“A place always becomes part of the performance.”
Nestled among the rolling hills of Basel-Landschaft, at the foot of Switzerland’s Jura Mountains, Between Mountains isn’t interested in musical categories. Contemporary classical music, ambient electronics, techno, improvisation and chamber music exist here without hierarchy, allowing artists and audiences alike to move freely between genres, landscapes and ways of listening.
Returning from 4–6 September 2026 after its inaugural edition, the festival expands into a three-day gathering with concerts, live sets, DJ performances and immersive sound experiences spread across the historic Holdenweid estate. During the day, music unfolds against forests and open skies; after sunset, nature becomes part of the stage itself.
Perhaps that is why creativity feels like the festival’s natural language. Ahead of this year’s edition, we spoke with Stimming, Sebastian Mullaert and Robot Koch about where creativity comes from, what nature changes, and why making music today is less about performance than presence.
Photography courtesy of Between Mountains Festival
Creativity is often described as something mysterious or extraordinary. What does creativity actually mean to you?
Stimming: As an electronic artist, my challenge is to make machines sing – to make them spit out something musically relevant. Something that resonates with the listener, something that makes them want to move, whether it’s the body or the soul. The search for something meaningful on its own is what creativity means to me.
Robot Koch: For me, creativity is about noticing something essential. It’s a way of paying attention. Some of my best ideas arrive when I’m walking in nature, listening deeply, reading or having conversations that open a new perspective. The studio is where ideas take shape, but the creative process is happening all the time.
Sebastian Mullaert: If creativity is about allowing energy to flow, then how we live and relate to our body has a huge impact on it. We often celebrate art because of the result, the performance or the achievement. But there is something deeply healing in simply allowing ourselves to create without demanding anything in return. Creativity is participation. To be creative is to take part, and taking part is deeply rooted in what it means to be human.
“If it’s fun for me, it’s great for the audience as well.” – Stimming
How do you stay open to creativity? Is there a ritual or state of mind that helps?
Robot Koch: I think we’re all creative. Creativity isn’t something reserved for artists; it’s an expression of the creative force that’s present throughout nature and life itself. We don’t all express it in the same way, but we all participate in it. For me, staying connected to that requires creating space. I try to have moments where I’m not consuming or solving anything.
Stimming: Even a bright sparkle at the beginning of a track usually means a lot of real work afterwards to keep it alive. I take care not to overestimate it, and especially not to force it. There’s plenty of surrounding factors, basics like good sleep and food, state of mind and such, that all have a say when it comes to creativity. But I guess I’m blessed to have it – a volatile gift from the universe that visits me every now and then.
Sebastian Mullaert: Whenever we allow the body to become active through dancing, shaking, singing, walking in nature or simply resting, we awaken this natural movement of energy. An equally important part is learning to welcome whatever appears within us. Fear, excitement, stress, joy, sadness, nervousness, calmness – instead of judging these experiences, we simply allow them to be there. When this openness is combined with artistic expression, something very beautiful can happen.
Between Mountains brings together electronic music, contemporary classical music and nature. How does performing in a place like Holdenweid influence your live set?
Stimming: Mountains do tickle creativity a lot for me, so I guess I just need some time for myself before the gig to inhale the landscape and try to channel the beauty into the music.
Robot Koch: A place always becomes part of the performance. The landscape, the light, the weather, the attention of the audience – they all shape the experience. Performing this set at Between Mountains with the Detect Ensemble makes it even more special. It’s a deep listening experience built around spaciousness, quiet and the sounds of the natural world, with room for improvisation and experimentation in the moment. We listen as much as we play.
Sebastian Mullaert: More than anything, it makes me feel genuinely free to simply be myself. I want to arrive with an open mind and meet the place as it is. I want to experience the landscape, the people, the sound system, the stage, the atmosphere, and see what naturally unfolds. I also want to notice my own inner world that day. How do I feel? What energy is present? What wants to move through me? Then we’ll hear what it sounds like. To me, that’s the essence of improvisation. It’s about trusting that whatever unfolds between the space, the audience and myself is enough.
“A place always becomes part of the performance.” – Robot Koch
Have you prepared something specific for Between Mountains?
Sebastian Mullaert: I actually haven’t prepared anything specifically for this performance. My live set is almost like a large archipelago of islands, each one representing a different expression of my musical world. Some are slow and spacious, others rhythmic and energetic. Some lean towards contemporary classical music, others towards singer-songwriter, ambient, house or techno. When I perform, I don’t arrive with a fixed route. Instead, I have this landscape of possibilities, and I choose which islands to visit in that particular moment.
Stimming: I allow myself quite a bit of flexibility in my set, so that I can react to the surroundings – in this case the nature, but of course also the audience while I’m playing. Usually I decide half an hour before the set which direction I want to go. And hopefully the people will remember the set as a mixture between energy worth dancing to with sounds and emotions a bit different to the usual electronic act.
Robot Koch: I’ll be drawing from my recent work, including music from the album Quieter, alongside newer pieces that haven’t been released yet. Rather than telling a story, I’m hoping to create a space that invites people to slow down, become present, and experience sound in a more embodied way. If someone leaves feeling a little more connected to themselves, to the place, or simply to the moment, that feels meaningful to me.
“That space isn’t somewhere outside of you. That space is you.” – Sebastian Mullaert
In an age of constant distraction, gathering people around music feels increasingly meaningful. What does a genuine connection with an audience look like?
Robot Koch: It’s often surprisingly quiet. Sometimes you can feel when a room begins listening together, when people settle, breathe a little more slowly, and there’s a shared sense of presence. Those moments don’t require applause or visible reactions. They’re subtle, but you can feel that everyone is inhabiting the same space together, and that’s something I never take for granted.
Stimming: There’s something strangely obvious I realized not too long ago: if it’s fun for me, it’s great for the audience as well. I have plenty of stuff to do on stage that keeps my attention, so I rarely have a look into the audience. But every time I do look while being satisfied with what I do, I feel there’s this exact connection.
Sebastian Mullaert: As an artist, I can only do my part. Through my music and the way I perform, I try to invite people into a space where they can explore, move, dance, listen and feel. I don’t want to simply insist, “This is my sound, take it or leave it.” I want to stay true to myself while also listening carefully to the room. What is the doorway for this audience? How can we meet? How can we enter the same space and explore it together?
When an audience truly takes part, in whatever way feels natural to them, then I know we’ve reached something real. It doesn’t matter whether that participation comes through dancing, listening deeply, standing completely still, or simply being fully present.
Finally, if there is one thing you hope people carry home with them after Between Mountains, what would it be?
Stimming: Hopefully they’ll remember the set as a mixture between energy worth dancing to with sounds and emotions a bit different to the usual electronic act.
Robot Koch: If someone leaves feeling a little more connected to themselves, to the place, or simply to the moment, that feels meaningful to me.
Sebastian Mullaert: I genuinely believe the world would look very different if we encouraged every person to discover what kind of expression makes them feel alive – not for the outcome, but for the experience itself. Creativity offers another possibility. In the end, the space you’re asking about already exists. It is art itself. Not the art of the greatest artists or the most skilled musicians, but the art that belongs to every human being. I think that is the real revolution. Not something complicated or exclusive, but something incredibly simple: helping people create space in their lives to dance, sing, play, paint, write, build, move, touch and express themselves. That space isn’t somewhere outside of you.
Discover the full festival:
www.instagram.com/between_mountains_festival
detectclassic.com/betweenmountains
