It late January 2025, I introduced you to the third EP by the German artist Luna Morgenstern, Heartbreak Hotel. Luna and her team also agreed to have a chat about her new interesting release, the second one I feature after her 2021 one, Taking The Blow. I am really happy that I can introduce you a bit more to Luna Morgenstern in my Spotlight interview series. Enjoy!
Spotlight – Flyctory.com meets Luna Morgenstern
FLYC: Luna, you just released your new EP, Heartbreak Hotel. How nervous have you been towards the release?
Luna Morgenstern: I was really anxious before the release. It felt like the stakes were high somehow, maybe because this is my most personal record as of yet and I was very insecure about how it would be received. Because of its personal notion, I noticed that I had trouble promoting it on socials as well. It kind of felt like oversharing – look at me going through all of this pain. So it was a huge relief when people actually really embraced the subject matter and related to it once it was out.
FLYC: You are originally from Cologne, but have now established in the Amsterdam music scene. Do you rather feel home in Germany or in the Netherlands?
I think I am lucky to have two homes as of now. I moved to Berlin at the beginning of 2024 and I felt immediately like I belonged. But Amsterdam is my chosen home and will hold a special place forever.
FLYC: You moved to Amsterdam to study music. When did you feel that a musical career is the right path for you?
Luna Morgenstern: I moved to Enschede actually, a small, some would say insignificant town in the east of the Netherlands, close to the German border. I think I always knew deep down that music was the right, the only path for me, but it took a lot of courage to fully embrace that route. I needed the studies in order to gain the confidence to fully go for it essentially.
Influenced by Nirvana and the Pixies
FLYC: Have there been any artists, who have influenced you in the first steps?
Luna Morgenstern: Absolutely! I listened to a wide array of popular music when growing up. I had my grunge and shoegaze phase when I was around 12/13 years old and was completely obsessed with Nirvana and the Pixies for example. But I also really enjoyed Britney Spears and Madonna when growing up. Later on, when I was more conscious and started looking for new music online, I really loved artists like Imogen Heap/ Frou Frou, but also more electronic acts such as Kaskade or Deamau5.
FLYC: Which kind of music do you currently enjoy listening to?
Luna Morgenstern: This is ever-changing, but I have a thing for a cross-over between ambient and reggaeton and baile funk elements at the moment. I’m so hooked on this track called 360 Surround Bound by Cmdc (soundcloud). I am also listening to a lot of my friend’s music recently, Liza Dries has a new side-project called miaw and I am really obsessed with their debut record My Petswan.
FLYC: Heartbreak Hotel is your third EP release. Your first one has been the 2021 “Taking the Blow”. How did Luna Morgenstern evolve from 2021 to 2025?
Luna Morgenstern: I think I just got more and more confident with my sound. When I wrote Taking The Blow I had no idea where I was going – I just wrote and went with what came out. Even though that might sound cheesy, but essentially I was doing some soul searching on that record. But the more songs I wrote and produced the more engraved, the more recognizable my sound became – Of course “sound” isn’t a stagnant thing, I always try to challenge myself by playing and exploring genres and sounds, that I’m unfamiliar with. But I do have a signature sound that shines through regardless of the genre that the song is written in.
Debut EP contained six million streams song
FLYC: Taking The Blow contained the very successful Tonight, which has some six million streams on Spotify only. How was it like to have a popular song like that one right at the beginning of your career?
Luna Morgenstern: My brain doesn’t do well with numbers, so I genuinely have no interest in and don’t connect any satisfaction with stats or streams – I just feel very detached to that whole side of the music business. So I couldn’t really appreciate it back then I guess? It just happened and I was grateful t,hat I could actually earn my first paycheck off of my own music. But it will always feel so much more rewarding when I play a show somewhere I’ve never played before, and people actually know the lyrics to Tonight. Or when someone comes up to me after the show and tell me what the song means to them, how it helped them through a rough time in their lives. That hits me.
