If you have turned on the radio basically in any country in Europe in the past few months, it’s almost certain that you heard KAMRAD’s song “I Believe”, which became a massive hit all over the continent. The German singer-songwriter, Tim Kamrad was born in 1997, and he’s been interested in music ever since he was a little child, so he started playing the guitar at the age of 5. His first song was released in 2016, which was followed by his debut album, “Down & Up” a year later. This year, though, he went through a bit of a reinvention.
He came back with a new stage name and a new sound, which proved to be immensely successful not only in his homeland, but in the whole of Europe, as well. He achieved things he only ever dreamed of, with “I Believe” still being in the charts in many countries, while new music is on the way. He’s also going on tour next year, and he’ll be performing in Budapest, in Akvárium Klub in April.
He visited Hungary, more specifically the A38 Ship for the first time ever in October, where after an acoustic session, MUSICDAILY had the chance to talk to him, as well. He told us about the beginning of his career, the background of his song ”I Believe”, new music, his upcoming tour, he shared a message with his Hungarian fans, and of course, we taught him a little bit of Hungarian, as well – exclusive interview with KAMRAD.
It’s so nice to see you. How are you today?
Very good! Very great session, very great day, and I’m looking forward to the evening in Budapest.
Is it your first time here?
It is, and I’m really impressed by the city. It looks so beautiful.
Yeah, it’s beautiful.
We drove through it and now we had a great time with a lot of great people, and I heard a lot about nightlife in Budapest so I’m gonna try.
Alright, alright. Now, let’s start at the very beginning. When and how did you start writing songs?
Well, I started playing the guitar quite early, and I always thought all these artists that I like, like The Beatles, Prince, and Ed Sheeran, like, very different artists but I like them all, and everyone of them wrote their own songs. I was like, if I wanna be like them, I should write my own songs, too, and it started out with really bad ones. They were really shitty songs, but I played them to my parents and stuff, and they were like, „oh, it’s quite cool”. Then, at some point, I decided to go to a studio and record them, and then, yeah, it became a passion and also, I tried to kind of make it my job.
It was just because I tried to be as the artists that I like.
Alright, and which song of yours would you show to a person that doesn’t know you yet?
I think, right now, because this year kind of a new chapter started for me, so I think I would show „I Believe”, because it’s my favourite song right now. There are some new ones coming that I maybe like more, but out of the songs that are already out, „I Believe” is my favourite one. I think it kind of sums up everything about my style right now. It’s electronic, it’s danceable, but still, there are guitars in it and stuff, so yeah, probably that one.
Now, „I Believe” is a massive success all over Europe right now, so first of all congratulations on it!
Thank you very much!
And can you tell me a bit about the background of the song like what inspired it and what is the message that you’re trying to get across with it?
So the thing is, we were sitting in the studio every day for like, some months, and we were talking every day. It was a Monday, and a friend of mine came into the studio and he was not in a good mood, and I was like, „what’s going on?”, and he was like, „yeah, I had a bad date today, like, not today but the day before”. He just said „we had great talks on social media and everything was great” but when they met, it was really, really bad.
I was like, okay, if I wanted to do that, I would rather like, stay in bed all day and not go out.
And then we had this line, like „I’d rather fall asleep than fall in love”.
It’s basically about the difficulty of getting to know new people right now because everybody on social media can show their favourite image of themselves, and I think all these mistakes and kind of bad things about us belong to us, as well, and are important.
It’s kind of that.
Okay. With the release of this song you kind of reinvented yourself as an artist, as well, with a slight name change. So what was your reason behind that?
The thing is, probably everybody knows, when you’re 19, in comparison to like, 24 or 25, you just change a lot, because you become an adult, even though I don’t wanna be an adult, but you sort of became one. I realised the music that I made when I was 19 as Tim Kamrad wasn’t the same music that I’m trying to do now. So, I was like, okay, how can I show my fans and new people that it’s a bit different, it’s like, a new chapter, but it’s still personal because I didn’t wanna invent a new name. I was like, okay, maybe I’m just gonna throw away those first 3 letters of my name and just make it KAMRAD, which is a bit more like a project, I think it sounds a bit more electronic, a bit more grown up, maybe? And so, it’s kind of the cool moment for „I Believe”, as well, because it’s just the start of a new sound and a new name and, yeah, I really like being KAMRAD right now, even though it was weird at the beginning.
Alright, so, new music. When can we expect something new from you? Are you preparing something right now?
We are! Today, we played a little session where we also show 3 new songs, and we have a lot of new songs laying around, and I’m really looking forward to releasing them very soon. I can’t tell when right now, because I don’t know myself, because there’s so much going on with „I Believe” still, that some people are telling me better not to release right now, but I can say something. This month, there will be releases of „I Believe”, new remixes to „I Believe”, which are really, really cool, and then probably very-very soon after that, there will be new music.
