cafebabel.com

Activist András Istvánffy on ‘Hungary's permanent protest culture since 2006’

('Andras Szirko',) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 18:48:55 -0000

While the Hungarian government has been closing popular venues, the 4K! or fourth republic! movement has been attempting to reclaim public places through flash mobs and other actions. We meet the platform's coordinator

Dario Ivkovic: 'people don’t seem interested in roots of Balkan music'

('Ili Pusk\xc3\xa1s',) — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 12:06:49 -0000

Best-known as a member of both the German touring group Shantel & The Bucovina Club Orkestar and French band Les Yeux Noirs, the Serbian accordionist is an electrifying personality onstage. We talk music legends, Balkan beats and why 'girls like guitarists better'

Slovenian journalist: death threats after arms trade trilogy

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:18:09 -0000

In Slovenia, a trilogy published between summer 2011 and spring 2012 has exposed the secrets of the arms trade during the Balkans war and the role of the country's politicians in it. It's been an ache in the sides of those in power and with money and interests whom the book denounces. Co-writer Blaz Zgaga, 38, may be in hiding but he won't stay down

Activist Ahmed el-Senussi: Libyan prince and human rights hero

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 15:34:01 -0000

Currently a member of Libya's national transitional council, the prince was in solitary confinement during his imprisonment and did not speak to a single person for nine years. We meet in Strasbourg where the former prisoner of conscience was one of five Arabs to win the Sakharov freedom of thought prize for 2011

Brooklyn-based pop band Chairlift: once 'music for haunted houses'

('Annie Rutherford',) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 17:45:30 -0000

Patrick Wimberly and Caroline Polachek probably never thought their music would end up on a commercial for an apple product. After meeting the duo in Paris, we are advised to go back to the future, turn the sound down on a silent film and crank up our headphones to their fresh electronic pop offering

Journalist Irakli Berulava: ‘Georgia has lost opportunity that rose revolution created’

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 10:00:04 -0000

‘Gloomy’ is how the correspondent of reporters without borders (RSF) in Georgia describes the media situation in the South Caucasus countries. Self censorship, governmental pressures and democratical regression after the rose revolution of 2003 are mining the field of journalism, says the man who is also a blogger, film director and producer

Hungarian singer Erzsi Kiss: ‘My language is based on musicality’

('kovakovics',) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 17:15:00 -0000

It’s much more meaningful gobbledygook, says the singer in the Hungarian band 'Egy Kiss Erzsi Zene' about her lyrics. The musician and puppeteer talks to us about singing 'in no language'

Rock band Turbo: ‘absence of taste’ an ‘incurable disease’ in Hungary

('Ili Pusk\xc3\xa1s',) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 18:12:31 -0000

When it comes to psychedelic-progressive rock music, Turbo is Hungary’s number one. Bass guitarist Jero and singer Balázs Tanka on genres, role models and taking different viewpoints on music tastes and truths in general

German writer Hatto Fischer on Greece 'madness' and 'European debts’

('Annie Rutherford',) — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 15:28:33 -0000

The Bavarian-born philosopher and co-founder of the NGO Poiein Kai Prattein (‘create and do’), which launched in Athens in 2003, explains why Europeans have thought that the Greeks were mad, and how we can learn from their current fiscal tragedy

Gravity Co: 'We shy away from traditional Bulgarian limelight’

('Ili Pusk\xc3\xa1s',) — Tue, 06 Sep 2011 15:45:33 -0000

They have scooped practically all the music awards in Bulgaria, such as the national music channel MMTV's 'band of the decade' gong in 2008, like magnets deftly reinvigorating progressive music in a post-socialist country. The four-piece Sofia-based rockers stand out from the Bulgarian musical landscape like liquorice-black aliens - and a fourth album is promised for 2011. Interview

Croatian writer Olja Savicevic: 'We have never lived in a normal society'

Tue, 31 May 2011 12:21:40 -0000

The writer from Split, 36, recently published her debut novel 'Goodbye Cowboys' in German. Her award-winning short stories and poetry have been translated in over ten languages. We talk war, youth and why she one day hopes to speak about the 'tragedy' of her family 'more openly'

