travel – Page 8 – that lemon life

By the Shore

Hola everyone.

How are we all doing? I hope you’ve all had a good week so far. On my behalf, I’m currently spending a few nice days with my mum here in Brighton and visiting the Great Escape festival, which I’m honestly so excited about. I can’t believe I’ll really be seeing HalfNoise and The Jungle Giants. Who would have thought that I’d ever be able to experience them live? Certainly not me. Which makes all of this even crazier.

But now, let’s jump to today’s topic… as some of you might know, my best friend Leni recently visited me as well, which I was and still am so damn happy about. And it was actually kind of freaky too, thinking that we’ll both move to London together in a few months. Among all the awesome stuff we did during the time she was here, we went on this one special trip to the Brighton Marina, where we went on a little walk next to the sea and the cliffs, which was absolutely stunning. I had never been to such a place before, so obviously I had to take my camera with me to snap a few pictures, which is actually the purpose of this post. Because today, I’d like to share my favourite snaps of that day with you. As always, I hope you enjoy them and please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. And until then I wish you all a great weekend and thanks for reading. x

Interview with Saint Raymond

Hola everyone.

And welcome back to my blog. I’m sorry for being gone for so long, but I hope you’ve all had a great time and that you’re doing well. I know at the end of my last post I said that I’d be coming back with a huge post about Avengers: Endgame, but, honestly, it’s been over a week since I saw it and I still haven’t been able to fully process it. My plan now is to watch Infinity War and then see Endgame again straight the day after, so I can really say which one I prefer. And then I want to put all my thoughts, emotions and opinions into one long, deserving post for you all to read. Unfortunately, that means it will be packed with spoilers, so I’ll just say it now – if you haven’t seen the movie, don’t read anything about it, don’t ruin it for yourself and just watch it. Also, props to you if you’ve made it this far without coming across spoilers. Well done.

So, now that we’ve talked about that, let’s get to the real deal, which is something I’ve been burning to tell you ever since it happened. Some of you might remember the concert review I did of the Saint Raymond show I went to in March (here’s the link if you want to check it out). I absolutely loved the show, but I didn’t tell you everything that happened on that day. So, here comes the crazy part: I didn’t just go to the concert, I actually met up with Callum (Saint Raymond) before his show in Brighton to do a little interview with him. I know, I know. Holy moly. I still haven’t been able to wrap my head around it either. And oh wow, it was such a lovely interview. I felt so welcome and it was just so chill and nice. And Callum was absolutely fantastic as well. Definitely one of those hours of my life that I’ll never ever forget. And I’m so happy that I finally get to share the piece I wrote about it for my university magazine with you. I really hope you enjoy it. Also, please don’t forget to show Callum some love (here’s the link to his Spotify and his website), he really deserves it. And, as always, please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts down below and thanks for reading. x

‘It’s a show-off world’

Nottingham born and bred Callum Burrows, aka singer-songwriter Saint Raymond, exploded on to the music scene in 2013 with his EP release ‘Escapade’. Following that the young artist not only went on to open for some of the biggest names in music, but also toured festivals including Glastonbury, right before releasing his No. 1 debut album. After a short hiatus, the singer is now ready to go bigger than ever. I met up with Callum at Patterns in Brighton before his show to chat about standing your ground in the music industry, crime-podcasts and supporting music-star Ed Sheeran.

Did you ever expect to end up where you are now?

No, not at all. Obviously I hoped I would, but I never thought I’d be doing music as a career. I never expected it to get to a point where I get to do it for a living. Which is still weird for me to say, because I think I sometimes take it for granted. Like with anything, you have your highs and lows and I often forget that music is my job. Which is pretty cool. Ten years on, still get to play shows. It’s crazy.

What is the one memory you will never forget?

There was this special moment when I played a hometown show in Nottingham, at Rock City. I actually played it three times, but that first gig was an unreal experience, because I had grown up going to gigs there. And suddenly people were queuing to see me and I just thought ‘what the hell is going on?’. So, that will always live long in my memory. And besides that, the tour with Ed was super crazy as well.

Speaking of that – how did you get to support him?

