Tag: happy

Meet GEM

Hola everyone.

God, it’s been so long since I last wrote down those two words. Way too long, to be completely honest with you. But I guess that happens when you are in the middle of your last year at university and also doing something very important and exciting on the side – the special something that I want to tell you all about today. First of all, I want to take the time to say that I hope that you all had a lovely Christmas and that, despite all the chaos that’s happening right now, you’re having a nice time with your loved ones. I’ve been back at home in Austria for two weeks now, spending some quality time with my family, but now we’re also back to a full lockdown, so I guess we’re all in the same boat (except for a few special ones… looking at you, Australia and New Zealand). Anyway, it’s been quite nice so far, but I’m also praying that I’ll be able to go back to London once the time has come, I really miss it. It’s actually pretty cool to have not one, but two places that you can call your home. I feel very lucky. Which also brings me back to what I wanted to show you all today.

I’m incredibly proud to present to you my very own magazine – GEM. Yes, I really did it. I went and launched my own magazine, with the help of my incredible friend Lauren, who is also my co-founder and co-editor, and our fantastic bunch of super talented writers, creatives and journalists. To be honest, even while I am typing this out, I cannot believe it is really true. I can’t even begin to explain how insanely excited and thrilled I am to share this with all of you. I have been dreaming about having my own magazine for so many years now and now it’s really become true.

So far, the whole experience has been nothing short of an insane dream. All of a sudden, I have this thing that belongs solely to me and that gives me the opportunities and freedom to interview my favourite bands and to review gigs and albums and so much more. It’s become my ultimate creative outlet and basically one of the most important parts of my life – even in such a short amount of time. And I mean, I’m not going to talk around the bush for long… having freaking Wallows on our first cover and then Nothing But Thieves, my ultimate loves, on our second one is just… I mean, that’s the material my brain usually comes up with during a dream at night or when I create a nice scenario in my head during a mellow ride on the top. Basically, it’s the stuff you usually make up, not the stuff that just becomes reality all of a sudden. But now it has become reality for me and I still can’t believe I’m now living a life where I can say I’ve already interviewed most of my favourite bands, and all of that for my very own magazine. Peak craziness, I’m telling you.

Naturally, I could spend all day and night telling you about the interviews and the overall insanity of this all, but I guess that would take a bit too long for all of us. What I can say though is that I loved every single one of them and that Conor, the lead singer from Nothing But Thieves is probably the most incredible person I’ve had the honour of talking to. Best interview of my life so far, without a doubt. Which makes me even prouder to have the guys on our cover – a band that has meant so much for me for so many years already. Not to mention that their album ‘Moral Panic’ is easily the best album of the year for me. What a gem (pun not intended… or maybe, yes).

As with all things that take up such a big part of your life, the magazine has kept me and Lauren busy all throughout the past months and also through the Christmas holidays, but it’s always been good busy. Of course it can sometimes get a bit much, especially if the world around you has been in flames for way too long, but I would never complain about the magazine. It means way too much for me to do that. And now that our second issue has been out for a month, we’re already busy working on the upcoming one, which will be out at the end of January. I already can’t wait to share it with the world and every single one of you, it will be a great one.

And now the moment has finally come for me to share the magazine with you all. The excitement is real, honestly. First of all, here are the links to our website, our Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. And here is the link to where you can read our latest issue online and here is a link to our shop where you can buy a print copy of the magazine if you would like to support us or if you are just a paper person, like me.

I truly hope that you like the magazine and enjoy reading it just as much as I do. Naturally, I would absolutely love to hear what you think, so please don’t hesitate to leave your feedback and comments down below or to get in touch with me to discuss it further. I’m excited to hear from you. And until then, I wish you all the best time and already a very exciting happy new year. Let’s hope 2021 will be a lot better than 2020 in a whole bunch of aspects. And yeah, sending you all the tightest hugs and, as always, thanks so much for reading. x

Bella Venezia

Hola everyone.

And welcome back to my blog and also a new week. I hope so far your Monday has been nice and that you enjoyed the past weekend. I personally spent most of the weekend exploring London and working on our uni magazine LDN. So far, I’m honestly super proud of what my team and I have achieved with the mag so far and I truly can’t wait to finally hold the first print issue in my hands. Although this is technically not even my own magazine, the past few weeks have felt like I’ve been building up something that is mine. Something I can pour all my heart and creativity into. And although I spend almost every free hour either working on or thinking about the magazine without really getting anything back in return, by which I mean money and such, it has made me happier than I could have ever imagined. It almost feels like I was meant to be the editor of the paper. At least that’s what I’m telling myself.

