Treffen sich ein Belgier, eine Amerikanerin, ein Italiener und eine Deutsche… Was so wie ein schlechter Witz klingt, ist eigentlich die Geschichte der Band Lapwings. Seit einigen Jahren in Berlin ansässig spielt die Truppe soft-melancholischen Indie-Pop. Sänger und Leader Gilles stellt im Interview die fantastische neue Single „Masquerade“ vor.
How did you write the track in the very beginning?
The track lyrics have been written by a friend of ours, Paul Jennings. I was directly moved by the lyrics, so we decided to arrange it with Lapwings. We were stuck for a while on a folk / singer-songwriter version of it, but then by playing around with my electric guitar, I came up with this arpeggio from the beginning and the progressive and loud ending with my vocals, and from there we build the whole track. Finally, Enda Gallery who produced that track and La ligne d’en bas, our previous single, brought it to a different level by bringing forward different elements and made us work on the song as a band all together, and not as individuals.
What can you tell us about recording the song?
The studio was a great experience, first because it was the first time we recorded in Berlin (our first EP was recorded in Belgium) in a pretty impressive studio, where Nick Cave and Korn recorded some live sessions (Thommy Hein Studio). Second because we working with a producer for the first time releases you from a lot of pressure by letting someone else making the decision on the best takes, pushing you to give more when it is not good enough and organising the schedule so you can focus on your performance.
What’s your personal favorite moment of the track?
I’d say that the cello solo gave me goose bumps and brought some emotional tears out of me when I first heard the final mix.
How can I understand the lyrics?
It is about showing your real face…but the great part about these lyrics is that you can interpret them as you want. The message Axel Lerner, the director from our music video, took from it is a very good example of that free interpretation.
What’s your favorite one-liner of the song?
Why did you choose the track as the follow-up single to your last EP?
After our last EP, we recorded Masquerade and La Ligne d’en bas. We released La ligne d’en bas as a single last year because it was a song against the rise of racism and hatred in general, with Trump recently elected, but in particular against Marine Le Pen (French far right party leader) who was running pretty high in the presidential poll in France…so we wanted to release it before the end of the elections there and we happened to meet Joscha Thelosen who came up with that beautiful and moving animated music video. Then it was natural to release Masquerade after, especially after having the chance to have such an experienced video director as Axel who told us he wanted to work with us and shoot the music video.
At what point of a concert would you most likely play it?
It is very progressive song but with a very powerful ending, so it is great to play it when we want to transition from a quieter part of the concert to a more pumped-up part.
What can you tell us about the music video?
Axel came up with the idea that the biggest masquerade now is people presenting their life on social media, and then being so addicted to their phone that they forgot the real connections we can have between humans…so the video shows it through the journey of Kristina, a bit lonely, who will make two connections in the middle of the phone-addicted-world: one with a stranger in the train and then one with the music in some kind of hallucinations/dreams…
At what moment should I play the song?
When you are on your way to work in the public transport and can observe all the people being stuck on their phones 😉
that new music blog sagt:
Ein verträumtes Glanzstück, welches an grandiosen Referenzen wie Arcade Fire, Half Moon Run und vor allem den Smooth-Indie-Pop-Isländern Seabear kratzt. Die Gitarre nimmt von Beginn an emotional mit und wird schließlich wie von Gilles erläutert von einem wehmütigen Cello ergänzt. Keine leichte Kost, aber unfassbar schön.
Lapwings spielen am 31. Mai im tollen SO36 im Emergenza-Halbfinale. Geht hin und unterstützt die Jungs! Zur Einstimmung könnt ihr euch hier mehr Musik von Lapwings anhören.