Lucy Fitzgerald 
Q: So “Love Will Save The World” just dropped — when you finally hit publish on that, what did that moment feel like after everything the band went through to get there?
A: First and foremost: Thank you very much for giving me this spot to answer your questions. This is exciting and much appreciated! To your question: Releasing music is (and has always been) a mixture of feelings: relief and tension, expectations and fear. Everything between “finally it’s done! we made it!” to “how will the audience take it?”, from over-optimism like “This is it, we have a hit!” to self-criticism like “well, I still can hear parts that could be played, produced, mixed, … (you name it) better”. After working for a very long time on the songs and listening to them quite a lot, I have to admit that it is definitely also a time when I look forward to shifting focus to other things.
Q: The live band disbanded mid-2024, and then you finished and released this EP shortly after. Was working on it kind of therapeutic at that point, or was it a complicated feeling?
A: At that point in time it was not quite clear to me that we would disband completely. In that sense, it was more a shift of attention to the publishing process in order to get back on stage later on. As a group we stayed in loose contact, and I was expecting to get back together for some gigs, which did not happen in the end. Life writes its own stories.
Q: You’ve been doing stillnoah since 2008 — do you feel like this EP sounds like the same guy who started this as a recording-only bedroom project, or has the sound shifted a lot?
A: Yes and no. I sometimes listen to the very old tracks I published. I still kind of like them, but of course the sound developed and I have learned a lot over the years. Still, there is no big change in the approach to music: I like “handmade”, content- (lyric-) centered songs, and I try to add some “special” flavors, whatever that means. And of course there are some weaknesses that I also hear whether in old tracks or in the new ones. Regarding the sound: I always hand the raw songs over to Michele (www.digitalnaturalsound.com) for mixing and mastering. He’s an audio engineer with a real ability to make the music shine — something I know I can’t achieve on my own. In that sense, the overall sound quality stays consistent, even if the songs are different over the years.
Q: Your sons Joni and Tino are part of this now. What’s that dynamic actually like — is it just cool, or does it get complicated when dad has a creative opinion?
A: It’s always just cool! As a family and as a father, we went through hard moments in our relationships when the boys were much younger. Children can bring out the worst in you! But these times are gone and built a foundation for a really relaxed and positive relationship, which can take different opinions quite well! It’s no different from a situation when another band member has a different opinion. It’s always about balancing things, stepping out of your own way of thinking and trying to see what the other sees. Some songs started out very different from how they sound now. All this is part of having a band and growing.
Q: stillnoah has never really fit neatly into one genre box. When you were putting this EP together, were you thinking about sound at all, or does it just kind of come out the way it comes out?
A: It just evolves. No one is an island, and all of us have different musical influences and preferences that get mixed into these songs. The only difference is that whoever starts a song idea has the ignition and therefore needs to take the navigation wheel first. Then it starts to evolve.
Q: The whole project started with this idea that grace is freely available to everyone — is that theme still running through “Love Will Save The World,” or has the message evolved over the years?
A: Honestly, this theme has been driving me since the start, and it is still the most important thing to me. Our world — as far as I can see with my limited knowledge — lacks understanding of what that actually means. It’s easy to throw out that sentence, but it’s a whole universe of topics to talk about. Our songs open just a tiny window to start thinking about that.
Q: You’ve been releasing music under Creative Commons since the early days. In 2025, with streaming being everything, how do you think about that relationship between sharing music freely and actually reaching people?
A: Jamendo started in 2005, some years before Spotify was founded and became popular, and I liked their idea of sharing music under Creative Commons licenses. I like to share for free what was given to me for free: musical creativity. So this was the way to go, using Jamendo’s services from the start. But in reality it is just an idea, and I don’t see people specifically appreciate Creative Commons content. With streaming services all around, no one is really thinking about what to share and what not to share because of licensing. On the contrary, having all the music in the world at your fingertips is like inflation: a single song or artist loses value. Recent discussions among popular artists and some initiatives against Spotify show that the streaming system is broken from an artist’s point of view anyway. So I believe CC licenses have no real influence on sharing.
Q: You’ve had friends contributing parts and ideas since the very beginning — is there someone on this EP whose contribution surprised you or took a song somewhere you didn’t expect?
A: All companions had some influence on the songs in their own musical domain. It’s like we still state on our website: everyone has a specific role. The only thing I can mention beyond that is Josh, who actually “defused” some harmonies I originally had written into “While”. It felt awkward to me at first (and I kind of fought not to change them), but in the end his version was better. So here we are… and I actually don’t remember the original version anymore.
Q: The title “Love Will Save The World” is a pretty bold statement to put out right now. Was there a specific moment or feeling that made you land on that as the title?
A: At first sight, it is a very naive thought. But it mostly depends on what you think love actually is. As Alex stated in our “behind the song” video, true love is more of an action than a feeling. A feeling is a passive thing: it comes and goes. But true love motivates people to move beyond convenience and act for others. There was no specific moment that triggered this line. It is more the essence of my Christian spirituality. There are a lot of things that change the world: greed, violence, war, egoism, boredom… you can fill in what you want! Everyone is to some degree under the constant influence of such things that change things for the worse. But restoring the world? Only love can do that. Actually, the core of the Christian narrative is that God restores the world through love – of course, small “worlds” (meaning individual lives), but also, ultimately, the whole world. I just want to be transformed as well as part of that complete transformation.
Q: You’ve done EPs, a physical CD, live recordings, music videos — what format do you feel most comfortable in? Where does stillnoah feel most like itself?
A: Somehow in all of them. But having played on stage, regardless of how small the audience was, I felt most alive interacting with and performing for people. I guess this will stay true for the future. Second comes the writing process itself: feeling how thoughts pour into lyrics and then emerge as melodies and song. And in between an emerging idea and a delivered performance, all formats have their place. But finally, interaction with real people would be the ultimate “format” for our songs.
Q: Looking back at the whole run — from the NSA scandal song with Josh in 2013 to now — is there a moment or a song you think people slept on that you wish had gotten more attention?
A: I agree! “Welcome To The Cloud / Get Used To That” should have gotten more attention. The topic of surveillance and (digital) control still needs more attention today, and it doesn’t matter what path is taken to get that attention. The question is kind of hard because — of course — every creative human being wants some attention for the art produced. So please listen to all of stillnoah’s music! 😉 Seriously, I’d like to see our songs as starting points for conversations. Therefore, I recommend listening to “State Of Mind” as a trigger for some tough questions, like questioning the role of the USA in our world. Does it bring freedom to this planet? What do history and biblical prophecy say about its political system and behavior, etc.? But if you prefer a more beautiful song, I’d recommend giving “You Stay” (from the EP “Law Of Love”) a try 😉 This song is very relevant for me also.
Q: Alright, looking ahead — the live band chapter is closed for now, but what does the rest of 2026 look like for you? Is there new music in the works, are you writing, or are you just letting this EP breathe for a bit?
A: To be honest, closing the live band chapter left me kind of disoriented about what should come next. I didn’t find quick answers, and the various responsibilities of day-to-day life filled the gap pretty quickly. So I have no answer to this at the moment. But I feel that at some point, creativity will kick-start again.
Listening to songs so you don’t have to! Just kidding :D, you totally should. Music blogger by day, nurse by night
