#gigchat

Let's just begin with introduction and how did you guys get together? We have been around making music for a long time. Our drummer and lead singer know each other since kindergarten and the rest of us joined with the begin of 2018 when we started “Can we Fly“.   

Congrats for your latest single "Attracted", that means fans will listen more from you after last year EP, right? What can we expect of your next release? We have been working on new stuff for a while and tried to create something unique in our own style. Finally, we went to the studio in summer and it’s planned to be released next spring. We are very excited to share our love to music with all of you guys! 

Describe your music in 3 words! 

Emotions, Rhythm & Energy

So, you've been touring and play along bigger names in the industry.Tell us things people outside music industry don't know about tour and stuff ! 

Long, never-ending road trips, heavy equipment, waiting to get on stage for hours and shitty food - but in the end it’s an honor to share the stage and perform an awesome show with your best mates!   

According to you, what is 'must have mentality' for musician? You have to be creative on your own way and don’t get affected by others. If you do exactly what you want to, you will have the best outcome. As a young people do you get rejection from parents to choose your musical path. How do you manage your motivation to make music in the middle of pressure of just being non-musician instead? Of course our parents want us to finish school/studying but at the moment we are able to manage both at the same time so it’s not a very big problem. Nevertheless being creative always keeps us motivated beside the everyday life. 

Have you ever feel stuck (when make music) and what you usually do to solve it? Going outside, making party, cooking delicious meals, hanging around with friends, smoking some jazz cigarettes and stuff like that.   

We all know, pop-punk and alternative rock are not really popular in Germany, but how do you keep up with that?  Of course there is kind of an alternative rock and pop-punk scene which is growing bigger and bigger and we try to be part of it with our style of music. Even if the common pop and hip hop scene will always be the largest in Germany. There are always bands and songs which influence you in a certain way, but we always try to create music which doesn’t remind you to other bands.

Things about your hometown people need to know? We have a big German hip-hop scene in Stuttgart,  nice clubs and bars, also of course Mercedes and Porsche!   

Share at least 3 songs you've been listening the most lately!

Parcels - Lightenup

Basement - Be Here Now 

Pink Floyd - Hey You

The Fever 333 - Made in America

Tell us brief history about Aspirants Magazine? Also how do you manage the task among you three? 

D: Aspirants is an idea I had bouncing around in my head for a couple years before it was realized. One day, I was waiting in line in a grocery store and took note of the magazines and tabloids on the rack in the checkout line. I started thinking about how celebrities we’ve all seen hundreds of times before repeatedly get the spotlight. What about that person—that musician, artist, model, actor, filmmaker, photographer, athlete, what-have-you—who works just as hard but just hasn’t been given the same opportunities? Doesn’t every hardworking creative deserve a chance to be on the front cover of a magazine? I think they do. Hence, Aspirants Magazine. 

N: As cliche as it sounds, my involvement in Aspirants can be pinpointed into one specific instance: a text. I had received a message from Ry and Danielle talking about an idea they had been working on for a while, and from the moment I heard about it, I knew that Aspirants was something different and special. Naturally, with that in mind, I sent my response. The rest is history. 

R: Aspirants works to spotlight creatives who never really have gotten their time in the light before. By doing so we are also acknowledging differences such as class or race that lend themselves to differences in perception and experience. In terms of managing tasks, we have delegated roles among the three of us and team members that work with us on each issue. Ultimately though, everyone on the board is sort of a renaissance person in the sense that we’re all able to help each other outside of our delegated roles if needed.

Do you consider/refer Aspirants to be called as magazine or zine?

D: In terms of the publication, we prefer to call it a magazine. However, in November we are expanding our brand from just Aspirants Magazine to Aspirants Co, so you may refer to us as Aspirants Co!

N: We prefer to call the publication a magazine!

R: Publication is a magazine!

How do you choose or pick artists to be your feature story?

D: We keep a log of artists we collectively update. Usually, we’ll stumble across someone on social media or across the internet and recognize their good intentions and good work. Additionally, submissions are open for every issue!

N: It’s probably the easiest part of the job. The internet has made it easier to share our talents, and with so many talented people in the world, we don’t have to throw the stone very far to find leagues of people to feature. And of course, sometimes those people come to us.

Other than musicians/artists, do you also bring up socio-political activists in your magazine?  

