De vorba cu Rea Garvey de la Reamonn (interviu Monden.info)

Inaintea concertului de vineri seara, cand Reamonn a cantat in deschiderea show-ului Aerosmith, am avut ocazia sa stau de vorba cu Rea Garvey, solistul trupei, intr-un interviu acordat Monden.info. Mai jos puteti citi atat varianta in engleza cat si cea in romana a interviului – sunt cateva fraze pe care nu le-am tradus deoarece si-ar fi pierdut esenta.

Din punct de vedere artistic, Rea este unul dintre cei mai maturi oameni pe care i-am intalnit. Am vorbit despre Reamonn, muzica romaneasca, internet (intra zilnic pe Facebook 😀 ) si viitorul industriei muzicale. Sunt sigur ca avem multe de invatat din acest text. Puteti vedea mai jos pozele facute de colegul meu, Seelview, in timpul interviului. Enjoy!

1. Monden.info: You are working on a BEST OF album. How is that going? Ray Garvey (Reamonn): It’s going very well. The studio time is very good. We recorded 3 new songs that we like. I hope that people will like it as well.

2. Monden.info: When is it going to be released? Ray Garvey (Reamonn): I think it’s going to be released in August. I don’t know when it will be released in Romania, but in Germany I’m sure it is set for August.

3. Monden.info: Tomorrow you’re starting the Summer Open Air Tour. Are you going to make it an European Tour? Ray Garvey (Reamonn): Probably not. I think we’ve been on tour for a long time now and we are moving to that kind of time when we need to just take a break. As a band we are taking the next year off and then we will go back in the studio and start writing again, but I think we need a little bit of a break. We would love to play – I get so many emails on my Facebook going ‘When are you coming here?’. I’d love to go to all of these places but eventually you have to look after yourself.

4. Monden.info: Why did you choose to play open air? Ray Garvey (Reamonn): Open air in summer is like a thing you gotta do, you know. Is like in winter you go inside and in summer you stay outside. This summer isn’t that much – in Romania is 36 degrees but in the rest of the world is like 16 degrees, at the moment. I hope it was a good decision. People seem to be having fun and tickets are selling very well so… we’ll see.

5. Monden.info: Did you find it difficult to write songs after „Supergirl” became a smash hit? Ray Garvey (Reamonn): No, no. I think writing songs is just something that we wanted to do the most. In writing is where the fun and where the passion is. When you go to the studio you really must focus and you really must be the best. When you’re live and there’s the audience, you have to give them the best show possible. But when you’re writing, the only pressure is on yourself. So you go to the bar, have a good time, get up the next morning, feel like sh*t but you have an idea and you start writing. I think that the creative process is a lot more about not suffering but being in touch with all of your emotions, good and bad.

6. Monden.info: So did you feel like the next single or the next album must be better than Supergirl was? Ray Garvey (Reamonn): I think the second album that we wrote… definitely I was conscious of the fact that we have had a huge success and then you try and write those songs again and that’s a mistake. Then you have to forget everything and just go f*ck it, I don’t care about these things and you just do the next album. At the end of the day, if you think you’ve written the last best song you’re ever gonna write then you just give up and I couldn’t take that away from me.

7. Monden.info: How do you manage the online content? Do you read what people say about you? Ray Garvey (Reamonn): If I say no is that a lie? I definitely like to see people’s response and I love the internet for the fact that is very honest. People don’t feel they have to dress it up. Journalism, as hard as it can be, is still not all truth and on the internet people just tell you what they think and you have to love that. It’s not always good and I laugh sometimes when people describe me. I think it’s good to know… I mean on Facebook, on my own page, I do this stuff cause I enjoy it. As an artist you’re kind of compelled to have contact to your fans over the internet.

8. Monden.info: So you keep it touch with your fans on Facebook. Ray Garvey (Reamonn): Yeah, it’s more like I tell them what I’m doing rather than reading what they’re doing. I feed it, I don’t eat it, you know :)) . It’s one of those things that I really enjoy doing cause I do it for everybody: for my friends, for my fans, for my family and I keep it on a level of what it’s about – today, being here, in Romania, taking photos and sending them to my page.

9. Monden.info: Album sales have gone very low, lately and many people say that there will be no more CDs in the near future. What do you think about this? Do you think that the future of the music industry are the digital sales? Ray Garvey (Reamonn): You wouldn’t be able to think of not having cassettes. And then there were the CDs. It took the auto industry 15 fu**ing years before every car had a CD player. I love to accept the future, you have to embrace it, move forward. When I’m in the airport, which is almost once a week, I buy DVDs. I don’t buy CDs anymore, I just buy online. People now want MP3. They want to be able to have it on their iPod and I think we just need to move on. The music industry has always been going through the media changes – from vinyl to cassette, cassette to CD, CD to MP3. The smartest people are the ones who just go with it rather than say ‘Stop’.

10. Monden.info: This is the third time you are in Romania. Did you get to hear any local musicians or do you know any Romanian artists? Ray Garvey (Reamonn): I do know Semnal M which is a Romanian band my father used to sing with. He told me all about it and I have heard some radio recordings. It’s very difficult to keep up: have you a lot of dance music here? And you have a lot of traditional music as well, which has nothing to do with the dance music. It’s the next generation and the fact that people have the freedom to do their own thing. I think the mixture is going to be incredible but it’s difficult to watch television sometimes :)) . It’s the same as in Germany and Hungary. But you have all sorts of alternatives – you can go to rock clubs and there’s the underground music – and there you feel like the ellite. That’s what happens first and then it becomes mainstream and then you hate it :)) .

