We talk to Frank Wiedemann of Âme about playing live, making music and celebrating 20 years of Innervisions during his last live performance at Jaeger.
Innervision celebrates 20 years in 2025 and 20 years since Âme re-issued their breakout single, Rej via the label, but Frank Wiedemann is more excited for whatever is coming out next.
The tall bespectacled German almost has to slouch over the high table, but looks incredibly relaxed. We catch him moments before a soundcheck in Jaeger’s basement and even with time pressing he is happy to talk. “I have time” he says insouciantly whenever I ask if I can ask one more question, and even so we barely scratch the surface of his incredible career.
Frank and Kristian Beyer established their artistic outlet Âme almost concurrently with Innervisions, founded alongside Steffen Berkhahn aka Dixon, and they haven’t looked back since.
At the height of their popularity, they were winning all the accolades, but while their domination of the club music landscape was well documented, it was always subtle. As trends changed they never capitulated, instead staying their course and solidifying their stake in their special Innervisions way. They’ve not only stayed consistent, but remained relevant throughout.
Artists like Trikk and Jimmy Jules have joined their ranks, expounding on the Innervisions sound, but at the core of that sound, Âme remains a kind of beacon from which the rest of the label’s sonic vision disseminates.
As a production duo, Frank and Kristian have never rested on their laurels, avoiding to simply recreate past success like Rej. They’ve always chased that next record, underpinned by an innate versatility which can go from tunneling dance tracks like Nia to frivolous melodic encounters like Erkki.
That versatility has again come to the fore with their latest release Asa, whose dominance on dance floors last year, evoked similarities to some of their earliest releases. Asa’s explosive melodic figure bursts through the thunderous stabs of drum machines and keys, sticking like an earworm with a pulse. Asa was succeeded by Shadow Of Love in October, a high-energy vocal track featuring Curses, marking another must creative period for the duo.
With new music, Frank and Kristian have re-asserted their production and musical prowess for yet another epoch. It precedes what we’ve been informed might be a new album from Âme and in the precedence of that little nugget we meet Frank Wiedemann in Jaeger’s basement for a conversation.
It’s 20 years of Rej and Innervisions this year. You don’t strike me as someone that celebrates anniversaries.
We will have some parties this year… It’s only twenty years.
Do you consider it some kind of a milestone?
I’m thankful for what happened these last twenty years and I am a happy person, but Kristian and I are looking forward to releasing new music this year. It’s good to have the heritage, but also nice to look forward to exploring new ground.
Talking about new music, last year Asa was a big hit for Âme. Looking at that track in relation with an early track like Rej, what is the consistency in the sound of Âme through the existence of the project?
If I’m being very honest with you, I never thought we had a sound, but now in hindsight, you might see some red line that connects the dots. We never really had a plan. I do a lot of music, and the music we both connect to, that’s what we release.
Music always goes in waves with your personal development, but we are lucky to do something again that appeals to a lot of people.
That reflects on the label too. Innervisions has always been popular, but there were times when it was at the top with Dixon winning DJ of the year across RA and DJmag, Âme being top of the charts. When you do go through those periods of hyper-popularity what keeps you grounded in that consistency?
I think it grounds you when you are not popular anymore… (laughs)… and that’s ok. One thing I learned is that you shouldn’t go crazy about success, so you don’t fall into a big hole if you don’t have it. I think every artist wants to be heard or seen. If you send something out you want to be received by somebody. I think that the main aspect of why you do it for yourself, should always be for your own pleasure.
I know there is music that I still do that is just for my interest. When you are lucky you have something that connects to a broader audience.
When we had Rej out, most producers I know would have chased that formula, but we did something completely different. Not because we wanted to do something completely different, but because we want to move on, before it gets too boring.
What usually provokes you and Kristian into a new direction?
It’s all inspiration. If you go back to Asa for instance, we were obviously very influenced by Underground Resistance. Some people also connected it to Laurent Garnier’s The Man with a Red Face, a track we play and love. It all comes back.
If we remain on Asa as an example then, what was the inspiration or motivation for that track?
The thing with Asa was I had that main theme lying around for a couple of years. I played it once for Roman Flügel while showing him some stuff and he said “that’s so much like an Underground Resistance thing.” That opened something in my brain to follow that path. I think it’s often like that; you have inspiration lying around everywhere, you just need to pick it up.