D: Aspirants in itself tries its best to be nonpartisan, but we aim to amplify the voices of those who are fighting for what they believe.

Among artist/musicians/figures that you feature and interview, what you could learn from them? 

D: So, so much! I’m so inspired by all of them. For example, I interviewed Maunder, a musician featured in Issue Three, and what he had to say about his music really inspired me. His music emphasizes honesty. To me, also patience. He wasn’t in a rush to release music just because he could; he took his time until he felt comfortable to do so and is now making awesome jams. I think I need a reminder that sometimes it’s okay for me to take my time. 

N: I’ve learned so much from each and every feature we’ve done, but as a whole, I have seen that there’s nothing conventional about being an artist. Each issue will show you multiple ways to express yourself and there’s no wrong way to do it. Our features have taught me that being genuine is key to success. 

R: Each of the creators featured here are inspirational. At their core, many of our creators emphasize other people. They emphasize community. I think that we—as a publication—are incredibly privileged to be able to work with creators who so closely share our vision. 

You also make a printed version of your magazine, how do you distribute it and how do you perceived the printed version ones in this digital era? Anyway, for me myself, printed magazine might be bulky and spacy, but it really feels nostalgic and real, we love it.

N: We distribute and publish our magazine with the self-publishing company Lulu. For us, the difference between looking at something online and holding something in your hands is immense, and everything feels much more real when you can touch something that you’ve created or see your face on the page.

Do you guys do this magazine as a side project and looking at the development, do you consider to make it your full time focus? 

D: We’re juggling the high school grind alongside this company, so I suppose it could be considered a side project for now, but I think all three of us want to be able to make it a full-time focus of some kind. 

N: Aspirants is a full-time job that, because of the aforementioned high school grind, is our “side project”. But it’s our passion and as soon as we can, Aspirants will become a full-time gig. 

R: Right now, Aspirants is a side project in the sense that I’m currently in high school. However, Aspirants is honestly something I always have my mind on, and it will always be one of my top priorities. 

How do you create and manage this team, as for some reasons finding and having people with the same amount of passion and sacrifice for something like magazine or blog or certain projects with almost zero profit (in the beginning) is quite hard?  

D: Google Drive, ClickUp, and Discord. Without those three applications, we’d probably be significantly more scatterbrained than we already are. But to delve deeper, the passion thing is a great question. I have a lot of struggles with mental illness so finding that passion is often difficult. However, I just try to keep in mind that I have people counting on me and people that have been positively impacted because of what I do. It allows me take a deep breath and move forward, even if it’s slowly. Profit was never the ultimate goal to us. We agreed on that when we started. It’d be a great benefit and it is an aim, but it’s not endgame. I don’t rely on Aspirants for income, and I hope one day I will, but in the meantime I am okay with where things are now. 

Now, what advice you would like to give to anyone/readers who wants to create change and inspirations through media or magazine specifically? 

D: Find some people you trust and can bounce ideas off of and go for it. Get feedback, work hard, and take advantage of your resources. We live in an amazing transitional age of technology where each and every one of us has an opportunity to create something unprecedented through the internet. Use it. 

N: Never stop creating. There will be days when you feel like it’s not worth it and there will be days when you want to quit and there will be days you will lie down on the ground, staring at the ceiling, wondering why you ever decided to start. But it’s worth it. Because there will be days where you’ll get a comment from someone giving you a compliment on your work or you’ll sell your first piece or you’ll have a larger turnout than expected at your event, and you’ll realize why you do it. And you’ll keep going. 

R: As cliche as it sounds, I would tell people to just start doing. It’s different for each person depending on our access to certain things but ultimately, get started in whatever way you can, as soon as possible. 

We really love your social media and website layout also art works, they're really cool and we fancy the color grading.

D: Credits to Ry, the one and only. 

R: Thank you so much! 

Last, share your favorite songs/musicians/music with us!

D: Dude, that’s like the hardest question for me to answer. Right now I’m digging the music of Disclosure, The Internet, MANON, and Twenty One Pilots’ new album. You can keep up with my favorite new music on this Spotify playlist. 

N: “Favorite” is a hard word, but if I have to choose, it would be any song made by Noname ever. She’s a beautiful artist that has done nothing but be true to herself, and her newest album Room 25 is a work of art. 

