Children is definitely one of the most promising bands of this moment. Three former school friends shared a love for music right from the start. All of them started learning an instrument from an early age and were trained very classical. As the children grew older, they started playing in various bands and musical projects. When they grew up and moved to Berlin, forming a band was on the bucket list. Children started rehearsing in tiny room on the outskirts of Berlin. Soon, the first gigs in small clubs would follow and in 2012 they recorded their first EP No Future. Only two months ago they released their debut album Leaving Home, on which they had been working for quite a while. The whole process was financed through crowd funding and it worked out quite well. The evolution of Children happened quite organic and natural. They never had a big future plan. Making music which people would love, while enjoying the whole process, was the reason why they did what they did. “We believe the right things will happen to us and it’s nothing we can force or influence.”
Get to know these stunning musicians and listen to their brand new song ‘Back’
What were your favorite games as a kid? Were you a booklover or an outdoor adventure kid for instance?
Laura: hide-and-seek, stuck in the mud
Andre: I went outside to go skateboarding almost everyday. But I also read books on rainy days.
Steffi: I loved watching Czech fairy tales and listening to old GDR audio dramas on vinyl. My favourite outside activity defintely was when my dad tied the sledge to our car in the winter time and drove my sister and me through the woods.
What is a fragrance that is attached to a childhood memory? For example, the smell of roses reminding you of visiting your grandmother or the smell of ocean wind reminding you of family holidays?
Laura: smell of lilac in the family garden, smell of wooden loggias on my grandma’s farm. Andre: The fried macaroni my grandmother used to make for me after school.
Steffi: the smell of moss reminds me of this one beautiful summer day when I built a tipi out of lumbers in the forest with my sister and friends
To what extent are your songs autobiographical?
The feelings described are autobiographical, but the songs don’t tell autobiographical stories.
Would you like to be portrayed as a soft electronic indie band or do you prefer to have that extra touch of a band playing at clubs for instance?
Laura: We are somewhere in between probably. We did play in clubs and concert venues so far, but our new album is more of the soft electronic indie sound.
Andre: I like Children to be portrayed as a band that lives a little bit outside of genres and categories. I hope we will get there in the future.
Steffi: I have the feeling our music works best in concert venues.
What are your favorite fairytales and Disney movies?
Laura : Aladdin, Lion King
Andre: Basil, The Great Mouse Detective
Steffi: Snow-White and Rose-Red, Dumbo
Describe your dream stage/location/audience to play for
Laura: Stage on Water
Andre: A very old theatre with a lot of balconies
Steffi: My dream performance would be at Berghain: Children + orchestra & choir which are both composed of all our super talented friends
How does it feel to be away from home? Is it an extra kick driving you in your wanderlust or are you nostalgic or homesick?
Laura: I enjoy seeing new places and living in a new city now, but it’s good to be back home again once in a while. Especially when on tour we get to see so many places we would probably have never been to without Children. I don’t really can relate to feeling homesick, even as a child I can’t remember having that feeling. For me the feeling of home is more attached to people than to a certain place.
Andre: I like to travel and I would love to do it more often, I´m really curious to go to places I´ve never been to before.
Steffi: I never feel nostalgic about the place where I grew up. I’m only nostalgic about events that took place and feelings that I had in the past which can’t be repeated and only live in my memory. However I love the „being home feeling“. That’s why it’s super important to me to have a nice, beautiful furnished apartement. In view of the fact that all three of us were born in the former GDR, I still conceive travelling as a big privilege. I have already seen many more places than my parents have. I love getting to know different cultures and approaches to life and art and getting in contact with the locals.
What countries would you like to travel to?
As a Band: Japan, USA, Southafrica
Laura: Thailand
Andre: Lebanon
Steffi: Russia
Name a song that best represents your current feeling or story
Laura: Nicki Minaj – “Anaconda“
Andre: Dirty Projectors – “Stillness is the Move“
Steffi: Land of Talk – “It’s Okay“
What is your favorite thing to do in Berlin?
Laura: Getting back. Having falafel and halloumil at Nachtigall Imbiss near our small studio in Kreuzberg.
Andre: Eating, Walking around, buying stuff.
Steffi: going to the theatre, I really like Schaubühne and Deutsches Theater
Do you like the city still or does the big hype around it overshadow it’s beauty?
Laura: I still like it. For me it never was the “hyped” Berlin, but in the first place the nearest bigger city to our hometown Neustrelitz, a city people went to study or work. Though it’s a very nice and inspiring city to make music.
Andre: I still like the city.
Steffi: When I moved to Berlin more than 6 years ago and my younger sister visited me for the first time, the first thing she said was: “Steffi, you’re finally home!” I grew up really separated in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere and I always felt like a fish out of water. For me Berlin never was a hype city either and still doesn’t feel like it. All my friends and a lot of close family live here. So, yes, still like it here a lot.
How does your favorite day off look like, when not on tour or in the studio?
Laura: I like to sleep long, have a walk and eat something, meet friends and go to a bar or a concert.
Andre: Going for a swim in summer, watching TV in winter.
Steffi: Sleep in, walk through my neighbourhood in Neukölln; buy food at the turkish supermarket; get some fresh flowers; prepare something nice to eat at home and clean up my apartement, meet my sister, have a Kumpir in Kreuzberg for dinner and some nice drinks in a bar around the corner at night time with my close friends
Who would you like to be discovered by?
By everyone who likes to discover music.
Find out more about CHILDREN on www.childrenchildren.de