Foto-© Stephan Strache

Wir treffen Julien und Max, alias Whitney vor ihrem Auftritt im Künstler Backstage des Roskilde Festivals. Hier ist alles perfekt organisiert. Und trotzdem ist der Roskilde Vibe allgegenwärtig. Professionalität und ehrenamtliches Engagement schließen sich nicht aus.

Kurz vor unserem Timeslot mit den beiden werden wir von ihrem Tourmanager nochmals über ihren straffen Zeitplan gebrieft. Ein solch straffer Zeitplan war uns bislang fremd. Dann aber treffen wir Julien und Max und die beiden nehmen unmittelbar jedes Gefühl von Stress und Zeitdruck. Wir machen zuerst ein paar Fotos und setzen uns dann in ihr Zelt zum Interview. Spätestens hier sind wir dann im Hier und Jetzt angelangt und erfreuen uns am Gespräch mit den beiden.

First of all, thank you very much for taking the time for an interview with us despite your tight schedule. We really like your music and are really looking forward to finding out more about you and your music.
Max: Thank you very much. We are very pleased to hear that. We are very happy to take the time.

It’s really exciting and nice to see you here. But it’s also unusual for an American band to be a guest here without promoting new music. Unfortunately, something like this is totally unusual in the current music business. Are you “only” here for Roskilde or are you playing other gigs or festivals in Europe?
Max: We did already play two other festivals. This is our third. We were in Barcelona for like three days with nothing to do, so it just felt like vacation.
Julien: We played our small tour in Antwerp, Barcelona and here in Roskilde.

And do you spend the rest of your time working on new songs? Or what do you do when you’re on the road in Antwerp, Barcelona, Copenhagen or Roskilde?
Julien: We’ve already had a few shows in the States this year. We make music to play live. For me, nothing comes close to that feeling of presenting my own music live to other people. But we are also constantly working on new songs. Making sketches, thinking about where we want to go musically.
Max: It’s just nice to have time to do things that we like. Trying out new things and so.

If we understand correctly, you are happy about the space for new ideas to work on new music.
Max: Yes, exactly. It’s incredibly luxurious for us. We’re really enjoying it this year.

Can we already look forward to new music from you?
Julien: You can always look forward to new music from us. We are very pleased that you are looking forward to it. Unfortunately, we can’t tell you anything concrete. Neither what nor when something new will be released. So all that remains is a very vague anticipation.

You started out as a duo. Now we see you on stage with many more musicians. How do you play today?
Julien: It’s six people on stage and our soundguy Charles is also like a bandmember too. We’ve got two drum kits on our stage. Otherwise a rather classic band line-up of guitar, bass and keys/synths. One of us also plays trumpet on one or two songs.

That sounds really nice! We’re really looking forward to your gig later. How do you write and develop your songs? Do you first work on new songs together and then arrange them later with the other musicians?
Max: It often varies. There is no general formula for how we create a song. Of course, we both spend most of our time working on new songs. Sometimes we even bring songs into the studio, that the six of us have never played together before. The final song is then developed live on location. Sometimes, however, we sit together for a long time beforehand and the song can mature in peace.
Julien: The band is always at least six musicians. Sometimes even seven. We only very rarely play shows with just the two of us. Then it tends to be acoustic shows. That’s why all our music is arranged for the band setting. For both of us, there’s nothing better than how our music can sound live with our full band. It’s different with two people, perhaps more intimate, but we also miss something in many songs.

You are from Chicago. Does the city influence your music? We always think of soul when we think of Chicago.
Max: Of course, the place where you live always has an influence on what you do and so it does on our music. For us, Chicago certainly has a special influence on our music because so many good and talented musicians live here. We see each other regularly at concerts and festivals. The scene is very tight. It’s less of a competition. Rather, everyone is very helpful and we can always fall back on a large network of fantastic musicians. That really helps. Even if it’s just for a chat or we go to a concert by a musician friend and come back afterwards full of inspiration and new ideas.

That sounds really nice. How closely are you networked with other musicians in Chicago?
Julien: Very, very tight. Chicago is depending on music a village. But an incredibly musical village. Yeah, I mean like all of our friends either playing musics, book shows or write about music. Should we name some?

Yes. For sure.
Julien: Have you heard of NNAMDÏ? He is like one of our favorite artists from Chicago right now. Also on Secretly Canadian. And then, of course, Kevin Morby. It feels like Kevin Morby is connected to all Chicago musicians. There doesn’t seem to be a band that he hasn’t influenced or played or rehearsed with. He is omnipresent. But in a thoroughly enjoyable way. And there is probably no other musician at the moment, who is so present here and has such an influence and who everyone still likes. You see Kevin Morby everywhere here.

What if you could curate your own festival? Who should play?
Julien: Dead or alive?

Dead or alive. And completely without budget limits.
Julien: Yeah. That’s a blatant question. NNAMDÏ would definitely be there. Kevin Morby too, of course. Maybe he’ll also play in all of them. Arthur Russel would be great.

And where should it take place?
Julien: In Roskilde. A stage here. Or even the whole festival. Here in parallel. A new old Roskilde.

Did you have or do you have the opportunity to see other musicians here at the “old” Roskilde?
Julien: Unfortunately not so far. We have a very tight schedule here. And unfortunately, we’ve already missed a few things here. But we hope to be able to see some other bands later. We would love to see Weyes Blood. But she’s playing just before us. We are big fans.
Max: I’m looking forward to Lizzo tonight on the Orange Stage. I’m sure it will be great.
Julien: Some of our band left Copenhagen yesterday for the festival for Rosalia and got really lost. So we’re already taking a bit of Roskilde with us.

Thank you so much for taking the time.
Julien: It was a pleasure. I love music blogs.

Wenig später kommen wir in den Genuss erst Weyes Blood und dann wenig später Whitney zu sehen. Unserer – durchaus vorab vorhandenen – Erwartungen wurden übertroffen. Beide Auftritte waren schlichweg wunderbar.