Devil's Gate Music
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Non Talkers are Marco Brantner from Portugal and Evita Brantner from Belgium, their soothing mix of pop and folk is perfect as we head into a long, dark Winter. Marco talks us through the early days of the band, as well as his own personal musical memories.
DGM: What are the origins of the band, and how long have you been playing together?
Marco Brantner (M): Evita and I are the core of the band; I’m from Portugal and she’s from Belgium. We are based in Portugal, where all the other band members are from. We have been playing together for about eight years.
DGM: How did you feel performing your first gig? And how was it?
M: Our first gig was very exciting, and we were full of nerves; part of that feeling has never gone away. We still have it every time we perform. A lot of people came to see us and we really felt the feedback from the audience towards our music. It was an amazing experience.
DGM: What should people expect when they check the band out? How would you describe yourselves?
M: I think the most important thing about our band is that we create genuine music, coming straight from our hearts. When we perform live we like to present it that way too; we play 100% organically – you will hear what you see on stage.
DGM: The new music scene is bursting at the seams with fresh talent. In what ways do you feel a band has to stand out from the others trying to build a name?
M: I think it’s really hard for a band to stand out because there’s too much information out there and we’re only prepared to absorb so much of it. With social media everything flows way too fast and most people do not really take time anymore to explore an artist’s work – there will always be another great one just turning the corner.
DGM: What are you working on at the moment that people can check out?
M: We are making use of these strange times to explore other ways to get in touch with our audience. We have been live streaming in an acoustic format straight from our studio every Tuesday at 7pm GMT at: https://sessionslive.com/nontalkers
It’s not the same as performing live, but we are getting to grips with it and enjoying it more and more each time.
DGM: What band out there at the moment do you feel that you would be best suited to open for?
M: There are a lot of artists that we really dig and would love to open for. A few that come to mind at the moment are Mumford and Sons, The Lumineers, Jack Savoretti, Kodaline.
DGM: Who do you feel will be the next band to break out?
M: I think Jack Savoretti is very underrated, so hopefully he will get more recognition soon. I also like Kaleo although they are already breaking out. I’m sure there are plenty of great artists out there that sadly we don’t have the time to discover.
DGM: What are your first musical memories? And what was the light bulb moment that made you go “I want to do that!”
M: I don’t have anyone that is a musician or music related in my family, and I never really considered becoming a musician myself while I was growing up. I guess I always enjoyed singing along to songs that I liked but never really thought that I could play music as well.
One of the most inspiring moments I had was listening to a busker play on the streets of Barcelona when I was about 20 years old. I thought to myself, “how is it possible that someone that is an unknown artist and on his own can give me so much through a music performance? I want to be able to do the same”.
DGM: What was the last gig that you attended as a fan?
M: The last gig as a fan was at The Vilar de Mouros Festival. We watched Los Lobos, Deus and James.
DGM: What is the album that you have in your collection or Spotify playlist that would surprise most people?
M: ‘Delta’ by Mumford and Sons.
DGM: What are your plans for the remainder of 2020?
M: We’re trying to finish our new album, which we are very excited about.
DGM: How active are you on social media and where can people connect with you?
M: We are most active on Facebook and Instagram, but the easiest way to find out more about us and our contacts is by visiting our website:
www.nontalkers.com
Thanks for having us.
