After being the first German musician to record at the infamous Abbey Road studios, RIPL moved to Scotland to expand his musical vision. Since then RIPL has dominated the UK’s open mic scene and has worked alongside Brit Award-winning producers such as Jake Gosling (Ed Sheeran, The Libertines), Adrian Hall (Black Eyed Peas, Robbie Williams) and David Whitmey (Callum Beattie) on previous releases including his debut single Of Course I Can.

Sonically tinged in the same vein as distinguished artists such as Frank Turner, Ben Howard and The Lumineers, his new single ‘Mai’s Song’ sees RIPL add another delicious slice of rich folk-pop to his plate, for release in 2019.

In this interview spotlight, I chat with RIPL about the new release, challenges, technology and more.

Full Q&A along with links and music below.

Where are you from and what style of music do you create?

I’m a singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist from Germany. After being the first German musician to record at the infamous Abbey Road studios, I moved to Scotland five years ago. Since then I’ve had the honour to work alongside Brit Award-winning producers such as David Whitmey (Callum Beattie), Jake Gosling (Ed Sheeran, The Libertines) and Adrian Hall (Black Eyed Peas, Robbie Williams) on my previous singles ‘EMA’ and ‘Of Course I Can’, which I’m incredibly proud of, given that I’m an independent artist from another country without a label etc.

How is this new release different than previous ones? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?

Mai’s song is my third single and it’s dedicated to my beautiful girlfriend. We went to a studio in West London to record the track, but the airline broke my guitar, so we had to buy a new one at the last minute. Like Every single one of my tunes, the new song comes with a brand new music video, as I really enjoy working together with other artists on videos and cover artworks. As this song is dedicated to my girlfriend, the idea behind the video was to squeeze in all her favourite artists. Frustratingly, Adele and Paul McCartney have stopped answering my emails, so the director and I decided that I would simply become these incredible artists in the video. Check it out if you want to see your favourite beard all dressed up as Ed Sheeran.

What was the last song you listened to?

I drew a lot of inspiration from the last Lumineers record ‘Cleopatra’. Especially the track ‘Ophelia’ – it was the sort of musical landscape I aimed for when recording Mai’s Song. The clear, straightforward drum patterns of DMA’s ‘For Now’ were also a big influence.

Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?

• https://www.facebook.com/riplmusic
• https://www.instagram.com
• https://www.ripl-music.com
• https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD1b891j01c50FM4g6F8eqg/videos

Anything else before we sign off?

This spring I’ll go on my first ever UK tour. The tour kicks off in the north of Scotland and I’ll work my way all the way down to London with stops in both Scotland and England.