After our interview in the magazine we found – a video interview with The Düsseldorf Düsterboys is needed. So we met up with at least one part of the band for a longer chat including a camera. And it was worth it!
Pedro Goncalves Crescenti wears a blue and green patterned shirt and silver rings on his fingers. This is his very first video interview, he says. You have to dress up for that. We meet in Berlin’s Posh Teckel, the “only dachshund Manchester pub in Berlin”, as the bar owner proudly tells us. It’s 11am when we turn on the camera to talk to Goncalves Crescenti – one half of German indie folk band The Düsseldorf Düsterboys. For their new album DUO DUO, released in October 2022, Goncalves Crescenti and his band partner Peter Rubel have dedicated the songwriting and production to just the two of them. The previous album NENN MICH MUSIK was created together with Edis Ludwig and Fabian Neubauer, but this time they wanted to focus on their togetherness again. duo duo.
Watch the full video interview here:
The Düsseldorf Düsterboys have been around since 2012, three years later Rubel and Goncalves Crescenti founded another band project together with drummer Joel Roters: International Music. Since then, both groups have led the rankings of the best albums of the year with every new record release, and are absolute feuilleton favourites. When asked how important it is for them to get critical acclaim, Goncalves Crescenti replies: “I sometimes think about it: how do you get around to hearing our album in 50 years? And if our album gets featured through the feature pages, then it’ll probably be easier to hear in the future. But I think if I did an album with Peter and nobody liked it, that would be okay too.”
While The Düsseldorf Düsterboys are musically more settled in the psychedelic indie folk, International Music are much closer to the rock genre. But despite the musical differences, both bands are sometimes self-referential, sometimes even referring to songs from the other group in song lines. “I think there are references to other bands, even if both projects are not done in person,” says Goncalves Crescenti. “It’s just fun to play around with it a bit, like when The Düsseldorf Düsterboys comment on international music posts… We don’t get to play roles that often, and if you can play around a bit on that level, that’s fine Nice.”
When asked if he feels some pressure to make political music, Goncalves Crescenti thinks for a moment. “I think it’s very difficult to make an apolitical album, whether you call it that or not. I am convinced that if you want good things and approach music with philanthropy, this is also reflected in the art you make. I think it’s actually no longer possible to be apolitical at the moment.”