Andero Nimmer and Fredy Schmidt created the duo NimmerSchmidt in 2013, and their first single was “Öisel järvel“. Their debut album has been released in January 2014, when Andero and Fredy participated in “Eesti Laul” for the first time. The song called “Sandra” failed to qualify to the final, finishing 6th in the semi final. Now they have their second chance with the self-written song “Kellega ma tutvusin?”.

We had a great pleasure to chat with these two Estonian musicians regarding their career, and participation in Eesti Laul. Check out everything NimmerSchmidt told us in the following interview:

• First of all congratulations for qualifying for Eesti Laul 2015! Can you tell us more about your career and music for the start? 

We are NimmerSchmidt – Andero Nimmer, the keyboardist, and Fredy Schmidt, the singer-songwriter who plays keyboards, guitars etc. We’ve been writing music together since 2013. Before we were together in a band called Laika Virgin and won the award for the best alternative album of the year in 2012. The music we make is pop music with a lot of synthesizer sounds and pretty melodies. The kind that you hear on the radio, even though it’s not mainstream. We have a bit of old-school touch in the tunes, as we use some elements from the 60s and 70s. In “Kellega ma tutvusin?” you can even hear a hint of doo-wop from the 50s. The songs are in Estonian, as our main goal is to carry on the tradition of singing in our mother tongue. We’ve done quite well in Estonia, as our songs have been played in the radio and on TV quite a lot.

You’ve already participated in Eesti Laul 2014 with “Sandra” and you were very close to reach the final. Why did you decide to enter the competition again this year?

Reaching the final or winning is not why we entered. We wrote a good song and wanted more people to hear it. “Sandra” helped us to promote our first album and you can say that “Kellega ma tutvusin?” is the first single from our next album.

• Can you tell us more about this song?

It’s the first song of Fredy’s writing that has a touch of patriotism in it. The song asks “Who did I meet with?” which you can interpret in quite a few ways. You can say that it’s about youngsters who have been brought up in our welfare society, with the world at their feet and smartphones in their hands. Or it’s about addictions that our society provides us with: internet, alcohol, drugs etc that changes a person and at some point you really don’t recognize them anymore.

• Have you already had some ideas about how your stage performance is going to look like?

Probably we won’t do a band set-up this year. We’ll try to come up with something more intimate and possibly more interesting. But we won’t pretend that we are someone we’re not. It’s about the song, not playing charades.

• Have you listened to the other songs in Eesti Laul? Do you have any personal favourites so far?

Of course! Not all the songs are public yet, but from what we’ve heard of, Karl-Erik Taukar has a good song. And so does Kali Briis, Elisa Kolk and Robin Juhkental – he has a catchy song indeed.

• Do you think it is better to sing in Estonian or English in Eesti Laul and in Eurovision?

Well, in Estonia it’s better to sing in Estonian. But if you want to win Eurovision, it’s better to sing in English – all the past winning songs have been in English. And people want to understand, what the song is about. Maybe we’ll have a hit song in English in the future, but for now we want to make music in Estonian.

• Are you Eurovision fans? Which Eurovision songs do you like the most?

Andero’s all-time favourite was Sebastien Terrier’s “Divine”, but other than that we can bring out Malcolm Lincoln’s “Siren”, Mumiy Troll’s “Lady Alpine Blue”, Loreen’s “Euphoria” and Alexander Rybak’s “Fairytale”. Truth to tell, there have been quite a few good songs in the competition over the years.

• Do you have message for all the readers of ESCBubble who will follow Eesti Laul online, and support you?

It’s great that people are interested in what goes on in Estonia. Enjoy the show!

• Thank you very much guys, and we wish you all the best in Eesti Laul!

Give a listen to “Kellega ma tutvusin?” by NimmerSchmidt right here: