berlin-Issue-No30

Berlin

EDM strikes a familiar chord for these innovative synth-pop veterans  

For Berlin frontwoman Terri Nunn, there’s a fine line between the band’s ’80s new-wave hits and the current electronic dance music craze. “EDM acts use so many of the sounds and instruments we’ve used in our past music that I didn’t have to think, ‘Will my audience like this?’” Nunn says of the EDM influence on the band’s latest album, Animal.

It has been eight years since the Southern California-based synth-pop group released an album, and far more since its 1986 megasmash “Take My Breath Away” from Top Gun won an Oscar. During that time, musical trends have changed, along with the band’s lineup, which now includes guitarist Carlton Bost, keyboardist Dave Schulz and drummer Chris Olivas.

While initial songwriting for Animal began in 2008, it wasn’t until Nunn started DJing for L.A. radio station KCSN four years later that the album began to take shape. “That’s where the inspiration came from,” she says, citing Skrillex, Armin van Buuren and Robyn as influences. “I decided there was a place for Berlin in the EDM space. But I’m not a music writer, I’m a lyric writer, so I needed a composer to inspire me.”

When it comes to writing, Nunn tends to be “a reactor,” she says. “I’ll write down a line or phrase and then throw it in a drawer, and all those ideas will sit there until I hear a piece of music that inspires me. Then I’ll go through the drawer and marry my words to the music.”

After penning a few songs with various writers, including John King of the Dust Brothers, she found the spark she was looking for when she met Derek Cannavo. “I couldn’t believe the connection we had,” she says. “I chained him to my desk in my office and we spent three solid months writing together.”

However, the process of going into the studio was far less appealing to Nunn. “I hate the recording studio—it’s an airless space with no windows,” she says. But thanks to technological advancements, Nunn was able to record most of her vocals in her home office. “It was wonderful,” she says. “Everything is so portable now, you can record anywhere and still have state-of-the-art sound.”

The recording process is a means to an end for Nunn, who’s looking forward to taking Berlin’s music—new and old—on the road. “It’s so awesome to start a song and watch people go crazy. I get off on watching them get off on the music. It never gets old to me.”

–Katy Kroll

 

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