„People are always nice, warm and eager to see us.
And down to the core – that’s the thing that makes the shows special for us“ 

–

Was für eine Freude und Ehre. Zur Eröffnung des 6. Conrad Sohm Kultursommer-Festivals haben wir ein Interview mit den sympathischen Jungs CARNIVAL YOUTH aus Lettland führen dürfen. Ein Grund, sich nun mehr auf das Konzert von ihnen (support: Komot) am Samstag, den 17. Juni 2017, zu freuen!

// We saw you playing for the first time at the Eurosonic Festival in the Netherlands last year. How would you describe your development as musicians, as a band over the last years?

We’ve had a lot of gigs since then. Every year brings us a more intense touring schedule. We’ve played well over 100 gigs since Eurosonic Festival. And we get slightly better with each show – you have to have a technical confidence over your material to perform with passion. So we try to constantly develop ourselves as musicians and performers – just by becoming better at what we do, focusing on the live shows.

// You already played here in Vorarlberg, Austria at the Szene Openair in Lustenau last year. Do you have any special memories about that time?

It was a raw festival – with mud and beer, and fans. And we love rock’n’roll. The circus tent we played at provided quite a massive acoustic experience. But we’re happy to play in Austria each time – people are always nice, warm and eager to see us. And down to the core – that’s the thing that makes the shows special for us.

// This year you’ll be back to Vorarlberg for the Conrad Sohm Kultursommer Festival in Dornbirn on the 17^st of June. We’re very happy to welcome you again! What can the audience expect?

We’re very happy to return! We’ll play as good as we possibly can. We have made some technical adjustments for our shows – we’ll have some special lights with us, for instance, and we’re excited to play. So there will be a lot of energy – as we’re not on a full blow tour right now, we just really want to hit the stage.

// Do you basically prefer playing at festivals or in smaller, more intimate clubs rather?

It’s not that we really have a preference. It completely depends on the case. As we said, it’s more about the crowd, the people at the venue. And there’s always that special ingredient that nobody can predict – the magic in the air. At festivals the stages are usually larger than in the clubs so that gives you a bit more space to fill. So in a way you have to give more out of yourself at a festival.

// For your latest album Vienā vilcienā you recorded songs only in your native language. What was the motive for you to swap from English to Latvian and what’s the main difference for you personally?

We wanted to do something for our local fans. And also – just to see how it goes. We’re not planning to switch to Latvian, though, this is kind of an exclusive local release. And in the meantime we’re planning the next full album in English.

Ironically it was way harder to work with the lyrics in Latvian. One of the reasons for that is the fact that we live in a world of music where English is the primary language and we’ve grown accustomed to that. So in a way that’s also training for us. And in the end – although we play 95% percent of our gigs abroad – we’re still Latvian and time by time it’s nice to something like this.

// How is the reaction of your fans?

Latvian public seems to enjoy it so far. We get a lot of messages from fans abroad where they ask for translations – even though we haven’t done any promo for this album outside Latvia. So it’s really nice to see how people are interested in what we’re doing.

// Your second album Propeller was released last year and you’ve been touring through Europe ever since. What keeps you motivated, when you’re on the road for such a long time?

The curious thing about touring is the way the time goes. So, for instance, you may spend couple of days just driving in the van just to get on the stage for 45 minutes. Yet these 45 minutes makes it worth the travel. We don’t do much besides music – this is the life we want to live. We want to play. We just like to do it! The feeling you get at a good show is just a pure euphoria and that keeps us going.

// Where do you see yourself as a band in five years?

Well, probably – more concerts around the world. We’ve played for 3 times in USA now (we attended the SXSW conference this year) and so we want to expand our reach – throughout Europe, the USA, maybe even further. We’ll also spend many hours doing lots of hard work in the studio to make new records. So basically we just want to keep making music and playing it live – that’s just what we do the best.

Carnival Youth
Support: KOMOT
Samstag, 17. Juni 2017
6. Conrad Sohm Kultursommer-Festival
Einlass: 20 Uhr / Beginn: 21 Uhr

Tickets sind bei folgenden Vorverkaufsstellen erhältlich:Ländleticket (Raiffeisenbanken und Sparkassen Vorarlbergs) mit Raibaclub-Ermäßigung, Musikladen (05522/41000), V-Ticket, Öticket, Eventim, Ticketcorner, Musicticket, Bro Records und hier zum selber ausdrucken.