WINDY BEACH, competing in Eesti Laul 2016, took out the time to answer some of our questions!
Below you can read our interview with her:

First of all: thank you for taking the time to talk to us! Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

I would like to think that I’m a Scandinavian unicorn, who brings together power and fragile nature of a young woman and puts it in her own music.
But if u want to know about my past, then hi, I’m Tuuli Rand (Birthname) and I make music under WINDY BEACH which is my name translated into English.
I was born in Estonia, on an island called Saaremaa. My mom is a music teacher and my father is an construction site manager. I have one older brother, called Taavi. That was a thing in Estonia in 90’s to put similar names to siblings. I started singing when I was 3 and still going. I also danced hip-hop in Semiir Dance Company and we got many medals in Hip-Hop MM’s all over the world. After high school in Kuressaare Gümnaasium I tried out to Georg Otsa Music School, where I got in to pop-jazz singing course. There were 45 of us and only 3 got in, and I was one of them! I graduated in 2012 and since then I have been a freelancer. Have been doing all the crazy projects I have been asked to, musicals and shows, I have been singing in multiple bands, like Söörömöö, Vöörad, Funkifize and this year I started my own solo career under the name of WINDY BEACH.

What made you decide to send in a song for Eesti Laul and how did you find out you were chosen?

Well, I have been in Eesti Laul before couple of times. With Vöörad , and with Teele/Tuuli/Ula and I like the caroussel of the competition.
I was in my rehearsing room, when my phone rang. You guessed it, it was Mart Normet who started talking regular stuff like:”So yeah, the weather is nice today. How are you? What are you doing? Oh you’re working, that’s awesome. Me too.” I started laughing at some point and then he told me that “Congratulations, You have been chosen to Eesti Laul!” I started jumping around the room but then I remembered, I had sent 5 songs to the competition, 3 of my own and two from my funk band Funkifize. I asked Mart: “Which song?” And he told me: “Salty wounds”. Then I knew I had done the right thing by sending that song. Ula didn’t have the time to cut the song into 3 minute limit. Something in me told me that I have to send that song, so I cut it myself and put it in the box the next day.

See WINDY BEACH’s entry with the Teele/Tuuli/Ula formation in Eesti Laul 2013:

And here is WINDY BEACH as part of the group Vöörad in Eesti Laul 2014:

For those who haven’t heard your song yet: what kind song is it and what’s the story behind it?

My song is called “Salty wounds”. It’s co-written with Priit Uustulnd aka ULA and Mari Tamm, who is the author of the lyrics. Mari’s word’s are beautiful, they’re music to my ears and I start hearing melodies to Mari’s words.
I think everybody should make their own “story” behind the song. Because I put my own feeling into the song, when I’m singing and I know Mari put totally other feeling’s behind it, when she was writing this song. But yeah, I would like people to make they’re own little movie behind “Salty wounds” Just try. Try for me. It would make me happy! 🙂

Have you heard any other of the competing songs yet and are there any you like in particular?

I have heard all the songs by now. I really like Cartoon’s song and actually, I also like Jaan Tätte Jr. (Meisterjaan) because he’s doing his own thing and that is really inspiring to me. He doesn’t care what anyone else thinks, he is just who he is and that remarkable to me. And also, he is such a sweetheart and full of good energy.

Do you watch the Eurovision Song Contest yourself and do you have a favourite Eurovision song?

I haven’t been like a crazy fan, but I have watched it every year. That was the main event in my childhood, when it was Eurovision day.
My favourite Eurovision song is actually Lisa Andreas – Stronger every minute and I have also sang it, when I was 15-16 in a singing competition in Saaremaa. And I even won with that song, so I really-really like it. I still think that it is a beautiful song and everytime I listen to it, it takes me back to that moment, when I was on the stage with that song. I have even uploaded it to youtube!

A flashback to Windy’s favourite Eurovision song, Lisa Andreas – Stronger Every Minute, representing Cyprus in 2004:

And here you can hear Windy’s rendition of the very same song:

And lastly, do you have a message for the readers of ESCBubble?

I just want to say thank you Nathan Stella and ESCBubble for contacting me and asking me all those awesome questions. I got so many new answers for myself also, that I didn’t know before. Haven’t asked myself those questions before. 😀
And I also wanna say that, listen more music, buy good earphones to get the full experience, and want to send all my good energy and love to all of you. See u in Eesti Laul 2016.

We would like to give a massive thank you to WINDY BEACH for talking to us and wish her the best of luck in Eesti Laul 2016!
Give WINDY BEACH’s song Salty Wounds a listen below!

Find out more about her on her Facebook page(click!) and listen to more songs of her on her Soundcloud page.

(If you haven’t done so yet, you can also vote in our poll(click) if WINDY BEACH or any of the other contestants is your favourite in Eesti Laul 2016!)