They are young but they already fill concert halls, retaining a growing audience in Europe. In 2015, singer Frederik Rabe, guitarist Finn Schwieters, bassist Luca Göttner, keyboardist Jonathan Wischniowski and drummer Finn Thomas founded Giant Rooks. In 2020, with " Rookery ", the band freed themselves from the idea of how things are "supposedly" to be done. We had a chance to ask them questions. Discover without further delay their interview on Justfocus!
English below!
Just Focus: Giant Rooks, a catchy and mysterious name, why and who is behind this choice?
To be honest, we just liked the sound of those two words and thought they would go pretty well together. I guess there is more than one translation possible, but we don't want to determine which meaning is "correct" because we want everyone to be able to make their own interpretation.
A prolific inspiration that is characterized in a few years by many unreleased tracks, two EPs and the release of a first album. Where do you get your inspiration?
Our inspiration comes from different things. We like to listen to a lot of different music, which probably has a big impact on the writing of our songs. But it also comes to us from art, books, different places and cities, other artists or political events that can inspire us in our creative process.
You are a heterogeneous group, how would you describe your relationship as a team and a group spirit?
We've spent so much time together over the past two years and we know each other very well. That is the foundation of our relationship with the band and that is what unites us. Without a good relationship in our group, everything would not work out as it does now.
You refuse to consider yourself an independent band. You call your music "pop art", in a few key words can you define this idea?
In fact, we don't like to put our music or music in general in strict genres. We love the continuous development to get out and escape those classic genres that you can see all over the world these days. I think you can hear that approach on the album because we tried to make it as diverse and different as possible.
From your group emerges an authenticity. You pre-produced and recorded your album in Cologne and Berlin, what atmosphere emerges?
Overall, these months were quite intense and it took us a long time to finish recording our very first album " Rookery ". We looked at all the details and it was really important to us to make the best possible start. Of course, it was also a lot of fun to be in the studio, trying new things and experiencing the process of recording an entire album with 12 songs for the first time.
A European tour in 2021 is planned but it is not the first. Are you looking forward to reconnecting with your audience soon and more particularly the Parisian one after having sold out at the point Éphémère last October?
Unfortunately, our tour had to be postponed twice due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. So, we really hope that this can finally happen in 2021 and of course we are more than excited to get back on stage and finally play live again because we really miss it a lot. Our last show in Paris was really special on this tour because it was our very first show in France. We had a lot of fun and can't wait to come back to Paris!
As artists, how did it feel to win the 1Live Krone Award and the Preis für Popkultur in 2019?
Of course, it was a great feeling when our name was called and we realized we had won these awards. We put so much effort and work into our music, every day, and it's obviously great to have that kind of feedback, that our music is appreciated.
You are a young band that now has a place on the European music scene. Where do you see yourself in 5 years? A goal or a dream to achieve?
We love what we do and we really want to keep making music together and having fun with it over the next few years. Obviously, we would like to go a little further. This includes things like developing our skills as musicians, playing shows in new countries and cities, writing new music and releasing more albums/EPs.
Could you give us some sounds from your playlist?
The list is so long, here are some tracks we've been playing on hot rotation lately: Positions – Ariana Grande, Heat Waves – Glass Animals, Daylight – Joji, Hell N Black – Bakar, Ilomilo – Billie Eilish
Finally, the last question we like to ask is: if you had to define yourself in an adjective, which word would suit you best?
Curious.
Thanks to Giant Rooks for answering our questions, we invite you to discover their single Heat Up right here !
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=19OfqG9wi64&ab_channel=GiantRooks
Meeting with Giant Rooks, the very promising German group. They are young, but they are already filling concert halls, retaining a growing audience in Europe. Back in 2015, singer Frederik Rabe, guitarist Finn Schwieters, bassist Luca Göttner, keyboardist Jonathan Wischniowski and drummer Finn Thomas founded Giant Rooks. In 2020, with «Rookery», the group got rid of the idea of how things are "supposed" to be done. We had the chance to ask them questions. Find out more about their interview on Justfocus!
Just Focus : Giant Rooks, a catchy and mysterious name, why and who came up with this name?
To be honest, we just liked the sound of these two words and thought they would fit together pretty well. There is more than one possible translation, I guess. But we don ́t want to determine which meaning is "correct" as we like to keep it open for everybody to figure that out on their own.
A prolific inspiration which is being characterized by unexpected titles, two EPs and the release of a first album. Where do you get your inspiration from?
Our inspiration comes from lots of different things. We like to listen to lots of different music which probably has a big impact on our songwriting. But it can also be something like art, books, places and cities, other artists and political happening that inspires us in our creative process.
You are an heterogeneous band, how would you describe your relation as a group and your team spirit?
We have spent so much time together during the last couple of years and know each other very well. That ́s the fundamental of our band relationship and keeps us together. Without having a great relationship in our band, everything wouldn ́t work out the way it does right now.
You refuse to see yourself as an independent music group; You qualify your music as "art-pop", in a few words, could you be a little more specific?
Actually we don ́t like to put our music or music in general into strict genres. We like the ongoing development of breaking out and escaping those classic genres that you can see all over the world nowadays. I think you can hear this approach on the album as well as we tried to make it sound as diverse and different as possible.
We can feel the authenticity in your group; you pre-produced and recorded your album in Cologne and Berlin, what was the main atmosphere during that time?
Overall these months were pretty intense and it took us very long to finish the recordings of our first ever album " Rookery ". We took a look at any detail and really put so much effort in the record to make it the best debut we could possibly do. Of course it was also great fun being in the studio, trying out new things and experience the process of recording a whole album with 12 songs for the first time.
You have an European tour planned for 2021 but this is not the first one, are you excited to reconnect with your fans, especially the Parisians after having sold out all your tickets in le Point Éphémère last October?
Unfortunately our tour had to be rescheduled two times now because of the global Covid-19 pandemic. So we really hope that it can finally take place in 2021 and of course we are beyond excited to be back on stage and finally play live shows again as we really miss this very much. Our last show in Paris was definitely a special one on that tour because it was our first ever show in France. We really had so much fun and can ́t wait to come back to Paris!
As artists, how did you feel when you won the 1Live Krone Award and the Preis für Popkultur in 2019?
Of course it was a great feeling when our name got called and we realized that we won those awards. We put so much effort and work in our music everyday and it ́s obviously great to experience this kind of feedback and appreciation for it.
You are a young group that have a place on the European stage, where do you see yourself in 5 years? Any goals, plans or dreams for the future?
We just love what we do and we definitely want to continue making music together and having fun with it over the next years. Of course we would like to take everything one step further. That includes things like developing our skills as musicians, playing live shows in new countries and cities, writing new music and releasing more albums/ EPs.
Could you share with us few essential music that you have in your playlist?
The list is so long, here are some tracks we played on hot rotation lately: positions – ariana grande, Heat Waves – Glass Animals, Daylight – Joji, Hell N Black – Bakar, Ilomilo – Billie Eilish
And last but not least, we would like to ask you: if you had to describe yourself in one adjective, which word would describe you the best?
Curious.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PkTfst-Lqxo&ab_channel=GiantRooks
