The Reclamation Of Youth: Milky Chance On Being Reckless
Photos by Elise Abotomey
The entrance to the bar provides no indication as to what is inside; down a small, one-way side street in the middle of Newtown is Mary’s; a burger bar that can only be seen to be believed. Every inch of wall that my eyes glaze over is littered with a thick layer of graffiti; the walls an amalgamation of scrawls from ten years of drinkers and burger lovers who have left their mark on the building. We’ve been given access behind closed doors for an interview with global stars Milky Chance.
Needing no introduction, the folk electronic duo have returned to Australia for the fifth time to perform in line with their latest album and single release. Not their first time around the block, Clemens Rehbein and Philipp Dausch have risen through the ranks of the music world and have solidified themselves as a force within the alt-pop space. Their album Living in a Haze, released in 2023 was a transformative ensemble from the pair, which showcased the best of their talent in the twelve song lineup. Backing it up only mere months later, their single ‘Reckless Child’ was released early this year. I caught up with Philipp and Clem leading up to their show at Enmore Theatre where the pair spoke on childhood, their younger selves and underlying messages that ‘Reckless Child’s’ lyrics portray.
Philipp: I was quite reckless. Like in highschool I skipped classes, and got really into making music a lot and in that sense we were pretty reckless.
Josie: Smoking behind the classroom?
Philipp Laughing: Oh! Yeah!
Clem Laughing: Heck Yeah!
Clem: As a child you have no fears
Speaking to the inspiration behind their latest hit; “I guess it was trying to refer to that feeling of freedom” muses Philipp… “More heart, less head kind of thing”. Prompting further on their freedom and their reclamation of youth, Philipp succinctly recounts “Sometimes you consciously have to remind yourself to go there. I think that there are things that help you to be reminded of ‘don't use your head too much’.
Sipping on cool ginger beers around the wooden table, we chat about their latest work, and I reflect out loud how different we all become as adults, and the sadness of letting that younger self go, leaving the recklessness of youth behind in lieu of a sensibility that is almost confining:
The things I did as a child I would never do now; it’s almost kind of sad, you know?
Philipp laughing: Right?! Yeah, exactly! It is sad. Also sometimes we can't always manage to come back to a reckless view like a childish view but those glimpses become like a melancholic thing where it's like ‘oh’.
The childhood best friends have grown into themselves, individually as people, and together as artists. Their music journey is so entwined with their lives together that it is almost impossible for them to think of a defining moment in their career, reflecting instead on their formative years as teenagers, experimenting with music together.
Philipp: Yeah at the beginning, (it was a) very important time when we were reckless teenagers, and spending lots of time together doing music only for the sake of having fun and doing it together.
We were connecting really strongly, and that was our friendship. And music was built simultaneously, hand in hand. So it's a big foundation obviously if you look at our lives now…ten years later we are still kind of doing it (laughing), but we are no longer skipping school and getting high and playing music…kind of…
And just when you think they can’t stop, Philipp and Clem reveal that they have no intention of slowing down. The highly anticipated album Living in a Haze is otherworldly; an ode to a world that is not quite the one we live in and the possibility for something more.
Philipp: I guess we are always looking for more, that's a driving force. I think that one (Living in a Haze) is particularly speaking about when you're in that moment looking for more, when you shake off everything that makes you feel stuck…
Clem: Just letting go.
Philipp: Yeah just letting go and get out there and be light and you know, dance!
Their young and playful energy is prevalent not only in their latest hit, but is indicative of their character and their approach to performance. I not only had the privilege of picking their brains about their art, but I got to see their exhilarating performance live in the exquisite Enmore Theatre; the venue itself adding an intimacy to the stunning performance.
Standing pressed up against the barricade, arms pressed to my sides was 90 minutes of Clem jumping around the stage with an athleticism I could only have seen to believed; Philipp standing only mere spaces from him swaying his hips, eyes closed and smiling, a reference to the fun and letting go we unpacked earlier in the day “Music makes it easier (letting go). Movement makes it easier. It puts you in a good place to go forward.”
Standout performances of the night were ‘Living in a Haze’; a techno-pop mashup of ‘Do You Really Wanna Hurt Me?’; and ‘Love Song’ which saw a harmonica outro by the band’s guitarist Antonio Greger that I think will be seared into my brain until the end of my life; the crowd almost silent listening in awe as he drew the song to a close.
‘Stolen Dance’, the duo’s most widely known song, provoked ear-piercing screams from the crowd; I looked around at the crowd with their hands in the air, waving rhythmically along to the song that is an exemplar of the band’s success.
The flawless set, high-octane and electric was indicative of the duo’s success as platinum selling artists as they skillfully navigated the atmosphere of the crowd; through their dance-pop hits and their softer more indie-acoustic moments, the entire 90 minutes was hand-picked to perfection.