You mentioned earlier that you will play Kristian things that you are working on. How developed are those things you play him?
It’s in a rough state. I think it’s important that we have the last 10-15% together. Sometimes it’s just one thing that attracts him and we go from there. In the past I was perhaps a bit more ego-driven, but now I have other outlets, and it makes me much more relaxed. I’m not saying I’ve completely let my ego go, but I’m definitely putting it aside, because I know it’s our (Âme) track and not my track.
Is there a way that Kristian usually diverts your attention elsewhere when it comes to that final 10-15%?
He usually brings his experience as a DJ that definitely has a different perspective on the dance floor compared to me as a live act, which some people don’t always understand. When I put my musician’s hat aside and look through his DJ glasses, it’s good for me to learn. Sometimes I’m like; “this has to be like this,” and then we’ll have a discussion and it’s ok.
Is it usually something like the arrangement of a track that’s the last challenge?
Arrangement, but also complexity. Obviously club music is more repetitive. When I play alone, I can go way more musical than a DJ would go in a club set.
Would you say when you play live, those versions are more the way a track would sound if you had the final control?
In the end when we agree on a version, I connect with that. It’s good for me to get that perspective because I still play in clubs. I guess that’s my dilemma with playing live these last few years. On the one hand I love the club atmosphere and I don’t want the people to look at me, but rather be on the dance floor and be in their own world. On the other hand, I’m playing a concert and I want people to acknowledge that in a way. (laughs) There are moments I want the crowd to be with me.
When you and Kristian decided to cover different aspects of the Âme project between live and DJing – which I heard both of you say was the best decision – was there a particular event that forced you to make that decision?
No, it just happened. In 2009 we did a tour with Henrik Schwarz and Dixon and we played a live show together as A Critical Mass, where we just played our hits at the time.
For me that was the moment that I decided that I love playing live more than DJing. Also, my DJ sets before then were quite eclectic, and sometimes it’s there and you connect with the audience, but 60% of the people prefer a classic dance set, which Kristian is better at. I always say he is like a train, you can jump and be with him, or you can miss the train and it’s your fault. (laughs).
I’ve seen pictures and videos of your studio. There is a lot of gear and there’s a great emphasis on workflow. How do you distill that down to a laptop and some grooveboxes when you hit the stage?
The studio and all the gear I madly collect, is because when I create I love to have all these options. But I’m very aware that everything I do, at least 90% of it, I can do just in the box (laptop).
When I play live, I used to travel with a big suitcase, but at the moment I enjoy having a small setup, basic drum machines, a little synth and a computer. I’m keeping it easy to focus on the songs and how I connect them. One thing I had to learn early when playing live is that you have to reduce.
In the beginning I tried to play the songs as they were recorded, and that was madness. You had to do all the little breaks and all the little layers, and mix live. You had so many things to do, you can’t actually enjoy playing the music, so I try to do away with distractions now. I make it simple, so I can concentrate on the moment.
You come from a background of playing in bands and performing live. How different is this what you are doing now as Âme?
I was never the guy to play a crazy keyboard solo. I consider the computer to be an instrument that you can perform really well, or be very boring. I hope I’m on the other side. (laughs)
I still look up to Henrik Schwarz in that regard, because he has so much expression in that one thing.
What’s the biggest hangup when it comes to putting it all together in the end in the studio; where do you and Kristian often have disagreements, and where’s the compromise?
It’s very easy to come to 90% of a song. If you have a good idea, melodically and develop the arrangement, the 90% is easy to achieve, but the last bit is something special, and that can be really hard.
At the moment, we’ve been working on an album for many years, and we’ve already started to release stuff, but it isn’t finished yet.
There’s a song that’s still not finished that we started very spontaneously with Bruno (Trikk) in the studio with Jens Kuross, who’s phenomenal. It was just one idea one day. Then we had our doubts and we tried another singer, and another, and in the end we got back to the original singer, Jens. We just had to tweak it a little. Now we are at a point where we are 99% there.
Some tracks need a day and they’re done, but this one it seems worth it to have a long excursion.
Kristian and I try not to release anything unless we both fully agree with the result.
Can we talk about this new album; how far until it’s finished?