R: I honestly can’t tell you what my favorite songs are—this is an incredibly hard question to answer. At the time being though, my favorite song is Generation Why by Conan Gray.

Hello, guys, let's start with introduction !  

The band consist of Egon Westberg Larsson, Andreas Geidemark and William & Axel Mårdberg. We’ve known each other for a long time through friendship and blood band.  Isolated Youth is unpredictable sensitive music. A collision between fragility, melancholy and Dionysian ecstasy, beauty and intensity. The characteristics of Isolated Youth’s music is a boyish voice, crystal guitar, winding bass and innovative drumming which comes together in a burning display.  

Who are your biggest musical influences?

Patti Smith, Blixa Bargeld and Ian Curtis, among many.  

Can you give us guide track by track from Devotion, Bayonet, and Boytale?  

We always try reach the same thing in different ways. It’s an attempt to create something truly honest and beautiful.  

Devotion is a song about the sense of devoting yourself entirely to the sensitive souls, forsaken artists, bleeding boys and blue girls…

Bayonet is a song about my (William’s) sickness. And is perhaps the most aggressive one we’ve made.

Boytale depicts a boy who has reached the end of the road, it depicts a boy filled with sorrow. He sees himself in glass and realizes what he could become, what he was meant to do all along. The boy then kills his persona, and is incarnated by his true self. To be able to go on from there he has to surrender completely to his actual path. So he forsakes certainty and is ready to lose both himself and what he holds dear for his mirrored resemblance.

As a band, how it works for you between music/songwriting and publishing/management stuff ?  

All is done by ourselves or people close to us, as of now.  

Can you tell us about the Swedish indie music scene? Best festivals, most popular genre, and specifically the punk scene you've been into?  

Sure, the best festivals are probably Kalabalik på Tyrolen, a postpunk/ New wave festival and perhaps Way Out West for it’s international acclaim. The most popular genre in the indie scene is perhaps indiepop/electronical music, where Sweden has been successful over the years.  

The underground punk scene we’re familiar of, in Stockholm, exists in basements, under restaurants, and in small gatherings, although ”Klubb Död” has started to bring some of us into light, so that is where I would draw my attention if I were to explore the Swedish scene, right now.  

People say Sweden is country of music, do you find it gives you advantage to be Stockholm-based band?  

In some ways yes, and in some ways no. Music is much appreciated in Sweden, however there are not many bands like us out there, whereas Copenhagen and London might have more… the scene is yet to bloom again here, and we are looking forward to flower with it.  

Things you like to do together other than jamming?  

Many things! We are a close companionship, and we spend much time together.  

Artists/musicians/bands you want to collaborate with?  

We would like to collaborate with William Maybelline of Lebanon Hanover / Qual, and Anselm Kiefer.

Things you wish people would ask you?  

Mainly about our music.

Give us your musical wisdom or advise ?

Although we are the beginning of our journey we would say: rehearse constantly, study the greats and devote yourselves entirely.  

Plan for 2018?  

We haven’t made a bucket list, but we strive to take matter in our own hands and make it a successful and beautiful year for us and our loved ones.  

Give us music recommendation to listen to !

Vår, The Birthday Party and John Frusciante’s ”Niandra DeLades and usually just a T-shirt”.  

Hello, Winston on Wheels, you can start by introducing yourselves, describe your music and how did you meet and decided to form a band? 

Winston on Wheels is Jakob Sawyer (Guitar/Vocals), Kevin Rees (Guitar/Vocals), Patrick Crabtree (Bass) and Rocket (Drums). We consider ourselves “indie punk”. Jakob and Patrick are cousins. Jakob and Kevin have known each other since grade school. Rocket just showed up one day and we kept him. We all joined together as a band in 2016. Musics always been something we all loved so it just made sense for us to pursue it together.

Your biggest musical influences?  

Modest Mouse, The Smashing Pumpkins, Pixies, The White Stripes, Nirvana, Cage the Elephant, and Pink Floyd

It must been exciting to have your debut album released. Can you tell us about it?   The album was written over the course of three years. Making the EP we knew we wanted to save some of our songs for the Album. The album is considerably more conceptual than the EP, and seems to tell a story, albeit a somewhat vague one. We hope that the listener can sort of imagine the story in a way that means something to them personally.

Also, compared to play in regular gigs, how did this recording process challenge you guys?  

