Interview – At Pavillon talk about their debut album and going on tour
With their debut album ‘Believe Us’ now out and the press hype slowly building around one of Austria’s most exciting young bands, Substance is Meaningless caught up with At Pavillon for a quick chat ahead of what is going to be the busiest year yet for the bright-shirt wearing four-piece.
Your debut album recently came out on January 25th, but the band At Pavillon have been around, playing gigs and releasing songs for quite some time. What took so to get this album out?
Well, first of all, we always thought it was not the right time to release an album. We knew that if we release an album and we are not completely ready for it, that means working with label, management and booking agencies, it will not get the media or fan attention that we want.
The second thing was that we were not able to pay for it. It was only really when we got the ‘Musikfonds’ financial support from the government that we knew this was our chance.
We actually did an interview with you in 2013, what’s changed since then for the band? What have you learned in the years leading up to this debut release?
A lot has changed since then. We completely recreated the band with a new bass player and a new drummer. The real At Pavillon actually only exists since 2014.
How would you describe the album in four emojis?
🦁💐👀😘
And how would you describe your music in real words? The album has been described as a ‘concept album’ – what does that mean exactly?
In the writing process, we found out that most of our songs are based on a few questions. Who are you? Who do you want to be in the future? What is holding you back? What do you believe in (spiritually and personally)? So that was our concept.
(c) Catalina Körber
“We still have that indie flair in our personality and in our music”
It’s also described as POP in capital letters, what actually is pop music in your opinion?
That can be many things… maybe easy listening, maybe commercial, maybe a trend or maybe just to be dressed as we would be in a magazine. It’s a little bit of everything for us. We still have that indie flair in our personality and in our music so it wouldn’t be possible just to say pop music.
Where did you get the inspiration/influences for this album? It deals with immigration, xenophobia and gender equality among others. How much of the band’s real-life experiences are in this album?
We talk a lot. Not just with each other but with many people around us. Mwita, for example, is in a community called ‘Kids of Diaspora’. We get a lot of input from outside our bubble and we discuss it. Of course, a lot of own personal lives are put into the lyrics, but if you talk with people and read newspapers, you can see that a lot is going in the wrong direction.
Is there anything you would do differently if you had the chance, with regards to the album or the recording/release process?
It was a process where we learned many lessons, So I guess from the knowledge from now, we would change a few things. But you know, knowledge is the killer of your childhood
You’ve got a busy couple of months touring ahead of you. What should people expect from your shows?
Energy boosting songs! Optimistic guys! And the prettiest sound engineer on earth ❤
What gig are you most looking forward to?
It’s not about one special gig. We are playing our first tour! We are hyped for every show!
What track is currently on repeat on your playlists right now?
Lately, when we are driving to concerts, we listen to Herbert Grönemeyer songs. One of the most inspiring artists we know.
Any bands we should be taking notice of in 2019, aside from At Pavillon?
The 1975 and Foals. Amazing artists, big influences!
Substance is Meaningless 