You might have read our concert review of SETYØURSAILS rocking the Kesselhaus Wiesbaden and maybe you have read the album review of “Bad Blood”. Now it is time to get a bit more personal. An hour before the doors should open, I meet singer Jules Mitch face to face. So here we are, after a quick hello we sit down in the backstage area.
What a year!
It was almost a year ago when we met for the first time. You were supporting Lord Of The Lost in Saarbrücken. I think it must have been a crazy year for you since then, can you tell us what happened?
“I don’t really remember everything in detail, it was all so crazy. But first of all, we released a new album on the 12th of April. And we made some videos. There was just so much…”
My feeling was that a lot of people didn’t have you in mind and then Lord Of The Lost came and you supported them on some gigs.
“Yeah, three, then five, in the end just a lot, I can’t remember how many in the end.”
It started with a tattoo
I remember Saarbrücken, Karlsruhe and Aschaffenburg were the first ones?
“Yes, and a few more, I can’t put them together. Let me put it this way, it’s very cool to share the stage with them. It was crazy because Nicolai‘s tattooist is Pi‘s wife.”
Are you sure about that? I think Class’ wife is the tattoo artist.
“No, no, Pi’s too. She is very good and very successful. Jessica liked us and told Pi about us. He and Nicolai met and became friends. Then they took us on tour.”
I met Nikolai after the show at the merch and he confirmed the story. She did all his tattoos and more specifically, she worked on a tattoo on his right lower leg.
[Nikolai is the bass player of SETYØURSAILS, Pi is the guitarist and Class the bassist of Lord Of The Lost.]
Most shows are sold out so far
That’s cool, that’s how it should work. And Lord Of The Lost choose their support bands very well. How is your own tour going, your first headliner tour?
“It has been wonderful so far. Most shows are sold out so far. It is top notch. We had little to no expectations because you never know. We have done a lot of support tours and festivals. But you can’t really estimate it. When you play headlining shows you never know what will happen, how it will turn out. In the beginning we were really scared that we would have to cancel shows. Then it was one hit after another. Our management wrote us “sold out”. We were like ‘? You’re kidding, sold out? But yes, the first show was sold out after two months. And again, we couldn’t believe it.”
But it’s cool when people are ready for you. By the way, how many people can fit in here, 200, 250 or more?
“Actually, the Kesselhaus can hold 300 and it looks like it will be sold out again. I come from this area; I’ve been to the Schlachthof many times. We played there about five times as support band, so we should have brought some people with us. But it is still so crazy, we had no expectations, and we are blown away. I think it’s better not to expect too much and just wait and see than the other way round. Like ‘This is our headliner tour, and we need this and that many people in the crowd and you set the bar too high. And then you have ‘only’ two sold out shows and you are disappointed. We didn’t think about sold-out shows. We thought, for example, that maybe 100 plus people would come and that would be cool. Cologne was sold out with 450 people.”
we didn’t know if it would work
Should it be like that for your hometown concert….
“Yeah, but crazy. I mean, we started in a club with 100 people, and we were just supporting. And we didn’t play much in and around Cologne. So, we didn’t know if it would work. Then we sold out the biggest venue of the tour and that was great. When you think that we only started touring in 2021, it’s crazy. I am grateful for it. I didn’t even think about it. And the audience is really going crazy, they all know the lyrics. They are singing with us for the first time. We always had a few people who knew the lyrics, but now they have the first five or more rows, and everybody is screaming in your face what you have written.”
That’s what I wrote in my review too. There are some songs on the new album where I look forward to the audience singing along with you.
“Yes! That’s MY moment on tour when everyone sings with us!”
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there’s no cool story about finding our name
I think the festivals last year helped you too, like Summer Breeze, even if it was just on the Were Tool stage. There were a lot of people in front of you at a time when some people are still sleeping…
“Cool, I don’t know how many there were, but it was a lot, it couldn’t have been more. It was very crowded. The response there was very good. We also had the singing session and there were so many people, so we asked them how they all knew about us!”
What I found quite funny was that the next band was Storm Seeker, pirate food. Someone asked me if I had heard of you because he was expecting ‘another pirate metal band’. I told him ‘No, not at all, even if the name suggests it, just wait, you won’t be disappointed’.
Yeah, we kind of noticed that. We’re signed to Napalm and Napalm is very metal dominated, a lot of black and medieval but also pirate metal. I think that’s why they signed us, because of the band name. Maybe they thought ‘Come on, they fit in as another pirate metal band’.
How did you come up with your name anyway?
“Honestly, I don’t know, there’s no cool story about finding our name. I myself am very fascinated by the whole maritime theme, sailing ships and everything. It’s almost like an obsession. Somehow it went in a sailing direction.”
Sailing ships? You should go to Portsmouth and see the Victory and Mary Rose exhibition and the old dockyard. Or the Vasa, you just must play in Stockholm and the UK and find the time.
“Yeah, that would be great, we’ll see what the future brings in that case.”
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For a band of our size, we have sold very well!
Is Bad Blood selling well, a lot of pre-orders?
“Yeah, really good sales! For a band of our size, we have sold very well! We have a new distribution now, more physical. Thus, you can get our music in Media Markt and Saturn and shops like that. That’s cool, it gives us another push and it’s kind of a dream come true.”
I always buy CDs. I don’t like the fact that the CD sections in the shops are getting smaller and smaller because everyone is just streaming music. When you buy the CD, especially at the concert, you support the band directly and maybe you buy it twice, one to listen to it and the other one to get it signed and put it on the shelf.
“Exactly, yeah. It really helps us; all the merch and stuff makes a lot of money. It helps a small band a lot. I guess, one can’t imagine, how much.”
I think one can, but too many people think it’s just art and of course art shouldn’t cost anything.
“We have a lot of people on this tour who bought something and came back just to give us another 20 € ‘for the petrol because I want to support you’.”
That’s super nice. I always round it up or add €5 as a tip when I buy merchandise. You must live from your music; I write as a hobby.
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I’m still a social worker
Do you still have your ‘9-5 jobs’?
“Sure, I’m still a social worker. I work with young people who are difficult to educate. And there’s a lot of banging around in between. And apart from that, the boys do a lot of home office stuff, which works quite well. And yes, we’ll have to see how the next few years go. And then we can reduce or maybe not.”
Yeah, but it’s hard work, isn’t it?
“It is tough. Yeah, it’s really hard, definitely. But well, I chose it.”
Do you deal with your professional experiences in your lyrics?
“No. Well, I’ve been doing it for a very long time, so now it’s… Well, I’ve become very jaded, I have to say. We really have the most blatant cases in youth work. And you become very blunt about it. And you develop a protective layer that you build up. And then you don’t let it get to you anymore. And then it really is work and I separate it.”
I think the worst thing about having a job like that or being a nurse in palliative care or something like that, is having too much empathy.
“Exactly, yeah, you must learn that. I had to learn that too. Well, the first year I had to learn painfully that you must distance yourself from that. But now everything is fine.”
you also must be accepted as a person
It’s a great job that I would never have dared to do.
“Yes, you must do a lot. But you also must be accepted as a person. Because if they don’t take you seriously or something, and you’re not on the same level, then it doesn’t work anyway. You can’t go away for a fortnight because you get something thrown at you. In the end you must let yourself be cleared. Because it’s not against you personally, as a person, it’s just that you’re there right now. You’re just the symbol of everything that’s gone wrong. But they can insult me all they want. But they don’t. That’s at the beginning, but as soon as they have the level of respect and contra, they don’t do that anymore. They’re totally respectful. From the beginning, the first six months are tough. But once you’ve got them and they respect you, it’s actually really cool to work with them.”
Cool. You said that you don’t use any of these experiences in your lyrics. But I always think that you process an incredible amount of experiences in your lyrics.
“That definitely.”
And of course, that would have played a part in explaining the positive aggressiveness of your music.
“Exactly, but no, it actually comes from the fact that I’ve been dealing with depression and eating disorders and panic attacks, and I don’t know, since I was thirteen years old, so 20 years now. And I usually use it to deal with that. Or really anything that’s on my mind at the moment. There are a lot of failed friendships and so on on the album, private shitstorm stories and so on. But not at all about this social work. So, the work is really work for me. I go there and then I leave.”
