From Germany to the World: Timo Bonner on the Rise of Our Mirage

From Germany to the World: Timo Bonner on the Rise of Our Mirage

Germany’s Our Mirage has carved out a powerful space in the modern metalcore landscape, blending emotional honesty with soaring melodies and crushing heaviness. With their new album Fractured Minds out now on Arising Empire, the band continues to push deeper into themes of mental health, vulnerability, and the struggles that shape us. Frontman Timo Bonner sat down with us to talk about the stories behind the record, the viral moments that changed everything, collaborations with some of metalcore’s biggest voices, and the band’s dreams of finally making it to the United States. What follows is a candid, heartfelt conversation with an artist who wears his emotions on his sleeve and channels them into music that resonates across the world.

We are here with Timo from Our Mirage. Where is the band based out of, and what is the music scene like there?
Yeah, the band is based in Germany—specifically in the western part of the country. There’s this big cluster of towns that are all connected, and the area is called the Ruhrgebiet. That’s actually where the band Electric Callboy is from as well. The scene here is great. We have a lot of amazing clubs and venues to play, and there are always people coming out to shows. I think this is probably the biggest scene in all of Germany, so it’s always amazing to play here.

Let’s talk about the new album, Fractured Minds. Is there an overall story or concept behind the title?
Well, Our Mirage has been writing about mental health from the very beginning. We keep coming back to that topic in the new songs as well. It’s always about the things going on in people’s minds. We really liked the name Fractured Minds because it reflects everything our generation—and even older generations—have to deal with. The band and I think this is probably the best album title we’ve had so far. It really represents what the album is about.

Let’s talk about a few of the songs. I’m going straight to the opening track, “Bury Me.” Tell me about that song and the inspiration behind it.
“Bury Me” is about a toxic relationship—something a lot of people have experienced. I’ve been through it myself, and many of my friends have too. It’s about that cycle where you can’t be together, but you also can’t be without each other because you’ve become so dependent. It’s a downward spiral. The song came together after a friend told me a story about something he went through, and that sparked the idea for the lyrics.

Now let’s talk about “The Chase” (ft. Elwood Stray). What inspired that song?
We actually had the instrumental first. With “The Chase,” we wanted to create something that mixes old‑school nu‑metal—like Limp Bizkit—with modern hardcore influences such as Kublai Khan. We wanted something heavier, and this is probably the heaviest Our Mirage track we’ve ever written.

As for the feature, it made perfect sense because we’re going on a co‑headline tour with Elwood Stray in early 2026. Writing a song together felt like the logical choice. I had already done a feature on one of their songs—“Error”—so this is kind of the reverse of that. Now Elwood Stray is featured on one of our tracks. It’s not the title track, but it’s the main focus track of the album.

What are you looking forward to most about the upcoming tour with Elwood Stray, and do you expect to play either “The Chase” or “Error” on that tour?
Since it’s a co‑headline tour, we’ll switch positions each night. One evening Our Mirage will headline, and the next night Elwood Stray will. Both bands are on the same level, so it’s a cool setup. And yeah, I’m pretty sure we’ll play both songs every night. It’s going to be fun.

You also have “Don’t Talk,” featuring Christopher Kristensen from Dead by April—another band you’ve toured with. First, tell me about the song.
“Don’t Talk” came together while we were on tour with Dead by April—or maybe even before that. Chris told us he really liked our music and wanted to write a song together. We originally wanted him on our song “Fractured,” but the timing didn’t work out with our release schedule. So we pushed it to the next song, which became “Don’t Talk,” and everything worked out perfectly.

The funny thing is, when we released it, it did well—but two or three months later it suddenly blew up on TikTok and Instagram. We posted a video from a big festival called Vainstream, where a guy climbed on stage and did Chris’s feature part. That video ended up getting over 80 million views across TikTok and Instagram. It went worldwide. We gained a massive amount of followers—when we posted the video, we had around 16,000 followers, and now we’re over 200,000. That growth is basically because of “Don’t Talk” and that viral video. It’s insane.

You toured with Dead by April. What were some of the highlights of that run?
Some of the biggest highlights were definitely the largest shows of the tour—especially the one in Cologne at the Essigfabrik. That venue is legendary for me. I’ve seen so many bands there: A Day to Remember, Asking Alexandria back in the day, Parkway Drive, The Ghost Inside… so many huge bands. And on that tour, I finally got to play there myself. We were the main support, and the venue was sold out—around 1,500 people. It was insane.

And on the upcoming tour with Elwood Stray, we’re playing that same stage again—and it’s going to be sold out soon. That’s a huge milestone for us.

We’ll go to the final track, “Timeloss” (ft. Screamistry).
Yeah, so first of all—Screamistry is the guy who climbed on stage in that viral video. That’s him. We thought he’d be the perfect fit for this song, especially since we wanted to create another cool viral moment to help promote it. We asked if he wanted to be part of the feature, and he immediately said yes.

He’s a vocal coach, and his vocal coaching school is called Screamistry. He mainly teaches screaming vocals to people who want to learn how to scream properly.