Okay, so next year, you’re going on tour in Europe and you’ll be performing here, in Hungary, as well, which we are really excited about. So, what can we expect from the show, are you planning something special for this tour?
Of course, I’m already talking to everybody who’s coming with me on tour, I’m like, guys, we gotta do this, we gotta do that! Because I’m so excited about it, I haven’t been on tour, like, on my own tour for a long time because of corona, as well, and I have never been on a European tour so I’m gonna meet so many new people that seem to have listened to „I Believe”, and I wanna like, really, really present a great show.
I think what you can expect is definitely a lot of dancing, lot of fun, but still also like, a lot of maybe silent moments with like, just an acoustic guitar that feels a bit more private.
I try to kind of like mix them a lot so you can dance, you can cry maybe, you can have a good time. We have a band on stage and it’s gonna be, I think, quite a good show, yeah.
Alright, and what’s one thing that you just can’t leave at home when you’re travelling on tour?
Oh yeah, there’s like, one thing that I can’t leave at home, it’s a steamer for my clothes. Because I always like, I’m not really good at packing. When I throw my things into the suitcase, they all just don’t look good when I try to take them out.
Yeah, I mean, I can relate to that, as well.
Yeah, and I’m like, okay, before I go on stage, or before I meet somebody, I always gotta steam it first, and it’s like, the best thing ever, because you just, like, steam it, and it looks like new. It’s a good thing so I always carry it around. And a lot of times at the airport, they’re like, „what is it? you can’t take it with you” and I’m like, I gotta take it with me because can’t live without it. So yeah, it’s a steamer.
So is that your pre-show ritual? To steam your clothes?
Actually, it is, yeah! It is, actually it’s also quite calming, because you’re steaming, you can’t do anything else, and yeah, it’s a good, relaxing act to do.
Alright, so, you’ve been in the music industry for several years, now. If you had a time machine, and you could go back in time to when you were starting out, and give your younger self just one piece of advice, what would it be?
Keep on going. Actually that. Keep on going. I would probably do a lot of things differently than I did back then, but I think, if you don’t make mistake, you will not get better. Maybe someday… like, make it, and be still happy about it, because that’s like, the cool situation that I like about what I can experience right now. Which is, I really like the music that I make and some other people do too, so that’s a great feeling you like what you do.
So, I would say keep going, even though it sometimes can be really hard because especially last year was kind of a low year and I’m really happy that it went back up again.
Alright, and where do you see yourself in 10 years?
That’s a difficult question because I would have answered it very differently before this year, because I didn’t expect „I Believe” to do anything sort of like what I can experience right now. I would probably have said, like, I wanna have a European tour, but now I have one, so.
I think the most important part, it’s so cliche, but the most important part for me is still be happy with my music, make music that not other people want me to do, but just like, I want to do.
And if it at some point switches completely to a differently style, because I wanna do it… I think the most important part is being happy with what you do because other people can’t like it if you don’t like it, as well, so. Of course, I also have goals, like, I wanna play another tour, I wanna get bigger, play bigger venues, and have another song on the radio, have even more, you know, people singing with me at my shows. That’d be great, yeah.
Okay, and finally, is there a message that you would like to share with your Hungarian fans?
Well, of course, like, first thing is, let’s see each other on tour because I’m really looking forward to it and I’m so thankful. It’s so crazy to see the song’s being… when I came here, I heard it two times on the radio, I was like, it’s so crazy, and people listen to that song.
Yeah, it’s being played a lot.
The biggest message that I have actually is to say thank you because it’s quite overwhelming for me, I have never expected that. And another message is the same that I would give my younger self, it’s just like, keep going.
If you have any passion in life that you like and everybody’s telling you not to do it, just do it, because, I mean, it’s about being happy, it’s about being confident with what you do, and I think that’s the most important part, so. Two very different messages, come to my tour, and be happy with what you do.
Alright. Now, that’s all we planned for you today, but before we go, we would like to teach you something, so you can take away something from this interview, as well.
Oh yeah, that’s awesome.
So, do you know any Hungarian words?
No, but actually, we came here and I wanted to ask something, so can you maybe teach me something?
Yeah, sure! What we usually teach is how to say I love you in Hungarian.
Oh yeah, that’s good.
So, it goes like this: szeretlek.
Szeretlek?
Yep, that’s it.
Szeretlek?
Yep.
Szeretlek, Hungary.
Is there anything else you wanna learn?
Well, actually, it would be good to know hello and thank you because I always love it when you can say thank you in the language of the country, so.
Okay, so hello is szia, like the singer.
Szia, okay, yeah.
And thank you is köszönöm.
Köszönöm.
Yep, that’s it.
Köszönöm. Köszönöm, Hungary, as well!