I met him through a mutual friend and then ended up going to his birthday party, where we had a chat. And then, about a month later, he just texted me out of the blue saying ‘hey man, do you want to go on tour?’. I couldn’t believe it. I actually kept it a secret from my band until the official announcement. I just told them that we would be going on tour in October. That really was an amazing experience, which I’ll be forever grateful for.

Looking back on all your songs – what’s your favourite one?

That would probably be ‘As We Are Now’, because it meant so much to me at the time. I wrote it when I was kind of hoping to do music for a career, but I wasn’t sure that I was going to. All of my friends had gone to university, so they knew what they were going to do for their jobs after. But I was just in this period where I wasn’t a kid anymore and had to take some responsibility. So that one will always be a special one.

Is that why you released two versions of it?

Yes, that was a mad decision, to make the fast version. I don’t want to bitch too much, but I prefer the slow one. You know, there are a lot of things that happen with music, especially when you’ve got a big team around you, where decisions just get made that aren’t always the right ones. Or not solely what you want. But it’s hard when a lot of people are throwing in their opinions, because, at first, you know what you want, but then you get a bit lost in it. So that’s what I’ve learned over the last few years, to stand my ground a bit more and go for what I believe in. I was very young when I made that first record, it was a big learning curve.

What’s another part that you had to get used to?

Definitely social media. I think Twitter is such an important tool as an artist, but I struggle to use it to its full capacity. It’s easier now when I’m on tour because I can talk about that, but it’s really hard to interact when you’re not doing those things. At least for me. I know some other people who are amazing at it, like Lewis Capaldi. He’s got it nailed down. But then again, right now, there are a lot of people in the industry trying to copy that. And that’s when you look like an idiot. Because you’re trying to be someone you’re not. Which is mad. Especially now with the whole Instagram world, I think it’s so important to be who you are on social media. It drives me crazy how people are living a life that isn’t real. It’s a show-off world.

How about using Twitter and Co. to connect with your fans?

Oh yeah, I think it’s so important to interact with them. Before social media, bands were untouchable. You couldn’t access them unless you went to a show or met them somewhere, whereas now you can genuinely have a chat with anyone. You can literally send a message to the president of America, not that you would want to. But that’s how the internet works now. And I think sometimes people forget that if it wasn’t for the fans, they wouldn’t be doing what they’re doing. Because who would buy the tickets, the t-shirts, the albums? They start to think they are on a platform above them. Which isn’t true. That’s why, after every show and not just on social media, I’ll always try to come out and talk to people. I mean, them coming to the show means that I get to do in in the first place, so why shouldn’t I?

And would you call yourself a fan of someone as well?

Of course. Loads of people. But my biggest inspiration right now has to be Ariana Grande. I once saw her perform live at this charity event in Central Park in New York. She came on stage with Coldplay and, until today, it’s the best live vocal I’ve ever heard. The whole day overall was just absolutely crazy. I stepped on Jay-Z’s foot by accident and then met Leonardo DiCaprio. Weirdest day of my life. And besides that, I’m a huge fan of murder podcasts. They’re my jam.

Home

Hola everyone.

And welcome to back to another week. I hope you’ve all had an amazing, relaxing and/or exciting weekend and that you’re doing good. As most of you, who have been following my blog, will know, I’ve recently been at home for a short break – hence the absence of posts – and have now been back in Brighton since last week. And as I just went through my camera roll of those three wonderful weeks I got to spend at home and loved the pictures I flicked through so much, I thought it would be nice to share those special moments with you guys.

Some pictures were taken with my camera, some with my phone. Some were taken during my birthday trip to a local chocolate factory (best day ever), some capture calm moments like lying on the couch with Peaches. Moments that I actually miss the most when I’m here in Brighton. It’s the normality, the ordinary I miss. Eating dinner with my parents. As said, lying on the couch with my baby Peaches. Playing cards with my parents. Going on a walk with Molly. It’s only when you can’t access these moments at any time you want, you start to cherish them the most. Because in the end, they are what matters the most. So, here they are. Moments that matter the most to me and moments that feel like home. I hope you enjoy them.

As always, I hope you’re all doing good and wish you a great week. Oh, and please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. And, of course, thanks so much for reading. x

I’m a Bandito //-// Part 2

Hola everyone.

