X Marks The Pedwalk interview: ‘We want our listeners to be touched by our songs’
X Marks The Pedwalk
André Schmechta, known under his alias Sevren N-Arb, founded X Marks The Pedwalk in 1987. Nearly four decades later, he can look back on a remarkably rich career and an impressive discography. The German artist became one of the defining figures of the 1990s electronic underground. Alongside the success of his own project X Marks The Pedwalk and several side ventures, he established himself as one of the most respected and sought-after producers within the EBM community. Over the years, his musical language has continuously evolved — from raw, dark, and uncompromising EBM to a more refined and highly idiosyncratic form of Electro-Pop.
At the end of last year, X Marks The Pedwalk released its thirteenth studio album through André’s own label, Meshwork Music. Together with his wife Estefanía, he delivered a new masterpiece entitled “Insomnia”– an album that stands for sophisticated Electro-Pop, characterized by a distinctive sonic identity and profound, introspective lyrics. While the record retains the rhythmic pulse and danceable energy long associated with X Marks The Pedwalk, it also ventures into more ethereal and contemplative territories, revealing quieter and emotionally layered passages. I spoke with André about this new chapter for X Marks The Pedwalk, but also about the past — and about why an influential project like X Marks The Pedwalk has remained such a rare presence on the live stage. (Courtesy by Inferno Sound Diaries)
X Marks The Pedwalk interview
Q: What was the initial impetus for composing the new X Marks The Pedwalk album “Insomnia” and what were the various stages involved in achieving the final result?
André: After finishing our album “Superstition,” I went straight back into the studio to start working on the dark Electro project Duophonic Noise Construction with my son Luis, aka LMX. In parallel, I kept developing ideas for new XMTP songs. And soon, first concrete song fragments emerged.
I had the album title in mind very early on, and so things progressed quickly. “Light Your Mind” was one of the first tracks I finished, and we decided to release it as a single. When the final songs for an album start to take shape, I switch into a strict, disciplined mode, structure the production, and define timeframes for all the tracks, mastering, pressing, release date, and so on.
Another reason for the shorter time between “Insomnia” and “Superstition” was that I involved my son in writing the lyrics. This intensified and accelerated the creative process and allowed me to condense the composition and arrangement of the songs and work very efficiently.
Q: I understand this X Marks The Pedwalk album reflects on inner conflict, love, loss, and related themes. To what extent does this reflect your own experiences, or are there any external sources that inspired you? And what’s the deeper meaning behind the title “Insomnia”?
André: Sure, my own personal emotions find expression in my music. With my music, I can also give my thoughts and feelings a voice. I’m a very reflective person and life itself naturally is the primary influence. But there are also very specific experiences that I translate into songs. Like “Automatic Hero” on “Insomnia” for example; we have a Dalmatian, and I’m a huge animal lover in general. I follow many dedicated animal rescuers on social media and am deeply moved when I see the suffering creatures they protect, give a home to and love. At the same time, I’m constantly confronted with painful images that depict incredible suffering and make me wonder how people are capable of such atrocities. So, there’s pain and suffering. It surrounds me; I try to block it out, but it’s always there. And a feeling of helplessness arises, a kind of loss of control. Then I wish I could switch to a different mode, the “Automatic Hero”, that would end it, that would fight back and take control.
“Insomnia” also delves into the human emotional landscape. The album and cover art point in the right direction, yet stand in contrast to one another. The person is asleep, nestled in a frosty, restless setting. Yet their body appears warm and full of energy. Indeed, “Insomnia” tells of loss and farewell, of love and pain, of the clash of interpersonal connections and personal realization. Thoughts race and emotions erupt. They occupy us—night and day—and prevent us from truly finding peace.
Q: I always find it interesting how certain themes, like those for “Insomnia,” can impact the music; I mean, in terms of sounds, atmosphere, and rhythm. How do you see that, and what was the correlation between music, lyrics, and vocals in the making of this album?
André: Yes, of course. The emotional core of a song is often clear to me from the very beginning. And then all the components need to work together. Sound design, tempo, vocals, lyrics – everything has to harmonize. We want our listeners to be touched by our songs – allow them to flow into their own emotional world and find their own interpretation of the songs.
Q: I understand you’re continuing to expand your home studio, and you’ve added quite a few analog synths. What does that studio look like now, and what were your favorite synths and tools for this new album? And to what extent will the possibilities a studio offers impact the music you create?
André: Interestingly, I recently asked the community on Facebook if there was interest in XMTP Tech Insights. I regularly get questions about specific synths or studio equipment. So I started a ‘Studio Log’ section, where I’ll be sharing some insights in the future. I kicked things off with a post about one of the XMTP core synths from the creative period 2016 – today: the Sequential OB-6. The post has generated a lot of reactions and feedback – that made me very happy. So, more is to come.
