Mrs. Greenbird Interview by Christian Lamitschka for Country Music News International Magazine & Radio Show

Mrs. Greenbird Interview by Christian Lamitschka for Country Music News International Magazine & Radio Show

Lamitschka:  Music has many new fans throughout
Europe who may be hearing about you for the first time. How would you describe
yourself and the music you play to someone who has never seen or heard you?

Answer:  We once summed up our music in one simple
word: Singersongwritercountryfolkpop. We’re mainly singersongwriters with some
influences in countrymusic as well as folk and americanamusic. Our songs are
very melodic, so it’s always easy to sing along, that’s why it’s also pop.

Lamitschka:  How was the last year for you? What were
your highlights?

Answer:  Our last year was very full, we worked a
lot. One highlight has definitly been our Germanytour with Clare Bowen (the
star oft he TV show called Nashville). At the same time we also found our very
own record label called „Greenbird Records“ and released a self written and
selfproduced EP (One day in June) on it. This was super exciting, but like we
mentioned a lot of work, too. We’re still learning to find a good life/work balance
between beeing your own manager, labelboss, booker, a musician, a producer and
a couple at the same time. It can be overwhelming at times. We also played a
lot of shows last year and produced our new upcoming record, called „Dark Waters“
in our own studio in Cologne/Nippessipi (Germany).

Lamitschka: How is your new record doing so far?

Answer:  We’re going to release our third record,
selfproduced and selfwritten on our own little label in about 2 weeks. That’s
why we don’t know how it’s doing so far. But we already got 2 wonderful reviews,
which makes us hopeful that people are going to like what we did.

It’ll be out on April 12. We’re so happy and nervous and
can’t wait for the world to hear our new songs…

 Lamitschka:  How did you choose the title for
the CD?  Is there a story behind the name?

 Answer:  We wrote a song called „Dark Waters“
and released it this February. It was an underdog for a very long time and we
were not even sure, if the song should be on our record. But we recorded it for
whatever reason and fell totally in love with it… Right now it’s even our
favorite song and so we decided to name the whole album after it. It also
describes a bit of our last couple of years, which haven’t been the easiest for
a lot of diffrent reasons and it also has some sort of depth in it, which sums
up our new record and the topics we wrote and sang about, too.

Lamitschka:  What is the difference between your last
CD and your current one?

 Answer: We recorded our last record (Postcards)
live in Nashville and it sounds super country. Our new record is more
folkinfluenced and way more experimental… It’s the first record we produced
on our own and as independent artist.

Lamitschka:  What will your next single be?

 Answer:  It’s called Morals and will be
relaesed March 29.

Lamitschka:  How much creative control do you have
over your music?

 Answer:  We can do whatever we want to do,
cause we’re independent.

Lamitschka:  Do you write the songs yourself? If not,
how do you go about finding the songs for your CD?

Answer:  Yes, we write the songs ourselves. We also
love to work and write with our people. This allows us to get to know people,
sometimes a diffrent approach and sometimes even a new style.

Lamitschka:  Do you have any interesting stories
about how fans have been affected by your music?

Answer: We hear and read so many wonderful, touching
and even heartbreaking stories. The hardest one to read was about a woman, who
was locked up in her bedroom for months by her husband who has been very
agressive and violent. The only thing which kept her from comitting suicide was
the fact, that there was a CD-Player in her bedroom with one of our records in
it. She played our songs over and over again, got new strength and escaped.
Stories like this really makes you want to never stop making music.

Lamitschka:  Who inspires you musically and how deep
do your musical roots run?

Answer:  We’re a duo and have totally diffrent
musical roots. I (Sarah) love everything which is melodic, I love unique voices
and good songwriting. One of my heroes are Dolly Parton, Leonard Cohen, Joni
Mitchell, Eva Cassidy, Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch, Iris DeMent, Joan Baez and
Judy Collins… The last couple of years I love to listen to Jason Isbell,
Brandi Carlile and the milk carton kids. Steffen is a big Queen and ZZ Top Fan,
but loves to listen to good americanamusic as well.

