There is something incredibly poetic about discovering a band for the first time through a song that has already been around for more than a decade. For German indie-pop duo Milky Chance, whose 2013 breakout single “Stolen Dance” has surpassed two billion Spotify streams, music has always had a way of transcending generations and borders.
Now, childhood friends Clemens Rehbein and Phillipp Dausch are embarking on a new chapter as they make their long-awaited Asian debut at the 2026 Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix on 9 October. Taking to the Zone 4 Downtown stage at 9.30pm alongside a weekend of huge international acts including The Killers, Lana Del Rey and Zara Larsson, the duo are looking forward to experiencing Singapore for the first time and meeting the listeners who have followed their music from afar.
Ahead of their debut, we speak to Milky Chance about the excitement of discovering Asia, the enduring life of “Stolen Dance”, navigating artistic independence, and why, even after more than a decade in the industry, they continue to embrace the unexpected. Read the interview in full below:
Bakchormeeboy: You’ve played some of the world’s biggest festivals, but Singapore will be your first show in Asia as Milky Chance. What are you most curious or excited to discover about playing for an Asian audience for the first time?
Milky Chance: We’re super excited for the people, the culture, the food, the city, just everything. There’s always a certain kind of magic if you go somewhere for the first time. Rather than expecting specific things, we focus more on being open and getting inspired by all the things we don’t know and haven’t seen before.
Bakchormeeboy: You’re arriving in Singapore as part of the Formula 1 weekend, alongside artists like The Killers, Lana Del Rey and Zara Larsson. What does playing a huge event like F1 mean to you, and does the scale of the weekend change how you approach the show?
Milky Chance: It really means a lot to us playing alongside such great artists. We feel honoured and grateful for being part of such a cool festival. For our show we always try to have a good time together on stage. If we manage to be in the moment and really enjoy making music together, that’s when the spark might fly.
Bakchormeeboy: “Camouflage” is being used as the focus of your current push across Southeast and East Asia. What is it about that song, whether it’s the melody or lyrics, that you think makes it a good introduction to Milky Chance for listeners who may be discovering you for the first time?
Milky Chance: If you listen to “Camouflage” you can get an idea of what Milky Chance mostly is about. It can bring lightness through the style of music we make while writing about more heavy and emotional topics. It’s uplifting music with a dance touch while being melancholic at the same time.
Bakchormeeboy: “Stolen Dance” has now passed two billion Spotify streams, and Dua Lipa covered it in 2025. When you look at the fact that a song you made more than a decade ago is still being discovered and reinterpreted by a new generation, does it change how you think about your own catalogue?
Milky Chance: It probably just made us realize that music really is a timeless thing and there will always be people listening to it or just discovering it for the first time. I remember when I was 12 years old and started listening through my parents’ old vinyls. That’s when I discovered Jimi Hendrix, Fleetwood Mac, Kate Bush and many more. It’s the same thing, just a different medium. There will always be a new generation discovering the music of the previous generations.
Bakchormeeboy: You’ve been independent since 2021. What has becoming fully independent changed about the way you make music, release it and decide which opportunities, like this Asian expansion, make sense for Milky Chance?
Milky Chance: It definitely gave us more control about certain things, more insights and a better understanding of how the music industry works. At the same time it means having more responsibility for your marketing and the way we release and promote our music. It’s more workload for sure but luckily we have a beautiful team around us making it work every day.
Bakchormeeboy: You’ve described maintaining a sense of “naivety” and letting intuition and serendipity guide the music. After more than a decade as a band, how do you protect that sense of discovery when there’s so much experience, expectation and commercial pressure around you?
Milky Chance: It can be quite hard sometimes to not care about what everyone else thinks. Especially when there’s people expecting something from you. If you’re a collaborating artist I think it’s always about finding that sweet spot again between trusting your own taste and intuition while at the same time being open for other people’s ideas.
Bakchormeeboy: You’re using Singapore as a first step towards building a bigger presence across Asia. Are there particular countries, cities or music scenes in the region that you’re especially keen to explore next?
Milky Chance: In the best case just all of them 🙂 Would love to play somewhere in Thailand or Indonesia or the Philippines. There’s so many beautiful countries and cultures on this planet and being able to see so many of them always makes me feel very privileged.
Bakchormeeboy: If someone in Singapore is seeing Milky Chance for the very first time at F1, what do you hope they take away from the experience, and what would you like them to understand about the band beyond your hit “Stolen Dance”?
Milky Chance: I assume every artist wants the people to listen to their whole catalogue and see the variety of creativity behind it. But at the same time those are very high standards cause there’s soo much great music out there and you just can’t have it all. So if anyone is feeling anything while seeing us play a few songs and maybe likes 3 or 4 of them we’re happy!
Milky Chance plays at the Formula 1 Singapore Airlines Singapore Grand Prix 2026 on 9th October 2026, 9.30pm at Zone 4 Downtown, Marina Bay Street Circuit. More information here
