Brunch
Christiane Rösinger: 'Young people have become more conservative'
Love is overrated, she sang around the turn of the millennium. The Berlin-based author has since developed the idea into a book which came out in March 2012. We catch up with the German writer and musician, 51, to talk happiness outside relationships, driving to eurovision 2012 and how to say ‘freedom’ in Russian
brunch, georgia, germany, eurovision, sex, nostalgia, writers
French indie band Stuck in the Sound: 'Filling stadiums would make me impossibly nervous'
Released on the independent French record label Discograph, the Parisian four-piece is making its mark with their new album 'Pursuit'. After ten years together in 2012, they’re dreaming of an international fame such as that of Phoenix or M83 - but not Coldplay
The Experimental Tropic Blues Band: 'We started in the playground and haven't stopped since'
With the support of the independent music collective 'JauneOrange', the TETBB trio has been an explosive part of the Walloon rock scene for over a decade. Between a barge in Paris, recording in New York and a joint, the 'best Belgian rock band of all time' explain the then and now
Hanif Kureishi: ‘Sex is not dangerous enough; the real danger is falling in love’
‘I like rich people and I like poor people and I like strange people. It’s the ordinary people that get on my nerves,’ sums up the English playwright and screenwriter at the Fabula literary festival in Slovenia this spring, who manages to ‘insult’ the audience within his first few seconds onstage
brunch, sex, culture, love, festivals, culture calendar, slovenia
2Cellos: Slovenian-Croatian duo who were 'playing Bach in churches for grannies'
Once upon a time Stjepan Hauser and Luka Šulić were rivals. It wasn't long before the EU-Balkan duo decided to unlock horns. Meet the happy, handsome cello players from Pula and Maribor, most famous for playing a stand-off, stunning version of Michael Jackson's Smooth Criminal, touring with Elton John and making it to the US
brunch, bands, interview, concerts, micheal jackson, culture, music
Alina Orlova, free atom on Lithuanian indie music scene
In the shadows of a nuclear station, an artistic proton was born in the outskirts of Vilnius. No, she's not a mutant; she's a 23-year-old musical 'ice bomb', as the French media has called her
brunch, independence, music, nuclear energy, lithuania, artistes, pop music
C2C, DJ collective from Nantes: 'It's a geek thing'
They love hip hop, they have won a world championship mixing title for each of the four, they rap, they skateboard, and their next album is due out in May 2012. Atom and Greem, the quietly influential members of the group from western France, take us into their world
Hip hop producer Onra: ‘Difference is not very well accepted in France’
Arnaud Bernard, aka Onra, is famed for sampling Chinese beats in his records, enabling him to tour the world and even reach Olympic heights in Beijing. In his adopted home of Paris, we speak about actually liking your own music, being half-Vietnamese and handling ‘brands of bullshit’ from different countries
Frédérique Ries: from journalist in Luxembourg to MEP in Brussels
After fifteen years in journalism, the 52-year-old decided to make her mark at the European parliament. A decade on and she's still going strong. Portrait of a passionate figure whose passage into politics has not been without its pitfalls
Activist András Istvánffy on ‘Hungary's permanent protest culture since 2006’
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
brunch, fidesz, activism, interview, hungary, youth, budapest
Sunday in Paris with Chopin and Steve Villa-Massone, street pianist
After trailing the streets of Europe with his piano - literally carrying it around - for ten years, the dedicated French pianist and composer from Nice is now bringing smiles to Parisian passers-by. We tag along with him in the streets of the French capital - the more of us around to push this heavy instrument, the better
brunch, crise financière, paris, best of cafebabel.com, europe, poland, music
Steve James: 'In the 80s, I can’t imagine anyone wanted a documentary-making career'
The American director perhaps best known for his 1994 film Hoop Dreams is in Amsterdam for the city’s international documentary film festival. We talk 'new media', starting out in the eighties and why an oscars snub doesn't matter when you've got good old Europe to fall back on
brunch, documentary, cinema, netherlands, culture, united states, film festival
Activist Ahmed el-Senussi: Libyan prince and human rights hero
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
brunch, activism, interview, prison, libya, arab spring, muammar al-gaddafi
Brooklyn-based pop band Chairlift: once 'music for haunted houses'
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
Paul Lewis: call him ‘special projects editor’
At The Guardian, the award-winning British-Spanish journalist, 30, handles investigative news in an innovative method via social networks and micro-blogging sites – it even helped him crack stories about two murders. Interview
brunch, belgium, techno-media, london, internet, twitter, riots
Jazz man Raphael Gualazzi: Italy’s Jamie Cullum?
The weekly German magazine Die Zeit called him ‘the perfect synthesis between Paolo Conte and Jamie Cullum’. In person, the 30-year-old is shy, but onstage he turns into a wild devilish creature. We catch him on the European tour for his second album Reality and Fantasy
Susanne Graf: 'Those who remember the GDR know what it means to be observed constantly'
Berlin’s September elections made her the youngest MP in the parliament at 19, the only woman in her fraction - and a ‘pirate’. We talk data protection, mistakes in politics and why a quota for women in the pirate party wouldn’t make any difference
brunch, pirate party, germany, best of cafebabel.com, berlin, politics, elections
Rafał Blechacz, Poland's musical prodigy
Is it easier to play Chopin if you are Polish? Is it better to set up home in a bustling cultural centre rather than the countryside? We hear from the 26-year-old pianist who has been making waves in Poland for the last few years
Spanish actor Santi Senso, creator of 'house theatre'
The thirtysomething actor is otherwise known for his 'intimate' theatre performances in people's homes across Spain, something he says is driven by a ‘beautiful madness’ inside him. His latest play 'Orgy Me' has just ended its residency in a hotel room in Madrid
Ascanio Celestini: 'I denounce verbal violence of our time’
He is the mouthpiece of contemporary Italian theatre, a critic of power, an anthropologist who depicts the evils of our time better than anyone else. The 39-year-old actor, director and author talks about coming from outside Rome and where his one-man-show gets its inspirations from
brunch, italy, paris, best of cafebabel.com, rome, culture, human rights
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