While the EP consists of live recordings, the album was recorded piece by piece. Though this wound up being for the best, it took much longer to record that way. The recording process was especially challenging to our patience.

Tell us about your town New Albany and its indie music scene?  

The New Albany scene does exist, but we gravitate more to the Louisville psych scene with bands like Voodoo Economics and, Boa as well as the Louisville punk scene. It’s a bit tough for us finding a distinct place in the scene but we love getting out to every show and being apart of the scene.

Things you like to do together other than jamming?  

We enjoying going on long drives through the backroads of Indiana and attending other local shows.

Artists/musicians/bands you want to collaborate with?  

Zach Hill

If people ask you to give advise about being in a band and involve in the scene, what would you say, based on your own experiences?  

Try to bring something new to the table. Don’t worry too much about fitting the “sound” of the scene because that sound is subject to change and you could be the ones to do it.

We may little bit interested in the musicians' point of view about streaming music service, are you seeing it as helping you or challenge you instead?

We feel that artists aren’t necessarily entitled to make large sums of money off of their music as it’s a changing market. So while right now may not be the best time to make big bucks in music it creates a great platform to connect with fans and it weeds out the people who are just in it for the money.

What is the biggest highlight for your band this year?    

2017’s been a great year for us. We all feel we’ve come a long way this year. Definitely preparing for the release of our album has been our biggest highlight.  

Your 2018's Bucket List ?

We like to just go with the flow. We plan to keep getting out and playing shows and we’re eager to see what 2018 has in store for us.

Give readers music recommendation to listen to !

Voodoo Economics, Boa, Tangled Headphones, and Vale they’re all some really good bands we’ve played with from around our area.

Things you want to say to readers? 

We hope you all listen to and enjoy the new album. What songs stood out to you?

Well, our top choices would be Dream Shoes, Strange Children, and Gloom.  Bloom, Gloom, and a View From The Moon album by Winston On Wheels is out everywhere now. 

Start with little introduction of yourself and your involvement in music

My name is Julianna Riolino. I reside in southern Ontario, Canada. I have been writing and playing and singing for the better part of my mildly young existence. I’m from Welland, Ontario, and I don’t know if there is something in the water but I have been blessed to grow up around very talented friends who encouraged me to play and gave me opportunities to grow and learn throughout the years.

Well, as a female musician, do you find any difficulties that you wish you never have to deal?

It is difficult when there is a distinction. I think music is just about seeing the world through a persons unique perspective. It’s hard because I believe we live in a society based sometimes solely on the image ones appearance presents. Most of the time there is more than meets the eye.

And honestly I enjoy 'Pal' so much, it reminds me a lot to several indie songwriters such as Hatchie and Sasha Sloan, tell us about your writing process?

My writing process is very organic and natural. I just kinda sit around noodling on my acoustic guitar. Feeling out melodies and the words usually get pieced together through this weird stream of consciousness. If that makes any sense? I get inspired through conversations I have, and interactions I witness. My empathy overflows and it’s a blessing and a curse.

Do you plan to make more music similar to 'Pal' or instead you would like to be as versatile as possible when it comes to your music?

Versatility is great. I love most genres of music. So I wouldn’t never limit myself in anyway. I just write what I write and what comes out is usually a genuine expression in how I’m feeling at the time. Would love to scream in a punk band, sing a Erykah Badu like jam or even rap. All of these things satisfy me, and a challenge is always a great way to grow.

What's the worst or funniest assumption people make about you, musically and generally?

That I am much younger than I am. I am quite short and look young for my age. Which people say is a good thing, also sometimes means people don’t listen or take you as seriously as they should. I’ve learned to be more vocal and blunt with people.

Any album or EP coming soon from you?

More music to come, releasing one more soon and then the ep to follow. Just gonna keep this train a rollin’  play as many shows as possible and keep making music.

As cheesy as it is, who's your biggest inspiration and why?

I would say I’m inspired by many people, images and circumstances. I couldn’t possibly narrow all of that down or make one artist the pinnacle of my creative existence.

Lots of classics though. Loretta, Dolly, Patsy, Townes, The Kinks, The Buzzcocks, The Who, Erykah Badu, Sade, MY FRIENDS, my family, flowers, and I could go on and on.

Other than musician, what do you see yourself doing?