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On the other side, it could also be that I’m spending so much time working on the mag to get my mind off of missing my family and my home, especially my cat and my dog. Unfortunately, both haven’t been doing super well, which has left me feeling completely useless and helpless. Thankfully my parents are doing the most amazing job at looking after both my babies and I can’t wait to be with them again in two months. I think it’s just also been very tough for me to live without a pet for the first time in what feels like an eternity. It’s like a piece of myself, of my soul was left behind when I moved away from home. Actually, my flatmate Elena was meant to come with her feline friend Gatto, but getting him to London from Italy has proven more complicated than we thought. So getting our new furry child has been our number one mission ever since. So that might be another reason why I’m busying myself with the magazine and also basically burying myself in plants. It’s as if my brain and soul are looking for anything that is alive besides my flatmates for me to look after and give my love to. To be honest, you could probably do some psychological study on this, because, I’m not gonna lie, this is a bit weird. But hey, it’s what’s keeping me sane and happy these days, so there we go.

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Additionally, looking back on my amazing summer – despite Corona and all that crap – has helped me a lot with staying positive. And part of that utterly beautiful summer was the trip to Venice with my mum, which is what I want to share with you guys today. Finally. I know, I’ve been talking about this for so long and never got around to showing you the pictures of our phenomenal trip, but I guess better late than never, right? So here they are, finally. My favorite shots from Venice.

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To be honest, my mum and I both came to the conclusion pretty quickly that a trip to Venice could never possibly have been any better than ours. Although it was a risk to go to Italy in the middle of Corona, we knew that it would be worth it all and it truly was. I don’t think Venice will ever be this beautiful again. We all know what Venice looks like in the summer – now imagine that same city but just without the people. Because that’s what it was like. Empty. Not like Zombie Apocalypse empty, but empty for Venice standards. And gosh, the weather was just so amazing. And the food was even better. I remember not really loving the city the first time I went there, but that trip definitely made me fall head over heels in love with it. It is definitely a trip I will never ever forget. And one that rewarded me with memories and pictures filled with some much beauty that they will prolong into eternity. But, just see for yourself.

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And yeah, now we’ve already reached the end of today’s post. As always, I hope you enjoyed the pictures and me babbling a bit about my life and my time in Venice. I truly hope you’re doing good in these rather stressful times and that maybe this post helped you get your mind off stuff for a short while. I’d really love to hear all your thoughts and opinions, so please don’t hesitate to leave any comments down below. And until then, I wish you all the best week and, of course, thanks for reading. x

London, I’m back

Hola everyone.

How are you all doing? I hope you’ve all had a great weekend and that the past few weeks have also been good for you. I’m honestly so so so sorry for disappearing for so long, it feels like I haven’t been on here for ages… Well, it probably has been ages, which is insane enough But let me explain.

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I think I have a good reason for my absence – as some of you have probably seen from the title of this post: I’m back in London (wohooo). It’s now been a bit more than two weeks since I moved back to the city and so far it has just been the best time ever. I’m lucky enough to live in a flat with three other friends, which also makes it the first time of living in a flat on my own in a real flat share without having to share it with the landlords. Although I’ve loved living with the landlords in the past, finally having a flat to ourselves feels like ease after having had to tiptoe around different houses and having to take care of someone else’s stuff all the time. Now it really feels like the flat is ours, which is just the most amazing feeling ever.

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So far, we haven’t been able to do and see too much of London, as both my friend Lauren and I had to stay in quarantine for two weeks, as it is a rule the UK government has put on nearly every country on the planet. So anyone who enters the UK from a country that’s not on the “good to go”-list has to quarantine for two weeks. I know, it sounds a tad awful now, but I think we made the best of our time. I got to transform, redesign and decorate my room in a matter of days, which would usually take me weeks after weeks, and the flat itself is also nearly done. I remember walking into the flat for the very first time and seeing this empty canvas of a flat just waiting to be turned into a fantastic piece of art. And now that we’ve had about two weeks of doing just that, it’s really starting to come together and we all can’t wait to finally go shopping together so we can perfect it. Needless to say, we truly love it already. And the most amazing part is, we even have a roof terrace (which basically is just a roof) that is perfect for lunches in the sun (yes, we’ve already tried that). It honestly feels like being on holiday, sitting up there and looking at all the apartments and skyscrapers around us, with the whole beauty of London right at our feet. And we’re also just about five minutes away from the Thames, which makes it all even better. God, how much I love this city.