And welcome back to my blog and the second part of this post. Or shall we call it a series? I’ll let you decide. Anyway, I hope you’re all doing good and that you had an amazing weekend. And not to be dramatic or anything, but I honestly can’t wait to tell you all about the second night I got to spend with Ty and Josh, aka Twenty One Pilots, aka one of the best bands ever (here’s all about the first night, if you’d like to check that out first – click me). So, without further ado, let’s get right into it.

Night: Number 2

Okay, so first of all, I probably need to tell you that going to this show was both one of the most spontaneous and also best decisions I’ve ever made in my entire life. I mean, I honestly wasn’t planning on going to the next night until the first one ended. I was literally so awestruck that I just had to see them again. I had to. There just wasn’t any way around it. So, when I got home from the first show, I immediately started looking for a ticket for the next show. I also deliberately looked for standing tickets, as for the first show I had bought seating ones, but as I now knew how the whole show would work, I knew I had to get standing tickets and try to get as close to the b-stage as possible. I knew which way Josh would be running during the crowd and I knew that they would be playing both Bandito and Neon Gravestones on the b-stage – two of my favourite songs – so yeah, it was pretty clear to me what I had to do. I had a plan.

And again, this is the moment I need to thank Graham, the guy who sold me the ticket. It was honestly the easiest and most chilled process ever and I’m so glad it all went down the way it did. I couldn’t have wished for a better overall experience.

So, on the next day (Saturday), I got up, had some lunch, then took the train to London and headed straight to the venue. I got there a bit earlier to make sure I would get a spot at the b-stage. And that’s where my plan came in, because I got in, immediately looked for the one spot I wanted to go for and as luck would have it, there it was, still free and waiting for me. Suddenly I was standing right in front of the b-stage, knowing perfectly well that just in a few hours, Ty and Josh would be playing right in front me, about two metres away. So, you could say I got a bit hyper.

But I still had to wait for a bit, which is exactly when that one thing happened, that reminded me why I freaking love being in different fandoms and being part of the clique and basically being surrounded by people who are a bit like me. Because you just get to know so many different people. Right next to me, there was this group of “older” – meaning full grown-up – couples, who turned out to be American and full-time clique-mums. It was my first time hearing the term, but apparently, that’s the name of clikkies, who are already mums. Super cute, I know. So, we started chatting for a bit and then we met this other girl, who, as it turned out, was part Austrian, part German, and living in London to study here. I mean, how crazy is that? Over 12.000 people in one room and I happen to meet another Austrian. I was shook. And the cutest part is that we also left the show together afterwards and we’re actually still in contact. God, I just love concerts so much. Literally anything can happen.

So we all chatted for a while and then it was finally time for the boys to start their show. And I can just tell you, it was an entirely different experience, standing there in the middle of the crowd. I mean, I couldn’t see as much as I had the night before, which was pretty obvious to me. Getting front row for TOP is like the biggest mission ever. Maybe, one day, I’ll do the whole thing – get there early, get my number, queue the whole day, get front row and then hold Ty’s hand during Holding On To You. But this show wasn’t that day and I was totally fine with it. Just the experience of being surrounded by clikkies like me, all dancing and singing and laughing and crying, was just so beautiful. I felt at home.

I actually cannot say which show I enjoyed more, just because the overall feeling and experience were so different. At least when it comes to the boys, for me, there are two ways: Either you buy standing tickets and try to get there super early or are simply fine with maybe not seeing everything all the time, but get the full-on crowd atmosphere. Or you buy seating tickets with the guarantee that you’ll see everything but also with less crazy crowd dynamics (also depends on how close the seats are to the stage).

Besides that, the biggest difference was definitely what happened as soon as it was time for them to make use of the b-stage. As I mentioned in my first post, TOPs show now features a huge bridge that floats down from above and hovers over the crowd for the boys to walk over to the other stage. And as soon as that came down, I knew it was time to freak out a bit. The first one to come over to us was Ty and shortly after that Josh came running past me and up to the stage. And, guys, I can’t begin to describe the feeling of absolute awe I got. They were so close. I mean, I know I had just seen them even closer the day before after the signing, but that was different. That was a more “normal” situation. But now they were in full concert mode, which meant a 100 percent more awesomeness. Which is actually quite fascinating. I’ve already done interviews with a few artists and bands and during the chats, they are always just normal people, like you and me. But as soon as they step on stage, they become these incredible, mind-blowingly talented human beings, who aren’t normal at all. And that is exactly what happened with the boys that night.

And it just changes so much when you can actually watch your favourite artists play. But not from afar or over a big screen. No. Like, actually watch them, up close. Watch how Tyler’s face changes when he sings and how his emotions translate to his every movement. Watch how Josh’s muscles flex depending on how hard he drums. And just live the moment, together with them. That’s something I will definitely never forget. And that they played Bandito in front of me is just the cherry on top, pretty much.

But out of the whole night, my favourite moment happened during the part when Josh ran through the crowd to get to b-stage. The lights were on him and everyone’s focus switched to him, obviously. Everyone’s but mine. Because while everyone was looking at Josh, I turned around and looked at Tyler, who was already sitting at his piano in front of me. And I don’t know exactly why, but it was just such a magical moment for me. Because I caught him in one of those seconds, where nobody usually focuses on him. I studied his face and suddenly everything around me vanished and I kind of got sucked out of the vortex I had been in. All I could see was Tyler, the talented guy from Ohio who hates bananas and balloons, and not Tyler, the uber-phenomenal artist. And then I felt tears running down my cheeks and with one blink of an eye, reality came back. For me, that was definitely one of the most incredible moments of my life and I’ll never ever forget that. It just felt so real.

And yeah, after that it was all just a mind-blowing night and super-fun party. I danced and screamed and laughed and cried and felt so good and so alive that I never ever wanted it to end. As always, I was bawling my eyes out as soon as Trees started, which then turned into both smiling and crying when at the end, yellow confetti came falling down all around me. Which is another reason why I love standing in the pit – if there’s confetti, you’ll be covered in it. And I’m one of those people, who always look up to the ceiling and watch the confetti fall down. Just another super beautiful moment that can’t really be put into words.

And that was it. I honestly can’t even describe how much I enjoyed those two nights and how absolutely breathtaking the shows were. Tyler and Josh really are two of the most brilliant artists out there right now and I feel so proud and so grateful that I get to be one of their fans and that I get to experience all of these amazing moments with them. I don’t know what I would do without them and their music. And I know it might sound super crazy, but I’m just so thankful that I get to be alive at the same time as them. I know so many people who are into bands from the 70s or 80s or 90s, who will never get to see their faves live simply because of time. But here I am, already counting down the days until Sziget and until I get to see my beans live again. My heart is literally filled with so much gratitude.

Which also brings me to the end of this post. Again, I’m sorry this got a bit lengthy as well, but I just love sharing these special moments with you guys. I dearly hope you enjoyed reading all about them and thanks so much for making it until here. You’re amazing. As always, please don’t hesitate to leave your thoughts and comments down below. Oh, and before I forget it, just a little info that I won’t be posting anything for the next three weeks as I’ll be spending some time with my family at home. Thanks for understanding. And, of course, thanks for reading. See you in three weeks. x

The Night of Saint Raymond

Hola everyone.

And welcome back to another week and another concert review. First of all, don’t even act as if you’re shocked, you all knew that concert season had begun. And yep, that’s just the beginning, so get ready for more of this in the future (*cough* Twenty One Pilots *cough*). But until then let me tell you about the very special Friday I got to spend with the very special Callum Burrows, aka Saint Raymond, aka the one guy I’ve been waiting to see live again for nearly five years. And now it finally happened. FINALLY.

But before I get fully into this, let me first introduce you to Callum. Most of you, who’ve been following me for quite some time will probably know him as the amazing support that I got to see before Ed in 2014. I still remember it like it was yesterday. The first support came on, my friend and I got a bit bored and wished for nothing else but a more exciting, upbeat second support. And then Callum came on and we felt like all of our prayers had been heard. He was so damn good. The next day, after Ed’s show, despite all beliefs, I wasn’t listening to Ed, no, I was listening to ‘Ghosts’ by Callum, over and over again. I just couldn’t get enough of it. And since then I’ve been wanting to see this amazing British singer-songwriter live again. And last Friday the day had finally come.

First of all, I have to say that I’ve never ever in my life before encountered such a loud and also partly rude audience. I mean, it was literally perfect when Callum came on stage, because the whole room suddenly turned into one big choir, myself included. But when I think about Nick Wilson, his support, I just thought they were all really rude because they literally didn’t shut up. Like, I had trouble actually hearing him and the room was freaking tiny. I know this shouldn’t really part of a concert review, but I see something like this as a lack of respect for the artist and Nick really didn’t deserve that. He was so so good and the perfect support for Callum. I really loved his voice and I hope he gets some more attention in the future.

So far about the beginning of the show. But like I said, as soon as Callum came on, it was perfect. Again, I’ve never ever encountered such a loud crowd. But in a good way. Because it led to Callum looking like literally the happiest person on earth. The moment he came on stage he broke out into a huge grin and he didn’t stop smiling until he went off again. And he didn’t even really stop there, because when I chatted to him for a bit afterwards, he was still so happy. And I was so happy because he was so happy. It was just so damn cute. And I know it meant a lot to him because the tour he is on right now is his first one since November last year and he told me that he was still a bit nervous, which made it all even cuter. I’m still so happy for him.

And about the show overall – I don’t even know what to say. He’s just so damn good at what he’s doing. And it felt so good to finally see him again after all this time. I still remembered all the lyrics, even those of songs I hadn’t listened to for a bit of time, and when he played ‘Ghosts’ it immediately brought me back to that very morning after Ed’s show. It was such a special moment. And, I can just repeat myself, Callum just seemed so happy and the audience was so happy as well and then his amazing voice on top of that just turned the night into a perfect show. I already miss him so much, but I’m also so looking forward to his new album that’s currently in the making and for his tour, that’s going to go with it. And until then I’ll just listen to his already released stuff and reminisce about this amazing concert.

And when it comes to you guys, who’re reading this now, I can just recommend you to give this fantastic artist a listen. You won’t regret it, I promise. Callum really is special and he deserves every single piece of attention he can get and so much more. I’m so excited for what’s planned for him in the future and I’d love for you all to be part of the journey. As always, I’d also love to hear your thoughts and comments about anything and everything and I really hope you enjoy this post. And, of course, I wish you all a great week and thanks for reading. x

A Hippo Campus Dream

Hola everyone.

Not to be dramatic or anything, but what I’m going to tell you today is something I would have never thought I’d ever be able to write down and tell the world. Never. And I’m not exaggerating. To keep the tension up a bit, I’m not gonna tell you all of it just now, but as you can see by the title, it has got something to do with my beloved Minnesota boys, also known as the amazing band Hippo Campus. And yes, it indeed includes me seeing them live. FINALLY. But let’s start right at the beginning.

So, as most of you guys will probably know by now, I am a huuuuuge fan of Hippo Campus. I won’t go into detail why, because it’s pretty obvious once you listen to their music. Frankly, they are one of the best bands out there right now and their talent is basically unreal, so yeah. They are currently receiving more and more attention, which I’m honestly so happy about. They deserve all of it and so much more.

Last year, they pretty much blew my mind with their new record ‘Bambi’ (here’s the review I wrote about it – click me) and to be honest, if TOP hadn’t released Trench in 2018 as well, Hippo’s LP would have been my favourite album of the year, by far. It’s just a work of art, it truly is. And so when I found out that they would be doing a show here in Brighton, I basically freaked out. I mean, they aren’t as big in the UK as they are in the US and they would never come to my country, not when they’re still so unknown there, so I wasn’t actually expecting to ever see them live. I didn’t expect it to be that easy, at least. I thought I’d have to fly to the US and see them there or whatever. But they decided to come to me and I’m still so happy about it.

So, you probably already know where this is heading by now. Last Sunday was the day. THE DAY. The day I had been waiting for for such a long time. And oh my god, the wait was so worth it. And I’m not just saying this because I’m such a huge fan, I’m saying it because it’s true: the show was literally perfect. And I still can’t get over their talent. I mean, just when you think about all the different instruments and musical abilities they bring together on stage – one trumpet, two drums, two basses, two guitars, one piano, one tambourine and fire vocals on top of that. And there are just five of them who all do this. I mean, honestly, how much more can you wish for? That’s exactly the reason why they are so unique and why their shows are this good. They just absolutely know what they’re doing and you can feel that.

