Fox Reviews Rock

Introduction

Today we are joined by the head honcho of The Orange Blossom Festival (OBS), Rembert Stiewe! We discuss all things OBS as well as his own personal journey with music. We are really grateful that Rembert gave us his very valuable time prior to this years festival. Hope you enjoy!

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Interview

Hello Rembert and welcome to Fox Reviews Rock! I think first and foremost it is important for people to know how you are connected with Orange Blossom Special Festival (OBS) and what exactly it is that you do for the event.

Hey ho, my name is Rembert Stiewe and I’m the co-founder of Glitterhouse Records, a German independent label that exists since 1982. To this day, we have approx. 1500 releases under our belts in total and we were the European headquarters of Sub Po Records and Amphetamine Reptile from the late Eighties to the mid Nineties. The Grunge- and Noise- heydays – wild and interesting times, indeed.

In 1997 Glitterhouse put on the first Orange Blossom Special – since then I’m in charge of booking, marketing, advancing, PR, networking, merchandising, recruiting, sustainability and whatnot at OBS – and pretty much everything else, too. For more than 20 years the festival is owned by Glitterhouse Records and my own company Red River in equal shares.

I was wondering would you be able to explain how the original idea for the festival came about?

The label’s (former) headquarter is situated in an old rotten mansion in Beverungen, a hick-town deep in the middle of nowhere in Germany. I was born and raised here and never saw a reason to move away. Anyway – the Glitterhouse mansion got a huge backyard.

In 1996, Go To Blazes, back then Glitterhouse recording artists from Philadelphia, USA, were on tour in Europe and visited us at the Glitterhouse mansion on an off-day. We had a little BBQ-party with a few friends, after a few drinks the band picked up their acoustic instruments and just began to play for hours.

It was one of these nights that make dropping out of university seem like a great idea. It was so much fun that we thought “we should do this more often”. Next year saw the first OBS, in the backyard, very basic, very charming. A one day event with five acts, we had built the stage ourselves from Euro pallets.

We had invited the customers of our mail-order-department, approx 700 people from all over Germany attended. And we really had no f****in’ clue what we were doin. No one of the crew back then had any experience in organizing live events before. But despite the rain it was just a great experience. We decided that OBS should be held annually. The little monster was born.

Maybe going slightly personal here but can you tell us when you first noticed that you loved music? Was music around you from a young age? And/or what bands/artists do you enjoy?

My sister, seven year’s older than me, spun a few singles in heavy rotation at home – I must have been 7 or 8 years old, so this was around 1971 or 72. I remember that two of those singles  made a real impact on me: Elvis’ “In the Ghetto” and Frijid Pink’s heavy version of “House of The Rising Sun”. There was something special to both of them that I couldn’t explain – or that I even wanted to be explained at all. I just found it interesting and great, it felt different from whatever you’re exposed to as a young child.

Other than that – no, music wasn’t around from a young age. German radio basically sucked, only a few radio-shows were worth listening to. My parents didn’t have a big interest in music. And please keep in mind, kids: this was years and years before the internet or any digital media were invented.

Luckily, I think it was a mixture of a few coincidences which caught me and made me dive deeper into music. The first album that I bought was “Argus” by Wishbone Ash, but a bit later I was flabbergasted by a performance of German new wave/punk act DAF on “Bios Bahnhof”, a German tv-show.

The live-broadcasting of “Rockpalast”-shows on WDR-tv confronted us kids at the countryside with artists like Patti Smith, at a local newsagent I got my hands on the legendary issue of “SOUNDS” magazine that featured Punk as a newborn youth-culture and last but not least a school excursion to London changed my musical life. I bought all used 7″ singles of the Undertones, Buzzcocks, Damned, you name them that I could get my hands on.

What bands/artists do I enjoy? Phew, too many to mention. My favourites at the moment are Marathon, a young band from Amsterdam – especially live they just knock my socks off and make me feel young again. No wonder that they’ll be playing this year’s OBS.

