Interview: MARIA Die RUHE releases ‘Silence and Secrets’ on SONARA

MARIA Die RUHE moves between roles as a vocalist, DJ, and live performer, with a creative practice that draws on multiple levers of electronic and club music, releasing on record labels such as her own Exoframe imprint.

Her latest release, ‘Silence and Secrets’, sees her collaborate with Tooker on a reworking of WhoMadeWho’s original track of the same name. Released on SONARA, the label co-founded by Tooker, the project reframes the source material through a more personal lens, reflecting themes that hold specific meaning for her.

Where are you right now and what have you been up to today?

I’m in my studio at home in Leipzig, Germany. I’m currently recovering from an operation I had some days ago. It feels good to sense that my body is slowly finding its way back, even though the last two months have been quite intense. ‘Silence and Secrets’ was born during that period.

I also spent some time working on a track that’s going to be released this spring on my label, Exoframe.

You’re about to release a new collaboration with Tooker on his SONARA imprint, how did you two come to work together?

Christopher and I met last October on the island of San Pietro, off the south-west coast of Sardinia. I was invited to be a coach at his music retreat, organised at Sonar Studio Sardinia, which brought together producers from all over the world.

It was a rare and generous setting, days shaped by sound, exchange, and the surrounding nature. I can hardly recommend the experience enough and feel deeply grateful to have been part of it. Out of that shared time and atmosphere, our collaboration grew quite naturally.

The track ‘Silence and Secrets’ is a cover of WhoMadeWho’s original of the same name, what drew you to the track enough that you wanted to release your own version?

The original has been close to me for many years. After a breakup last summer, shaped by misunderstandings, silence, and secrets – it felt inevitable to return to it. Working on my own version became a quiet way of coping, of giving those feelings a place.

When I shared it with Christopher, he immediately sensed the honesty in it. Coming from band backgrounds, we decided to finish it together. We recorded drums and synths and carefully shaped the track until it felt complete, and true to where it came from.

Were there particular elements of the original song that you wanted to emphasise or reinterpret?

We wanted to create our own interpretation of a song that already feels perfect. It was about letting the energy of the story, the misunderstandings, silence, and secrets, flow through, while channeling our own experiences into it.

We used our favourite synths alongside natural sounds like rain and water, which play with the imagery of “flow” in the lyrics. I also crafted a very special vocal arrangement that gives the instruments a kind of home. That’s why we decided to release an acappella version separately, so the vocals could be experienced on their own – in all their intimacy.

Do you have any plans to perform the track live in 2026?

Yes, absolutely. I’m planning to rebuild my live set and spend the next few months working on a new album. I can’t wait to share the new material, including this track, on festival stages starting this summer. It’s going to be an exciting season of performing and connecting with the music live.

What else might we see from you this year in terms of releases, shows, etc.?

The next release will be in February, a collaboration with REASA called ‘We Share’, featuring two very different versions by Moto Moto and Chris Zippel, one techno, one indie dance – on my label Exoframe.

After that comes my album ‘Lessons in Lust’, reflecting on ten years of producing and performing with MARIA Die RUHE. Lust stands for joy and connection, and my aim is to create spaces of wildness, passion, and expression, a room of hope and a vision of a joyful future in these challenging times.

At the moment, there are quite a few interesting festivals and clubs open for confirmation, which I’m hoping to share soon.

And one non-music-related thing you’re looking forward to in 2026?

My first priority in 2026 is healing from the cancer I’m currently facing. It’s a raw and challenging journey, but I feel the strength to move through it. Music is helping me transform pressure and fear into love and energy, into something I can share, created with joy, carrying a vibration of hope, resilience, and connection.

Beyond that, I want to prioritise my friends and family, spend as much time as possible in my garden, and live more closely with nature and the plants around me. Once I’m fully healed, I’m also planning to travel again and reconnect with the world from a place of health and presence.

Anything else to mention or add?

These are intense and uncertain times, for everyone, and especially for musicians in the post-pandemic world. More than ever, I feel the importance of showing up: going out, gathering, and keeping the spaces alive where people can meet, move, and feel together. Clubs, concerts, and dancefloors only exist if we inhabit them.

We need places where joy, healing, sweat, and connection can happen, where bodies meet sound, and something real unfolds beyond screens and algorithms. It feels like a moment of decision: either we continue to create and protect these shared rituals, or we slowly retreat into isolation, each of us boxed in by our devices. I believe in being present. I believe in shared space. And I believe that showing up together still matters.

MARIA Die RUHE & Tooker – Silence and Secrets is out January 30th on SONARA.

40 Questions: Ramon Tapia