The year is in full swing, and we’re deep into summer, a prime time for festivals across Europe. One of this year’s Excite artists, Lemony Rug, recently had a residency and show at MadNes Festival on Ameland. We caught up for a quick chat about the experience.
– For anyone just discovering you: who is Lemony Rug, and what’s the story behind the name?
Lemony Rug is my alter ego, my solo project allowing me to follow my gut and not having to compromise musically. It feels like the name basically just found me. I was looking for something that flowed well, worked internationally and I’m also a fan of working with contrasts – a fresh lemon, that old dusty rug… The fact that it also contains the initials of my legal name was pretty much a coincidence and just the icing on the cake. 🙂
– How important is it for you, as an independent artist, to seek out these kinds of international exchanges, and what do you hope listeners take away from them?
For me, international exchanges have always been a huge part of my life and have been incredibly important, both personally and creatively. Through music – and even before that – I started travelling at an early age, always in search of new stories, perspectives and connections. When I was still in school I had the privilege of spending one year abroad, which opened up a whole other world to me. This was the starting point, since then I’ve taken every opportunity for international adventures and was able to meet people from all over the world through Couchsurfing, for example. I’m very grateful I get to do this as part of my work as a musician now, in various musical exchanges and writing sessions.
As a fully independent artist, I don’t have a publisher organising big writing camps or anything like that, so I’m really grateful that programs like this exist to make these international collaborations possible. I’ve collaborated with artists such as Lucy Clearwater from LA, Varley from Ireland, Jonathan Stephen Simons from South Africa and several musicians and producers from the US. I think listeners can hear those different influences blending together in the music and songwriting. These experiences always broaden my horizon, and I hope there are many more collaborations like this to come!
– You spent several days in Nes working with a Dutch artist as part of a residency. What did that collaboration bring to your music that you might not have found working alone in Hamburg, Germany?
When I first checked out Sarah’s music as Moonloops, I immediately became a fan of her dreamy songs and songwriting. In real life we clicked very quickly, we’re both fans of similar music and while writing together, she brought a sense of lightheartedness and dreaminess that I probably wouldn’t have found sitting by myself in my apartment in Hamburg. Lyrically, we also had a great flow and shared some long, heartfelt conversations. It was beautiful teamwork, and I’m really proud of the song we created in such a short time. It was also so much fun learning about each other’s mother tongues and translating and singing the chorus in both Dutch and German at the end. 😉
– Did anything from that cross-border collaboration end up in your MadNes set, or is it more something you’ll develop later?
I would have loved to perform the song at MadNes already, but I was playing with a new band setup and our soundcheck time was very limited. We didn’t want to rush it, so we decided to postpone the live premiere for another time. I’m absolutely certain that Sarah and I will meet again down the road and can’t wait to perform this song with her somewhere! The beautiful thing is that it already works with just a guitar and our voices, which feels like a really good sign. There are lots of different directions it could take, and we already have some exciting ideas for what the final production could sound like.
– As a Hamburg-based artist, did you notice any differences in how Frisian/Dutch audiences connect with music compared to German crowds?
Before our set at MadNes, Sarah kindly gave me a heads-up about something she called the “Dutch disease”, meaning Dutch audiences tend to be quite loud during concerts and chat a lot. So I was prepared, but when we played our set, I was pleasantly surprised by how attentive the crowd was and how much they vibed with us.
– How do you want people to feel when they leave a Lemony Rug show?
I hope people leave a Lemony Rug show feeling a little less worried or stressed. Maybe even inspired. The most beautiful thing is when I receive messages saying, “Hey, I was having such a shitty day, but your music really turned it around for me.” Those are the moments that remind me why I’m doing this, and I’m incredibly grateful for them.