My studio is my creative workspace. New gear inspires me. I always get curious when large and small manufacturers release new tools (for music production). On the other hand, I have a clear vision for the sound design of my music, so I look for tools that match my creative workflow perfectly, to continue my musical journey.
I’ve constantly remodeled and expanded my studio, most recently investing more time (and money – laugh) in expanding and optimizing my modular system. I love the open architecture and enormous flexibility. It’s like you’re building your very own big music machine. For me, physically working with haptical hardware synths and modules is simply more intuitive and direct, I really enjoy that. Speaking of which, my son is also currently building his first modular system in his studio. So we’ll be hearing a lot of our systems on the upcoming Duophonic Noise Construction album that we are currently working on.
In general, I’ve kept my studio quite compact. Unlike in the 80s/90s, I no longer have a large, dedicated mixing console, and mix and master on the computer instead. So, besides the audio workstation and monitors, the keyboards are arranged to my right and behind me, while the racks with the modular system and semi-modular synthesizers are on the left. Of course, there are also countless digital tools. I own a ridiculous amount of software plugins, but I only end up using a small fraction of them.
Q: André, in the ’90s, you made your mark on many albums by other artists who came to you to record, mix, and produce. That was more common back then, while today many artists prefer to do this independently, with or without the help of AI. What’s your perspective on this, and what advice would you give young, aspiring artists?
André: Today, it’s much easier for new artists to produce Electronic music. Digital tools – and even Hardware – are affordable, and you can get started with minimal effort and even release music independently. There is social media, digital platforms and many other resources that give artists much more control. How successful and creative it ultimately is, however, is another matter entirely. Things were very different when I started out in the 80s. Equipment was expensive, music was only accessible through physical media, and you either needed a label contract or had to invest a lot of money to produce and release it by yourself. Nowadays we live in a highly digitalized age that is radically changing many things – including the financial side for musicians and labels. And we have to accept that AI is also changing and disrupting art in general – music, film, and more.
In the future, creative and artistic output won’t just be determined by composers, directors, or screenwriters, but also by prompt engineers and those who master their tools. That’s technological progress and also another side of art. We mustn’t forget that we’re only at the beginning of AI and are really only seeing the tip of the iceberg. On the one hand, it’s frightening, but on the other hand, we have to remain open-minded and, above all, keep our fingers crossed that no crackpots out there do the wrong thing. Of course, we know better.
I think I speak for many who, like me, have produced music in the past; they will remain true to their path and create music in the way they know best. I certainly won’t be using AI tools to compose new songs or create vocal artists with AI. On the contrary, I’m investing more than ever in hardware, though of course I also use plenty of digital equipment, equipment that simplifies and supports production processes. So let’s stay a little nostalgic, remain true to tradition – finally, vinyl has also experienced a renaissance – and preserve this wonderful scene. Then we can enjoy it for many years to come. We are very fortunate to have a true and growing X Marks The Pedwalk fan base that also invests in physical media or pays for the digital content on Bandcamp and doesn’t just stream. But thankfully, I don’t have to make a living from music.
The most important message for new artists is: just do it! Find your path, be authentic, even if it means hard work, dedication and patience. Then you’ll find people who follow you. But don’t take out loans hoping to pay them back very soon with music earnings.
Q: X Marks The Pedwalk seems to have become primarily a studio project focused on music, but also on making a lot of videos and mainly skipping the live element. I assume this was a conscious choice, but can you tell us a bit more about it? And what are your next projects and plans?
André: The fact that our musical activities are focused on the studio is primarily due to pragmatic reasons – business! As a reminder: I’m the managing partner of a communications agency (specializing in digital media). I also founded a company active in literary journalism, which runs several online magazines. My wife, Estefania from XMTP, is the managing director there. Then there’s my label, Meshwork Music. In addition to X Marks The Pedwalk, I also launched SN-A and lastly Duophonic Noise Construction. My son also released solo projects (LMX), all of which I produced… There is normal life, too. Holiday, friends & family, dog… So, time remains the limiting factor. And we constantly have to weigh up what we want to do. It’s a big difference whether you’re working on new songs in the studio or focusing on putting together a live show or tour after a long time away from the stage. Starting with the song selection 😉
Besides time, other factors – some of them complicating matters – also come into play and must be considered in our deliberations. But we’re actually giving this more serious thought right now. We receive inquiries from all over the world, so we need to address this issue more closely and make some decisions.
I have been working for over 30 years with Side-line as the main reviewer. My taste is eclectic, uncoventional and I prefer to look for the pearls, even if the bands are completely unknown, thus staying loyal to the Side-Line philosophy of nurturing new talents.
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