The Road to Malmo: Latvia; Interview with Christof Straub, composer Dziesma 2013 entry “Higher and Higher”

Many of our Austria readers may recognize the name Christof Straub, who is from the duo Papermoon, who have released over nine albums and hit singles such as “Night After Night,” “Tell Me A Poem” and “Lucy’s Eyes.” Alongside running his website www.global-rockstar.com (a world wide online song contest), Christof is also a songwriter for one of the entries for Dziesma 2013, “Higher and Higher” by Liene Candy.  Christof was willing to talk with us about the upcoming semi-final.

ESC UNITED:  First off, congratulations of your success in Dziesma 2013.  Tell us a bit about yourself and how you became a songwriter.
CHRISTOF:  It was in fact, by chance. I was studying architecture, and started during this time doing some music with a friend from school. Just for fun. I wrote a first song, we recorded it and it became a Number one in Austria! That´s how it started.

ESC UNITED: How would describe your song “Higher and Higher”?
CHRISTOF:  The lyrics say “With music, you are never alone”. It´s arranged in a modern way, but if you play and sing it with one guitar or on the piano, you’ll see it works too.

ESC UNITED: What led you to deciding to submitting “Higher and Higher” to Dziesma 2013?
CHRISTOF: I love songs and I love the idea of the Song Contest, so I wanted to participate one day. I wrote “Higher and Higher” especially for the SC 2013. A friend told me about the Latvian selection, and so I submitted it to Dziesma 2013, and here we are.

ESC UNITED: So where were you when you found out “Higher and Higher” made it? What was the first thing you did?
CHRISTOF: I was in my office, on the computer. First thing: I shared the news in my social media channels.

ESC UNITED: Since you are not performing “Higher and Higher,” how did you find Liene Candy.  How did you know she’d be the right choice for your song?
CHRISTOF: A friend of mine, Olivier Vanhoutte, was connected with the Latvian label MicRec and connected me with Guntars Racs. MicRec is a great Latvian label, and they have the best Latvian artists under contract. Guntars suggested Liene Candy for “Higher and Higher”, so I had a look at some YouTube videos and knew immediately that she was perfect for the song.

ESC UNITED: Now that we are a few days away from Dziesma 2013, how are you feeling?  How are you and your team preparing for your Semi-Final?
CHRISTOF: I am very excited. Unfortunately, I won´t be able to attend the semi-finals, which makes me sad. I have some concerts to play in Austria.

ESC UNITED: What do you believe is the key to winning a song contest like Dziesma or Eurovision?
CHRISTOF: The song must be catchy, exciting and up-to-date. The artist must be very special in his performance and musically in top form.

ESC UNITED: Do you have any favorite Eurovision songs?|
CHRISTOF: Euphoria, Love shine a light, Gente di mare, Waterloo, Puppet on a string