German band Giant Rooks have been taking over the indie music scene one day at a time. Hailing from Hamm, Germany, the boys first gained recognition with their 2017 EP, New Estate. The band always had big dreams of capturing audiences all over Germany, but they quickly achieved this goal worldwide.
The band consists of the cousin duo Fred Rabe (vocals), Finn Schwieters (lead guitar) and Jonathan Wischniowski (keyboard), Finn Thomas (drums) and Luca Göttner (bass guitar). In 2020, they released their debut album ROOKERY and toured the album in 2021 in North America with fellow german group, Milky Chance. They’re no strangers to international stages after supporting former One Direction and 1883 cover star Louis Tomlinson in Nashville back in 2023. Only a year later, they released their highly anticipated sophomore album, How Have You Been? which peaked at number one in Germany.
1883 Magazine has caught up with Giant Rooks’ Fred and Finn about the essence of the band, what inspires them, new music, and more.
Your sound blends indie, art-pop, and alternative influences. How would you describe the essence of Giant Rooks today?
Finn: That seems like an easy question to answer, but for artists it’s often one of the most difficult tasks to describe your own music – We could probably agree on calling it indie pop music in the broadest sense.
But we don’t like the approach of dedicating ourselves to a particular genre and just try to write songs that we enjoy right now but also in 10 years when we listen back to them.
How has your creative process changed from your early EPs to your most recent album?
Finn: We’ve grown up since then and that probably also reflects in our creative process. Our songwriting has become more stringent and overall our processes have become much faster. Also we feel like we have found a good balance between working on stuff on the laptop and evaluating or jamming on ideas in the studio with the five of us.
You’ve done a lot of touring in Europe and beyond — which city surprised you the most in terms of audience energy?
Finn: Not a specific city, but in Latin America the energy was just absolutely crazy and different to every other place when we played there last year.
What’s a song in your catalog that you feel is underrated or misunderstood?
Fred: Back in 2024, we released a song called “Mind Control.” For the music video, we stepped into a bunch of different characters, like tennis players or cowboys. Some people actually thought we had made a Western song just because of the outfits. We even got an inquiry from a Western festival, which was pretty hilarious.
How do you navigate balancing experimental ideas with accessible songwriting?
Finn: This is a great deal of tension in our songwriting process. We love fooling around with some experimental stuff in our studio and incorporating diverse influences in our music.
At the same time we want to stay committed to making pop music. In the end we try to combine these two worlds and melt them into a Giant Rooks song. Also these two worlds don’t have to mutually exclude each other and can go hand in hand more often than one might think.
Are there any books, films, or visual artists that have influenced your recent music?
Fred: I’m a really big fan of cinema. Especially films that take their time, like Perfect Days by Wim Wenders or Sentimental Value by Joachim Trier, which I watched just a few days ago. I find it really fascinating when films manage to tell personal stories in such a subtle and sensitive way. Sensitivity is the new rock ‘n’ roll I guess – and that inspires us a lot in our own work too.
What role does collaboration play in the band, both internally and with outside creatives?
Finn: Collaboration is a big part of being in a five piece band. Of course there can be different opinions on certain topics. But we see it more as a strength to have the ability to count on five creative minds that can supplement and support each other in many areas.
Fred: I also think the five of us couldn’t be more different when it comes to our personalities. People often ask us how we’ve managed to stay a band for so long without falling out. I believe our differences are our greatest strength.
Can you describe a moment in the studio where a song completely changed direction?
Finn: That’s actually something we experienced just a couple days ago as we’re right now in the studio recording our third studio album. We felt kind of stuck with one song after trying to rearrange it for quite a while.
So we decided to make a quick break, ate some lunch and when we came back, Fred just started singing and playing along to the song and it suddenly worked out perfectly.
What has been the biggest challenge of growing as a band in the digital age?
Finn: Streaming and social media obviously offer some great opportunities for artists to promote your music and make it more accessable.
On the other hand you have to invest so many resources nowadays to feed your socials, promote your music and live shows and stay present on tiktok, instagram etc. It’s basically doing doing a whole extra job in addition to just being a musician which can be very exhausting at times.
How do you stay grounded while your audience and reach continue to expand internationally?
Finn: As a band, we have grown very steadily and slowly over the years without making any major leaps. That makes it easier to process everything that happened over the last years. And of course spending quality time with partners, friends and family while being at home also helps a lot.
Which musician or band would be a dream collaborator for you — living or dead?
Fred: I always give the same answer to that question, but I’d still say Amy Winehouse, the greatest!
Do you have any pre-show rituals that help you get into the right mindset?
Finn: Around 90mins before the show, we start to prepare and shift our mindsets towards focusing on the show. Everybody has their own routines and warm ups, such as vocal exercises or drumming on a practice pad. Right before the show starts, we all gather at the stage, high-five each other, and wish each other luck.
What’s something your fans would be surprised to learn about your songwriting process?
Finn: That there is really not the one way Giant Rooks songs are written. It always depends. Sometimes Fred comes up with an idea that is already pretty far developed on his laptop, sometimes someone has an idea in the studio and then we jam alongside it until we have a whole new song, sometimes songs completely change before we finally record them. There are many different ways.
If you could time-travel and play one show anywhere in history, where would it be and why?
Finn: Maybe somewhere way back in the like 70s, just out of curiosity to experience what touring was like back then.
Fred: Yeah that would be really exciting. There are so many conversations happening right now about AI and how it will change our lives. I’d be really curious to experience a concert in the year 2100. I have a feeling that you can’t replace a live concert with AI robots or holograms whatever.. and I hope I’m right about that.
What’s the first thing you do when you finish a major project, like an album or long tour?
Finn: Take a couple days off, do something different, maybe even go on a short holiday trip. Everybody loves to pursue their different hobbies such as playing pool, traveling, road cycling or hiking. Touring and spending time in the studio is great fun, but also quite intense. A small break is often helpful to keep a fresh mind for all the upcoming projects.
How do you handle creative disagreements within the band?
Finn: It’s part of our job and of course there are small disagreements within the band here and there. We talk about it, listen to everybody and try our best to find a solution that works for everybody in the end. Maybe not everybody agrees 100% with every decision, but that’s part of being in a band.
Is there a specific moment when you realized Giant Rooks was resonating far beyond Germany?
Finn: From the very beginning of our career, it has been our ambition to tour internationally, and so we started playing shows abroad very early on. We did much international touring with other artists such as Milky Chance, Louis Tomlinson, and Mighty Oaks to open up new countries for us. Especially in the beginning, these shows were a huge investment for us. That makes it now even nicer to see, that it was on the long run and worth it.
How do visual elements — album art, stage design, videos — influence or complement your music?
Finn: Everything we put out into the world flows into our brand and our perception, which is why it is important that the whole package fits together. We want to give people lasting memories at our live shows with great stage designs. We want to support our songs with music videos that add new layers to them. And we want to have album arts that stand out and that we can still connect to 10, 20 or 30 years later.
What can fans expect from your upcoming projects? Any sounds or themes you’re excited to explore next?
Finn: Well, this next year is going to be a pretty big one! After what was a seemingly “quiet”.
Giant Rooks year in 2025, 2026 will look very different. We will be on tour again and have recorded lots of new music that we can’t wait to share with the world outside. We’re really excited and are already looking forward to what 2026 will bring us.
Interview Maja Bebber
Main image photography Paula Schu