About the show itself – besides it being absolutely fantastic – I basically got to the full thing, as I managed to get to front row (yes, I’m very proud of that, thank you very much). They played Bambi, the title track, as their very first song, which kind of surprised me, as it’s one of their biggest songs, but I didn’t mind at all. And after that, they stuck to a good mix between older and new songs, which was just perfect. And I didn’t really think it was possible, but they really are so much better live than on the studio versions. By which I obviously mean that the studio versions are so good that I never thought that they could even top that. But they can and they did. And I guess it was also just the atmosphere overall and their stage presence. You could really see how much they enjoy doing what they do and that made me so happy.

If I had to pin down my favourite moments of the whole show, I think I’d end up with the following three:

First of all, they played Monsoon, which is basically unbeatable. It’s the first song I ever heard by them – I can still see myself sitting at home in the kitchen and finding the live version on YouTube and listening to it over and over again with my eyes closed. And after all this time, it’s still my favourite. So when they played it, I was immediately thrown back to that very moment in the kitchen and then I watched them play it and then the tears kept coming and I just let them. It was such a magical moment. Most of the people next to me had closed their eyes during the song, which I did too, and you could really feel how calm and emotional everyone had suddenly become. It was absolutely beautiful.

And a few songs after that they played Violet, which is my favourite song right now. It’s just so much fun, so when they played it, I went full party mode and sang and screamed my heart out. I felt so alive and happy and it was then that I realized that this was really happening. And I was so grateful at that moment, for everything.

And last but not least, my third favourite moment has to be one including Zach (what a surprise). He’s their bassist and v v v cute, but I’m not gonna go into more detail. But the scene was that inbetween two songs, girls were screaming “I love you” at Jake (the lead singer) and suddenly Zach just had had enough. So he went up to the mic and said: “Do you actually have an idea how it makes the rest of us feel when you scream things like that at Jake? I mean, what about the rest of us? How do you think this makes-“. And BAMM, suddenly a whole bunch of pink roses hit his face. I literally couldn’t stop laughing. And in the process he had caught one and was just standing there, holding the rose to his face, looking a bit startled. And then he smiled and said: “Oh okay, I feel better now.” And I felt like I’d faint on the spot. It was all just too much cuteness for me to handle.

So, there you go, those are my favourite moments of the show. But let’s be honest, the entire show was just one big favourite moment. One that I’ll never ever forget. I’ve been looking through a few pics and videos I took during the show and their talent really is unreal. I kept watching Nathan (the lead guitarist) during the show and he’s just so incredible. All of them are. And they’re just very cool and lovely people. Which brings me to the one super crazy thing that I never thought I’d be able to tell you that I mentioned at the beginning of this post. I’m not going to go into any detail, but I just want to say it now so it’s out there in the world for me to read when I’m old and want to look back at all the incredible things I’ve done. So, here it comes: I didn’t get to front row because I was waiting outside the venue, but because I got interview the boys before their show and then watch the soundcheck and wait there until the gig. And I know, it’s basically the biggest deal of my career so far – and apart from some family and friends stuff and moving to Brighton also the biggest one of my life – and I still can’t believe that it really happened. Like I said, I don’t wanna go into detail, but I just want to say that they are incredibly nice and real and honest and inspiring people and I’ll forever be grateful for the way they treated me. In a nutshell, it was one of the most interesting, fascinating and fun chats I’ve ever had in my life and probably ever have. I honestly adore them so much.

And this is where this post comes to an end. To be honest, I still cannot believe how lucky I am, I feel like I’m in some sort of trance. You know this feeling when something so big happens that you start to question whether you’re dreaming or it is really happening? This is what the past days have felt like, especially Sunday. Honestly, my life has become a dream and I’m living that exact dream. And I can’t even begin to tell you how thankful I am for that. I feel like the luckiest and happiest person on earth. Always believe in your dreams, guys. Always.

For all of you music lovers out there, if you take one thing from this, then please be it that you need to listen to this fantastic band called Hippo Campus and that you need to see them live immediately. Like, right now. Trust me, you won’t regret it. I’ve already reached the post-concert-sadness, which is why I’m already looking for a way to see them again as quick as possible. And you should all do the same.

And yeah, until then I hope you’re doing good and wish you an amazing weekend. As always, I hope you enjoyed this post and if you’ve got any questions or thoughts, please don’t hesitate to leave them down below. And, of course, thanks for reading. x