling of his creativity, and now, its return. “Sometimes, it can also be inspirational to be suffering,” Linck says. Paying objective attention to your own life can be uncomfortable, but the way Linck describes it sounds like a search for Nirvana.