Foto-© Stephan Strache

Wir treffen Courtney Marie Andrews nach ihrem Konzert im Internationalen Pressebereich beim diesjährigen Roskilde Festival. Als ruhiger Ort für das Interview wurde uns ein Vintage Wohnwagen offeriert. Andrews strahlt unmittelbar Präsenz und eine sehr aufmerksame Art aus. Im Wohnwagen sind wir schnell irgendwo, unterwegs halt, nur nicht auf dem Roskilde Festival.

First of all, thank you for your fantastic concert. We really enjoyed it and thank you for taking the time to do this interview with us today.
How nice that you also came to see my concert. That’s anything but a matter of course with all the great artists here. I’m very pleased also for the opportunity to talk to you here about my music. For me, an interview is always an opportunity to show myself and my music. So I am very happy about this opportunity. Thank you very much! And what a nice place you chose for the interview: the American country girl is being interviewed in a caravan. How great.

We’ve never seen it like that before. We didn’t want to use an obvious cliché with this place. Rather, we found the setting to be a good retreat and the Scandinavian-style interior design made us think of „Hygge“ rather than the USA or a connection to country music.
What means „Hygge“?

„Hygge“ is a part of the Danish tradition and way of life. Essentially, it means a cozy warm atmosphere where you enjoy the good things in life together with loved ones.
Wow. That’s how I was allowed to grow up. My grandmother is from Denmark. We always had a cozy home.

And where exactly does she come from in Denmark?
Aalborg. But I don’t know if I pronounced the place correctly.

You did it pretty right. But back to music. We enjoyed your new song and wondered how you develop your new songs. Do you have special places to work on your new songs?
Oh, thank you. Whenever the feelings strikes. I wrote songs in hotel rooms, in cars, in parks, you know. There is no particular rule book where a song comes.

It is just the right moment?
Yeah, the right moment. You get a feeling, sit down and find a paper. But I write notes a lot. I write little notes, ideas that come to me and sometimes I develop this ideas later on.

Do you have the melody or the lyrics first?
No, it often happens as it happens. But the lyrics really inspire me first, once I have words, they kind of form a natural melody depending on the sound of the words.

Wow. That sounds like a nice organic process. You make your songs all by your own or together with your band?
I usually write my songs alone and then bring it to the band later and afterwards, we work it out in the studio.

Roskilde is a very big European festival with a rich history. We wondered if this attraction is common in the US as well? Do American people or American artists also talk about Roskilde or Glastonbury in the US?
I think maybe it is not as known in America, because we have so many big ones, so people talk about their own ones. But to me, touring since years in Europe and having roots in Denmark, Roskilde has this reputation and plays in the same league as Glastonbury, Lollapalooza or even Burning Man. To me it has that. But I think people, who live in our country don’t have this. They don’t know about Roskilde.

As with us, they probably know and are more interested in local events.
Yeah, that’s it. Perhaps it’s everywhere.

So this Roskilde Festival is developed by around 30.000 volunteers.
That’s it? That’s a small town.

The town is actually about 60.000 people.
Wow. That’s half the town.

The whole festival doubles the town. It is a special and unique feature of European festivals, it feels like every fourth person works at the festival as a volunteer. When you walk around the festival ground, you can literally feel this spirit of solidarity and identification. Do you also notice this as an artist?
I actually noticed, how well organized it is. I think, it is because people bond here many years in a row, so they get used to do it. Lot of times people work for a festival maybe once or maybe twice. Here everything is right on time. And I’ve noticed, that it is a non profit festival. That really creates a different vibe.

Did you get the chance to see any other artists so far?
Not yet. We are hoping to see some tonight.

So you arrived today?
We arrived a couple of days ago, but we haven’t been on the festival ground before.

You are looking forward to see some other artists?
Yeah, absolutely. I love drifting around at festivals and discovering new music. And I wanted to see Indigo Da Souza from the states. I am excited to see her. And I want to see Busta Rhymes. I think that will be epic.

It is in about 90 minutes on the Orange Stage. We will be there too.
Cool. See you there.

Hopefully. There might be a big crowd over there.
I am sure. It is Busta Rhymes. How often you did you see Busta Rhymes before?

I didn’t see him yet. Once in a lifetime.
Exactly, that’s why it is good to go there.

We wonder, if you’ve got the chance to organize a festival on your own, which artists would you invite?
Like how many artists? Do we have a bill or something?

No. Unfortunately, it’s only fictional. You can book without budget limits.
Well, which artists would I invite? Neil Young would headline. Then there will be a lot of upcoming artists. There’s lots of good music happening out there. Carolin Spence, Caitlin Rose, The Staves and Waxahatchee. And of course some more big names like Kate Bush, Boygenius, Bob Dylan or Matt Berninger.

Wow. What a line up. Hopefully we can make it to your festival. And where will the festival take place?
Probably in my home state, Arizona. There is this little town called Bisbee. I’ve actually always thought about starting a festival there. Because it is such a cool little town, like a little art town. It would be such a great place for a festival.

Sounds like Roskilde to me. A small town with lots of art going there.
Yeah, it’s so cool. It’s a good place to do it. There are lots of open dessert fields.

So you should do your own festival.
Yeah. Hell yeah. Let’s see if I’ve got the courage.

But courage is not the only thing required. But back to Roskilde. We are incredibly impressed by how musically diverse the festival is. How do you feel about that as an artist?
I do. That is actually one of my favorite aspect of this festival. Some festivals claim it, but here it you can find it: there is a metal band playing on one stage and there is a rap artist on another stage and then I was playing. But to me they all got the some kind of spirit. So it doesn’t matter if you go on HipHop or Country Music or whatever you doing. It really fits in.

Yeah. It is really cool. Really well curated. Which artists or songs I am listening right now?
I am listening a lot of Billie Holiday and I am listening a lot of Hawaiian slackly guitar.

Okay. Hawaiian slackly guitar this sounds super interesting.
It is really beautiful. It is very common and it is very peaceful music. But I’ve also been listening a lot to Peter Gabriel. I never got into him and then recently I just felt in love I’d never knew. Just going back in history there are always new things to be discover even in the past.

Did these artists influence your work?
I think, I got influenced by anything I hear. Even music, that I don’t consciously listen to, that I might not even like, influences me. Sometimes something that you don’t want to do yourself can be a formative influence.

But there is no one you can name?
Oh, I mean of course. Joni Mitchell, Neil Young. I grew up with them and love this songwriters. But there is lots of other types of music that I like for the vibe and the feeling.

So the lyrics do the magic?
Yeah. That’s the most natural thing to me, like that’s what I notice first. In the meantime, however, I am opening myself more and more to other music and I am also inspired by the melody and rhythm. Jazz or instrumental music. I am always a driven person. I am a writer. A poet.

When you are touring. Do you feel a difference when you tour through Europe? Or is being on tour the same everywhere?
I feel Europeans are very wellknown in music. It seems like they know a lot about music. Northern Americans aren’t so much that way. It seems like music is a bit cultural thing in Europe. And I think the European audience is much more quiet, more respectful and attentive.

Just enjoying the moment?
Yeah. I think so. When Europeans go to a show, they want to watch the show.

Like, I want to watch Courtney!
Yeah. Exactly. Europeans are often really there for the music and this special concert. Northern Americans arrive first, have a chat and get a drink. They then see maybe 20 minutes of the concert, even if they are there for the concert and love the artist. It is really funny. It is just a little bit different.

Thank you very much for taking the time for the interview. We enjoyed it very much.
Thank you very much. It was entertaining and nice to talk about music with you.