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Apart from that, being the editor of our uni magazine LDN has occupied most of my time since coming to London. I think it has now turned into the first thing that pops up in my head when I wake up. And also, funnily enough, the last thing I think about before going to sleep. That’s how busy this “job” has kept me. And I know this must sound very exhausting, but it is actually a really positive thing, as I can spend my time doing what I love most – thinking and writing about music. I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you, but I may or may not be interviewing Wallows and Boy Pablo this week and I may or may not be losing my mind because of it. Because, obviously, it’s no big deal to interview two of your favourite bands. No biggie. Not at all.

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Anyway, the past two weeks have probably been two of the busiest weeks of my entire life and I’m not even mad about it. I live for arranging interviews, for listening to songs and albums that I get sent from PRs, for designing the magazine, for all that stuff. All those things make this university degree more than worth it. So I am super grateful for all the stuff that’s happening right now.

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I think the only thing that’s making me a bit sad is missing my home, my family and especially Peaches and Molly. It’s the first time after over a year that I’m not living with a pet in the house and it’s honestly making me feel very strange, as if a piece of my soul is missing. But thankfully, one of the girls I love with owns a cat and the plan is to get him here asap, which I hope will happen very soon. I need to give a cat some love, I’ve got too much of that stuck inside of me. But I just signed up to be a cat-sitter, which is just so so so exciting. I hope it works out.

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And yeah, that’s pretty much it. I couldn’t be more excited to finally be back in London and to go to the cinema again and (socially-distanced) gigs. It feels like I’ve finally got parts of my normality back, which is nice. It’s amazing to finally be back in London, I’ve missed it. And with that, I’m gonna end this post and wish you all a lovely week and hope that you’ve all enjoyed today’s post. I know it was more of an update than anything else, but you know me, I love telling you about my adventures in London and moving back to my favourite city definitely is one. So get ready for more stories in the future. And until then, thanks for being here and, as always, thanks for reading. x

Hallo from Berlin

Hola everyone.

And welcome back to my blog and another week. I hope you all had a great weekend and that you’re all doing well. I for my part had a quite busy weekend, meeting up with my family and saying goodbye to most of them. It’s insane to think that I’ll already be back in London in six days. Feels like an eternity since I left in March and like no time at all, as if I just blinked once and the past six months wooshed by. And now it’s already September and time to go back to real business. Absolutely insane.

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On the one hand I’m sad to leave, as I haven’t spent this much time at home in a very long time (the last time I’ve been at home for longer than three months was in 2015), and I’ve gotten so used to being with my mum and dad and my babies everyday. But on the other hand I’m also super happy and excited to go back to London. And now that I’m moving into my first very own flat with my friends, I know the upcoming months will just be the best ever. But besides that, I’ve also just missed the city. Don’t get me wrong, I love the countryside. It’s what I know best, being born and having lived on the countryside for most of my life. But cities give me those sparks of excitement and thrill that the woods and endless fields can’t compete with. They’re both incredibly beautiful, but cities will never feel like hills and mountains and those will never make you feel the same as when you’re walking through the streets of a busy city.

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That is just one of the reasons why I was super happy when my friend Lauren agreed to go on a trip to Berlin with me a few months ago, which is what I want to share with you all today. As most of you guys will know, I’ve always thought of Berlin as a third home – the first being my true home in Austria and the second one being both London and Brighton in one. Back when I got to live there for a few months in 2017, I couldn’t help but fall head over heels in love with this amazing city and I’ve been craving to go there again ever since, so even though a pandemic was sweeping over the planet, Lauren and I were quick to decide on our trip and to book everything we needed. And in the middle of August, just one week after our time in Belgium, we met up again in Berlin and spend another incredible seven days there.

