INTERVIEWS PRINT

Interview: Getting to know Milky Chance

Jake Craney
Latest posts by Jake Craney (see all)

German duo Milky Chance has taken over US airwaves with their hit “Stolen Dance.” With the release of their debut album Sadnecessary, Philipp & Clemens are set to make Milky Chance a household name. GroundSounds caught up with Philipp to discuss their formation, recording Sadnecessary, their hometown of Kassel, and more. Check out the interview below, along with their video for “Flashed Junk Mind.”

We are impressed with Sadnecessary and even more impressed that this is your first full-length. Tell us about the writing process and how it came together.

After High school Clemens had written most of the songs and showed them to me and we just decided to record them for fun. It was never really an intention to start a band – we just had plenty of time and always liked making music together since we were kids.

 

For something recorded in a small home studio, the album sounds like a big studio production. How long did you take to record it and how much time was spent creating your home studio? Did you have a lot of previous experience with production and recording?

With the band we had before Milky Chance we went to a studio and recorded a six song EP. And I did an internship at a theatre after school where I learned how to produce and how to record. That’s actually all the experience we had so far. So we had the room at Clemens’ house where we used to practice with our band and turned that to a little studio with very basic gear and recorded the songs in about 4 weeks.

 

“Stolen Dance” exploded in popularity online and was quickly being played on the radio here in the US. What inspired the song?

Clemens said that he wanted to catch a feeling in that song. The feeling of missing someone, longing for time together though circumstances don’t allow it.

 

One of my personal favorites from the album is “Flashed Junk Mind.” Can you tell us a little bit about the story behind this song?

“Flashed Junk Mind” is mostly about living in our modern society where you get plenty of distraction, all this junk that your mind gets used to by living the city life. But still there is that essential thing, the way of living together and loving each other easily and feel the other one’s heartbeat while you get so much opportunities to do and waste yourself.

 

What bands/musicians inspire you and impact the way you make music?

Well there were a lot and we always cannot really answer that question because through our childhood and still we’re listening to so many different genres and artists that we’re not able to say who influenced us most or in particular. But to give you some names Bob Marley, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Jack Johnson, James Blake, Ben Howard and Tallest Man on Earth are artists that are part of the music we love to listen to.

 

For many of us in the US, Kassel, Germany is not a familiar location. Tell us a little bit about your hometown and what the music scene/culture is like there.

It’s a pretty small town, very calm and relaxed and where you always meet someone on the street you know. There are many green places and you have castles and other very old buildings. The music scene is not too big, but we have a bunch of venues, a music academy and clubs and also some schools that provide intense music classes as the one we used to go.

 

You will be on your first North American tour in March. What are you most looking forward to?

Having a good time and celebrating music with all the people!

 

What are your plans between now and the US tour?

Relax and spend time with family and friends. However, there are still some promo dates on our schedule, mostly in Europe. Before touring in the USA we have also a Europe tour and some dates in Australia and New Zealand – this January and February.

 

Milky Chance – “Flashed Junk Mind”