Stalko back on stage for Earth Garden

It’s been 18 months since folk band Stalko last performed live. Now, we will be seeing their return at this year’s Earth Garden festival – the summer gig will pave the way for the launch of the band’s new album later this year.

“We had never really taken a proper hiatus since our first gig in early 2010, so we took a break in early 2014. We needed to gather our musical thoughts and catch up with other projects. We think it revitalised and re-energised us,” vocalist Tim Ellis said with a smile.

This will be Stalko’s third time at what has been dubbed Malta’s ‘green music festival’. The band played in the Greek Theatre in 2010, a performance that marked one of their first appearances. They returned in 2013, still in post-album release euphoria.

“We remember being a touch wary of taking to the stage after a very raucous and energetic Mana Tapu set. But we had a blast and the crowd was great.

It will definitely be sparser, a little bit less refined

“This year, we’re not even sure what we expect from the night ourselves. Some gigs are also good like that, you never really know until it’s done and dusted. Oh, and expect some stage fright, it’s been a long time,” Ellis says.

Stalko will be playing in its usual format with Chris Cini and Mike Stivala taking the stage with Ellis. But they will also be joined by Michael Galea on drums and James Baldacchino on the bass.

Right after the concert, the band will continue work on the new album, with a lot of studio time planned for August and September.

“Our target for launch is sometime in late November – also for sentimental reasons, as last time round the month brought us luck. But there’s also a strong gut feeling that it’s more likely to happen around February next year.”

As for the new works, Ellis says that “hopefully, we are saying more by doing less. It will definitely be sparser, a little bit less refined. Where we went all out in Grandiloquence, I think we’re showing much more restraint. We like it that way”.

And for the million-euro question. Will any of the new works be debutted at Earth Garden? “You end with the toughest question. We worked on the new songs exclusively with the album in mind, which was a first, so now we’re busy adjusting them to sound the way they should in a live context.

“Hopefully, we should play one or two new songs at Earth Garden. Our excuse if we don’t is that since we haven’t played for so long, any songs on the setlist will be sounding practically new to the listeners,” Ellis says.

Stalko perform on Saturday at 10pm at Earth Garden festival at Ta’ Qali National Park.