Accessibility
Language
26.06.2024
#bayernkreativPORTRAIT: Stefan has a wide range of skills and creative passions: he is a journalist, DJ and novelist. Having grown up in a small community in Swabia, Stefan now lives in Munich. There he works for the Süddeutsche Zeitung and Bayerischer Rundfunk, writing essays and reports on topics such as music, climate activism and society. He has received several awards for his journalistic work. Some time ago, he founded the "Ritual:Digital-Kollektiv" with other music enthusiasts, which also organizes parties in Munich. Stefan has also been writing novels since 2024: His first book was published in February with the title "Trabant" by Otto Müller Verlag Salzburg. The writing process was supported by the "Young Art and New Paths" literary scholarship from the Free State of Bavaria. In this interview, he talks about his career and what he hopes for his future between text and music ...
Dear Stefan, as a journalist you were awarded the "International Music Journalism Award" 2020 in the category "Best Music Journalistic Work under 30" and the "Ernst Schneider Prize" for Business Journalism 2021, and work for the magazine "SZ Jetzt" of the Süddeutsche Zeitung, among others. How did you get into journalism?
That was never a question for me (laughs). I always wanted to be a journalist. First I studied German and media studies in Tübingen. Then internship after internship after internship. Like everyone else. At some point, I was in the right place at the right time and got to know open-minded people like Christoph Lindemann from Bayerischer Rundfunk or Lara Thiede from SZ Jetzt, who gave me a chance.
Alongside your full-time job as a journalist, you published your debut novel "Trabant" in February 2024. How did that come about? Had you wanted to write a book for a while?
I've been working on this story for several years. At first it was a short story. At some point I had a hundred pages together. Then I deleted fifty, wrote twenty, deleted three chapters and wrote five chapters again. And at some point I had a character and a story and at some point I even had a whole book. Today, I'm very proud of the novel and my main character Juri, who spends a night driving along the highways of Eastern Europe and wonders who his parents really are.
You received the "Young Art and New Paths" literary scholarship from the Free State of Bavaria for the summer of 2021. How did the scholarship help you? What support would you have liked beyond the scholarship?
The scholarship made my book possible in the first place. I was therefore able to concentrate solely on writing my novel for several months. Large parts of the book were written during this time. And, to be honest, the parts that I particularly like myself. So I am very, very grateful for that. What I might have wished for would have been a discussion about the text, i.e. content-related support.
In addition to the medium of text, music plays a big role in your life. As a DJ, you are part of the DJ collective "Ritual:Digital". Can you tell us more about it?
Yes, I founded the "Ritual:Digital collective" with friends in Stuttgart years ago. Now we also organize parties in Munich. For example: at the Goldener Reiter club. They include: Inspector Lenny, Florian Bühler, Tamara Wirth, Banali and me. I'm proud of the group - and how everything has developed over the years.
Authors are often considered introverted, but they have to assert themselves on the market and market themselves. As a DJ, on the other hand, you're used to being on stage. Persistence, on the other hand, characterizes people who work in journalism. Can you benefit from the experience you have gained in your other jobs?
I'm realizing more and more that my journalistic work - that is, research, talking to people about their particular lives and circumstances - will become increasingly important for my literary work. I'm not sure I have enough imagination to populate whole worlds out of nothing. But I do know that I can research a world, that I can fictionalize what real people from a real milieu or cosmos tell me. I'm currently working on my second book, which will deal with the world of superstar DJs and their lonely jet-set lives.
What do you want for your professional future? Could you imagine combining your activities as a journalist, author and DJ into one project? Or should it be more along the lines of: journalist during the day, author in the evening and DJ at night?
No way, all at the same time (laughs). I no longer have the energy for that. I enjoy working as a journalist and as a DJ, but working on literary material fulfills me the most. Even if this work can also make me the saddest, angriest, most tired. I'm excited to see what will come of it in the future!
The Bavarian cultural and creative industries are vital, cooperative, polyphonic and relevant to the future. We introduce you to Bavarian players. What is their business model? What drives them?
Would you also like to answer a few questions and be part of our "bayernkreativPORTRAIT" campaign? Then send us an email to kontakt(at)bayern-kreativ.de with the keyword "bayernkreativPORTRAIT".
