The Alchemists: ‘We focus a lot on our harmonies’
We already had the first semi final of MESC, the Maltese national selection, but the second one is just around the corner as well. We had the chance to interview another of the competing artists, and this time we have one of the bands, The Alchemists. The guys will compete in the second round on the 6th of February.
Read the interview with love below!
Please introduce The Alchemists for our readers, who are you, how did you start working together?
The Alchemists was formed in late 2018 when original members, Ben – the lead singer and acoustic guitarist, and Jon – backing vocalist and acoustic guitarist, decided to embark on a project together. They spoke about the idea with Becca – who is a drummer yet also sings and plays guitar and keys, and together they formed the initial line-up of a trio. Later on Dom – on bass guitar and backing vocalist and is Ben’s cousin, as well as Alexein – the drummer, joined the band in 2021 and 2023 respectively.
What do we need to know about your music style, what is the inspiration of the band’s songs?
The band primarily loves to play songs in an Americana/Folk genre with elements of Pop and Indie. Having already released a song called “Hope” which is on Spotify and Youtube, their aim is to speak about virtues of life and life itself. After Eurovision, the band is releasing another couple of songs in 2025 which further relate to this concept.
Your song in MESC 2025 is called “Rubble & Stone”. Can you give us an insight about the song, what was the idea or story behind it?
Although the song speaks about a commitment in a relationship in the sense that one should fight even when things are not going well, it is also about perseverance and not throwing away things (even materialistic ones) just because some time passed and we want to look for something new. The current world is very materialistic and we tend to change and swap things immediately as soon as they stop working. This is sometimes also reflected in a relationship and this song speaks about trying to work around problems and remember the good times that were present in the past.
How do you prepare for the show? Do you have a special process maybe?
Since we are a band and we get to perform a lot together, we feel that we don’t have to over rehearse the performance since we already kind of have the chemistry that we need. Of course we still rehearse since it’s a televised show and we need to understand where the cameras are. Apart from that, since we focus a lot on our harmonies, we tend to rehearse those parts a lot.
Where were you, when you knew that the band qualified for MESC 2025? Were you together at that time? What were your reactions?
This is a bit of a funny story as the production team asked us to film our reaction. However we were actually during a performance and thus we found out mid-way through whilst playing. Later we had to kind of film ourselves as if we were awaiting the results. It goes without saying that we had to film ourselves about 15 times till we managed to get it together and have a decent video.
The prize in the end of MESC 2025 would be, that you can represent Malta at Eurovision. What would it mean to you if it happened? And how would you celebrate?
Well we would definitely celebrate and party for a bit since it’s been a long process since December. It would really mean a recognition and appreciation of our work and style of music. It would also be a huge opportunity to further share our music in Malta and across the world. We find strength in each other as a collective and we work hard to try and be recognized even if this is not always easy. Representing your country in anything is a huge honour and when you get an opportunity to do it in something you love is just an added bonus.
Do you have a favourite Maltese or non-Maltese Eurovision entry from all time? Or maybe favourite MESC song?
We all have different favourites of course. Songs from Malta that we like are “Dance (Our Own Party) – The Busker”, “More Than Love – Chris and Moira”, “Little Child – Mary Spiteri”, and “Keep me in Mind – Mike Spiteri”. Foreign Eurovision songs that we like are “Euphoria”, “Go_A”, “Fly on the wings of Love”, and “Fairytale”.
What do you like to do, when not working with music?
Ben is heavily involved into sports and is a PE Teacher by profession. He also plays table tennis competitively as well as does a lot of long distance running. Jon is a design and technology teacher and loves the outdoors as well as drawing. Becca loves to cook. Alexein loves diving as well as creating different forms of Art pieces. Dominic is practically a chess master. And all of the band loves traveling and exploring different places.
And for the last one, do you have a message for ESC Bubble readers and Malta fans?
Hello dear fans, we’d like to take this opportunity to say thank you for all the support you have been showing us over the last couple of months. It means the world to us. We look forward to give you a great performance and stay on the look out for more of our music coming out after Eurovision. Take care and remember to give our song “Rubble & Stone” a listen.
Thank you very much for the interview, we wish all the best for for you guys!
You can listen to “Rubble and Stone” just on the below link:
https://youtu.be/J_T80I1eat4?si=lNLMvGwobdMGj5K3
Who is your favourite in the second semi-final of Malta? Place your vote below!