And then it’s two personalities, so to speak.
“Indeed, yes. So, ‘my’ kids know what I do beside the social work, of course. They think it’s cool too. They also say, look, that’s my carer and all that. But ultimately it has nothing to do with it.”
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Song Writing
How does the band’s song writing work in general, you said, you’ve written the all the lyrics. Who else was involved.
“André co-wrote on ‘Nightfall’. On this album, it’s actually just our producer and I who wrote the album’s songs.”
What instruments are you playing right now?
“I play pretty much everything because my main thing is writing. Then of course you must have a bit of know-how of everything, a little bit. I don’t play anything like crazy, but I know how to build songs, how to write them. How to play what we need. It’s not all very hardcore, except for the drums, which are very demanding. Exactly, guitar, bass, piano, and drums really and it is all self-taught.”
I had a Long Covid story
What about vocal lessons?
“I’ve never had any. I have now, because I had a Long Covid story and have been in voice therapy for a few months with a logopaedist who is also a vocal coach. Because I had a very big problem with my voice, and it was gone a lot. Even during the break when we weren’t playing. And yes, that’s why I go to therapy twice a week. So, I can only recommend it, no matter how you think you’re good at it and all that, but you learn so much more about breathing techniques, which resonating body I have, how can I direct it differently so that the voice doesn’t take so much of a beating, but rather how can I use my whole body and all that. Great, I can only recommend it.”
Just look at all the old rock stars who no longer have a voice because in their youth they also thought, well, talent alone is enough…
“You have to know what you’re doing.”
I always write the chorus first
Coming back to song writing. How do you build the songs? Is it the melody first or the lyrics first?
“I always write the chorus first, so I usually have an idea of a melody for the chorus and then I do it really sporadically, so really cheap, just a guitar, not a lot of effort, because over the time I learned, when I wrote songs, I started with the intro, I picked out some samples, it took an ultra-long time, then I worked out the drums with fills and all that shit. The most important thing is that it’s a great vocal melody with a little bit of background music, it doesn’t matter, then I take that, record it, send it to my producer and he works it out properly and so on and then he sends it back to me, then I do the verse, then I send him that, then I send him that back and so on and so on, but always with the chorus first because that’s the most important thing, the centrepiece and that’s how it works best for me and then you build everything. “
Henrik adapted the drums
And how do the guys get involved?
“In the end Henrik adapted the drums for himself, for his higher playing level and so on, because they were very simple, so maybe we’ll do it differently on the next one, but it was just a lot of time pressure and I’m writing other things with our producer for other people and stuff.”
Can you already announce for whom?
“It’s not public yet but we write songs and then we pass them on, and it means we’re a well-rehearsed team, he knows exactly when we know how the other one works and so on, I just must send him a flick and he knows exactly where it should go and that’s why it worked well. We also forged the album in three months and so on and it was mainly because of the time pressure that we did it that way because we just had to hand it over to Napalm and played a lot here and couldn’t write in between and then we really worked on it in chord.”
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Deadlines…
This was your second album with Napalm, wasn’t it? Are they really tough with deadlines and stuff?
“We already have a plan until the end of 2026, it’s all planned right now because it’s hard to book venues. It’s all so heavily booked now that you must plan it and this tour has been planned for a long time and there had to be an album to go with it. And that’s why we had this delivery for this tour and then we had to deliver something.”
But you wouldn’t know it was only three months when you listen to it. It sounds very mature, like you worked on it for a long time.
“Not at all, but I think that’s also the special thing about it, because I think a lot to death. For example, with Nightfall, I changed every chorus about six times because I thought I could find a better way to say it. But now ‘Halo’ was written in one day, ‘Two-Faced Mother Fucker’ was written in one day because it just flowed and then I just left it like that.”
Yeah, it’s like film, you shoot a scene a hundred times and then you do the first take.
“Sometimes really, if it fits in terms of the clue and I always do that, when we’ve written it, it’s done, I just leave it and maybe listen to it again in three days because then you don’t really know. And then if you listen to it and you’re like, yeah, I think it’s cool, because then it’s like somebody else wrote it, then it works, then you can just leave it.”