The song itself is about something most people can relate to—the fear of outliving the people you love. When your parents get older, you start worrying about losing them. And it applies to everything. I have two dogs, and I’m terrified of the day they’re gone. I’ve already experienced that twice with my parents’ dogs when I was younger, and it was horrible. I can’t even imagine the day my parents won’t be here anymore. I’m genuinely scared of that. That’s what the song is about, and I think a lot of people feel the same way.

We’re going back to a previous album. I recently interviewed Telle from The Word Alive at Vans Warped Tour. What was it like working with him on the song “Falling”?
“Falling”—yeah, it’s been a while since that came out. Almost six years now. That was a huge life goal for me because The Word Alive was one of my biggest inspirations growing up. I always loved Telle’s voice and what he can do. His singing is insane, his screams are insane—he’s honestly one of my absolute favorite vocalists ever.

Back then, we were dreaming big and thought, “Why not just ask? The worst thing that can happen is he says no.” So we went for it, and he was down. He loved the track and absolutely nailed it. He’s such a nice guy, and the whole process was super easy. Ten out of ten—would do it again.

What was the experience like playing the legendary Summer Breeze festival?
Summer Breeze is an amazing festival. I’d been there before as a fan, and it’s incredibly well organized with amazing bands and great food. Since I had already stood in that crowd admiring all those bands, it became a dream of mine to play there someday.

In 2023, it finally happened. It was sick—seriously. The crowd was incredible, and we had a great time slot, around 6 p.m., which is perfect for a festival. We’d absolutely do it again. It’s a 10/10 festival.

Has Our Mirage ever played in the States, or is that something you’d like to do for this new album?
We’ve never played outside of Europe, but we’d definitely love to. Right now, it’s become a bit more complicated to come to the U.S., but it’s absolutely on our agenda. We want to make it happen—we just don’t know when yet.

We’ll cross our fingers on that one, Timo. I was looking at your Spotify numbers—“Through the Night” has 4 million streams, and so many of your other songs have over 2 million. When you look at those numbers, what do they mean to you?
I still can’t believe it. I’ve been doing music since I was 10, and now I’m 31, so it’s been a long time. I’ve always done it out of passion. I started writing music because I needed a way to express my thoughts and feelings. I never had the intention of becoming “big” with Our Mirage. But somehow it happened.

It’s still crazy to see how many people watch our videos, stream our songs, and listen to our music every day. Especially now with Spotify Wrapped—this year showed us insane numbers. It was definitely our strongest year ever in terms of streaming and social media. I’m still mind‑blown every time I look at it. I really can’t believe this happened to us.

At the end of the day, I’m just a dude who started writing music in my parents’ basement. Now I’m sitting here playing guitar, singing into a microphone, and suddenly millions of people are listening to our songs. It’s insane. I still can’t believe it.

I wanted to ask what you think about some of the other German bands who have gotten pretty big. First of all, Annisokay.
Annisokay—amazing people. They deserve everything they’ve achieved. I know them personally, and we’ve played shows together. I love every single member of that band. Great guys, and they absolutely deserve their success.

Caliban.
We’ve played with them, but I haven’t really met the guys properly—just a quick “hi” backstage at a festival. But I’ve loved their music since the 2000s. They were probably one of the first metalcore bands I ever listened to. Great band, and they deserve all the fame they’ve gotten.

What are some German metalcore bands you’d recommend to people?
One of the coolest and most interesting bands is Avralize. They’re incredibly unique and insanely talented musicians. We’ve played with them a few times, and they’re amazing guys. I think they’re great.

Another band I can recommend—still a bit more unknown, but I think they’re going to get much bigger—is Avalanche Effect. They’re recording a new album right now, which I’m producing, and I really love what they’re doing. The new music is heavy, with amazing clean vocals and really unique songwriting. Definitely a band everyone should check out.

Back to Our Mirage—what would you like a listener to remember after hearing Fractured Minds for the first time?
I don’t think it’s about remembering a specific thing—it’s about remembering the feeling you had while listening. I always try to create something that isn’t just catchy or poppy. I want to write music that touches you somewhere deep, whether in your heart or your mind. Every song is written to give you a certain feeling, to let you experience what I felt when I wrote it and what I still feel when I listen to it.

Music is one of the best ways to express emotions and to show someone else how you felt in a moment. Fractured Minds is a perfect example of that. It’s all about emotion, and that’s what I hope people take away from listening to the album front to back—the way each song made them feel.

Do you have any messages for Our Mirage fans in the States who are reading this now?
If you really want to see us live, you might have to stay patient a little longer—we’re working on coming to the States. But you’re also more than welcome to come to Germany, have an amazing trip, and see us here. We always take time to talk to our fans, and when someone comes from another country, that means a lot to us.

We love you guys in the U.S., and we can’t wait to meet all of you one day in the future.

IN CONCLUSION

As Fractured Minds continues to resonate with listeners around the world, Our Mirage stands as a reminder of how powerful honesty in heavy music can be. Timo Bonner’s openness—whether he’s talking about fear, loss, creativity, or the surreal experience of going viral—reflects the same emotional depth that defines the band’s sound. With new collaborations, a growing global fanbase, and dreams of finally reaching U.S. stages, Our Mirage is stepping into their strongest chapter yet. Until that day comes, fans can dive into the new album, revisit the songs that started it all, and stay connected to a band that pours its heart into every note.

(Interview by Ken Morton)

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