Friday Mixtape: illustrator pals Jan Buchczik and Timo Lenzen on their studio tunes

This week’s Friday Mixtape comes from not just one It’s Nice That illustration favourite, but two! While at After School Club in Offenbach during the summer of last year, we had a beer with resident illustrators Jan Buchczik and Timo Lenzen who told us about their love of music, often listening together in their shared studio.

As a result, this week’s mistake shows you exactly what they’re usually listening to with a mix curated by the two illustrators together. Over to Timo and Jan!

It’s Nice That: Why have you picked these songs, what do they remind you of or make you feel?

Jan Buchczik and Timo Lenzen: The songs on the mixtape are all songs we listened to while working in our shared studio in the last year. We both like music with strong vocals and these songs seem to be in a place where both our tastes meet. Fortunately, we both like to sing along!

INT: When or where should this mixtape be listened to?

JB and TL: We like to listen to it while working but also when we are having dinner with friends afterwards. Or anytime else as these tunes give us good vibes. Who can’t use those?

INT: Are there certain albums you listen to during the different parts of your creative process?

TL: At the beginning of the process I like to listen to music with vocals. But as the deadline is coming closer I like to switch to something like Nils Frahm or Max Richter.

JB: I like to start with something electronic like Yaeji or Project Pablo for collecting ideas before switching to more ambient or jazz tunes like Elsa Hewitt or Yussef Kamaal for the sketching phase. Whereas the colouring is more fun, so I listen to more poppy tunes like Porches or Animal Collective. Then again this can all change depending on my mood, or the weather…

INT: What records did you listen to when you were a teenager?

Jan Buchczik and Timo Lenzen: The genres we listened to varied on a monthly basis yet the main focus was definitely R&B and Hip-Hop. But, secretly, we both wanted to play the guitar like John Frusciante.

INT: If a feature film about your life was to be made, what song would be on the trailer?

JB: It’s my own life so I would do my own song: Childhood Bedrooms, Windowfight.

TL: A classic 80s montage song like Push It To The Limit remixed with On The Nature Of Daylight by Max Richter, because life is about contrasts.