1. Stiu ca lucrati la un album BEST OF. Cum merge treaba? Merge foarte bine. Ne bucuram de timpul petrecut in studio. Am inregistrat 3 piese noi care noua ne plac si speram sa placa si publicului.

2. Cand va fi lansat acest album? Cred ca va fi lansat in luna august. Nu stiu cand va ajunge si in Romania, insa in Germania e programat sa apara in august.

3. Maine (interviul a fost luat vineri) porniti intr-un turneu in aer liber. Va fi extins intr-un turneu european? Cel mai probabil nu. Suntem pe drumuri de foarte mult timp si credem ca a venit momentul pentru o pauza. Avem nevoie de aceasta pauza pentru anul viitor. Dupa aceea, vom intra din nou in studio. Ne face placere sa cantam – primesc multe emailuri pe facebook in care sunt intrebat ‘Cand veti avea concert in orasul meu?’. Mi-ar placea sa merg in toate locurile alea insa trebuie sa am grija si de mine, pana la urma.

4. De ce ati ales sa cantati in aer liber? Concertele in aer liber, vara, sunt un lucru care trebuie facut. Iarna intri in sala iar vara stai afara. Vara asta nu e chiar atat de greu – in Romania sunt 36 de grade, insa in restul lumii sunt 16 grade. Sper ca a fost o decizie buna. Oamenii se distreaza iar biletele se vand foarte bine … vom vedea.

5. Ti s-a parut greu sa scrii alte piese dupa ce Supergirl a devenit un smash hit? Nu. Asta ne-am dorit cel mai tare – sa scriem piese. Atunci cand scrii, intra in joc partea de distractie si pasiunea. Cand mergi in studio trebuie sa te concentrezi si sa fii cel mai bun. Atunci cand esti pe scena trebuie sa oferi publicului cel mai bun show posibil insa atunci cand scrii piese singurul stres pe care il ai vine din tine. So you go to the bar, have a good time, get up the next morning, feel like sh*t but you have an idea and you start writing. I think that the creative process is a lot more about not suffering but being in touch with all of your emotions, good and bad.

6. Ai simtit ca urmatorul single sau urmatorul album trebuie sa fie mai bun decat Supergirl? Cred ca atunci cand am scris al doilea album… eram constienti de succesul urias pe care l-am avut asa ca am intrat in studio si am incercat sa scriem piesele alea, din nou, iar asta e o greseala. Then you have to forget everything and just go f*ck it, I don’t care about these things and you just do the next album. Daca la sfarsitul zilei ramai cu impresia ca ai scris ultima piesa buna din cariera ta, atunci ar trebui sa renunt si nimeni nu mi-ar lua asta.

7. Cum te descurci pe online? Te intereseaza ce zic ceilalti despre tine? Daca zic nu, e o minciuna? :)) Imi place sa citesc parerile oamenilor si imi place faptul ca internetul e foarte sincer. Oamenii nu simt nevoia sa imbrace parerile lor in cuvinte frumoase. Jurnalism, oricat de greu ar fi, nu e intotdeauna numai adevar. Pe internet, oamenii iti spun ceea ce gandesc si trebuie sa iti placa asta. Nu e de bine, intotdeauna, si ma fac sa rad lucrurile pe care le citesc despre mine. Insa cred ca e important sa stii asta. Pe pagina mea de facebook, fac asta pentru ca imi place. Ca artist, e nevoie sa tii contactul cu fanii tai, prin internet.

8. Deci esti in contact cu fanii tai, pe facebook. Da, tine mai mult de faptul ca eu le scriu ce fac in momentul sau ziua respectiva. Ii hranesc cu informatii, insa eu nu mananc lucrurile pe care le scriu ei, pe paginile lor. Imi place foarte mult pentru ca o fac pentru toata lumea: prieteni, fani si familie. Scriu despre lucrurile pe care le fac in fiecare zi – azi sunt in Romania, voi face poze si le voi posta pe Facebook.

9. Vanzarile de albume au scazut foarte mult, in ultima vreme, si sunt multi cei care spune ca CDurile vor disparea, in viitorul apropiat. Ce parere ai? Crezi ca viitorul industriei muzicale sta in vanzarile digitale? Nu ne-am fi gandit ca nu vor mai exista casete. Iar apoi au fost CDurile. Industriei autoturismelor i-a luat 15 ani pana cand toate masinile au fost dotate cu CD Player. Imi place sa accept viitorul si trebuie sa mergi inainte. O data pe saptamana sunt in aeroport si cumpar DVDuri. CDurile le cumpar numai online. Oamenii vor MP3, vor sa isi pune melodiile pe iPod si cred ca trebuie sa ne miscam odata cu ei. Industria muzicala a trecut intotdeauna prin schimbarile multimedia – de la vinyl la caseta, de la caseta la CD, de la CD la MP3. Cei mai inteligenti oameni sunt cei care se prind din mers si nu spun ‘Stop’.

10. Este a 3a oara cand sunteti in Romania. Ai avut ocazia sa asculti ceva din muzica romaneasca? Cunosc trupa Semnal M pentru ca tatal meu a facut parte din ea. Mi-a spus multe lucruri despre asta si am auzit si niste inregistrari radio. E destul de greu sa tin pasul cu asta: aveti cumva multa muzica dance? Si cred ca aveti si multa muzica traditionala, care nu are nicio legatura cu dance-ul. E vorba despre generatia noua si despre faptul ca oamenii au libertatea sa experimenteze. Cred ca va fi incredibila mixul de muzica insa e cam greu sa te uiti la televizor, cateodata :)) . La fel este si in Germania si in Ungaria. But you have all sorts of alternatives – you can go to rock clubs and there’s the underground music – and there you feel like the ellite. That’s what happens first and then it becomes mainstream and then you hate it :)) .