Stained glass and mosaics. I actually went to school for architectural restoration and worked doing stained glass restoration for a while. I gave one up for the other. So I definitely believe if I couldn’t play music that is what I would focus my energy into!

If there is something you can change about the world and music industry specifically, what would it be?

I think that even though the music industry is a business I believe it’s important to be more socially and environmentally conscious. It sounds cheesy but it’s really important to be a good example to others and support your pals in there creative endeavours. I just wanna be a light and help others with my voice and try to inspire younger generations to be okay with being themselves

Last, share your recent most played songs!

The Kinks - Tired of Waiting for You

Jonathan Richman- Higher Power

Aretha Franklin - Say a Little Prayer, Daydreaming, Rock Steady

The Troggs - With a Girl Like You

Princess Nokia - G.O.A.T

Erykah badu - ...and on ( all of mamas gun )

 A little introduction about you and how you met won't hurt, right? 

We're a new band based out of Los Angeles, California, USA called ONLY. I (Kei) met Steve many years ago at university - we reconnected when I moved to LA this year, and he introduced me to his old neighbor Jerrod. Steve wanted to start a band as an outlet for some songs he had written so he asked both of us to be in it - and here we are today.

Congrats for your debut EP Talk, can you give us track by track commentary? 

Thanks! 

Track 1 is "I Don't Like Your Friends", its an up-beat rock song that to us sounds like 90's music.

Track 2 is called "Talk" and its a more downbeat quiet song with loud choruses - also inspired by some favorite music from the 90's

Track 3 is called "A Little Less" and is kind of a straight forward song inspired by stuff like the Cure and their use of the "closed hi-hat"

We read your feature in Noisey, which is great and found this word "  It's a great mix of throwback and refreshing—listening to it feels like slipping into a new jacket which is immediately comfortable". Do you agree with that?

Definitely agree with that - wanted it to sound like the things we loved listening to and influenced us, but wanted to make it sound more modern. We love more traditional song structures, based on popular songs with memorable choruses and "hooks" - its what we enjoy listening to most so the songs we wrote reflect that.

You're based out in LA which is known as a great place for musicians, actors, and artists in general, is that what you feel? 

LA is definitely the capital of entertainment and music in the US - there is a general creative energy that is pretty influential. It’s a good place to create things and collaborate with other like minded people.

Give us quick peek of your life as musicians! 

The only real full-time musician in the band is our drummer/guitarist Jerrod. He is an engineer/producer so he spends his days recording and writing songs with a ton of different artists and musicians.

What bands/musicians you'd like to be compared to?

Not sure who we want to be compared to but if people say we sound anything like Jimmy Eat World, The Jealous Sound, Gin Blossoms or War on Drugs we would be happy.

This may be such a lame question, but do you want to be well-known or keep being a hidden gem for your true fans? 

We do this as a hobby so we have no real expectations - but in general the more people that listen to and enjoy our music the better. 

Do you guys like listening music across genre ? Is it affect your musical works? If so, what and why?

We all enjoy many different genres of music and we try to take inspiration from everything, not just music!

Simple goal you want to achieve by the end of this year? 

We want to release at least another 3 songs, and maybe a music video or two.

Last, make a weekend playlist for us !

I can give you three songs that I am listening to on repeat :

Petal - Better Than You

Fiddlehead - Lay Low

Culture Abuse - Calm E 

Let's begin with introductions !

Hi, We’re Colour Me Wednesday, Jen on vocals, Harriet on guitar, Laura on second guitar or bass and Jaca on drums and percussion. The band has existed for around 10 years now but our first album came out in 2013 and we’re releasing our second album now! 

So, do you describe yourselves as an all-female-band ?

We aren’t an all-female band we are a band of 3 women and 1 non-binary person.

You talk a lot about vegan, feminism also sociopolitical issues, how do you come up the ideas afterall?

We all consider ourselves to be activists, we are opinionated and that’s just part of our daily lives so it feels very natural to be writing about veganism, feminism and socio-political issues in our music.

As a band, you must have experienced best and worst moment, which worst moment you hope it never happened again to all-female and queer bands like you?