Istanbul 'sex bus': student beaten for defending couple speaks

('Aleksandra Sygiel',) — Tue, 17 May 2011 12:49:00 -0000

On 17 April a young Turkish couple were asked to leave a city bus because the driver considered their kissing and hand-holding as too obscene. Events worsened: whilst arguing with the driver at the stop in Taksim Square stop in the couple's defence, fellow passenger and politics student Gökçe Koç, 28, was assaulted by a stranger getting on the bus. We meet via facebook where Koç started a protest group, Seks Otobüsü (‘Sex Bus Number…’): 34 TN 1992 25T

Simon from Is Tropical: ‘England is very oversaturated in music, London especially'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 11:29:48 -0000

The boy from Bournemouth explains why his low-fi British band, signed to French label Kitsune, is more European than English. The three-piece of former London squatters, who perform with masks, are on a mini European tour in mid-April. Their debut album Native To is released on 13 June

Salvador Martín: 'Paranormal will be normal as soon as we rid ourselves of prejudices'

('James Friscia',) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 10:15:00 -0000

Convinced of the soul’s eternity, spiritists overcome stereotypes and fears to explore the space where life and death meet. They follow a tradition that dates back to the Egyptians, the Vedas and even the bible, itself a catalogue of 'paranormal' events. We slip into the unknown with an appropriate guide, the president of the Spanish spiritist federation

Belgian singer Selah Sue, no Amy Winehouse

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:45:00 -0000

She’s a singer with American, even Jamaican soul, but Sanne Putseys is also just like any other young angel-faced Belgian girl, despite her groove sisterhood

Ferran Adria, culinary avant-garde

Wed, 16 Mar 2011 09:37:00 -0000

In his own words, he’s just a 'chef with a restaurant', but this Spanish master is in fact so much more. Read cafebabel.com's interview with Europe's master chef from 2005

Stromae: 'Role model? Me? At 25 you shut your mouth and listen'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 13:10:49 -0000

He picked up the Belgian Hit Of The Year award for ‘Alors On Danse’, but the skinny singer insists he wants to move forward from his chart-topping eurodance hit - which conquered most of Europe in 2010 – as well as move out of his mother’s house. Interview

Alex Metric: the man with a studio tan

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 14 Jan 2011 15:11:24 -0000

The 29-year-old British DJ and producer takes us on his own brief musical journey of electronic music as we await the remixes on his new disc Open Your Eyes. The eponymous first single, an intriguing collaboration with DJ Angello of Swedish House Mafia, is out this January

Mario Monicelli: 'commedia all’italiana encompassed everything from love to death'

('Mary Maistrello',) — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 12:00:00 -0000

The 93-year-old Italian director and father of the ‘commedia all’Italiana’ film genre, on the power of cinema which ‘acts like a mirror, tells a story, but doesn’t preach’.

Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I: ‘Young people in Europe feel unsafe’

('Georgios Kokkolis',) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 12:57:11 -0000

He speaks seven languages, he’s down with the green cause and he’s the leader of the global orthodox movement which in Europe exists in the east, north and the Mediterranean, but he resides in Istanbul. Interview with the spiritual leader of 300 million worldwide. cafebabel.com in Athens and Istanbul meet the man

Interview with psychic Paul, the German octopus

('English language version of cafebabel.com',) — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 16:15:00 -0000

A slew of tanned, ageing football commentators aside, he was the only one to correctly predict Spain's glory and Germany's shock defeat at the 2010 world cup. He's also an octopus, hatched in 2008, who lives at the Oberhausen aquarium in a North Rhine-Westphalia zoo. Three questions for the eight-armed prophet

German clown Marenka: 'hit a woman and it's almost taboo'

('Jessie L.',) — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 10:41:48 -0000

For seven years, the 37-year-old has acted in German-language performances throughout Europe, a trade she refined in Hannover, France and California - how does her public react to her clownish mishaps?

