- How are you satisfied with the reception of the last album?
We are very satisfied. We have just concluded two European tours and played some new songs live and they are received extremely well actually. Also, they are a lot of fun to play.
- What is the level of democracy within the band regarding creative inputs for new songs?
We’re a Swiss band. It can’t be more democratic than that. But on the serious side, everybody in the band has their own strengths and talents, we like working together and there’s no hierarchy. We are working together as a whole group. Some are more contributing to melodies and musically, some are investing their talents in administrational things. But whoever has an idea- if the idea is good- we’re gonna work with it of course.
- Can you explain the fascination with Celtic music? It’s understandable that it’s very beautiful and uplifting, but how and why did you feel connected to it?
It started a long time ago. Switzerland is not considered a modern Celtic nation, but it was a heartland of Celtic tribes like the Helvetii in ancient times. For me the whole fascination with Celtic culture began already in kindergarten and also in school. In school we learned about Celtic history of Switzerland and I kindda grew up with it. But musically, from early childhood I loved the folky sound. As a teenager I started learning several instruments such as whistlers or bagpipes and stuff like that. 10 years later Eluveitie happens.
I was cooking some tomato sauce and melody of “The Call of the Mountains” came to my head
- What is the best source of inspiration for you? Do you need lots of nature or isolation or something else when you create something new?
We are very much working together as a group. I believe each and single one of us has a different approach to writing music. So, I’ll speak personally for myself: inspiration comes when it wants to come. I can be sitting in a train or whatever, do dishes… The course of “The Call of the Mountains”- I remember I was cooking some tomato sauce and had this melody in my head. Inspiration comes when it wants to come. I prefer some quietness and some level of isolation and obviously being in nature is important to me always, not just when writing music. We can’t always have perfect conditions, and inspiration comes when inspiration comes. For me it is usually lyrical topics that come to mind that I want to white music and build around that. For us it’s very important that music follows the lyrics and what the song is about. We start composing the music when we already know what the song will be about lyrically. I first build the theme, what I want to express lyrically and from that quite often the music arises.
- What do you LIKE MOST about being a musician, and what do you like LEAST?
What I like the best is nearly everything and that is why I’m what I am. I think it stands for all of you. Music is like breathing to me. I cannot imagine doing anything else. Obviously, like with every job there are things you don’t like doing that much. It’s all different from 20 years ago, but today if you are a musician, it means that you must be a marketing specialist, especially digital marketing specialist and know all about social media. I really really suck at social media. I try to keep it up with Instagram and try to spread some thoughts that could do good to some people, I try to spread some love. Even then I’m really having a hard time, maybe I’m too old for it. That’s maybe the part that I don’t like so much, being a musician and nowadays it’s an important part of being a musician.
Always follow your heart and stick to your dreams!
- As an artist, what would you ADVISE other musicians who want to succeed in the music industry?
Always work hard, but everyone knows that already. I would say just always, always follow your heart. Never ever compromise about what you feel and what is your dream and what makes you happy. It’s the beginning of it all. If you wanna play music and it makes you happy you are automatically expressing something. Have ideas on what kind of music you wanna play and just stick to that. Stick to your dream. No matter what anybody else says. Just always stick to that and never stop believing in it.
- What do you like most from your fans? When they travel to multiple shows, the way they give feedback on shows, tattoos, buy collections and merchandise or some other means of support?
Sometimes there’s also a little bit of weird stuff. I mean I saw people tattooed my face somewhere. And then I think “That’s a bit weird, sorry”. Sorry I mean it’s a bit scary. I was often asked what success means to us and that’s what it is: when we look into our audience, look into their eyes and realise our music gives them something, makes them happy or touches their hearts, just does something good to them- that’s what it’s all about. That’s what success means to us. And at the end of the day why we are doing all that. That’s the magic in it.
- Do you like being on tour or is it exhausting? Do you have time for yourself or any sightseeing?
Not so much. It can be exhausting and the most exhausting part is that you’re not at home. There’s a constant lack of privacy and every day you’re at a different place. That can get exhausting somehow. But then gain not really- as it’s a huge privilege and you have to take it as a privilege as it is. I don’t feel that it’s that exhausting as at the end of the day it’s what we wanna do. Usually, we’re pretty busy so there’s not much time for ourselves. Everybody takes care of themselves, some go for running, some do workouts, but during the day there’s not that much free time. But every now and then we go for a walk or into a cafe or something like that.
- Do you have some big ambitions left regarding places to play or collaborations to do in the future?
We don’t really have goals as such. What we do every single day is the goal- the experience is the goal. To us it’s not about achieving something extra. We are living on a beautiful planet with many beautiful places and by far we haven’t seen all of them. We are just about to return to Turkey. We haven’t played there much so we are very excited to come back and also to play in some different cities. So far, we only played in Istanbul, but now I’m excited to see İzmir. I would like to play an Arctic tour, to play in small bars in all their Arctic places. I would like to be there at least once in my life.
- Do you have some kind of rituals before the concert, do you especially gather up for something?
We are together anyway all the time. Most of us warm up on their instruments. Our drummer is practicing and warming up virtually all day. It’s different from musician to musician. The only sort of the ritual is that we wrist bump each other and wish each other a great show and a lot of fun.
Really can’t wait to come back to Croatia
- You are returning to Zagreb after more than 12 years. What are the expectations from the concert in Zagreb?
We are very much looking forward to this last part of the tour for this year. It brings us to places that we haven’t been to very often and not in a very long time. So, we are very very excited and thankful for this opportunity. It’s been too long since our last time in Croatia and we can’t wait to return. Our former fiddle player was from Croatia and we had quite some connections there, so we met members of family and ate Croatian food. The people are super heartwarming and we really can’t wait to come back. I’m very much looking forward to it!
Interview done by Kristina Hećimović; PH-Pit.com; on 2.12.2025.
