TC75 interview – Inside the Pressure of ‘4S (Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome)’
TC75 (Photo by Karo Kratochwil)
(Interview by Karo Kratochwil) Recently, I was given the chance to listen to “4S (Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome)”, the new TC75 album due out on 15 May, and it felt like the perfect occasion to ask Tino Claus, the mind behind the project, a few questions. What struck me first was how fresh and uncompromising this record sounds: harsher, rougher, and more abrasive than anything I had previously heard from him, yet still held together by a strong inner discipline. That very tension, between pressure and precision, noise and control, became one of the central themes of our conversation. We spoke about the paradox built into the album’s title, the unusually difficult process of finishing the record, the refusal to repeat old patterns, the role of contrast in both sound and artwork, and the broader artistic space Tino moves through between TC75, collaboration, and Amnistia. “4S” feels like an album that pushes his language into a more severe and exposed territory, and that is precisely what makes it so compelling.
TC75 interview
Karo: “4S (Selective Sound Sensitivity Syndrome)” is a telling title because it creates an immediate contradiction: an album built from force, pressure, and noise is named after a condition defined by hypersensitivity to sound. Was that contrast mainly an intellectual gesture for you, or did it also express something deeper about how overwhelming the contemporary world has become, even for people who are not clinically affected by misophonia?
TC75: The Plan was to name the album “Misophonia” with no deeper meaning or the plan to create a kind of concept-album. Finally I decided to change the name into that little letter monster. I thought it is a good idea to name my album after that condition even I know that my music causes such itches for some people.
Karo: You have said that this album was unusually difficult to finish, and that at one point you had only four songs and doubted the record would ever come together. Looking back now, was the resistance mainly musical, or was it also about finding the right emotional and conceptual language for where you were at that point in life?
TC75: It was just about the music. I did not find the right sounds or hooks to build songs on / out of it. Emotions mostly come on the table when we are talking about the lyrics.
Karo: What makes “4S” especially compelling is that it seems to treat hypersensitivity as more than a medical condition. The album often feels like a portrait of overload itself: too much noise, too much pressure, too much input, too little silence. At what point did the record begin to grow beyond its initial concept and become a wider reflection on the violence of constant stimulation?
TC75: I am not afflicted by misophonia but I know people who are. And believe me this is no fun. Some people are lucky when they know what the reason for their suffering is. I mean misophonia hasn’t even been properly researched yet, and not all medical professionals recognise it as a condition or even a symptom. Yet A LOT of people have health issues because of noise. Everyone is familiar with the sound of fingernails scratching a blackboard, a dripping tap, smacking lips while eating, or snoring. Imagine being hypersensitive to such noises and having nowhere to escape to… A nightmare scenario!
Karo: Compared to earlier TC75 material, this record feels harsher in structure, more stripped down, more abrasive, and at times almost closer to noise in its musical effect, even when the arrangements remain tightly controlled. Was that sonic severity a conscious production decision from the beginning, or did the material itself demand a rougher architecture as it developed?
TC75: I mean deep in my heart I am a Pop-Guy. It means normally I like songs with a clear structure and I don’t need any fancy stuff like the third or fourth bridge, a 5th break and constantly changing rhythms or something similar. And I am not a musician. That’s why the structures are more or less simple. On the other hand I like noise in music and there are a lot of artists I adore for there works with and in noise. You are right the approach was to change my music a bit because I don’t want to – and can’t – keep drilling the same board over and over again. Your question makes me think I’ve managed to do that.
Karo: You have spoken very openly about not wanting to repeat yourself, not wanting to overthink the music, and not being interested in fulfilling expectations. At this stage, what does artistic progress actually mean to you? Is it about changing your sound, changing your process, or simply refusing to become predictable, even to yourself?
TC75: That is the question! It is the tragedy of artists that they cannot influence how the audience decides – have they found their style, or are they just repeating the same thing over and over?
For me, it’s important that I can recognise an artist’s music by their style. That could be the music itself, the choice of sounds, and of course the voice. However, I’m not keen on knowing the song before I’ve heard it. Every new release should have some fresh element to it, without the style changing too drastically. Believe me – that’s not easy when you’ve released more than two albums.
Karo: One of the most striking aspects of “4S” is the tension between discipline and intensity. The tracks feel highly constructed, yet never sterile; emotionally charged, yet never chaotic. When you are building a TC75 track, how do you negotiate that balance between control and release in practical production terms?
TC75: My songs are driven by an initial sound. When I have a sound, a rhythm a “something” instantly the lyrics come to my mind and the process of “composing” is done. I never use the word compose for my works I prefer the term “string sounds together” because this is what I actually do.
Karo: There is also a very deliberate sense of contrast around the album as a whole, not just in the title, but in the decision to avoid scene-typical artwork and to use pink and white rather than expected visual codes. How important is contradiction for you as an artistic method? Do you consciously work against expectation in both sound and image?
TC75: The artwork is still very important for listeners and byers of music. That’s why I try to create something that the people keep in mind. And if, in the end, I’m the crazy guy with the pink industrial pop record then it’s worked.But seriously – the same goes for the artwork… should I cut a piece out or not?
Karo: Songs such as “The Core” “In Parallel” or “Empty Eyes” suggest not just personal unease, but a much broader discomfort with the way people move through society now: overstimulated, performative, disconnected, permanently exposed. Do you see “4S” as your most explicitly social album so far, even if it never becomes didactic?
TC75: I wouldn’t say that. When we are talking about my lyrics – I write them when I have an itch, when something pisses me off. Good for me there is A LOT going on in the world which “inspires” me to write.
Karo: Your work exists in several different constellations: TC75 as a solo project, collaborations, remixes, guest appearances, and of course Amnistia. When you move between those formats, what remains irreducibly “TC75” for you, the element that survives every different context and still makes the result unmistakably yours?
TC75: I would describe it like this… I feel it when a track is a TC75 song. On the other hand a rarely write songs for Amnistia that’s why I rarely have to decide…
Karo: Because you are also one half of Amnistia, I’m curious whether moving between the duo format and your solo work sharpens different parts of your artistic identity. Does Amnistia feed TC75 in hidden ways, and are there any new Amnistia plans or other collaborations currently taking shape that you can already hint at?
TC75: It is necessary that the solo work have to be different to the work with the main band/project. Otherwise it makes no sense. Thank God I work with very talented people in all my bands, as I don’t make the music there – because my friends do a brilliant job.
Karo: After “4S”, what do you feel has shifted most for you as an artist – not in terms of sound, but in terms of how you understand what you are doing and why you are still doing it?
TC75: To be honest… I still don’t know what I am doing exactly. I try to do my best when I work on music and artwork. It has to please me. I do what I want, I don’t want to think about my music to much because otherwise it would lose its spontaneity.
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