Cheese People: 'European' face of Russian music

('Natasha Doff',) — Wed, 26 May 2010 15:12:33 -0000

From the banks of the River Volga just west of the Urals mountains, which mark the geographical border between Europe and Asia, a funky new band is making a big impact on the Russian music scene: an unsigned, energetic female-fronted quartet with a disco-punk sound. We meet backstage in Moscow

Julie Gray: Europe scriptwriting Hollywood

('Nicholas Newman',) — Fri, 21 May 2010 15:52:27 -0000

An average 90 minutes film will consist of 90 to 100 pages of A4. Of the daily lorryload of unsolicited scripts that Hollywood film production offices receive, only one in every hundred scripts will be looked at. The LA-based scriptwriting consultant is in Oxford to talk tips, trends and Hollywood disappointment

The European politicians who insult journalists

('Amanda Mulligan',) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 08:00:00 -0000

Media and politics has always been a love-hate thing. From Livingstone to Berlusconi, a brief outline of some of the most memorable insults that Europe’s elected officials have directed at both defenceless and sometimes-deserving journalists

Agop J. Hacikyan: 'I don’t feel I am translating my culture into English'

('RenataB',) — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:44:37 -0000

The playful Armenian-Canadian author talks his latest novel - hailed as a 'love letter to Istanbul' - straddling continents and his opinions on Turkey in the EU

Annett Louisan: 'I don’t need to go the fake platinum blonde bombshell route anymore'

('Lindsey Evans',) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:00:00 -0000

The breathy German chanson singer hasn’t only changed hair colour over the years - she seems to have done a bit of growing up as well. We catch the 31-year-old entertaining the Franco-German relations ambassador and performing live in Paris for the first time

The Wankin' Noodles, four boys from Rennes who sing about girls

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 10:09:24 -0000

Romain, Regis, Jean-Sylvain and Guillame went from being graphic design, cinema, information technology and literature students, to being backed by big names as France's latest post-teenage kicks band. Quick catch up with the twelve-eyed foursome at the Transmusicales festival in their hometown

Dominika Nowak: 'I want to stay unusual, even if I've had to become more commercial'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:27:38 -0000

The designer untames convention with her 'Nunc' shoes, insisting that her furry fabric fantasies are made to be adapted to daily life. We discuss Paris-Krakow, fashion uglies and what it's like to go it alone as a one-woman brand at 27

Andrew Bird: 'even hip-hop is folk music'

('Helen Swain',) — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 14:31:41 -0000

From his Chicago-based home - a farm in Illinois - the 36-year-old thinks up the songs featuring violins, guitars, voices and whistling, which have made him one of the best exponents of the folk renaissance. His latest album Noble Beast was a US hit and has been garnering praise in Europe, where he is touring until 24 November

Coeur de Pirate: 'when I grow up I will be like Mathieu Chedid!'

('Michelle Williams',) — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:30:00 -0000

Beatrice Martin, 19, was discovered on Myspace in Quebec and is attempting to conquer France. We meet at Cébazat in the Puy-de-Dome region for the opening of the Sémaphore en Chanson festival

Dominique A: 'Singing in English doesn’t feel natural'

('Darren Thompson',) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 18:00:00 -0000

As a front runner in the race to modernise French music, the 41-year-old shuns old stereotypes and overnight trends. His two-disc album 'La musique/ La matière' is out now

Moby: free Europe concerts for climate change

('Waldemar Ingdahl',) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 10:33:36 -0000

'Play4Climate.eu' raises awareness among Europe's youth before the December UN summit in Copenhagen. We chat to the American musician/ activist

Phil Stumpf: anaesthetist by day, DJ by night

('Alexandra Baxter',) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:29:45 -0000

Living in France for the last decade has allowed the German, 35, to be more 'exotic'. But the capital is too expensive to allow an underground culture to manifest itself, he says

Wajdi Mouawad and the theatre: ‘I don’t feel as if I belong to this world’

('Helen Swain',) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 11:43:50 -0000

'Strangely, this does not make me unhappy’, he says the Quebec-Lebanese author, 40. At the 2009 Avignon Festival, he presented Cielos, adding another work to his trilogy on wars, exile and the state of the world.

Wael Nawara: 'Secular is a word we Egyptians used to use wrongly'

('Sarah Gray',) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:00:00 -0000

A nocturnal meeting with the second-in-command of the El Ghad ('The Tomorrow') party, Egypt’s main force of liberal opposition to Mubarak’s regime

Swedish Pirate Party MEP Christian Engström: ‘Europe is stronger than the US’

('Waldemar Ingdahl',) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 11:43:53 -0000

The newly elected pirate MEP, 49, a former computer programmer from Stockholm, talks about the EU-US relationship, eyes turning towards Sweden again and Europe’s second wave of pirate parties. Part I in a special edition marking the six-month Swedish presidency of the EU

