Introducing Interview: Me And My Drummer

Charlotte Brandi and Matze Prollochs, aka Me And My Drummer, are set to release their second album next month, following the success of their debut The Hawk, The Beak, The Prey. Receiving acclaim from the likes of XFM, BBC 6Music and NME, this year looks sure to be a good one for the German duo.

Creating dreamy, emotion-strewn melodies with delicately powerful vocals, Me And My Drummer are bound to cast a spell over you with their haunting, effervescent brand of pop, reminiscent of the likes of First Aid Kit or Bat For Lashes.

We spoke to Charlotte to find out more…

Hi Me And My Drummer, can you tell us a bit about yourselves?
We are Me And My Drummer from Berlin, Germany. We make music that some people call Dream Pop.

How did you both meet?
We met in 2008 at a theatre in Southern Germany, where we played in several musical productions as stage musicians.

We’ve read that Love Is A Fridge is about “relationship troubles” and about being together but apart – can you elaborate on this?
Every one of us has someone who is closest to her or him – a best friend, a colleague or a partner. Closeness in general is a good thing, because you need someone to hold the rope, while you’re climbing, right? Creative people especially often need such a person in their lives as support. But where there is closeness, sooner or later there is conflict. I (Charlotte) am a big movie fan – I have film scenes in my head for every song: ‘Lancelot’ would be the song you hear in a psychedelic musical about the legend of King Arthur and the moment when a person, who has just fallen in love with someone, has to leave the place before there is any damage done. So, every song seems to come from an imaginary film, but barely two songs are from the same movie. The only thing they have in common is that they all seem to deal with togetherness and strong feelings about another person.

How is your second album different from your debut The Hawk, The Beak, The Prey?
This is an album that we want to people to enjoy on three levels: with their brains, their guts and with their hearts. We were interested in dance music as well as in rock, and even folk, music when we created this record. We wanted to be limitless in terms of “genres”, so this one got quite eclectic. With our debut, we did not sit as firmly in the saddle as today, but it was a great first step to give our band a sketch of how we could sound one day.

What is it like being a band in Berlin and what is the scene like over there?
Berlin is the only city where you can live and grow when you really want to have it all: a cheap place to live, maximum urban activity and make the stuff you want to, without being too commercial about it. There are some exciting bands coming from Berlin. For us, the city is the place to be.

You sing in English – is it harder for you to write in English, or do you prefer it?
My English comes from a strange place. It feels most natural to write in English, much, much more than writing in German. But at the same time, I use it as a sort of art-language and try not to sound too intellectual. It’s become almost a tool, like a synthesizer or a drum kit.

Are there any bands from Germany that write in their native tongue that we should look out for?
Tocotronic, Die Heiterkeit, Ja, Panik!, Die Nerven, Tristan Brusch… And many more.

‘Blue Splinter View’ has been unveiled as a glimpse into the new album. There’s a distinct Americana feel, which is a real departure for you guys, is this the feel of the whole album?
No, not really, not everything is like ‘Blue Splinter View’. That song needed a certain seriousness and perceptible kind of sadness that we felt you can create best when you give the listener not too much to chew on, but something to enjoy. It almost has the taste of candy and it embraces you with comfort and a pinch of exasperation at the same time.

We think that Dream Pop is the perfect synthesis of the best elements of every decade. So, that´s what we wanted to be: limitless.

Finally, what are your plans for 2016 apart from the release of Love Is A Fridge?
The third album is already in the making. Hopefully, we don´t need as much time for this one as we spent on making Love Is A Fridge – fingers crossed!

Huge thanks to Me And My Drummer for answering our questions!

Love Is A Fridge, the new album from Me And My Drummer, is out 12 February via Sinnbus.