Snowapple Talks About Amsterdam

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Snowapple: Laura you were a singer/song writer, Laurien you were an opera singer, and Una you were a Jazz singer

Interview conducted on January 30, 2018

Indie-rock, pop alternativa, Avant-garde desde Ámsterdam y CDMX…

Snowapple is a group of extremely talented multi-instrumentalists / singers from Amsterdam, Latvia and Mexico. Playing original songs which they describe themselves as pop/folk/opera/avant-garde-cumbia.

Drawing on uncommonly contrasting musical backgrounds the members of Snowapple form a remarkable ensemble, with the three central voices by turns merging into majestic harmonies and peeling off severally into moving solo peregrinations. Their giddy leapfrogging between genres, combined with the wide range of instruments they play, effectuates an incomparable sound.

The group started as an all female trio in Amsterdam, but during their travels to Mexico city they one by one picked up a brilliant and diverse group of musicians, adding Mezcal and summer-vibes to the music and expanding Snowapple into an even more explosive,
eccentric and theatrical act.

The group is currently touring the US, Mexico and Europe and is working on their 4th studio album. Their music has been played multiple times on BBC Radio and they made several appearances on international TV.

Band Members

Laura, Laurien, Una

Unratedmagazine: How did you find each other? Tell me about the development of the band?

Snowapple Fashion

Laurien Schreuder: We didn’t find each other, but Snowapple found us. Snowapple is an ever changing band. We have played gigs as a trio as well as a band of many different shapes and sizes. And we did projects together with musicians from all over the world (Japanese, Mexican, Syrian, Italian….).

How did you pick your name?

Snowapple is an imaginary fruit…. we are also an imaginary band

Tell me about your backgrounds?

We come from Opera, Jazz, folk and a choir tradition

You are from Amsterdam. Can you tell me about the music scene there? And what your favorite club to play in Amsterdam and why is it?

We will be playing in ‘De Melkweg’ this month for the release of our concept album ‘Wexico‘ (which we recorded with Mexican musicians in Mexico). De Melkweg is definitely one of our favorites, as well as Paradiso where we played last year. They both originated as squats in Amsterdam. But we also like hidden places in Amsterdam, such as ‘De nieuwe Anita’ where we played our first shows.

Is there any different from Amsterdam and Holland?

Amsterdam is quite different from the rest of Holland. Amsterdam inhabits beautiful people from all over the world. We love walking around the canals early in the morning. It has a good mix of history and modernity.

How do you describe your music?

We usually say pop/folk/opera avant-garde-cumbia…. the live show usually has a broader range of genres then the CDs. The CDs could possibly be described as ‘dream-folk-pop’. The live-show, well, you just got to come see!!

What type of music did you listen to growing up?

We listened to all kinds of music. Maybe mostly jazz, folk, classical and world music. We love Paul Simon, Edith Piaf, Sarah

Snowapple in Japan

Vaughan, Anais Mitchell, and Ennio Morricone….. Ranging from beautiful voices to epic arrangements…

I love y0ur video “Going My Way” I saw the one in the church first then I saw the Made in Japan one. I like both. They each have different feel. Why did you decide to film in a church? Where was the church? And any problems filming in a church?

The song Going my Way is about leaving your country behind. It was very emotional to sing it with Syrian musicians who recently moved to Holland to start a new life. It was a very beautiful day. All the musicians were incredible and we made many new friends.

What was your impression of Japan? The food culture and people?

Japan was incredible! We were touring with Una’s 1, 5 year old son in a country where we couldn’t speak the language… we were traveling from city to city every day. In trains, busses and cars. Actually it wasn’t as difficult as it sounds because everything is arranged very well and the people are unbelievably nice and polite! We were amazed by the heated toilet seats, sweet-bean-deserts, temples where you have to clap to make your dreams come true….

You have gotten air play on BBC radio and on international TV. How did you feel once you heard that?

We are really proud our music has been played on these important media. However for us it can’t beat seeing people face to face while we play….

You are working on your 4th studio album. When does the next LP come out?

We will play a release show in Amsterdam the 24th of February, in de Melkweg. We will play a release show in the beginning of May in Snowapple in JapanMexico and we’ll be touring all over Europe in the summer. The album is called Wexico and it has some crazy cumbia’s on it!

Are you thinking about doing the US for a tour?

We hope to be back in the US soon! And we also hope to be visiting Canada!

How would you explain your live performance?

All our live shows are different. Very different from each other. Sometimes we play mainly sweet songs, sometimes we invite a Mexican band to come along…. last year we did a tour in Italy with a string ensemble… We want to keep it interesting for the audiences and also for ourselves. We always improvise part of the show…. and we always change our costumes….

If someone was listening to you for the first time, what 3 videos or songs would you tell them to look/listen to and why?

Someone once asked this question before….. I bet we’re now giving you completely different songs…. To someone who usually listens to jazz we would recommend different video’s then to someone who likes Reggae. Maybe first I would recommend this song, written by our dear friend LouisBarabbas: Second maybe the one you were talking about in the church: Going My Way These first two are both live recordings….. Maybe some produced song could also be interesting…..Snowapple – California (Official Video) That’s already three….. Makes me realize how many video’s we made!!

How do you see your band in the next 5 years?

We hope to make more beautiful and interesting music…. we hope we can continue experimenting and working together with other musicians and artists… Maybe we hope to be doing a full theater-show somewhere in the near future! Dear reader, if you read the interview all the way to this end and you have interesting ideas for Snowapple please write us!!