Immunologist Norbert Gualde: don't throw a swine flu party just yet

('Martyn Hawkins',) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Rumours of a new way to deal with 2009's global epidemic broke out in the UK in July. The idea is crazy; catch the Influenza A (H1N1) virus and make antibodies before it becomes more virulent. A note of warning

Herman Dune vs. Vandaveer: transatlantic anti- & alt-folk

('Lindsey Evans',) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 17:00:00 -0000

An American plying his trade in Europe and a Franco-Swiss exporting his ‘anti-folk’ to the American continent – that place where a guy called Dylan’s first notes were heard. Interviews

Warp records' Steve Beckett: ‘I was certain guitars would die out and electronic music would be everywhere’

('Mohsin Patel',) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:00:00 -0000

For over two decades, Steve Beckett, 45, has been at the very forefront of electronic music. His independent record label 'Weird and Radical Projects' is home to the likes of Aphex Twin and Plaid, and has overseen the birth of some of the now finest names in electronic music over the past 20 years

Vjollca Dibra on being a young poetess in pre-war Kosovo

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:38:08 -0000

The thirtysomething works at OSCE logistics in Pristina when I meet her in late 2007, four months before Kosovo declares independence from Serbia. Who you might brand your average blonde, bespectacled working mother-of-two is also one of Kosovo's youngest recognised female poets

Nicolai Lilin talks tattoos, Bulgarians and Transdniestria

('Fiona Herdman Smith',) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:45:00 -0000

From Russia to Italy via Transdniestria. Siberian Education, the literary debut of Nicolai Lilin, tells the life story of a young man who, in spite of changing country and culture, has never forgotten the historic traditions of his original community. Interview with the 29 year-old writer and tattoo artist

Jose Manuel Durão Barroso: ‘We don’t need another EU commission candidate'

('eugenie stephenson',) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 15:32:12 -0000

The conservative and incumbent will be running to renew his mandate for another five years as the head of the executive branch of the EU. ‘We are building a supranational democracy’ with a double legitimisation system ‘in which consensus is the most important,’ he says in Warsaw

Sali Berisha: 'We are going to win the elections because Albanians are smart people'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 12:59:09 -0000

The Albanian prime minister, 64, announced his country's official EU membership bid to the Czech presidency of the council on 28 April 2009. In Warsaw, the lively PM talk elections, internet and the EU at the two-day congress of the European people's party (EPP). Albania is one of its six non-EU members*

Richard Dawkins: 'There is something illogical about the fear of death'

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:24:33 -0000

Evolutionary biologist, famous atheist and a pure Darwinian. In September 2008, the 68-year-old's website was banned by a Turkish court for his rejection of evolution. Four questions to ...

Vito Kolelishvili: rugby player on 'unpaid managers and sportsmen' in Georgia

('Nino Gogua',) — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 15:42:15 -0000

In 2004, Vito Kolelishvili became a professional rugby player with Lelos, the national rugby union team. At 19, he is one of the few rugby players nominated ‘best player of 2008’, shortly after the Georgian national tournament ended. Interview

Martha Roque: ‘The European Union treats Cuban opposition like dirt’

('Lydia Bigos',) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 10:17:20 -0000

The tiny Caribbean island has again become the centre of attention throughout the world after the US detention facility Guantanamo Bay was closed on 21 January. President Raul Castro is due in Russia on 28 January. Interview with the economist and dissident

Martin Schulz on 'vague' Barroso: 'one day he is left-wing, the next liberal'

('Kate Stansfield',) — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 12:30:00 -0000

The German leader of the socialist group in the European parliament outlines their strategy in the run-up to the European elections in June 2009. How does he plan to win the elections? Interview

Teachers in France and Germany: not lazy sacks

('Emily Griffins',) — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:00:00 -0000

Spending your time passing on your knowledge of and passion for language and literature - what a wonderful job! However in German and French society, the profession is still unable to shake off its crop of clichés. Vies from two teachers from either side of the Rhine

Nicolas Véron: 'Using money to save financial institutions is still a shocking concept'

('Hayley Worsley-Carter',) — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 12:11:50 -0000

The economic crisis could well see a change in European political order. It could also provide left-wing political parties with the perfect opportunity to prove themselves, considering the European elections taking place in 10 months time.