Art, performance and sound in the words of Anja Huwe
Transmission 181: Interview with Anja Huwe
Anja Huwe is the multifaceted visual artist and musician renowned for her influential role in the post-punk movement as the iconic lead singer of Xmal Deutschland. The band, which was founded in 1980 by five women who at the time played no instruments, soon established a sound that was immediately captivating. After Xmal Deutschland’s success with four albums on cult labels such as 4AD, she immersed herself in her personal creative space to pursue her visual art career. Her genuine and cosmopolitan attitude toward art is reflected in the exhibits that resulted from her artistic pursuits in significant cultural centers such as New York and London.
The energy of her voice and live performances, in her path as a visual artist, is presented and channeled in her use of colors and the sense of dynamism that permeates her artworks. Her paintings, which can only be heard with the eyes, transport viewers into a state of synesthesia. Anja Huwe’s artworks are music, and music is her canvas. But it is precisely during the Covid period that her musical hiatus ends, and once again she demonstrates how she is always ready to look forward and undertake new challenges. Released on New York imprint Sacred Bones, Codes, a brand-new solo album by Anja Huwe, marks her return to music. The original guitarist for Xmal Deutschland, Manuella Rickers, Olaf Boqwist from Blue Kremlin, and, of course, Mona Mur, collaborated on this album, which features blazing guitar work, contemporary electronic embellishments, and, of course, the captivating vocals of Anja Huwe. Forty years after their “4AD years” (1983–1984), the intriguing and captivating legacy of Xmal Deutschland is back with a brand-new album titled Gift: The 4AD Years, which will be available on May 9, 2025.
Featured image by Jan Riephoff
What are your best memories of when you started out in music? Can you tell us more about it?
No, not really. I started making music at some point, and that was it. It was very exciting because I had never done it before. That’s basically all I can say about how I started. I was part of a certain scene — meaning the punk scene, the wave scene — and the philosophy was that anyone could do whatever they wanted: music, art, a mix of everything. And we were part of that.
Xmal Deutschland was one of the few German bands to achieve significant international recognition during that era. You had good audience feedback in South America, and had an extraordinary impact on British audiences. What challenges did you face in crossing cultural and linguistic barriers?
First of all, in South America, we didn’t know anything about that — so that was never the case. I mean, we heard about it ages later. But South America was basically run by people who didn’t allow young people to listen to music or see bands. I mean, no one went there. So all of that came about only after they had different governments and things changed. These days, of course, there’s a big audience for us.
But being in Britain was different, because Britain was the so-called scene for the kind of music we were interested in. And we were lucky that they picked up on us, and we managed to get our career started there in the beginning.
Anja Huwe studied illustration at the Hamburg Institute of Design and worked as a photographer for several years
With your voice you evoke extremely powerful energy that can connect even people that are not speaking or understanding the German language. Your vocals are a distinctive element of Xmal Deutschland’s sound. How would you describe your approach to singing? What influences have shaped your style?
Well, as I said before, the whole scene was based on the idea that anyone could do whatever they wanted. So I never learned how to sing, and I never saw myself as a singer — I was part of a band.
So that was my goal at first. Getting into singing, that took me ages. I mean, today, I think it’s very different compared to my early days in Xmal Deutschland, because at those days, the attitude was completely different. There wasn’t really a need for a front person — it was all about the band. But of course, at the end of the day, I was the singer and I was more in the focus, which is pretty normal, I think. But to me, it was like I saw myself always as the fourth instrument in a way. And I saw myself as a performer, not as a singer.
With the upcoming reissues of Fetisch and Tocsin on vinyl, alongside “Gift: The 4AD Years” collection, how do you feel about revisiting this era? Do you feel nostalgic for that period?
I never feel nostalgic — I don’t really look back.I’m glad this has finally happened, that the box set came out. Because I worked on that for many, many years, even before COVID. I started asking them, how about releasing all this stuff again, like re-releases?
To be honest, we were one of the very first bands on 4AD, and none of our records — not even the 4AD ones — had been reissued for decades. So I’m glad it’s finally out now. And I think the timing is right to release these old records, because as you can see, there’s a lot of interest in this kind of music and in my former band.
So that’s great. But I do not look back. It’s part of my life. I always go on, as you see in other things that I’m doing.