FLYC: Tell us a bit about the Heartbreak Hotel. What are the six songs of the EP about?
Luna Morgenstern: I went through a heavy separation last year and processed what I was feeling through writing this record. I was writing and producing as I was going through different emotional stages during the break up and the six songs on the record are basically diary entries on how I was feeling at the time. Each song opens the door to a different room within heartbreak hotel, from first doubts to the actual break, from reminiscing and missing the other, to contemplating the pro’s and con’s of a fling, to letting go…
Heartbreak Hotel with three previously released songs
FLYC: Three songs have already been released beforehand. Which kind of feelings are described by spiral, miss u and hush hush?
Let me start with hush hush, as that’s the first song I completed. It’s about the first doubts creeping in, but also kind of deflecting them. Being too afraid to look at the truth towering right in front of you, you know?
I wrote miss u on the same beach I visited with my ex-partner the year prior to the breakup. It’s about reminiscing about the times we shared and realizing that I can’t escape, because a part of them will forever be a part of me.
Spiral is set in a club scene, I was hurting so much, that I couldn’t feel a thing. So I guess I was just trying to feel something, by hurting myself. I’m touching on themes of escapism and self-destructive behaviors.
FLYC: At a release day, is there something you especially focus on? I am thinking about metrics like streaming statistics, critics or similar.
For me personally, I like to focus on personal reactions, people messaging or calling me and telling me what they feel. Like I said, metrics and statistics are not my thing, they kind of give me anxiety even, so I’m happy to leave that to my team 😊 I will always be grateful when things are going “well”, but I get a lot more out of a personal message.
FLYC: The Dutch radio station 3voor12 named you the alt pop star we need. How important are statements like that to you?
It is obviously very flattering, as that’s how I would like to be perceived, I guess! Definitely didn’t hurt to read that one haha. And it’s a good reminder of the quality I’d like to deliver.
Upcoming Tour
FLYC: In March, you are touring with the Heartbreak Hotel EP. What are Luna Morgenstern concerts like? What can people expect from the tour?
Yes, I’m super excited for the tour! It’s the first time playing three shows in Germany, too, so that’s really epic. I’m solo on stage, so I want to create a very intimate setting, where everyone feels welcome and at home, even if they might not know anybody – Just like when you’re at a really good rave, you know? Think crying on the dancefloor, a good contrast between ravy-dance moments and intimate, emotional over-sharing.
Is there any of the five shows you especially look forward to?
I really enjoy playing ‘Spiral’ live, it’s just so explosive and MAAAD. I can really let out my frustrations with that one haha – I’m secretly hoping for a mosh pit during the tour.
FLYC: Finally, let’s look forward. What are your plans for 2025?
Wow, I feel like I’ve already been living in 2025 for half a year. It’s funny how you need to live with one leg in the future as a musician. I am finishing a new record at the moment, that is loosely telling the follow-up story of heartbreak hotel. Other than that, I really want to focus on finding and creating community – working with more people in Berlin, but also internationally, to be more in touch with real life (people) instead of looking at the world from my little online island. I started by organizing a very wholesome listening session for the EP release of heartbreak hotel and it was so heartwarming and fun, that I want to continue getting involved in community spaces. More people less dm’s.
Follow Luna Morgenstern Online
Pictures used have been provided by the artist
Luna Morgenstern – Tour 2025
In March 2025, Luna is having a short tour of five stages in Europe:
Tu 18.03.2025 | London (United Kingdom) – The Social | |
Th 20.03.2025 | Berlin (Germany) – Lark | |
Fr 21.03.2025 | Hamburg – Turmzimmer | |
Th 27.03.2025 | Cologne – Helios37 | |
Fr 28.03.2025 | Amsterdam (Netherlands) – Paradiso |
Spotlight – Flyctory.com Interviews
Here are all postings of my interview section Spotlight:
Postings with Tour Dates 2025
Here are postings released in 2025, which contain tour dates: