| Band Members | My most recent release On The Verge Of An Autobiography was produced by Peter Schmidt, Peter Hinderthür and myself. I wrote most of the songs, covered Lilac Wine by James Shelton and Something In The Way by Nirvana, and recorded Swallows Song, written for me by new york duo NEW RANDY. Musicians on the new album are Achim Färber, Peter Hinderthür, Mathias Mauersberger, Ulrike Haage, Bela Brauckmann, Lukas Fröhlich, and the Berlin Pops Orchestra conducted by Joris Bartsch-Buhle. |
| Sounds Like | As a child, I listened to my parents’ records: Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith, Ella Fitzgerald, Dizzie Gillespie, Thelonius Monk, Miles Davis, John Coltrane, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, but also Amalia Rodriguez, Maria Callas and Bach’s “Brandenburg Concertos.” In Brazil, I learned my first chords with the songs of Chico Buarque and Tom Jobim, but there was also Rita Lee and the Mutantes and some cheesy soap opera theme songs. Rynn (played by Jodie Foster in “The Little Girl who Lives down the Lane”) was my Huckleberry Finn. At 15, I discovered Patti Smith’s “Horses.” At the time, I kept up on my idol reading French music magazines. So I also read Rimbaud, Baudelaire, Céline and Isabelle Eberhardt. Telephone’s “Crache Ton Venin” didn’t pass me by. Nor did Joni Mitchell and Rickie Lee Jones. The “Nuggets” compilation by Lenny Kaye and Greg Shaw's "Bomp!" The books by Peter Guralnick and Greil Marcus. Motown. Moondog. Elvis. Sun Ra. Dennis Hopper’s "Out of the Blue" blew me away. I named my band Rainbirds after an instrumental song by Tom Waits. I wrote songs about Jane Bowles and Carson McCullers. For Jeff Buckley a funeral march. From Bjoerk I have an autograph. I also have one from Hans Clarin. "Ach, wie ist das Putzen putzig..." by Pumuckel is the song I sing in the shower. I read Klabund and Friedrich Glauser. Fernando Pessoa and Antonio Lobo Antunes. Patricia Highsmith and Kinky Friedman. Haruki Murakami and Annie Proulx. I listen to Nina Simone and Hélène Grimaud. Rechenzentrum and Gillan Welch & David Rawlings, Solomon Burke and Monotekktoni. Prince and Ustad Mawash, Cat Power and Anna Netrebko. And always the movies... unforgettable movies, ... And I found this in the newspaper “Süddeutsche Zeitung”: “Pop is driven by passion and longing, which doesn’t adhere to any historical and societal norms.” With this in mind, yours, kf |
Online Now!
