In only a couple of days time, some of Albania’s biggest and most talented performers will be taking to the stage of Festivali i Këngës, where the Albanian public will choose who will carry the Albanian flag to Malmö, Sweden, as their representative at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. 31 participants will be competing for this honour, and one of those is the band Peter Pan Quartet who appears at Festivali i Këngës for the first time. The band consists of Klodi, Krist, Rael & Arnold and they will be competing with the entry “Edhe nje here”. We had the pleasure of catching up with them ahead of their upcoming performance.

Check out our interview below to find out more!

D: Firstly, a huge welcome to the Festivali i Këngës stage! Before we start talking about the upcoming performance at the music festival I would love to know more about you guys! Firstly the name… Peter Pan Quartet. We all know the story of Peter Pan but tell us about your story! How did you meet and why did you choose this name for the band?
PPQ: The idea of the name came as a critical statement about the country we live in. Albania is a former communist country that was under dictatorship for 45 years. After the fall of the system, Albanian people were forced to live in a destabilized society, and the meaning of Peter Pan is used by us as a society that doesn’t want to grow up anymore, living in chaos and corruption for many years now.

D: And then a little more about you guys – so the band consists of Rael Hoxha, Klod Burri, Krist Koçi & Arnold Halili so tell me a bit more about yourselves! Who is the funniest? Who is the craziest? Who is the best cook? And who is it that is the most reliable and does all of the planning events, tours or gigs?
PPQ: We are all friends, and we are used to everybody’s contribution, that stands even for jokes, and everything else, Klodi may be the best cook we think (laughing).

D: Researching your music and on Soundcloud maybe a long time ago you described your sound as punk-folk, with your songs mainly about the social-political situation in Albania and the Balkans. Would you still describe your music that way? And why is it important for you to write music with these big and maybe sometimes controversial themes?
PPQ: We think that power should be divided and not be in the hands of the wrong people, which mostly are politicians, so it is important to send messages to the audience, so they can make a connection to their own problems. Someone has to sing about that, so the themes chose us, not vice-versa.

D: In the next few days you’ll be performing on the big Festivali i Këngës stage with your song “Edhe nje here” Can you tell us anything about the song – what it is about and why it is important to you?
PPQ: This is our first time at the festival, and our song reflects the time we are living in, it is about war and describes the horrors of it by the vision of the victims, the families that have to rise again from pain and restart their lives.

D: And of course we do need to ask, although I suspect you can’t give too much away… can you tease the readers anything about your upcoming performance at Festivali i Këngës 62?
PPQ: We are going to perform on the first night, as the 7th song. Most important thing is to send the message to the people, to reflect about this topic.

D: In some ways your participation is a little like a second chance – as you were chosen as the replacement for somebody who withdrew from the music festival last month. What was it like to get that second chance? And as a new band to Festivali i Këngës are you excited for your time to shine on the big stage?
PPQ: We didn’t replace nobody, they withdrew the song from the contest and we were up with the points from the jury, so it is more about elementary math, than about chance.

D: The winner of Festivali i Këngës will go on to represent Albania at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, to be hosted in Malmö, Sweden. Are you guys fans of the contest, and if so what would winning and representing Albania in front of over 150 million people worldwide mean to you?
PPQ: That would be great, if our song goes to Sweden, then the whole world will hear our message to stop the war, but we know how the world works, so there is very little chance for us to do that, and for us to win.

D: Do you have any other music projects or personal projects coming up? Let us know what is next for you after Festivali i Këngës.
PPQ: After the contest, we are going to work on a new album, with different sound and compositions, but most of the energy will be the same, as we do worry about social injustice, corruption and oppression.

D: Thank you so much for taking the time to answer the questions above. Finally, do you have a message for our readers and your fans?
PPQ: Listen to good music and follow good people, life should be about friendship and equality. Always be on the right side, and always believe!

Thank you to the guys from Peter Pan Quartet! You can watch him perform their entry “Edhe nje here” for the first time live on Tuesday 19th December during the first semi final of Festivali i Këngës 62. The winner will be decided during the fourth night of the music festival, on Friday 22nd December, and we will find out who will be taking the baton from last years winner, Albina & Familja Kelmendi with “Duje”.