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To be honest, the trip couldn’t have been any better. I think we did and saw nearly everything there was to do and see in Berlin that week (apart from the stuff we had already seen and places we had already visited in the past). We went to the cinema – twice even (for the first time since March, which is still absolutely shocking to me) -, went to some amazing restaurants, visited some cool museums, the lovely botanical garden and even my old flat, spent a lovely evening chilling at the river Spree and, as some of you will maybe have seen from a past blogpost, I even went and got two new tattoos – click here for that post. And, very importantly, I also got to visit my second home in Berlin again, Dussmann, which is only the best bookstore ever. And on the last night we got to watch the sun rise and its rays shine on the beautiful city after we had spent the whole night watching a The Wrecks live gig online (worth all the sleep we missed out on). All in all the trip was an absolute dream and if I could, I would go back in an instant. I couldn’t be happier about our decision to really go, despite the whole madness our world is currently stuck in. It was so worth it.

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And yeah, as you can probably guess, I had my camera with me nearly the whole time we were in Berlin, so I’m more than happy to share these beautiful shots with all of you. Please enjoy.

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And yeah, there you go, guys. These are my favourite shots from our adventures in Berlin. I truly hope you enjoy this post and the pictures. As always, I’d love to hear from you, so please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. I wish you all a great week and, of course, thanks for reading. x

My Level Of Concern

Hola everyone.

And welcome back to my blog. How are you all doing so far? Are you getting through your quarantines okay? Here in Austria, we’re slowly reaching the end of ours, thank god. So far, it’s planned that most shops will reopen next Tuesday, but it all depends on how the numbers will look at that point. I’m hoping for the best, naturally. Maybe they’ll “give” us even more if the numbers are super low. Kinda insane though, when you think about it, isn’t it? We’re all stuck at home, waiting for men in a higher power to finally tell us that we can go out again. Very very freaky. But oh well. We’ll get through this together, right?

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And speaking about quarantines – guess who just saved 2020 for me? Made my day. Made my week. Mady my quarantine. That’s right. My boys. Ty and Josh did it again. Twenty One Pilots resurfaced to save the day. And they did it well because their new song with the title “Level Of Concern” brought smiles and tears not only to my face but those of countless others. The title was trending for hours on Twitter, the single swooped the charts within minutes and right now the uber-cute video has over 4 million clicks on YouTube. That’s what I call taking over the world in a heartbeat.

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It’s not just that the song is absolutely amazing and such a huge surprise as well, but also its backstory makes me incredibly emotional. Apparently, Ty’s mum told him to release a song for the fans in these tough times, to give us something to get our minds off all the negative stuff that’s happening right now and put a smile on our faces. And so Ty went and wrote a song about the time he last felt this lost and isolated. Once again, he dedicated it to his beautiful wife Jenna and turned it into a hopeful, shiny love song. And that’s how “Level Of Concern” came to be. How incredibly cute is that?

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On a personal note, the song really did save me yesterday and really managed to take my mind off things. In a nutshell, it feels like a well-needed hug from my favourite boys. I was actually in the middle of my online class when it got released, so, obviously, I had to leave the “room” for a few minutes. I was lucky, as the teacher had just given us a few minutes to discuss our current projects, so I could disappear without anyone really taking any notice. And then I heard the song and it just changed everything. For those three minutes and a few seconds, I was able to forget everything around me and just be with the guys, back in my comfortable clikkie cloud. The one that I had missed so badly. And after that, funnily enough, I watched the video while being back in “class”. Basically, I watched the video and had a bit of a fangirl freakout live on camera. Apparently, my teacher recorded the whole session for everyone to watch later on. So everyone will be able to watch me have a happy breakdown. Fun stuff. I know, it sounds very strange now, but once you watch the video I’m sure you’ll understand. It’s peak cuteness. Jenna and Ro are in it, glowing as bright as the stars, and Debby has the sweetest scene with Josh.

 

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Also, although the song and the video were released without the boys being cryptic in any way, it still manages to be cryptic, at least a tiny bit. The scenes for the video were all filmed in their homes, their own studios, and they all feature their families and loved ones. But what we also see are the past versions of Twenty One Pilots. Their past eras. Ty is literally wearing the same shirt he wore in, like, 2011. Back when it all started for them. So, while being so simple and sweet, the video and the song still stand for something more. They stand for everything. Another masterpiece, basically. Oh, and let’s not forget that it’s all for a good cause as well, as the parts of the proceeds go to the charity Crew Nation, which is supporting all the people that were supposed to go on tour with various artists now. I can just repeat myself over and over again – I love this band so freaking much.