It’s funny because that’s basically how I write my articles for our magazine.
“Yes, completely, above all, as I said, you just don’t get lost in it. If you think too much about art in general, then it’s not right, then it’s not cool anymore. Then it’s not art anymore, it’s work if you think about it too much. Work and creativity, work is technical. Jules yawns. Sorry, I didn’t get much sleep.”
No problem. I was in France for the holidays. I didn’t get much sleep either. I drove home for six hours, unpacked, showered and jumped in the car for our appointment.
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Headwear connects
The hat is your trademark, how did that come about? You’re never seen without it.
“Yes, sometimes I do, sometimes I wear a beanie instead on social media. I’ve actually always had something on my head, even as a child. I have no idea why; it just gives me a sense of security and it has kind of established itself as a style. The cool thing is that I’ve noticed that when we’ve played at festivals with people who don’t know us and I’ve gone to the merch later and walked around, people have recognised us because it’s very distinctive and that’s really helped us because I really like connecting with people.”
That’s how we met last year when you just asked me who I was while I was talking to Nadja from Lord Of The Lost’s merch.
“Yeah, of course I remember. That’s how I am. Well, I like to talk to people. It’s also a bit of customer loyalty, but it works well. And the hat is just, I don’t know, it’s unique and you know it right away, you know what kind of band it is, and it’s helped us a little bit in terms of recognition. It’s also authentic because I like it too, I just like that style and it’s just the way I’ve been looking for 20 years or so.”
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I generally like to eat fresh and healthy,
Then just a couple of things, your favourite food. That always interests me in interviews, favourite food, favourite drink.
“My problem is I have really bad ADHD so it’s really blatant and it’s like that with me, it’s such a cliché but it’s really like that with me, I’ll eat the same thing for a fortnight so I really like pasta with pesto and then I’ll eat pasta with pesto for a fortnight so I’ll just have it for lunch and dinner until I don’t feel like it anymore and then I’ll eat for a fortnight, for example, I don’t know, hamburgers, then I’ll have pizza or something for a fortnight, so it’s really stupid, so I don’t really have a favourite food, but I really like fresh things, so I like Italian food, for example, fresh tomatoes, garlic somehow, I love garlic, bruschetta or something like that, which is cool, something that’s fresh.”
Simple but good quality, right?
“Simple but great, yeah, something that kind of shines a little bit, so I like, I generally like to eat fresh and healthy, so lots of vegetables and stuff like that and less fast-food stuff.”
Yeah, most fast food is so disgusting, so you don’t need it, but do you have a favourite drink, or do you drink water for two weeks, wine for two weeks, beer for two weeks?
“Actually, I mostly drink water, on tour I always drink Red Bull because I drive a lot, I really like to drive.”
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I really like long drives
Do you drive the tour bus yourselves?
“We drive ourselves, so we are on tour with two cars now, with a big nine-seater Sprinter and a van for all the equipment.”
Does that mean that two people must drive from the beginning?
“Yes, but I really like long drives, so I can drive for five or six hours at a time.”
So, six hours was enough for me today.
“Yes, well, after six hours we’re not in the mood either. I don’t really have a favourite drink either, I kind of like malt beer sometimes.”
Okay, that’s gone completely out of fashion. It’s kind of a shame, isn’t it? I used to like it when I was a kid, but now they make very, very little malt beer.
“It’s just very sweet, but it’s nutritious.”
I almost cried in Cologne and Hamburg
Was there any other great experience on the tour?
“Yeah, I almost cried in Cologne and Hamburg. Because in Cologne I had a moment when I was standing in the empty venue and it’s relatively big, the stage is also high. And I took André with me because we started the band together. And I said to him, can you stop for a moment and take a deep breath and realise that this is our show tonight. We’re not the support, this is our show, and this shit is sold out. And that’s when I realised a little bit how crazy it is that we’re playing shows now where we’re actually supporting. And the people are there for us and it’s kind of crazy because I don’t feel like that at all. So, I feel like we’re a very small band and very underground even though we’re not really that anymore. And this step of we must prove ourselves first and people already know us, and they come for us is totally weird somehow because it feels like I don’t really deserve it, you know?”
