Thorsten Soltau

A reflection.  
I describe myself as a listening person – I am constantly listening to and into my surroundings. This has led to a refined sensibility: I am able to pick up on things that others might miss.
My ears are trained to scan the places I visit – crowded metropolises, remote places in nature, or familiar surroundings.
My way of listening can be divided into two modes:
a) the perception of sound on an unconscious level, and
b) the conscious focus on sound.

Becoming a kind of scanning antenna has had a profound effect on the way I compose. The experience of listening is reflected in my sound works.
Several of my compositions contain almost imperceptible overdubs. They can only be heard at certain loudness and spatial settings (but are easily recognisable with headphones).
Another example is the creation of dense clusters of sound that resemble streams of information or (over)crowded places.

My aim is to create rich sounds with layers that can only be discovered through repeated listening. Each work reveals itself over time with every deliberate playback and perception.

Repetition serves as a reward for the listener.

On sounds.
My compositions are either electronic or electro-acoustic. Common sound sources include the human voice, instrument loops, or sections of complex synthesis. My source material is carefully chosen.
The initial elements must carry the desired mood and intensity in order to be later shaped into full compositions. However, I remain open to developments through experimentation or error.

An important factor is randomness. Sounds, or parameters that manipulate them, are mapped onto random forces, allowing for unexpected results.
Some of my composing techniques are deliberately executed against their primary intention. This allows the character of my works to remain in constant flux.

On sonic morphosis. 
My compositional ethic has strong ties to morphosis.
In order to reflect different degrees of sonic shifting, transformation, and transition, I employ various techniques and methods.
The use of complex treatments and random factors allows the sound to constantly reshape and transform.
The sounds I create are also subject to imperfection and conceptual error – much like the body and mind aging and perishing over time. 

On concepts.
My solo work has always been underlined by specific reasons for its creation. My canon includes albums with both obvious and less obvious concepts.
Often, these works can be seen as cornerstones of things I was researching at the time of their creation. Several compositions reflect situations from my personal life. In this way, all of the works can be regarded as intimate and highly personal sonic artefacts.

Conception can be seen as the basis of each work, without outweighing the listener’s experience.

Nevertheless, each piece can also be heard explicitly as a composition in its own right.

On duality.
I was born under the zodiac sign of Gemini. Although my life is not particularly influenced by astrological considerations, I do attach a certain importance to the theme of duality – the interplay of two entities in close union – in my music.

Since 2016, I have been consciously working on two fronts.
In the early days, it was the character of my female alter ego, Marina Stewart, that shaped some of my compositions. Above all her daring play with contrasts and her tendency to place harmonic and rhythmic elements at the centre of a piece clearly distinguished her approach from my own.

For various reasons I did not initially reveal Marina’s origins until 2019. In January 2025 I decided to re-establish Marina Stewart as a public alter ego with a new name. Marina became Femurl; her name is a portmanteau of the term ‘femur’ (the Latin word for the thigh bone) and the English term ‘female’.
The anatomically inspired name relates to the symbolic role of the bone; I carry Femurl symbolically. She is also an important part of me and my personality, to which I give greater prominence than to a mere avatar.

In the second half of 2026 my friend John Ihlo created a drawing of Femurl.
This is based in part on a photograph of me in my studio as a visual reference, and secondly on the fusion of a red fox on an anthropomorphic level. Femurl is a so-called fursona (a term originating from the furry movement) and is to be interpreted as queer-female. Unlike Marina she is an expression of my own personal and artistic queerness.

Femurl’s role as an active musician continues to be expressed through the use of acoustic contrasts; I am also particularly interested in exploring this through artistic collaboration (Thorsten Soltau versus Femurl).

Short biography
Working in the field of sound design, electroacoustics and Neuer Musik since 2005. Main interests are sonic disintegration, conceptualism and dualism (explored via his female alter ego Femurl [ˈfiːmjuːl].

Thorsten Soltau is a citizen of the KonungaRikena Elgaland-Vargaland (KREV *). He resides and works in Friesland, Lower Saxony.

Thorsten Soltau is part of the musical groups Erstes Internationales Eierschneider Orchester (ESO; w/ Harry Köster and Daniel Penschuck), Trance Industrial Toy Orchestra (TI*TO; w/ Daniel Penschuck and guests) and Chanteclin ɛt Chantecler (w/ Max Kuiper).
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* KREV is a conceptual art project conceived and developed by Swedish artists Carl Michael von Hausswolff and Leif Elggren.