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To be honest, ever since I heard the song for the first time, nothing much has been of any concern to me. Naturally, I’ve had the song on repeat all day and all night and I’m not even considering changing that. And another thing the song did is that it brought me hope. And an even bigger urge to see Ty and Josh in June. My mum and I still have our tickets for their show in Dublin on the 25th of June. One of 14 shows they’ll be doing this year. And their only headline show. I just have to go. I can’t have that be canceled. I just can’t. And if I can’t be in Dublin, I’ll go to one of those other 13 shows. I will see Twenty One Pilots this year. I swear to god and everything and everyone else. I will see them.

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In the end, I can just highly recommend you listen to this song. It will put a smile on your face, guaranteed. And hey, by listening to it you’ll actually be doing something good as well. I mean, how great is that? It doesn’t get better than this. And until you give it a listen, I’ll be here, blasting it on repeat and waiting to hear your thoughts and opinions and hoping you love it just as much as I do. I even did a photo shoot yesterday, after I had noticed that I was unintentionally dressed in the colours of the single cover – see pictures down below. That’s what I call fan love.

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Again, I hope you enjoy the song and please don’t hesitate to get in touch. And until then, I wish you all a lovely weekend and a happy Easter. Please continue to take care of yourself and others and spread positivity. We’ll get through this. I’m sending you all tight hugs and, as always, thanks for reading. x

Sziget Festival – Part Two

Hola everyone.

And welcome back to my blog and another Friday. I hope you’ve all had an amazing week and that you’re doing good. And, regarding what we will be talking about today, I hope you’re in the mood for another trip to paradise – aka Sziget festival – and that you already enjoyed my recent post about the first two days of the festival (click here if you want to check that out). I am so excited to tell you all about day three and seeing Marty again and what happened after that and how my mum and I got home at half-past 5 in the morning. In short, I’m crazy happy to tell you about anything and everything and I can’t wait for you to read it and to relive all these moments with me. Are you ready? Yes? Then let’s jump right in, shall we?

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Day 3

As I mentioned in my previous post, Sziget couldn’t have been more perfect than it was. It was an absolute dream come true and I’d do lots of crazy, crazy things to be able to go back and do it all over again. And Day 3 especially. The moment I woke up that day, I knew that exciting things were ahead. Because it was the day I’d finally be seeing Marty again, after a year. Some of you might know that ever since seeing him live for the very first time in 2015, also at Sziget, I’ve been to one of his shows every single year. It’s become a full-on tradition now. It’s become my thing to see him every year. And I couldn’t wait for the fifth time, especially because of the fact that it was at Sziget. Our five-year-anniversary and at Sziget, just like the first time. It was bound to be perfect. And on top of that, it was also STMPD-Day, so after Marty’s show, his label would be taking over a stage for the rest of the night and I was so ready for that.

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So, as soon as my mum and I got on the island, we once again went for a little walk around the island and went to the beach (yes, the festival even has its own beach). There weren’t many acts on for us to see, so we still had some time left to just wander around, do some people-watching, visit the funfair again and get some food. Again, I need to mention that the whole festival is an absolute paradise and crazy beautiful. I love it with my whole heart.

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At about 4 pm we walked over to the Volt Stage to see Wild Front, who I was super excited for, as I had already seen them at the beginning of the year in Brighton at a teeny-tiny venue. As you can imagine, it was pretty cool to see this small band play at my favourite festival. I don’t know, it just felt like some part of Brighton was visiting me there. And obviously, they were absolutely fantastic. If you haven’t heard of them, you should definitely go and check them out – here’s the link to their youtube channel. And after seeing them, it was already time for us to head to main stage and to get ready for Marty. Just like in 2015, mum and I wanted to save ourselves a spot at the second barrier, so no one would be jumping around in front of us. So we waited, about 3 hours, but unfortunately, at first, we didn’t really get a good spot for us to stay at. There was no way we would be able to see anything if we weren’t right at the front – I don’t know what happened this year, but somehow all the other festivalgoers seemed to have grown way more than us. They were all so freaking tall. But, obviously, it wasn’t the time to give up. So while my mum stayed at our spot and watched 6lack (some kind of rapper/RnB artist), I went over to another stage to check out Gang of Youths and then go on the hunt for a good spot. And guess what, we really managed to get front row, right at the barrier and I think even at the exact same spot we were in 2015. It was quite emotional, to be honest.

