This week we will see another eight artists take to the stage in Vilnus, hoping to gain a spot in the final show on February 17th. One of those acts will be returning band Sun Francisco, who last competed in 2022 and barely missed the semi-final rounds.
Now they’re back to try again, this time bringing their new love of the 80’s retro sound to the stage. But before I give too much away – meet Sun Francisco in our interview below!
Hello Sun Francisco – thank you so much for making some time out of your busy schedule to talk with us today! Can you tell us a bit about yourselves and how this band first came together?
Max: Hello ESCUnited! We are Giedrė and Max, an alt-pop duo from Vilnius, Lithuania. Giedrė is an incredibly talented singer-songwriter and vocal coach, and I’m a mediocre guitarist turned composer/producer. We started writing songs together sometime in 2018, 2019, and released our debut EP in early 2021. We also do our own music videos, visuals, and PR.
Giedrė: We met while studying Semiotics at Vilnius University, fell in love, and then fell in love with creating interesting music together 🙂 And Max is not mediocre – he is pure genius. At almost everything!
I feel like every artist has an “origin story” – that moment in their life where they realized they had a love for making music. When did you both realize your passion for performing and making music?
Giedrė: Unfortunately for me, I used to sing in a choir where my voice kept getting silenced and stifled. It wasn’t until I was 15 that another teacher heard me singing the way I liked it and simply encouraged me to keep doing it. So I did, and eventually I started to not just love it, but started feeling like my true self.
Max: My story probably starts with my dad putting on records by The Beatles, Pink Floyd, and Queen, at home and in the car, all the time when I was growing up. And then when I was about 9 or 10, my dad started taking me to rock concerts, and I was so impressed by the massive sound and the sheer number of people attending them that by the time I got my first electric guitar at 13, I kind of knew I wanted to write songs and perform on stage.
What are some things that our readers might be surprised to learn about you – like hidden talents, secret hobbies, obsessions, etc.?
Max: Perhaps not everyone knows it, but we’re actually married and have two beautiful little girls, a four-year-old and a two-year-old. I also work as a project manager at a tech company, while Giedrė has a PhD, teaches at Vilnius University and writes for a culture magazine.
Oh wow so you are busy people! And I noticed on your socials that you describe your music as “pop but not pop”, which is interesting but also cryptic. Could you tell us a bit more about what that means and how you might describe your music and sound?
Giedrė: We like to think of our music as pop, but with a little twist. We come from different musical backgrounds, so in our songs we like to play with various influences and genres from 1980s synthpop to contemporary R&B to industrial to chillwave.
Funny you mention that because your upcoming album is deeply influenced by the sounds and trends of the 80’s and it seems from the teasers that “Trauka (Svaigsta galva)” might follow this as well. Was the song written as part of the upcoming album and what is it about the 80s that has inspired you lately?
Max: The song “Trauka (Svaigsta galva)” actually started out as a trap song, we only redid it in an ‘80s fashion when we started working on the album. But we knew right away this retro vibe fit the track much better. Overall, ‘80s music is a huge source of inspiration for us. The level of musicianship and intricacies of production on the early Depeche Mode, Ultravox, Duran Duran, or New Order records just blows my mind. Being able to reproduce even a small fraction of those sounds on my laptop is crazy satisfying.
Speaking of “Trauka (Svaigsta galva)” – can you tell us a bit about why you ultimately decided to enter it into the selection?
Giedrė: When Max made the new instrumental track, I couldn’t stop listening to it (and still can’t). And then all sorts of ideas about the choreography, the outfits and even camera positions on stage immediately started popping up in my mind. We quickly realized that the Eurovision stage is the best for that.
Without giving too much away, what can our readers expect to see from you during your live performance on Saturday?
Giedrė: Since the song is in Lithuanian, together with our choreographer Edgaras Kerpė we wanted to “translate” the song’s ideas into the universal language of dance. So the story of “Trauka (Svaigsta galva)” will be told primarily by me and our amazing dancers, Sandra Mammadova and Justė Vaitkevičiūtė, who are like an expression of my inner self. You’ll also notice subtle references to the ‘80s and ‘90s culture and aesthetics in our outfits and the LED visualizer behind our backs.
Max: And 12 points to you if you recognize the synthesizer I’m “playing” on stage 😉
And of course the winner of Eurovizija.LT will go on to Eurovision for Lithuania so I wanted to ask, do you both remember your first experience watching Eurovision and can you tell us about it?
Giedrė: I’ve always been a huge Eurovision fan. For me, it’s not just about the music, but also about diversity, peace, love, creativity, and originality. My first Eurovision memory is watching Skamp’s performance of “You Got Style” and feeling so patriotic and emotional. I was literally shaking with excitement!
Max: I remember watching Eurovision every year as a kid, but I wasn’t that big of a fan until I met Giedrė. She educated me about the work that goes into truly great performances and I feel like only recently I started to properly appreciate Eurovision in its full glory. I am also deeply fascinated by established fan communities such as ESCUnited, and all the attention and support you and your readers extend to both established and up-and-coming artists all over Europe (and Australia, of course).
It’s our pleasure to do this for you all. So for those who want to connect with you all ahead of or after the selection– where can they find you and continue to support your musical career?
Max: We’ll link to our social media and music streaming service accounts here: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Music. We’d like to thank each and every one of our fans, followers and subscribers for your support – we absolutely couldn’t do this without you!
A nice way to finish us out Max! Giedrė do you also have any final words or a final message you’d like to send to the readers of ESCUnited?
Giedrė: We wish you the best possible Eurovision experience this year! And may you discover plenty of new artists and songs that you will want to listen to long after the contest ends!
Thanks so much Max and Giedrė – we wish you the best of luck in the Lithuanian National selection! 🙂
If #YOU want to support Sun Francisco’s pathway to Eurovision 2024 make sure you tune in to their semi-final on Saturday January 27th and vote!
