Lollapalooza Music Festival celebrated its 32nd edition this past weekend in Chicago’s historic Grant Park, and we were there to capture the festivities – see our 2023 recap here.
We were lucky enough to speak with many of the talented performers about playing Lollapalooza, their musical process, new music, and much more. View all interviews from Friday below:
FRIDAY:
LOVIET:
You just finished your Lolla set – how did it feel?
Loviet: It was great – it was super fun. It was a good way to start the day.
Your EP The Nighttime Is All In The Timing came out earlier this year. What was the process like with creating it?
Loviet: It’s my favorite record that I’ve made so far, just because I got to really do whatever I wanted. I worked with two artists, their band name is Now, Now and they’re based in Minnesota, that’s where we tracked the record. I was a big fan of theirs and it was kind of this cool meant to be moment because I was inspired by their music when I was sort of branching out into a more pop/indie sort of space from more of a rock space originally. So it was really cool because they were really inspiring to me, and that was years before we had met or really worked together. And then fast forward to that record, I was writing it and I was recording the demos and preparing to make this record and didn’t really know where I’d record it or who I’d be working with and we just sort of reached out and got to meet Brad and Casey who are the band members and we basically formed a cool connection with them and got to have them produce the record with me so it was really special. It was definitely my favorite work, like the whole EP’s kind of a concept record and it just feels like a really special and personal body of work – and sounds the most like me to date.
What is your songwriting process – do you usually work on the lyrics first, find a melody, or have an idea that you want to convey?
Loviet: I feel like everyone is different. Each song is kind of different, but I do this thing where I have a lot of boxes that I want to check when I’m making records because it’s a different experience every time. So if I do one record, then with the next one I know what I wanna do for the next one and vice versa. So the EP had a lot of boxes that I got to check which was like I wanted a lot more guitars and I wanted to play more myself and do a lot more vocally. I wanted to sing more like myself which is louder than what I would do live so that was a big box that I wanted to check. I also wrote it between the span of November and March. So it was just a couple months and it’s kind of a darker album because of the winter in Canada and things like that. So it was kind of a darker period, and just a lot of things that felt more personal to me and more like about me specifically and just my experience as an artist. It was kind of cool. But I feel like each time it’s different. A lot of the time I like to focus on the guitar more and the words will come after.
You’re currently on tour – what has been your favorite city so far? Any fun tour stories?
Loviet: I loved playing the Danfourth in Toronto, that was very cool. It’s one of my favorite venues. I feel like that was a venue we were the most excited to play coming into Toronto; having moved there and then seeing that venue and going to shows there ourselves so it’s very cool.
Who have you been listening to lately?
Loviet: I am back on an old kick like I’m into the nineties stuff so deep right now. I’ve been listening to Third Eye Blind for two years straight. Then also Cheryl Crow like her self-titled record and then her first record. I’ve also just been keeping a pulse on what’s going on and what’s hip and trending, but I’ve always been a Lana fan and I’m a huge Ethel Cain fan so those are my two biggest right now.
What’s next for you? Any new projects?
Loviet: Speaking of Ethel Cain, one of the producers for her actually is in Toronto and we got to meet with him and we started working with him a little bit. So we did an EP that’s coming out September 29th and it’s a three-song EP and it’s kind of like my sad summer sampler. I also got to co-produce it with him which is a very big move for me and is exciting. It’s got a bit of that sort of down tempo but is still very kind of moody and cool and full of guitars and things more raw than my other EPs I think. The next plan is to work on another album in September so the fall we’ll release the EP and then we’ll head straight back into the studio.
GIANT ROOKS:
How does it feel to be here and to play Lollapalooza?
Fred Rabe: It’s an honor, honestly. It’s just a huge honor to be on this bill, on the line up. It’s incredible. I can remember that when we were super young, because we are cousins we’ve known each other for quite a while, and I can remember that we saw all the livestream videos from Lollapalooza Chicago when we were super young. So this is definitely a dream come true for us. I mean especially as a German band to play at Lollapalooza Chicago is just crazy. We are from a small town in the western part of Germany, and it just feels very, very special to be here. We are very grateful.
How was the band created?
Finn Schwieters: Fred and I have been doing music together for, I don’t know, I think we started out when we were like six years old, six or seven. We had our first band and we met the other guys in high school. We were searching for the right people. It wasn’t easy because you know as Fred said, we are from a small town in the western part of Germany. It wasn’t easy to find the right people for the project and the idea that we had and for the kind of music. But we got really, really lucky, and we met Jonathan and Finn, they went to the same high school, and then we met Luca our bass player through a mutual friend. And it’s just, it’s crazy to think that five people made the decision to do this for a living now and to really go all in. We had this idea when we were 16 years old and now we are 20 and we still do it and it works and that’s very special
Fred: I think so too. it’s definitely an honor to be able to do this. A huge privilege for us.
What is your songwriting process – do you usually work on the lyrics first, find a melody, or have an idea that you want to convey?
Finn: It’s always music first.
Fred: It’s always music first all the time. But I thought about it and maybe we should change it, try something else.
Finn: Yeah that could be fun.
Fred: I just thought about it a few days ago to start with lyrics. When we come back home you know it could be fun. So we try to find new ways all the time to be honest. So it’s always different. There’s no recipe for writing songs which is a good thing.
Finn: It’s really important to always change the system and not do it all the same. So I really like the idea of starting with lyrics next time.
Fred: Get out of our comfort zone.
You just finished a tour with Louis Tomlinson. Do you have any fun tour stories? A favorite city?
Fred: Oh favorite city is really hard because we spent so much time in so many beautiful cities. I love Chicago, honestly. I love Chicago. It’s so cool.
Finn: When we tried to get to America…
Fred: Oh my God that story.
Finn: It’s kind of fun.
Fred: Okay now it’s fun.
Finn: So I think during that time there were a lot of thunderstorms on the East Coast and many flights got cancelled and all that and I think all flights that we wanted to take in New York to Nashville where we were supposed to play the next day also got delayed. And then, I don’t know they put us on a wait list. And we were waiting on the standby list, already being awake for like 30 hours. And so the plane was boarding after waiting I don’t know at the gate for 4 hours or something like that. And then three of us got through and then they just closed the gate and we left behind Fred and John.
Fred: And I was so angry.
Finn: Fred was like “guys i’m going back home.”
Fred: It’s very embarrassing. Now looking back, it’s embarrassing how angry I was. But I was really angry. And you have to you know still have in mind that you have to play a show tomorrow. Yeah that was weird. But Louis and his crew were fun, probably one of the best tours we ever did. And there was a pool party after the show in Columbia (MD) and in the backstage they had this huge pool. And at some point people got drunk and Louis’s crew and security guys threw all the crew members in. And so at some point they threw me in the pool which was – well it was a really nice really good pool party. But that’s one fun story from tour.
Who have you been listening to lately?
Finn: I’m really in love with the new album from Suki Waterhouse. And then to be honest, like when on tour and when finalizing your own record like at the moment I find it really hard to listen to music. I usually listen to music when we’re not working on new stuff and when we’re not on tour.
Fred: I feel like that’s a good thing to be honest. You don’t have to spend all your time listening to music, because I feel like maybe it distracts you sometimes. But yeah there’s so much good music. I really love Olivia Dean.
What’s next for you? Any new projects you’re working on?
Fred: We’re just about to finalize our second record at the moment. We just released a song today, it’s called “Somebody Like You.” When we come back home in August and September, we’re going to play festivals of course but besides that we’re going to finalize the album which is very exciting for us because I personally think it’s our best work to date and I’m very proud of that.