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So we waited through Tove Lo, who we had both already seen at a Coldplay gig, and then it was finally time for Marty to come on stage. I was so hyped up, not only because I would be seeing Marty again, but also because I would finally be seeing his ANIMA show. Every year Marty and his team premiere a new show at ADE and then work with it until the next year. And this year, it was the ANIMA tour and as for all the pictures and videos I had seen online, I was more than ready to finally experience it all myself. See it with my own eyes. Feel it with my own body. And mentally bow down to Gabe Fraboni and Lorenzo de Pascalis and the rest of the team for creating something as genius and beautiful as this.

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When I look back at how the whole show went down, I still can’t believe that I really got to experience all of it. For me, it actually started as soon as Tove Lo had left the stage and they started to build Marty’s set-up. Because that’s when his team came out. And when I got to see Gabe. I couldn’t believe my eyes. As some of you might know, I don’t just listen to Marty’s music and go to his shows. I watch his videos, behind the scenes clips, heck, I even watched the movie he was in. Usually, when I’m a really big fan of someone, it’s the most important part for me to familiarize myself with the whole team and not just the band. I basically want to know everything and everyone. And Marty’s team was no exception. So I haven’t just been a fan of Marty since 2015, but his whole team. Of Gabe, Louis, Lorenzo, Damien, everyone. And just the simple fact of actually being able to watch Gabe prepare for the show, set up the lasers and get everything ready cranked up my excitement by a thousand. It was all really happening.

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And it didn’t just end there. Gabe (Marty’s show/creative director) wasn’t the only one who was there. I saw Louis (his photographer) and Watse (his manager) and then his mum came around and Julian (one of his closest friends and also DJ) and some of his other friends and I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I was at that very moment when I saw his whole team come together. All the people I had watched clips of for years were suddenly all there. And because of his mum and his friends, it felt like it wasn’t just another show, it felt like a family event, something very personal and special.

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Obviously, my excitement peaked as soon as Marty came on stage. It felt so good to finally see him again and hear his music. And god damn, the show was absolutely mind-blowing. It was really out of this world. I remember once hearing Gabe say that ANIMA was their best show to this day and, wow, he wasn’t exaggerating. There were fireworks and lasers and breathtaking background clips and the phenomenal music and then the team handed out glowsticks so the whole crowd turned into a huge rainbow and it was all so perfect. And Martijn just looked so good. Holy moly. I felt like I was in a dream, like it all was way too perfect to be real. But it was really happening. I was really there, having the time of my life. And once in a while I turned around and looked at the back tower where the mixing board was and where Gabe was working his magic and just watched him do his work. Watched Marty’s mum dance a bit. And I might just add that one point, Louis was suddenly standing right in front of us, taking pictures of the crowd and I couldn’t believe my eyes. I mean, I literally have his photography book at home and now he was standing right in front of me. I was shook.

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Altogether, I can just say that the show was freaking fantastic. I danced and jumped and laughed and cried more than once and I felt so at home and happy, I never wanted it to end. Marty is just such a phenomenal artist and live act, I could go to his shows every single day and I wouldn’t get bored. If you ever get the chance, I highly recommend going to one of his shows. You won’t regret it, I swear. And I loved Marty’s energy. You might know that about two months ago, he had to have an operation on his foot and then wear a plaster until about two weeks ago. I bet it still hurt a bit, but he fought through it like a trooper and just jumped around on one foot. Talk about being absolutely adorable. And he also looked so happy. And I was so happy that he was happy. In short, the field was packed with happiness.

