So I did my "big" European/ German debut last month. It ended
up
being a test and experiment of how doable it is for me to book a tour
there by myself, go by myself, and find musicians to support me during my
set so I don't play completely solo ..so I can legitimately add PUNK to
what I do, or say it's indie/experimental ROCK, and not feel like it's
a completely wasting experience. Well, one thing that's already a
little
scary, on the personal side, is there's nothing like the first time. The
1st time in Berlin or Amsterdam just has a certain zing to it. Maybe
it'll have to be a developing relationship. One thing I have to
say, is the willingness of even some friends of friends of friends to
lend a helping hand, or be hospitable was pretty amazing, and it
happened more than once. I'm not saying that that never happens in the
states, it does seem to happen more in out of the way places though..
maybe cause it's an exchange. It shows that where that person calls
home, is a place I'm willing to bust my ass getting to, and I'll put
out even to 20 people -or even 10 sometimes :)
I arrive in
Berlin a day early cause I'm worried about jet lag. I'm lucky to have Burghard to show me around. It struck me that the good stuff in Berlin is kinda hidden from view, more than I'm used to. We hit an interesting area that used to be the no-mans land between the old Wall and the Spree river. There was a lot of art around, people hangin out in tee pees, and generally carousing by the water. That was the best daytime beer drinking I've had this year. We later did some requisite Berlin clubbing
I couldn't get myself to be in constant picture-taking mode, but here you have Burghard and part of the
Wall in the back, now covered with city-sanctioned graffiti.
and uhh, a little later on, as I slowly turned into Das Zombieman .yikes
Next day I arrive at the venue -Schokoladen. It was the 1st rock club in the old
East Berlin to open after the Wall came down
Joining me for my set was Jan Haux, who's a Berlin/NYC person. We rehearsed for a good hour in the club's band apartment, with him drumming on a pillow. We really slammed it that night. It was a great turnout, the night organized by Berlin fixture Kitty Solaris
One of my band mates from the 90's, now living in Berlin, Maria Zastrow, joins me for a song
Funny moment was during the song Rise Up Cowboy, when I normally call
out "Would you like a
cowboy in your city tonight ?" 3 times, and I got
some affirmative cheers on the 1st one, so I switched to "..
in BERLIN
tonight" for the next 2, and nearly brought down the house.. Ha ! only in Berlin fo'shure
Christoph Dreher from the band Die Haut came also. He's the director of a newly released documentary about
No Wave as it cross-seminated between New York and Berlin in 1980. Back then there were a lot of West Berliners in the art/punk scene in NYC, so it's good that that's being represented. Here we are reminiscing after the show:
Next stop is
Hamburg. Thomas from the label Labelship takes me around. We swing by a new
squat that has just cropped up. A whole block has been taken over, involving several buildings. The focus is art, politics and culture. There seem to be two dance parties for us to chose from ..one ballroom/swing, the other more like you'd expect. Everyone is surprised that the city authorities haven't intervened *yet* ..Hamburg was a focal point of squat culture in the 80's/90's, with storied confrontations with the city and police. I wish I'd taken pictures, but that seemed a bit awkward. The squat did have a somewhat more civilized feeling than I expected.. everything grows up I guess
The show the next night, is at a cool bar -Hasenschaukel- in the
red light district.
Here's near the venue:
The name means "bunny swing". You can see the sign outside the club
Joining me on keys is
Patrick Müller. We play to a lively audience
His girlfriend Jasmine sings with us on the song Sirens Of The Apocalypse
and I later enjoy exploring the nearby sex strip, as the night wanes
Next stop is
Duisburg -a suburb of
Dusseldorf. I have a drummer join me who I found through friends in the band Pyrolator -Saskia von Klitzing. She drives the hour from Cologne and SHE, is ready for business. We don't even rehearse, and she has the songs down pat. She kicked it hard. The crowd of around 40-50 was surprisingly young, and the other bands were surprisingly aggro-prog. They were happy to have us. I've found that that's a surprising niche I have amongst bands-that-are-fans, even though I don't sound like that. The area seemed a bit unremarkable on the surface, the
middle-Germany to our
middle-America.. hence not a lot of photos. That's of course appearances - nearby Dusseldorf is the home of Kraftwerk after all
the Duisburg show:
Next is my 2 days off in
Amsterdam !
What a lovely place. I really soak it in. I actually feel like I'm finally in Europe, cause everything is so old
again I'm taken to a notable squat -Vrankrijk. They've put off having events cause of threats from the city. I'd asked about performing there, so it was nice to swing by and see it
Me and Pascal from Pyrolator generally kicked about
Well,, over and out from overground/underground/not-particularly-grounded, but needlessly hounded,
yours, in Brooklyn