by Andi Bricklin
Milky Chance is in town tonight gearing up to play a much anticipated sold out show at the Trocadero. Thankfully they were able to take some time to talk about their visit to Philly, the North American Tour, and their viral video with over 130 million views.
The band will be touring the US and Canada until the beginning of August, including appearances at Coachella on April 18, the Shaky Knees Festival in GA on May 9 and over 20 dates already sold out!
“It’s a big surprise for us. We are really happy, that is incredible,” says singer and songwriter Clemens Rehbein. And Philly you are in for quite a show tonight. “We will have more guitar power and more drums! I think the live show is much better than last time when we were in the USA. We also have a guest musician, a friend who will support us with harmonica and the guitar/bass.”
The band’s Lichtdicht Records was created “with some of our friends. This is really cool, because we can stay independent and we work with people we trust and we like!”
In fact if you’re at the show tonight you’ll see James Hersey open the show. “He is a great guitarist and songwriter and he has a strong voice! His voice reminds us of Sting.” says Rehbein. “He is also a good friend of ours with a similar musical background.” Hersey’s album Clarity was just released in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
As of this writing the “Stolen Dance” video on YouTube has well over 130 million views catapulting the band into a new found fame. A simple video that Rehbein said cost about $1 to produce. “It was the beginning of our music career and the sister of my best friend was studying arts. She asked if she could do the video for us.” Rehbein continues, “We never had plans to become famous. It went a bit of its own. Of course, now it’s also much work. We are touring all over the world and doing promotion everywhere.”
It’s always important to think ahead and for Milky Chance the tour is just the beginning, and it’s time to start thinking about a new album. “After the tour we will take a break, and start a lot of new music in January.”
Rehbein says there is a lot of writing going on in his head right now and fans can expect a more earthy and organic record as they move away from using samples and start to incorporate more snaps, and claps. “[I want to write] music that is able to make you dance and also make you think about things.”
There are still a few shows that have not yet sold out including Pittsburgh and St. Louis. So if you willing to make the road trip, Milky Chance will not disappoint. Check the website for tour dates and congrats if you were able to score tickets for tonight before it sold out…months ago!
