El Generacional had the opportunity to interview Clemens Rehbein, the vocalist of the famous german group Milky Chance
In the interview we were able to speak about topics such as the origins of the band, the evolution of their music, their last album Living In A Haze, their biggest tour in America until date and their environmental awareness through «Milky Change».
Milky Chance, the modest german duo made up of childhood friends Clemens Rehbein and Phillipp Dausch, is one of the biggest bands in the world. As they prepare to share the idiosyncratic and inventive pop songs that make up their new album Living In A Haze, they boost over 10 million monthly listeners on Spotify and an incredible touring resume (including festivals like Coachella, Reading & Leeds and Lollapalooza). They have a 2023 full of dates where they will present the most important main shows in their career, such as the European Tour or the next Tour in America.
Question: How did you came up with the idea of Milky Chance? Why did you leave FlownTones and created a new band?
Answer: FlownTones was just a band we had in highschool. After finishing highschool I had some songs written and I started recording them together with Philipp. We continued doing songs and we made an album since people seemed to like them. The idea was kind of naive but we did it anyway.
Q: Your music could be defined as a mixture of different music genres such as reggae, folk, rock and pop; from where do you take inspiration for your music? Do you have an specific artist that has marked your music career?
A: We take inspiration from everywhere, we listen to all kinds of music. Getting inspired is almost like a state of mind, you have to be open to get inspired by new things that you didn’t know before. Is something moving, is not that I get inspired by the same things again and again, it can change. Recently I have listened a lot to old music, lot of different stuff not one in particular. I just watched the movie Buena Vista Social Club again, it’s a movie that I can watch again and again, that movie actually inspired me.
Q: This 2023 you are releasing your new album Living In A Haze, what could we expect from this album? Is it more experimental or does it have influences from past albums?
A: We’ve been trying new things so it is experimental, I don’t know if it is more experimental than the others, but of course is something different. There are lots of different songs there with different moods, its colorful and diverse musically. However, it is pretty much us.
Q: Your music is unique, you mix genres for a product that has proved to be a success, how is the process behind the creation of your songs? How long do you take to make a song?
A: We spend a lot of time in the studio. We never had to brainstorm or anything, we go to the studio and go with the flow, sometimes some of us has an idea already or some chords and we go from there. It happens very naturally, some songs happen very quick and others take longer for some reason you never know, some you even finish them.
Q: Is there an example of single that took you longer to make?
A: It happens from time to time. From the last couple singles, I remember Colorado happened very fast, it was done in like two days. Synchronized started fast in the beginning but it took us ages to find the right verse to it. We had the first part, the instrumental, beat and everything but lyrics took longer than other songs.
Q: What would you consider, has been the evolution of your music throughout your career, from your first album Sadnecessary with your hit song Stolen Dance, to this new album that promises to be a success?
A: It is a natural process, we always try to create something that we have not created before. I think that every album stands for itself and also it is part of our development as a band. Every album has moments captured on songs that will last forever.
Q: Speaking of Stolen Dance, congratulations for reaching a billion streams on Spotify. How did you receive this news? Where were you?
A: We were in Berlin, we were invited to the Spotify German headquarter where they gave us the one billion streams award, we celebrated it obviously.
Q: What do you consider is the key for its success? What does it make Stolen Dance different from the rest?
A: I don’t know. Success is something which can be seen from very different perspectives. Personal success has a lot to do with being able to find something you really like and to blossom, it is a self fulfilling thing. Having also success business wise is another thing. I don’t have the recipe to write a song that everyone likes. Last week I was in an exhibition of Gustav Klimt in Berlin, there was a sentence from Schiele that said something like: «being liked by everybody is not good». You can’t fulfill expectations for everybody, you can please yourself and that’s something you should focus more. If you do it for someone else, it won’t make you happy, it would never be as fulfilling.
Q: This summer you begin your tour through America with Young the Gigant, being you biggest tour until this moment. How did you come up with the idea of touring with Young the Gigant and not separately from them?
A: The idea of making a co-headline show tour was there for a while, but it was difficult to find someone who is also up for it, since it is very difficult to schedule. It was possible to get with them so we decided to do it, it is something that we haven’t done before. It´s an experiment for our first time and maybe for the last time, we are very much looking forward to it. It is going to be in summer, touring in summer is really nice, there is good weather and outdoor shows.
Q: How did you came up with the idea of Milky Change, are there future projects incoming?
A: It is our project to become more sustainable as a band, specially going on tour. For the next too, we are trying to get together with NGO’s again, it’s something that we started doing while doing tour. In the cities we were, we met with NGO’s and we shared our platform and showing their work. It is something that we will be trying to do for the next tour also.
Q: Your band is really committed to the protection of the environment, you even have a sustainable manager (called Makii), do you believe the rest of artists should have one?
A: No. That was for us because we needed some help, we figured that it was very hard doing it by ourselves, since we spend most of our time creating new music. We are not environmentalists, we are musicians that want to have more responsibility from our part. It is something that you have to afford financially, and not everyone can do that. Also not everyone needs that, there are probably artists and bands out there that do pretty good. I think it is about, doing what you can even if it is just posting stuff on your social media, doing interviews or just talking about it. You don’t have to become an environmental scientist to be active and be part of it.
With Living In A Haze Milky Chance seem anxious to avoid repeating themselves, they don’t want to get stuck in their habits and lose the joyful spark that united them when they were just teenagers studying music. Over the past decade, the intrepid spirit has worked well for Milky Chance. Living In A Haze is neither the culmination nor the end point of the band’s musical journey, but one more chapter, one that vibrates with possibilities and passion.
