An Interview With Giant Rooks

Originating from the small city of Hamm in Germany, indie-rock band Giant Rooks have taken Europe and the world by storm, not conforming to any one genre and creating a sound that is entirely their own. The five-piece band were formed back in 2014, composed of Frederik Rabe on vocals, Finn Schwieters on guitar, Luca Göttner on bass, Finn Thomas on drums and lastly Jonathan Wischniowski on piano and synthesizer. It was in 2015 that the band released their first EP ‘The Times Are Bursting the Lines’, followed by their second EP the next again year, their ever popular ‘New Estate’. Photograph / Frederike Wetzels Since then, the band have come a long way, from achieving numerous awards back home in their native Germany to selling out concerts right across Europe. In the six years that the band have been active, they have been building their way up to this moment – the release of their debut album ‘Rookery.’ They have taken their time, refining their own unique sound and creating an album that looks deeply at the world with the intention of answering complex questions. I caught up with band members Frederick and Finn over video call to talk all things ‘Rookery’ and to find out exactly what makes this unique

and talented band tick.

CHLOE - “So the album was released on August 28th, what kind of overall themes are you guys trying to convey through this album?”

FINN – “I think our debut album Rookery is an album which asks a lot of questions, questions like: what is my role in this world; what am I supposed to do; who am I; and how am I supposed to handle my own privileges. I think these are the main themes on the record.”

CHLOE - “Misinterpretations was the first single to be released off of the album. What were you guys trying to represent in the music video?

FINN – “The idea was to show a history of our band and I think in the first clip of the video, you can see me and Fred playing in our first band when we were like eightyears-old as we are cousins!”

CHLOE - “What encouraged you guys to form a new band then?”

FINN – “We had this punkrock band when we were eight to 12 and we kind of stopped it and focused on other things. When we were 15, we started Giant Rooks. There was a break of three years between these two projects.” FRED – “We didn’t think we were punk- rock anymore!”

CHLOE - “So where does the name Giant Rooks come from?”

FINN – “That’s a good question! I think we just liked the sound of it. FRED – “We definitely just liked the sound of it. We come from a very small town in the Western part of Germany called Hamm and we had a rehearsal space and back in Hamm, Finn drove a bike called Giant and it was written on the bike. That’s where the first name comes from! The second name we just like the sound of Rook. We filled it with meaning.”

CHLOE - “Who are your main influences as a band?

FINN – “I think what’s interesting about the time we’re living in and the musical times we’re living in is that genres are not that important anymore and you just listen to music you like and not something specific. We have very diverse influences and we listen to all kinds of different music and this is also what we wanted to represent with our debut album Rookery.” FRED – “Just to name a few artists, we can say that we are really influenced by Bon Iver, James Blake and Celeste from the UK she’s great. I’m listening to a lot of Arlo Parks right now. A lot of music; Drake is great and so is Kendrick Lamar. There is so much good music at the moment.”

CHLOE – “You guys have performed sold-out shows right across Europe, so what are your favourite venues to perform in?”

FRED – “We played at the Deaf Institute in Manchester!” FINN – “Yes, this is one of the most amazing venues ever.” FRED – “It’s a small club, like 150 capacity, but it’s so beautiful. We performed at King Tuts Wah Wah Hut a few years ago and we supported Mighty Oaks, the band from Berlin, and we supported them on their European Tour.”

CHLOE – “Your world tour has been rescheduled to 2021, do you think the coronavirus pandemic has affected you in any way? Would you rather it was rescheduled, giving you more time to prepare?”

FINN – “It really affected us of course and we had this tour planned from April to July, three months in total, and we would have been on the road constantly. We were devastated for one week but then thought you can’t change it and it is what it is.” FRED – “We have to keep going on and we did the album throughout the last couple of months so it was good to have some more time to finish it and go into details.”

CHLOE – “What advice would you give other young bands and musicians who are trying to break into the industry?”

FRED – “Play live! Play shows! FINN – “It’s difficult at the moment but playing live is good. Maybe in 2021!”

CHLOE – “What song are you most excited about off the album?”

FRED – “For me, it’s Into Your Arms and Finns’ is What I Know is All Quicksand.” FINN – “I’m also excited for The Birth of Worlds.”

You can listen to Rookery on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify and Apple Music.

Chloe Burrell