Band ,,Xander and The Keys“ had an extraordinary concert on their first performance in Montenegro on September 4th. The ,,Bedem fest” audience at Niksic brought them back for an encore three times, sang with them, rattled with the keys and danced.
On the same day the new single ,,Lean on” was released, and it was distributed to the audience.
Members of the band on and off stage carry special energy, so it was great fun doing an interview with singer Xander Allen with whom we have talked before the show about Montenegro, single ,,Lean on”, new album, life in Bornmouth, where members of the band are from, and about who holds the keys of the band and of his heart.
You had been here for two days. When you were performing the first time in Croatia you made a great documentary from tour in that country. The song with which you opened the documentary is fantastic as well – ,,Lijepa nasa domovino”. What will be the opening song for the Montenegrin tour?
– (laughs) You watched that? I made that. Oh, you wanna see a documentary for this? Well, since then we’ve become a little bit bigger, so other people film us know. I don’t know, we can probably make a video. Montenegro has a national anthem, then we will probably use that.
You are here promoting song ,,Lean on”. What is the story behind it, whom is it dedicated to?
– It’s not dedicated to anyone. ,,Lean on“ we are selling as production song here, not like concert recording. It is about the idea that someone can give that trust to someone else, but you don’t know what to do with that trust. What do you do with it? ,,Lean on me when you're feeling weak.“, but I can’t help it. It’s hard to explain songs to this dictaphone, but that’s it. It’s about loveless sex, if you really want to know.
What the album that you are planning to release next year will be like?
– I’ve written all the songs for it. We’ve got seven or eight of them already. It is really cool, cause in England we get the chance to spend some time in the recording studio, we get to live in it. For a couple of weekends, maybe three, in this recording studio we recorded all the songs, so we had time to actually concentrate on how we want them to sound. I’m really excited about it. It’s gonna be a great album. ,,Lean on” will be on that album. That’s one song we don’t have to re-record. That is good. It is already out there, as of today. (laughs)
What is the best thing about living in Bornmouth?
– I live two minutes from the beach there, plaža (prim. aut. word beach is pronounced in our language). I don’t have far to go, I can go there whenever I want. The best thing about Bornmouth? I don’t know, it’s good weather, it’s south of England I guess. I’ve got a nice place. It’s great.
Have you been to the Montenegrin seaside?
– No, but we went to lake, what it’s called? (prim. aut. he asks the drummer Marko Owen).
Krupac?
– Yes, it is beautiful. We went there. The weather is amazing here! Even now, when it’s dark.
Who holds the key to the band and who holds the key to your heart?
– Who holds the key to my heart? I hold the key to my heart. Who holds the key to the band? Well, we’ve got a manager called Luke and he probably likes to think that he controls the band, but realistically, as musicians, we are friends enough, we are brothers enough to make the music our own and to make it work. Mir, brate, mir (prim. aut. he pronounces motto of ,,Bedem fest” ,,Peace, brother, peace” in our language).
Bojana Radonjić
Foto: Boris Šekularac