Estonian singer Iiris makes debut at Hungary's Sziget festival with Night Tapes

Estonian performer Iiris (Iiris Vesik), who has sung with the London-based band Night Tapes since 2019, made her debut appearance at Sziget in Hungary, one of Europe's largest music festivals. In an interview with Rus.ERR, she noted that notable festivals are increasingly appearing on the band's touring schedule.

According to Iiris, the group has recently played several major events, including Outside Lands in San Francisco and Electric Forest in Michigan. She described this as effectively their first big festival season. Last year alone, the band performed 64 concerts, at times playing every other day or even four days in a row.

Returning to Estonia feels like a rest

Iiris said the British-based band occasionally travels to Estonia as well, mentioning performances at the KiKuMu festival in Lääne-Viru County and at Tartu Punch. Such trips feel like a break to her, since she gets to be at home and spend time with her parents and friends. She expressed happiness that the band has been visiting Estonia more often.

After the current run of shows, the band plans to start writing a new album, after which Iiris hopes to perform a separate, longer-format concert in Estonia.

Night Tapes also includes two English musicians alongside Iiris. Although the band is based in London and often described as British, Iiris stresses that she considers herself primarily an Estonian performer and takes part equally with the other members in shaping the band's musical direction. She described their sound as dreamy alternative pop with influences from shoegaze, R&B and other genres.

The band's set on the third day of Sziget began well after midnight. Although the crowd was thin at first, several hundred listeners had gathered by the end of the first few songs.