When I switched to a new version of Cubase, which was quite different from the version I used before, I decided to start using a new monniker. I choose Astralis after a Novalis song based on a poem from the German poet Friedrich Freiherr von Hardenberg, who worked under the monniker Novalis. I wanted to change my style and to write shorter and perhaps a bit more commercial songs, probably with a more electronic character.
In the end I only completed one song under this monniker. I started writing several other songs, but they were never completed. Probably this had something to do with my co-operation with Hans Günther Boddin as Hyperions Fate. He worked much quicker than I did and was mostly in need of my melodies. Because the music we did together got more attention than my own stuff, it was difficult to concentrate on completing my own compositions.
In 2012 I decided to return to my old monniker Rare Bird Productions, because that was the monniker that got me some attention for my music. In the end my music hadn't changed that much.