Lamitschka:  If you had the chance to change
something about the music industry, what would it be?

 Answer:  I would make sure that all songwriters
and musicans get paid fairly by all the streaming services. Our song „One day
in June“ for example got played more than 40.000 times on streaming platforms,
but we only earned 300 Euros in almost one year. No songwriter can make a
living from that. We spend way more money in producing and promoting that
song… This really hast to change, otherwise we won’t have a lot of
proffessional musicians any more in the near future, just the big names in this
industry. But indepent artist like us can’t survive like this.

Lamitschka:  As an artist, you so many tasks such as
recording, touring, interviews. What do you like best, what’s your favorite
activity?

Answer:  Steffen love touring the most. I love
songwriting and producing the most. I am an introvert. Writing a new song makes
me happy for weeks. Playing a show makes me happy for a day maybe.

Lamitschka:  Are you doing anything to take music
beyond its current borders or are you happy where it is?

Answer:  We’re trying to get gigs outside from
Germany, but it’s hard. We even played a sold out show in the famous bluebird
cafe in Nashville in 2014. We also played shows in Switzerland,  Austria and Belgium. But we would really love
to tour through the UK and the US.

Lamitschka:  Before you became a star, were your
friends and family supportive or was it a struggle?

Answer:  Everyone was always very supportive, but no
one ever thought we would do it professional one day. We did not believe it
either…

Lamitschka:  What inspired you to become an artist?

Answer:  Good songs and good songwriting.

 Lamitschka:  What drives you?

Answer:  The need to make this world a tiny bit
better with every chord we play and every word we singJ

 Lamitschka:  What has been your greatest
challenge in music business?

Answer: Running your own record label.

 

Lamitschka:  Who is your biggest critic, yourself or
others?

Answer:  I am always too hard with myself. I hate to
make mistakes, though I know it’s human. But I am very forgiving with others…

Lamitschka:  When you get time off, how do you like
to relax?

Answer:  We love to spend time with our dogs at a
lonely place deep in the nature

 Lamitschka:  Is there anything in your life that you
would change if you could?

Answer: I’d love to have more time with myself, family and
friends.

Lamitschka:  Is there any place you haven’t played
that you would like to?

Answer:  Many, but one of my biggest dreams ist to
get the chance to play the Grand Old Opry in Nashville one day.

Lamitschka:  What can your fans expect to see when
they see you in concert?

Answer:  It’s always fun. We talk a lot. Our biggest
goal is always to connect with our audience. We sing togeher, dance together
and laugh togerher… Every show is diffrent and it never get’s boring.

Lamitschka:  When you’re on tour, do you have time to
play tourist?

Answer:  No mostly not. Sometimes on Off-days, but
most of the time Off-days are driving-days where we need to reach the next city
to play in.

Lamitschka:  Do fans mob you everywhere you go or do
they respect your privacy?

Answer:  It depends. But it’s always good and fun to
meet them. We love our fans. They are lovely people.

Lamitschka:  Many music fans today get their
information about artists online. Do you have your own website and what will
fans find there?

Answer:  Yes, please take a look around: www.mrsgreenbird.com

Lamitschka:  What’s the best compliment a fan has
ever given you?

Answer:  Many. Everytime a person is touched by our
music…

Lamitschka:  What’s your favorite song that you wish
you could have recorded?

Answer:  „Party of one“ by Brandi Carlile.

Lamitschka:  Fans are always hungry for good road
stories. Do you have one you can share with us (come on don’t be shy)?

Answer:  We once lost our carkeys after we played a
festivalshow 9 hours away from home… This wasn’t fun….

Lamitschka:  Describe what a perfect day is like for
you.

Answer: Sleeping in. Good coffee, good food,
freetime, sunshine and people I love around me.

Lamitschka:  Most careers don’t last as long as
yours.  What’s given your career the staying power?

Answer:  I’ve simply falling in love with music.
Music means everything to me.

Christian Lamitschka ( Ch.Lamitschka@t-online.de ) for
Country Music News International Magazine & Radio Show

Photo (c)  Photo Zander

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