The songs are all there, just a few minor things.
Is there a particular idea behind this album?
There wasn’t a particular idea, but one thing we learnt from the first album (Dream House 2018) is that we didn’t think at all about the audience we came from. It wasn’t a club album, because we didn’t want to listen to a club album at home.
I think a lot of people didn’t get this because they were expecting something different from us for what was our first album, technically. It wasn’t a big commercial success, but I was happy with the album. This time we wanted to do something that was more connected to the dance floor.
So we have a couple of tunes that Kristian and Steffen are already playing. The whole album is a bit more grownup.
You say that Dream House wasn’t a commercial success, but I remember it being pretty well received.
It was for music heads, yes.
It was very much an album you could play before you go out to the club or perhaps even after. So the next album will be somewhere in between those two things?
Some tracks, yes. It’s something you’d be able to listen to at home too. It’s not going to be an album of only club bangers. Even a track like Asa – I’m not sure if it’s going to make the album – but I could listen to that at home
.
With the state of the music industry and distribution today, compared to the pinnacle days of innervisions, is it still worth it to put all this effort and thought into a longer format like this?
For me, yes. I still like to listen to the album as one and I still love albums. I also accept and somehow enjoy the fact that it’s now much more about single tracks. It gives me the freedom to try out different things. When you are in the process of finishing something all these ideas pop into your head and you’re still now able to do last minute songs. A track like My City’s on Fire with Jimmy Jules for instance; the album was done and that was the last track to come.
Innervisions always seem to be in the zeitgeist, even when that sound might not be as popular. What’s key there and what is the driving force behind the label and its sound?
I’m probably not the right person to ask, you should ask Steffen or Kristian about it. From my point of view, it’s not market driven. Zeitgeist is something you can also manipulate too if you have a big enough audience. Steffen and Kristian can create a taste.
Also the artists you pick on like Trikk, they re-enforce that taste.
It’s also about versatility. Bruno (Trikk), Jules and these people they just have so many different aspects in their music. I love it, because I prefer artists that have a broader spectrum.
I want to go back to your early days, since we have a little extra time before your soundcheck. Growing up in Karlsruhe; It’s equidistant from Stuttgart and Frankfurt. What was night life and music like and where were you going out?
Don’t mention Stuttgart… Kristian went to Frankfurt and I went to Freiburg. (laughs)
Drum and Bass was big then, because Mannheim was close and Milk was a big Drum and Bass club. House and Techno wasn’t big in Karlsruhe. That new Jazz scene, that’s where I went a lot. Kristian created a little cultural hub, because of his (record) shop. I have to say the parties we threw were never big or successful.
I have some family, from lake Konstanz (the big lake between Germany and Switzerland) and there was a big rave scene in a town called Ravensburg (80 000 pop). There was this club called Douala, where DJ Hell played a lot, and Jeff Mills played. In the nineties Techno popped up everywhere in little places you wouldn’t expect it. Some of these places still exist. I play this place called Kantine once a year, because we have a house up there, and it’s fun.
In Karlsruhe itself however, the arty people don’t stay there, they move on.
Playing in bands and listening to Free Jazz, how did you get into House / Techno music?
I was always interested in electronic music in general. Synthesizers and stuff were also in Jazz, and my father brought a synthesiser and drum machine home one day and that was very inspiring. One day during the Kruder & Dorfmeister times I started with Trip Hop and Drum and Bass and that’s how I got into it. I could never see a night just four on the floor, but when I met Kristian, he slowly sensibilized me to this music. He also brought me to Robert Johnson very early (in its first year) and that was really a game-changer for me. I figured then it could be very musical and warm.
What encouraged you two to start working together?
Money! (laughs) We have two sides of the story. He said I approached him, I said he approached me. Whatever it was, we found ourselves in the studio at the same time. It was really a work relationship and not a friendship in the beginning, but after a while we became friends and now we’re brothers.
When did Steffen enter the picture?
Actually, at a very early stage. Kristian met him at a DJ gig, and played him our first song, and he liked it. Then Steffen took the song for a compilation that he did for Sonar Kollektiv called Off Limits and after a couple of releases on Sonar Kollektiv, Steffen said he wanted to start this sublabel called Innervisions…
And the rest is history…