So, as you know we will be attending OBS this year for the very first time. We are rather nervous as people who don’t speak German. So we want to know are there lots of non-Germans that attend the event each year, and is there ample thought gone into help for these people? Eg signs in different languages, bar staff that speak multiple languages etc?

There aren’t that many people from other countries that attend OBS. We got fans from the Netherlands and Belgium for instance. But please don’t be afraid: most Germans speak at least a little English and aren’t shy to do so.

The OBS crowd is helpful, welcoming and nice anyways, so you won’t feel lost. No worries, mate. A few signs are in German and English, but not all. But hey, if you see a porta-loo you’ll notice it, right? I’m not sure if all of the bar-staff speak multiple languages – but “beer” is “Bier” in German, it’s pronounced like… “beer”. There you go. German is easier than you might think.

The only problem you might have to face is to understand the joke we’re telling on stage over three days. It’s an OBS-tradition – but the joke is always crap anyways.

If you had to list 5 things that someone MUST DO while at OBS, what would they be?

1. Try to catch as many acts as possible, even if you never heard of them before – because all of them are worth checking out.

2. Eat a “Mini-Calzone”. A local speciality, it’s an Italian Calzone – but deep-fried. Delicious.

3. Try to talk to strangers. After a bit they won’t be strangers anymore. As I mentioned before: the OBS-crowd and the OBS-crew are special.

4. Visit the several NGOs which are present at OBS. Listen to their messages. They’re important. In general, just enjoy being at OBS. Be nice and make the world a better place.

5. Visit the OBS “shrine” at the infield. A wall of remembrance for people who were close to OBS, be it musicians, crew-members or fans who died since the previous OBS. For a moment of quiet respect.

So, Rembert we are curious how many bands does your team have to pick from to make the final lineup for the festival? Also, we want to know is the whittling down of bands a group decision or is this something that you have final say on?

Every year we recieve more than 800 applications – for merely 28 to 30 slots (including walking acts and readings). No, it’s not a group decision, it’s just me picking the acts and forming the line-up.

We notice that there is a massive impetus at the festival for sustainability and helping the environment. What measures does the festival have in place to help with this, and what more do you think all of us could do to assist with this issue?

We’re trying our best to reduce our CO2 footprint. We know that running a festival is fundamentally bad for the environment. We know about our responsibility, there’s no music on a dead planet. We are pushing ahead with our efforts to make the OBS sustainable.

The OBS’ ‘Sustainability Collective ’ working group has already implemented many good ideas and projects within the OBS. In line with our sustainability mission statement, we are working on various measures to reduce the OBS’s carbon footprint, limit its environmental impact and carry out long-term carbon footprint analyses.

You can help us do this by taking part in the public survey on the sustainability of the OBS. And please separate your waste (hey, we’re in Germany – recycling really is a thing here and try to travel to OBS environment-friendly. Well, that’s tough when you’re coming from the UK,I know.

You can find all info on our 74 measures in the areas of ecological and social sustainability here.

I could not interview you without asking the most important question… Every year the mascot for the festival changes, this year it is a lovely little otter named Günter! I want to know what your own personal favourite mascot has been over the years and why you change it yearly?

We change the mascot every year because it helps to boost the merchandising sales…

No, just kidding. It pretty much came by accident and we thought that to have the same mascot every year might be a bit boring. I got tattoos of a few of the OBS-mascots, so I still must like most of them.

But my favourite was “Tyson”, my son’s lovely dog he got from a Romanian animal shelter. Tyson died a few years ago but he was the greatest being you could imagine and he was part of the OBS-crew, so to speak.

What is the funniest thing you have ever seen at OBS?

Oh, there are plenty of funny stories of course. Some better stay a secret, though. One little story comes to mind which happened at OBS 2022, if I remember correctly.

There was a Doppelganger of Ed Sheeran among the audience – he really looked exactly like him. And he spread autographed cards of… Ed Sheeran, saying “it’s me, really”. Of course everybody thought Ed Sheeran would be the secret act on Sunday morning. It was hilarious. But he was just a funny fella who enjoyed making fun of his looks and the people around him.