As many people are aware, all-cis-male bands are considered the default, and anything that deviates from this usually does attract some negative attention or just plain ignorance from other musicians, sound people, promoters, fans or other people in the music industry. Some of us have been groped at gigs, we’ve been harassed and heckled and we imagine we’ve been denied many opportunities without even knowing it because we aren’t taken seriously. It’s not just about individual anecdotes though, it’s a huge problem which can be seen in statistics alone and everyone needs to constantly be checking themselves to readdress the imbalance. The best thing to do when you do here about a bands ‘worst moment’ is to believe them and assume that this kind of thing (like a musician being groped or attacked at her own gig or simply undermined) happens way more than you might think.

Anyway, talk about your upcoming album, it seems so clear from the title, it would be about politics and social issues, also satirical jokes, is that right ? Our new album is actually called: "Counting Pennies In The Afterlife" - a collection of songs which explore themes like the fall of capitalism, unemployment, weak and boring men and social anxiety. We really pushed ourselves to make each song exciting and catchy to try to make something even better than our debut. We do as a band do everything with a sense of silliness as well as dry humour because how could you bear it all if you couldn’t laugh?

How is it (the new album) compared to your previous albums, musically and lyrically?

I think some would say the new songs are less explicit in their political content, in some ways, but in others a bit more analytical and broad. We’ve become a lot more confident in our abilities, Jaca and Laura weren’t on the first album and they are two of the best and nicest musicians in the UK. Our last EP Anyone and Everyone was recorded at home by me and Harriet. Previously we didn’t believe we could be capable of doing something like that, it far outstrips the first album in terms of production and we wanted to see what we could do in a real studio. MJ at Suburban Home Studio in Leeds really engages with the songs and we felt safe with him. There are guitar harmonies, big riffs, key changes, synth riffs and interesting percussion on this album, every song is a treat.

Whom do you like to compare your music to?

We want to be considered a pop band in the purest sense. Every song is hopefully catchy and compelling in its own right. A band like Hop Along make interesting and unexpected songs which always end up stuck in your head, when, at first it doesn’t seem like it’s trying to be pop music. Wolf Alice really enchant us as a band because there aren’t many UK bands doing what they are doing and finding as much success. We are also always compared to the 90s band The Sundays, they are from a town not that far from us and have light but soaring vocals delivering a kind of dreamy social-realism.

All-female and queer bands with feminist lyrics are such a new trend in UK and US, do you guys lined up with other bands with the same mission? How is it like then?

I think that feminist girl bands have been around for decades, look at the Slits, look at Riot Grrrl. I think because of the internet, people are finding the music and music scenes they want to be a part of so this has meant a resurgence of feminist music and the mainstream are going to be forced to pay attention - in the DIY scene everyone has become very conscious of making their lineups more diverse, their spaces safe and accessible but it’s an ongoing process. We want to set a high standard for our fellow musicians and for fans and eventually, the mainstream music industry will have to follow that standard too.

The best offer or collaboration you've ever got ?

We are very proud of the tight-knit group of DIY musicians we have met who earnestly just want to be good people and make good music so we would never trade that for anything - and we are always talking about projects we can work on together. One being that Dean from Doe and Rich from Happy Accidents remixed our song ‘Blossom’ recently. Touring with Lemuria was a dream come true, touring with LVL UP was an unanticipated delight and opening for Waxahatchee a few years ago was dreamy.

What does an average day for you look like? Are you already set the music as your full-time career?

An average day has a long list of tasks because in the UK we run our own label and Harriet is constantly posting merch, sending emails and I’m constantly designing artwork, flyers etc. It would be good to have it as a full-time career but it doesn’t yield as much profit or status as you’d think it would for all the work we put in. We all have day jobs, Jaca is the closest to living the dream as they work as a drum teacher!

Do you ever find yourselves stuck and what would you do?

Once I got stuck in a tunnel at the City Museum St. Louis, USA. We visited this museum as part of our tour with Spoonboy and it was full of kids jumping into ball-pits and sliding down slides. It’s not really a museum but more a huge climbing frame/obstacle course/theme park - very cool. I’m very physically unfit and my body just gave up on me and left me lying on my front in a narrow tunnel carved out of a tree. I just couldn’t pull myself along anymore, and kids were pulling on my ankles.

Best advice you have for new bands, also listeners ?

Wear earplugs.

If you could come back to a certain era, what would it be and why?

I hate to say that I would go back to the 90s but it does feel like there were more opportunities for bands like us then. But then again, nostalgia is death.

Last, name the last artists you listen to !

Ariana Grande, SZA, Kacey Musgraves, Carly Rae Jepsen.