Yeah, but it’s rubbish to make yourself smaller than you are.
“Yeah, but it’s kind of like that with me.”
You totally deserve it. Even as an artist you’ve really worked for it. And that’s the great thing, when at some point the feedback is there and it’s no longer unprofitable.
“Full, yes, but it’s still kind of like, you don’t really know, can I trust something like that? The next tour will be a thousand steps further, I think, and then I can’t really enjoy it. But I still had a bit of pee in my eyes, you know? I thought how cool, because Vinta, the support band now, is exactly where we were two years ago, in this venue and there were also smaller venues as support and back then we were so right, cool, now we can play and we’re support and stuff and now we’re playing bigger shows as headliner and it’s somehow so right, I don’t even know how I haven’t managed to feel it yet, unfortunately, because I’m still very blocked by it.”
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I’m playing my own show here and it’s kind of weird
I think it will take some time for you to process that.
“Yeah, totally. It just takes time when the tour is over or you have the break before the festivals, I think that’s when you start to realise, whoops, what did we even do there? It’s totally crazy, even here now, I’m from Kelsterbach near Frankfurt, my whole family is an airport family, they all work at the airport, I grew up in Frankfurt and I must have been here 30, 40 times as a teenager, even with my best friend who’s coming today. I’ve been to concerts here myself and now I’m playing my own show here and it’s kind of weird. It feels natural because, like you said, I’ve been working my butt off for eight years now, writing stuff and all the touring and really sacrificing time and everything to be able to do this. And yeah, it’s nice too, but it’s also a bit surreal.”
It’s not the smallest, but it’s a good location, well, and most importantly it’s the Kesselhaus from the Schlachthof, which means something. So, think about three, four years ahead.
“Yeah, we’ve even played there as a big support act, and to be honest, I’ve always liked it better here, because there’s a bit of a lack of connection. Because if it’s too big you’re too far away from the people and you don’t really understand them. There’s still a bit of an underground feeling here, you know?”
I prefer smaller venues
It starts with the fact that there’s no pit, the crowd is airtight close to the stage. At Schlachthof you’re already 3 metres away. When you interact like you do, it’s a hindrance.
“Full, yes full. I always must get down, then go into the people and now you’re close. I can make them sing along, so I’ve got them in the palm of my hand because they’re just there. Of course, it’s cool to play on a big stage, but I prefer smaller venues, even the Backstage in Munich with its three different sizes. And the coolest show we had was in the smallest one. In the club, it was crazy, it was really cool.”
Oh, you played at the Backstage Club? That is a great venue!
“Yeah, with Ghost Kid at the time. It was just crazy. Sushi came from the gallery right in the middle of the crowd and picked me up for a feature on stage and it was all crazy. Our show was amazing, the crowd went crazy. Our merch assistant really had to defend her small space because everyone was dancing and pushing, and it was shrinking and shrinking. The size of the venue doesn’t matter so much, but sometimes smaller is better because it’s easier to connect and interact with the audience, just a better and more intense party together.”
It is now time for the band to eat just before the doors open, so it is also time to end the interview, although we could talk for hours until we both fall asleep.
Do you know what the loveliest part of the interview was?
“No…?”
You smiled so much! You were smiling most of the time during the interview!
“Thanks, but you were also very interested!”
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Thank you Jules
While Jules takes me back to the entrance, it is time for a quick “hello” to the other members of SETYOUR SAILS and the other three bands, as they have already started eating next door.
I must thank Jules for this interview and her time. It was a wonderful interview with a wonderful personality. Jules has a very open mind and an honest, realistic, down to earth point of view. She does not hold back her opinion in any case. And she has a lovely smile, something that some people might not imagine when Jules is on stage screaming out all the positive aggression of SETYØURSAILS’ songs.
Online:
Please buy merch and physical music or downloads from the bands official sources and don’t stream it for free because it steals your artists’ income.
Proof reading by DeepL
Concert photos by Friend.X aka Mr. Deep
Nota bene: The interview was conducted in German. I have tried to keep the English translation as authentic as possible. Of course, sometimes a different wording was necessary. I hope that I have not distorted any statements.