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But that actually wasn’t the highlight of the day. No no. The highlight happened when the show had already ended. You should’ve seen me at the end when Marty played his last song. I cried so freaking much, but not because I was sad, but because I was just so happy and full of gratitude and love. First I had watched his mum film the crowd from the tower during the last part of the show. And then after Marty had left the stage, everyone came up to Gabe and they all hugged and clapped and celebrated and by witnessing all of that, I felt like I was part of that too. Like I was seeing something very special. I cried so much, I think my mum was actually weirded out a bit, but in a good way. I mean, she knows me and she let me hug her very tightly and shed a few tears on her shoulder, so it should be fine. And then she followed me through the crowd, because, obviously, now that the team was packing up all their stuff, I had to try and get a closer look while they were still here. So I dragged her back to the tower and there he still was, Gabe, the first one to show up and the last one to leave. And I just stood there, looking up at the tower, watching him. But, you know me, obviously I had to say something. I don’t even know what got into me, I just knew that I probably would never get the chance again to talk to him. So I went up to the barrier and called his name. And what happened then is basically the cutest thing ever. He had his back facing me and then turned around when he heard me, but at first he didn’t know who had called his name, so I called again and then he looked at me and suddenly the biggest grin spread across his face. I’m sure I must have looked like a total mess who had just cried her eyes out, but I was smiling at him nonetheless. So we grinned at each other and I shouted how amazing the show had been and thanked him for everything and he thanked me back and smiled. And although the whole interaction probably lasted for about 30 seconds, it felt like an eternity for me. But it didn’t end there.

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After having packed up everything, he came down from the tower and proceeded to head to the stage and then backstage, which meant he had to walk past us. You can probably guess what happened then. Of course I had to walk up to him and talk to him. And he was literally the nicest guy ever. I again told him how much I had enjoyed the show and thanked him for his work. And then mum took pictures of us, which turned out to be the cutest pictures in existence. And then he left, but not without taking the time to talk to everyone who was waiting for him. I wonder if it feels weird for him that Marty’s fans know him as well and want to have a chat with him. That he has his own fans too. I just hope that he knows that he’s an absolute genius and that ANIMA is a total masterpiece and that there’s a reason why people adore his work. Meeting and talking to him was the definite highlight of my week at Sziget, because, for me, he’s an absolute role model when it comes to believing in your own work and talent and to working your butt off to create something you can be proud of. And I never thought I’d ever get to meet him, but it truly happened and I’ll be forever grateful for that (after I’ve finally realized that it wasn’t just a dream).

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After that, being all high on happiness and emotions, mum and I headed to the STMPD stage. The plan was to at least stay there until 4 am, so we could also see Julian, aka DJ Julian Jordan, so we knew that we had a long night coming up. But a fun one. I remember when Sziget announced that Marty would be playing again, the next thing I was hoping for was a STMPD stage. And I’m still so grateful that that dream really came true as well.

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Overall, these were all the acts we saw on that day:

  • Wild Front
  • Grace Carter
  • 6lack
  • Tove Lo
  • Martin Garrix
  • Bart B More
  • Mercer
  • Justin Mylo
  • TV Noise
  • Julian Jordan

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I don’t think I have to mention that the whole night was absolute craziness. At one point, mum and I were even sitting on the ground in this huge tent, leaned against a pillar and having the music blasted into our ears at 3 am. Yes, we were tired, but I can promise you that we couldn’t have been in a better mood. All the acts were absolutely fantastic and I’m so glad I got to see them all. Also, at this point, I have to thank my mum for being basically the best mum ever and a real trooper and for staying with me the whole night. She’s the coolest and I’ll be forever thankful that she endured hours over hours of EDM music, that she’s not even the biggest fan of, just for me and just so that I could see all these acts and be happy. Mum, you’re the best. And I love you.

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I went to bed at a quarter to 6 am that night (morning?). It’s the longest we have ever been at any festival and although I had little to no voice nor hearing the next day (which I will tell you all about in my next post on Monday), it was all totally worth it, because it had been such an epic night that I’ll never ever forget. Even the walk home was magical. The sun was just coming up, the sky turned into beautiful shades of pink and orange and I introduced my mum to the sunrise, as they hadn’t seen each other for a long time. Altogether, it was an absolutely unforgettable day/night and I loved and cherished every single second of it. And I can’t even put into words how much I miss Marty and his team already. I can’t wait to see them all again soon (hopefully).

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And yeah, that’s basically the whole third day of Sziget. I’m sorry this post ended up being quite lengthy, but I just had to share all these phenomenal memories with you, guys, so I hope you still enjoyed reading all about them. Being able to share all of this with you means a lot to me, so thanks if you’ve made it this far. As always, please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below and, of course, I wish you all a nice weekend and thanks for reading. x