Anja Huwe’s flexibility and dedication to the arts are demonstrated by her work as a television editor and producer for the German music channel VIVA TV, in addition to her work as a musician and visual artist
Xmal Deutschland is considered a pioneer of the post-punk movement. What does that recognition mean to you? How do you reflect on your contributions to the genre?
Well, as I said before, it’s part of my life — what can I say? I don’t feel the need to reconnect with anything. I still have a lot of material from those days, which we’ll use at some point. It’s hard to explain, but I keep moving forward, constantly working on new things. The future is my direction — not the past. I really don’t look back. I’m glad all of this has happened now, and I make use of it for other projects. But reflecting on it? Why should I? I did it. It’s done. That’s it.
Considering the reissue of these classic albums and your legacy within the post-punk and gothic scenes, what do you hope the new generation will take from them?
I don’t hope for anything. I don’t expect anything. I do what I do — I’m here, and I keep doing what I do. I don’t expect anything. Maybe others expect something from me, but I don’t expect anything from other people. Why should I? That would feel very egoistic, and I don’t want to be like that. I do meet people who say that Xmal Deutschland is a legacy for them, that it influenced their music or their lifestyle — which is great, and I really appreciate it. But I still don’t expect anything from anyone.
What are your thoughts on the current state of the music industry?
I don’t know — I don’t depend on those things. I try to stay independent. I work with independent labels, and I apply that to art as well. I try to be independent in every way.
The industry is very difficult. For a new band trying to break into the music world, it’s tough. I think it was much easier in the ’80s and ’90s. But now, with all the digital media, you have to deal with that — and if you don’t, you’re going to run into problems.
I think these days it’s much harder to get somewhere because there’s so much going on out there, so many records coming out, so many new bands coming out, and many, many, many of them sound very similar. So it’s tough for young bands, I think.
Because she is a 360-degree creative artist, Anja Huwe’s lasting impact career continue to inspire and reverberate across artistic disciplines worldwide
Yes. I can understand. I think it is the same for the images.
It’s all out there — even in design and fashion, you can find anything. If you’re looking for something, you’ll find it.
In my experience, especially with people who talk to me or do interviews, there’s a strong interest in the stories — the background. How did that happen? How did that work? How do you do this? How do you develop your work?
Because I think those questions are really there because the input is enormous. As a new or young band, how can you stand out? You have to be different — but there’s already so much difference out there. How do you get attention? That really is a challenge for many.
You have been known for energetic and intense live performances. What did you enjoy most about the stage?
Well, it was part of my life — and now, again, it’s part of my life. I think it’s more or less a matter of performing and not being a singer and being in a focus.It’s about performing a certain kind of music and a certain kind of attitude — art, music, visuals, emotions. That’s a kind of performance. To me, it’s more like being in a theater, on a stage. That’s how I see myself — much more as a performer than as a singer.
How has your artistic experience evolved from your early days as a musician to your current last music project?
Yeah — there are decades in between. When I first started with the band, I barely knew anything about writing songs or music, or how to bring it all together. The difference now is that I’m grown up and I have a lot of experience.
I started writing my album Codes in a completely different environment, with different people. It wasn’t like, “I’m the singer, I’ll come in last.” I started from scratch. I had my lyrics, my words, and I had certain ideas about sounds — how to bring everything together so it would work as a complete project.
That’s a huge difference. I was free in a way, because it was just me, Mona, and sometimes Manuela. So I was completely open to shaping things the way I wanted, and getting my ideas across how I envisioned them.
Your friendship with Mona dived you back into the sea of music. In an interview about your record ‘Codes’, you mentioned that ‘everything has a code. Can you tell us more about this project and the idea behind it?
Yeah, I always get a lot of requests from all over the world — especially from South America and the U.S. But I always refused to return to music because I was focused on my art.
Then, around the time COVID started, I got a message from someone in Tel Aviv. He said he had a friend from Norway who was in a doom metal band — someone not well known — and this friend had a track called Skuggornas, which means Shadows. He asked, “Can I send it to you? Maybe you can work on it.” I said, “No, I don’t sing anymore — I’m not interested.” But he was very polite, and he sent the track anyway. He explained it was about shadows, kind of spooky, and told me, “If you want to write your own lyrics, feel free.”