The second album of Colour Me Wednesday, “Counting Pennies In The Afterlife” out on May, 15. Order here ! 

Thanks for making this happen guys, let’s start with an introduction!

Darius : Well, my name is Darius and this is Jakob. Our drummer, Yannic is at work right now. We started this band while we were still in school. Yannic has been a friend since kindergarten and we asked him if he wanted to start a band. It has worked out pretty well until now.

Jakob : Yeah, we started in 2011, we’ve been together as a band for 7 years now.

How is it being an indie-punk band in Germany ? I think the genre is not quite popular there, right?

Darius : Freiburg is a small city and not many people really enjoy punk, pop punk, indie, and all that. There are a lot of people who enjoy funk, reggae, hip hop, rap, and EDM. It’s difficult, it's a very small scene and only a few people really enjoy our music but it's still a lot of fun.

How is the German indie music scene in general?

Darius : It really depends. German indie music scene is quite big. Bigger for bands who sing in German. When you’re a German band that sings in English, it will be more difficult because there's no real pop-punk scene here like in UK or US which is, you know, very fantastic."

Tell us your musical influences and the bands you wish you could collaborate with?

Darius : Yeah there is a lot I think, bands like Boston Manor and Moose Blood, and many more. Personally, I’d like to collaborate with Muse. That would be cool.

You’re in the process of making the new album, how is it going?

Darius : It's our second album, we recorded demos in North Germany and we are working on the very last song. It's going pretty well. The album is untitled and we haven’t decided on the release date but it is planned for this year. This new album is very straightforward musically and we cover broader issues and wider perspectives in terms of lyrics,compared to the first album which mostly talked about feelings, tough experiences, and emo-related things.

You guys already have a manager, but as an indie band you started by doing everything by yourselves, so according to your experience when is the right time to assign a manager?

Darius : There is nothing like the right time to assign a manager. There are many bands that work with managers like us and think like: oh cool we already have a manager so we don't need to do anything, they'll work for us. That's bullshit , because it's a lot of hard work and you still need to do many things on your own, and that's cool because of the experience you gain.

Tell us about your tour experience ! Must be a lot of fun, some insights, and maybe bad experiences? 

Darius : Last two or three years we've been touring all over Europe and visited a lot of exciting cities. We've played a little over 60 shows. There are no many people we got to meet and we will go as far as possible to meet even more.

You also did European tour ? Maybe pick the best gig you’ve ever played for ?

Darius : Well, it's hard to say or to pick a city or show as the best, ever.

Jakob : Every time we make new friends is a show worth playing.

Darius : Yeah, then it feels like home, a second home.

Advise for new bands out there?

Darius : Well, I think, just do it, don’t overthink it, just make music and have fun. Also the same for the listeners. Many of them say, nah I don’t like this band, they sound too much like this or that, the singer looks weird. That's rubbish. Be open minded.

Things you like to do outside of music ?

Darius : We actually just had a nice discussion with Daniel, our manager, because we spend a lot of time together, mainly working. We decided to...at one point when the album is released maybe, that we need to have a fun day, with no business at all, just a fun day. Like talk, go to the park or something. Yeah, we spend a lot of time together as a band and as friends, we do everything pretty much together, like hanging out or going to a bar. "

Do you guys like listening music across genre? I think rap music is a big thing in Germany, is that true? I like Cro anyway (laugh)

Jakob : (surprised) Oh, you know Cro? Cool, but Cro is more pop though, pop-rap.

Darius : Yeah, Cro is pop-rap. There is one German rapper, his name is Casper. He does really cool music, especially when you understand the lyrics, it's really really good.

Okay, I don’t understand German, but I’ll try Casper. Anyway, can you mention fun facts about your bandmates ?

Darius : (laugh) ah, I am thinking right now. Sometimes it's the smallest things like someone makes some weird noise or someone shows up late to rehearsals.

Jakob : I hate the noise people make when they're eating or sleeping (laugh).

Last, name bands we should listen to!

Darius : Cold Reading from Switzerland. They’re also a pop-punk, indie rock band.

Jakob : They're our friends actually.

If you guys like pop-punk music, make sure to check out their music, you won’t be disappointed. The Deadnotes is reachable via Website//Instagram//Facebook//Twitter//YouTube

Hope you enjoy this and stay tune for the next #GIGCHAT !