Supreme Music Asks Ralf Heuel: And What about Music?

Music’s many forms of telling stories are what intrigues us and makes us search for different perspectives constantly. Today, Supreme Music has the honour to talk to someone who takes music very seriously when promoting a brand. 

Q> Please tell us your name and what you do professionally.

Ralf> Ralf Heuel, chief creative officer and partner at Grabarz & Partner, Germany

Q> Give us an insight into the most memorable project you executed and did music play a role in it?

Ralf> It's hard to say because I've done so many projects where music played a very big role. I fondly remember a project for Volkswagen where we had Depeche Mode's 'Enjoy the silence' sung by a children's choir at a traffic intersection to draw attention to the quiet electric Volkswagen models. And even today, music plays a crucial role in every Porsche campaign we produce. Accordingly, we take the topic very seriously. Because nothing can arouse emotions as good as music.

Q> Is there someone in your family who had a powerful influence on your musical life?

Ralf> When I was young, my older brother had a few clubs in the town where I was born. They played everything from disco to soul and funk to independent and alternative. In the afternoons, when the cleaners were wiping up the traces of the previous night, I could make my own mix tapes there. And I made a huge amount of mix tapes there. So I got a great basic musical education. (And I was also able to impress a few girls). All readers under 50 are now welcome to google 'mix tapes'.

Q> What topics or movement in the world of music do you not like?

Ralf> It's a bit like how cinema has developed. In the past, there were auteur filmmakers, New Hollywood, autonomous directors, etc.. Artists who had something to say and wanted to express themselves through film. Today there is hardly any of that, because in the end it has all become marketing or franchises. The music industry has developed in a similar way. A lot of it feels more like a product, less like art.

Q> In what ways do you think AI is helping in your role and do you see any pitfalls?

Ralf> I am sure AI will change everything and forever. How we generate music, spoken word and sounds, how we produce it, what business models are behind it. (This applies just as much to photography and film, by the way). It will become much faster, more flexible and cheaper to try things out or even to produce them ourselves. The human share in this process will decrease rapidly; at the same time, completely new job profiles will emerge. This also applies to the music industry; there will be many more virtual artists and performers in the near future than there are today. As with photography and film, the current pitfalls are of course the legal situation, which has not been completely clarified, etc., but this will certainly be clarified.

Q> Making music in 2055 will be like _________. And who will be the stars of tomorrow and how will they be discovered?

Ralf> In 2055, I will be just under 90 years old. And I bet the Rolling Stones will still be on tour then.