When at a festival it is fair to say we consume a wide variety of food! We have noticed that OBS offers 11 food stalls. We want to know though at which food stall are we most likely to bump into you at? What is your own personal favourite food type?

I like all kinds of food at OBS. You might bump into me at the “Camp Cuisine” booth (fantastic burgers with greek flatbread instead of buns, try the vegan or vegetarian versions, too) or at the two pizza-booths were you can buy the legendary “Mini-Calzone”. Best food to prepare for a few drinks.

Returning to the music, we love that there is a secret act on Sunday, so who is it this year? Ah ok sorry but it was at least worth a go! Our question is why keep an act secret at all? And also, if you had to pick a personal favourite band that has previously been one of your secret acts who would it be?

It’s just super interesting to see and hear how the OBS-crowd (and crew!) is looking forward to the moment when the secret is revealed. And it’s a pretty early show time. Normally you wouldn’t expect a significant crowd at that time of the day on third day of the festival.

It’s Fear Of Missing Out, too – no one of the OBS-crowd wants to miss out on the surprise act. And it’s a lot of fun for me personally to keep it a secret until the surprise act enters the stage. No one of our crew knows about it, only approx. three days ahead of the show the stage crew is let in on who the surprise act is.

Two of my favourite previous secret acts were Kettcar and Gisbert zu Knyphausen & die Kid Kopphausen Band.

There are a plethora of alternate activities away from the music at OBS! Is there any in particular this year that you would personally recommend?

It’s fully booked but the swimming test called “Be an otter!” at the municipal public outdoor pool will be hilarious. If you got kids with you, you should visit the French “CuCiCo” circus at OBS or try the upcycling handicrafts workshop.

How many people roughly should we expect to share the festival with this year? Also, in the future how much bigger could you see the festival getting?

We expect approx. 3,700 people. OBS can’t get any bigger anyways, because it is closely bound to the special location – and the premises are rather smallish.

So, we got in touch after our interview with Daily Thompson who are going to be playing this year on the Sunday. How does it make you feel when bands speak so openly and with such passion about the festival?

I love it, of course. It’s a sign of respect and shows that everyone at OBS, be it artists, crew, vendors or audience feels like being part of a family.

If you were to form a band what would you name it? Also, what would your debut album be called?

Phew, maybe I’ll borrow the band’s name from a former German Indie-Noise band called “Zentralheizung of Death des Todes” (“Central Heating des Todes of Death”) I’ll add a “jr.” to it, to avoid misunderstandings. Album title? “Central Heating is a Privilege” or “Beer Is Just a Four Letter Word”.

If you could book any band at OBS in the world, that up till now you have not been able to for whatever reason, who would it be and why?

Nick Cave, without a doubt. Why? Because it’s Nick Cave.

Where did the name of the festival come from?

We needed a name for the first festival issue in 1997 and Reinhard Holstein, the former Glitterhouse head-honcho, said: ‘Let’s call the festival the same name as the title of the first record that’s in the pile of records at of my office.’ It was Johnny Cash’s ‘Orange Blossom Special’. It was as simple as that.

Most festivals these days are going fully cashless (A trend to be honest we are not a fan of). Can you explain the reasoning why OBS has decided to still let people pay with both cash and cashless methods?

Part of the problem that prevents us from going fully cashless is the partly lame internet connections at the countryside and that only a part of the festival-premises are covered with wi-fi. And to use mobile radio data instead is risky as well, as the radio cells are packed during OBS. And most Germans still love cash anyways.

Finally, and this is an important one, what are you most looking forward to at this year’s festival?

The combined experience. Being three days on a planet that is very different from everybody’s everyday life together with likeminded people and great music.

Thanks a lot for the interview – we’re looking forward to meeting you at OBS!

All rights to the songs used in this interview are retained by the relevant artists whom are all performing at this years OBS Festival. This site claims no rights over them. All photos were provided by Rembert Stiewe. Photos of Rembert were taken by Lucja Romanowska & Tanja Robrecht. Photos of the festival were taken by Kai Frommann, Stephan Wolter, Peter Schickert and Denis Schinner.