So it took a while, and during all that boredom — no gym, no art, everything closed, no friends to meet — I started listening to the track. I took my phone, sang my own words into it, and sent the recording to my friend Mona in Berlin.
She said, “This is incredible. What is it?” And I told her I had just recorded it on my phone, using this song I received from that guy. Then she said, “Why don’t you come over to Berlin? We can give it a try. We’ll record it — we don’t have to use it, but let’s just try.”
So we did. And we started talking with Yishai — the guy from the band — about his family and where he came from. He told us about his grandfather, who grew up in the Belarusian region, and some really difficult experiences he had. He mentioned the diary his grandfather had kept, and we asked if he could read us parts of it so we could understand more. He did — and it was fascinating.
The idea of someone disappearing into the woods, being alone for two or three years, surviving out there — that really struck me. I started reading a lot about that, because there were many people living like that in those times. I began writing lyrics, taking bits from the diary — like the word Codes, which I found very special — and incorporating them into my own text. We wrote music around it, and things started to come together.
I told Mona, “This is so fascinating, and there’s nothing else to do — why don’t we just pretend we’re making an album?” So we kept working like that and brought in Manuela, my guitarist from Xmal Deutschland — I love the way she plays.
Once things opened up again after COVID, I went to New York and met Caleb from Sacred Bones. He’s a fan, and I showed him what we had been working on. He liked it, and we decided to work together. That’s how it started — we had a label in New York, which was amazing. That was the beginning of the story.
Anja’s charisma and voice forged a global legacy that was accessible to all major cultural influences from a wide range of backgrounds
What were the motivations that pushed you to give priority to visual arts?
I was always involved in art. When I started with Xmal Deutschland — exactly at the same time we moved to London — I got my acceptance papers for university to study illustration, which was great. But I had to make a decision: if I had gone to study illustration, I wouldn’t have been able to move to London and make music.
Back then, being in a band seemed more fun, so I decided to put art to the side. I always kept doing things like photography alongside the music, but I left it in the background. I focused on music, and later got involved in other areas — but eventually, I returned to art. I realized that I really needed that way of working — just me, myself, and I — working with colors and creating in a quieter environment, without input or suggestions from others. It was just me, and I enjoyed that for many, many years.
I still do it, but I don’t have as much time for it now.
What are the main key inspirations behind your visual art? Do you find that music connects or collaborates with your visual art?
It does — it connects, because color and music are both part of my identity. Even the videos that came out with Codes — and there’s another one coming out now, which is a beautiful one — I’m involved in those too. I don’t edit them, but the concepts are mine. It always depends on color, movement, and music — so it’s all there.
That’s the ideal way for me to work — not focusing only on one thing like music or art. I need the combination.
Even now, with the release of the 4AD box, we’re doing an opening at a gallery I used to work with. It’s centered around the 4AD artwork, and my own art is part of it too. I always combine things — that’s very important to me. I’ve never liked working on just one level. I need multiple levels to feel fulfilled.
Yeah, I see. Do you still have the pictures you took during the analog/film era? Maybe you could make a book collection out of these pictures.
Yeah, maybe — maybe that’s the next step. There’s so much material there. So definitely, when I have more time, I’ll probably start collecting things and move on to the next level.
It would be very, very interesting.
I think so too, because I have a lot of material. We were just talking about that today, Fiona and me, because we discovered so much stuff. It’s like a very short area, but, put it this way, my life was always a constant development. So it’s really funny that people always ask me, how do you feel about your past? I mean, that’s my past. So I always constantly go to the next step or something. I always find things that I want to do. And so I think the next level would be really to collect everything that I have and material and write down lots of things that I never talk about. So, why should I? So maybe I’ll put it in a book.
Anja Huwe‘s official website | Instagram | Facebook | Spotify | Bandcamp
Photos courtesy of Anja Huwe and 4AD and Sacred Bones Records
Ciao! My name is Dominique. I’m Italian and I’m proud to be a mix. My father was an Italian chemical engineer and high school teacher, with Greek and Polish heritage. My mother is Haitian, she was high school language teacher, with Dominican, Spanish, French, Portuguese, African and Native American heritage. Being a mix makes me appreciate to want to understand different cultures and lifestyles. I grew up in Italy, lived few years in Haiti, travel around main European capitals, lived many years in China, in Spain and UK. Traveling makes me feel that we can learn something from every situation in every part of the world.
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