Music Monday: Milky Chance & The Origin of LOVE BEING HERE.
Yes, that’s a screen shot. I was traveling back from Whister the other day and this song came on the radio. It became a NEED to download situation.
Have a listen.
This song has a very engaging beat. It’s been a bit since I was this jazzed over something, it’s now been on repeat for a few days.
I think it needs this caveat though – I tend to think my best sound comes while driving, or with really good headphones – this song is good eyes closes and loud. Enjoy it loud.
*** very interesting how the universe works, how things that are meant for you, become part of you.
On the original publish of this post I didn’t yet know much about this band, so I stole the excerpt below from their Youtube Channel. Fast forward several months, this would become the first band I had the privilege to professionally shoot. Read on for the story.
But first, a little more about them.
“Nobody expected them and nobody saw them coming. But there they are – Clemens and Philipp alias Milky Chance from Kassel, Germany – and it is hardly imaginable where we would be without this unique and exceptionally talented duo that released their first album “Sadnecessary” in a nonchalant DIY manner that is marked by both genuine enthusiasm for what they are doing and boyish optimism. They have Germany at their feet and the rest of Europe will follow shortly. Their music is best described as a mixture of singer-songwriter, folk, reggae with electronic underlining. Clemens’ voice sounds mature and detached as if it belonged to some lonesome cowboy that is filled with decades over decades of wisdom and stage experience. Fact is that Clemens graduated from high school last year and wondered what would come next. It was music. All the way. And with it, success came along.”
Oh yeahhhh.
Well they are officially on my radar… I would travel to see them. The universe understood the assignment…
Check then out | Twitter (X)
Download them here.
The Milky Chance Story: many years ago now, in early 2013 my then best friend, now husband decided to meet up in Las Vegas because our favourite band (the Killers) was playing at a little unknown and then unheard of music festival. Life is Beautiful. It was nearly perfect in terms of my expectation of a perfect music festival. Line up was impeccable, there was a current of art that impacted every aspect of the space, it was in part, part of a re-gentrification of a space lost to the bygone area of old time Vegas, there were messages of positivity and love in everything that stitched together those three days. We loved the experience and saw a hundred great bands. An art motel – to this day still one of the coolest installations I have event experienced. During one of the afternoons we were watching a particularly lively concert, it was a band called Alabama Shakes – blues with a slice of rock and roll. We were standing at the back of a hot parking lot with fifteen thousand other music lovers and were talking about life as we often (Still) do. I looked around and told him, “I want to do this.” He said, “do what?” I said, “this, gesturing vaguely across all the lot of people. I want to be involved in this.” He without hesitation looked at me and said, “you should.” It was a simple conversation that bled into a dream that was then constructed into a plan which turned into a business. I am pleased to share, one year later – I WAS BACK. m! Media was an emerging media company and we started an online magazine. Now I say “we” but at that point it was literally just me. I was all things as many entrepreneurs will relate too, you are marketing director, accountant, labourer, copy editor, in my case, photographer. (That part wasn’t new, I had many years under my belt as a freelance photo journalist by then – different arenas) but as CEO of this tiny little emerging company – timing was everything, blood sweat, late nights and because this was purely for joy – no tears.
Year two of Life is Beautiful, I will be forever grateful for that opportunity. It was an emerging festival, year two the format had changed a little, it was slightly more mainstream but they were open to emerging passionate photo journalists. That year between meetings on Bay Street, or wall-street, traveling with my then partner for fun, doing my insane weekly commute I was also supporting my new company.
This brings us back to Milky Chance. Let me set up the scene. You should know this about me, I am a very Scottish Virgo, as type A as they come, I have ADHD and I am extremely sensitive to time, rules and order. I love structure and I like doing just about everything perfectly right. My unique dna it something I am incredibly grateful for. Being a Scottish Virgo, tenacious would be the synonym for that personality. If you are smiling or shaking your head because that resonates with you, you are my people. ADHD is my super power and likely how I build a company up enough to get media accreditation within 12 month in a different country. I have always loved that ability to hyper-focus. My personal super-power.
It was a brutally hot 38ish degrees Las Vegas afternoon. I’m from Canada, 100 degrees for my southern friends. Milky Change being still somewhat new, were the very first show. It was 2pm. I made my way through the massive crowd, 50-60 thousand people lined up under the bleeding sun waiting. I was very nervous but also in awe. There I was, camera gear slung over my shoulder harnessed up. Ready. I walked towards the pit, (the area directly in front of the stage) confident yet it was like I had shrunk, the speakers towered over my head, and when I looked back – a sea of eager faces. There were other photographers there, some from SPIN, Rolling Stone and Variety among others waiting for the show to begin. You could tell who the vets were, right away. Casually learning on the fence taking to security or each other. I on the other hand likely did not pass for a seasoned vet, as one of the guys in the pit turned to me and offered me some ear plugs. Gratefully I put them in and then it began.
At first it was the amps that turned on and all of a sudden there was this low guttural hum. BOOOONGGG. It was palpable I felt it inside my chest. As that feeling assimilated, the roar of the crowd began as Clemens and Phillipp walked on to the stage. When they started to play, for me everything stopped, time slowed down. I was in a moment and I knew it. I looked around and an immense wave of gratitude swept over me. I have always worked really hard in my life and I have never been afraid of a big task or challenge. I was proud of myself in that moment and incredibly grateful I was brave enough to seize this incredible opportunity. For the rest of the show, I did my job I shot my images and my gosh did I love that day. All they way full circle, driving back into the city from my day hike in whistler, hearing for the first time Stolen Dance on the radio, to chasing my favourite band with my favourite radio guy, someone who genuinely loved music – even more than I did, to speaking an idea, to having it encouraged and celebrated to building a plan, taking a risk and leaping. Working hard to build value and gaining the chance to prove my model, finally to standing in a pit with 10 other photographers, listening to this fantastic band from Germany playing a tune that speaks to the mass of music lovers moving in unison. Collective effervescence. LOVE BEING HERE.
Photo Credit @M_Media_
Photo Credit @M_Media_
words by | miss d
m! Media & LBH Collective 
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