True Collins at Kiel Week again

The Kiel Week (German: Kieler Woche) is an annual sailing event in Kiel, Germany. It is the largest sailing event in the world, and also one of the largest carnivals in Germany.It is held annually in the last complete week in June. Music lovers can enjoy about 300 concerts on 16 stages distributed over the city for free!

The stage that True Collins has been played for 6 years in a row is Maxstage (Maxbühne) right at the main station forecourt. The view from the stage to the crowd in front and the Volksfest and the carnival and harbor on the left is awesome.

I enjoyed it very much also in this year even though it had become pretty cold at night and it was raining a little bit. But that’s almost typical for that part of Germany :-).

To give you an impression on how it was here are two videos from 2014 and 2013. I hope you enjoy it!

True Collins feat. The Brass Connection

Although True Collins has received a lot of compliments for his authentic live sound and has been called the most authentic Phil Collins and Genesis tribute band in Germany by many critics, we always knew that a horn section is the missing piece to make the band sound even more authentic. We have been looking for a while and last year, almost coincidentally, we came across The Brass Connection. This well known horn section has been working with various artist on tour and on TV shows and since last winter these guys are playing with us as an optional part of the band. Now that we played a few gigs together I can say that it is really a huge gain for the band, musically as well as personally. These great guys fit in perfectly and it’s big fun goofing around 🙂
So either you have seen True Collins before or not, you definately have to come and see True Collins feat. The Brass Connection!

p.s.: Here is a clip from the first show together…

Musikmesse Frankfurt, 2014

The time at Musikmesse Frankfurt is a kind of annual family meeting for me. And every year the family is getting bigger. Thanks to everyone who came to meet me at the Markbass booth and thanks to all of you I had the pleasure to meet there at other places. I’m looking forward to see you again next time!
Musikmesse 2014

Playing at Art On Ice, Zurich

I’m looking forward to a row of shows coming up this week: from Feb. 26th to March 2nd I will be in Zurich, Switzerland, playing the Art On Ice after show parties with Hot’n Cool.
The main music act will be the band Hurts, the stars on the ice will be Tatiana Volosozhar & Maxim Trankov (gold medal pairs and team Sotchi 2014), Stéphane Lambiel, Sarah Meier, Kurt Browning, Joannie Rochette and many more.

I’m sure it’s gonna be a great time!
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Schack Guitars – Video

I guess it’s no secret that I love my Schack Guitars basses and the guys who build them.
Since 1992, when I got my first Schack Guitars bass, I’ve checked out many basses made by other great luthiers and companies, but none of them made me want to switch over. I’m sure that our 22 years relationship will go on for quite a long time 😉

If you want know a bit about the history and the corporate culture of Schack Guitars and want to get a inside view of the work of master luthier Nico Schack, check out this video (click for English subtitle. Produced by Adstore):

Recording the “Traumbild” debut album

In late 2013 Andi Wiener, a singer, songwriter, keyboarder and composer I’ve been playing with in different bands and projects, asked me to join his new project called Traumbild. I listened to some demos of tasteful pop / rock songs with German lyrics and I liked them very much. So I happily accepted his invitation to join the band and to play bass on the debut album which will be released in spring 2014.

On the first weekend of January Andi Wiener, Krisz Weinzierl, the guitarist of “Traumbild” with whom I’m also playing in other bands, and I went to the Principal Studios to record some final guitar tracks and the bass tracks for most of the songs. The producer there is Henning Verlage, best known for his work with the German multi Echo-Award winning top act Unheilig. It was a great experience and I’m really looking forward to listen to the final recordings. Here you get a little inside view of how it was like in the studio. Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Looking back at the year 2013 I am happy to say that to me it was a great one!
I enjoyed playing a lot great gigs and it was big fun to work on some cool projects.
Therefore I want to thank all the great, nice people I met, I had the pleasure to work with, wether on stage, in front of the stage or behind the stage and all the people who support me in living my dream as being a professional musician. I guess you know who you are 😉
This also includes the companies who make the equipment I love to use.

I am convinced 2014 will be as great as or even better than 2013. Let’s get it on!
Happy New Year!

In love with Ukuba

Every now and then I thought it would be great to learn to play double bass because it fits better to some styles of music than the bass guitar. But what always kept me away from that is the fact that it’s a very large instrument. It’s takes a lot of space to store it at home, it takes a lot of space on stage and it’s definitely not easy to carry it around on the road.
A while ago I saw some videos of an instrument that I thought could be an alternative: the Kala U-Bass. At Musikmesse, Frankfurt, Armin Alic, a great bassist, let me check out the instruments at the booth and introduced me to RISA Musical Instruments,the German distributer. So I went there, took the time to check out different models and finally got a fretted model with Mahogany body.
Meanwhile I played it at a lot gigs of different genres. It’s been no surprise that due to it’s full, round, warm and deep sound it fits perfect for Jazz standards, dinner music and acoustic pop songs, BUT: lately I played it at gig with Miss Kavila and me the whole band was suprised how great it sounds for Soul, R&B, House and “modern electronic dance music”! It blew me away and put a big smile on every one’s faces.
It’s really that big fun to play that small instrument! 🙂

P.s.: As all my instruments have names I chose “Ukuba” for my Kala U-Bass… 😉Ukuba

Kieler Woche anniversary

This year I played with True Collins at Kieler Woche (Kiel Week) for the 5th time in a row. Every year we have played the same stage there: Max Bühne next to the central station. It’s a very nice feeling when you arrive at the venue after a more than 7 hours journey and the familiar crew gives you a warm welcome. Also the photographer who has taken great pictures of the show, Alexander Hahl, has been there with us again. You can check out the great photos he took here.
I’m looking forward to meet you all again there next year! 🙂

One word about endorsements

As you probably know I am attending at Musikmesse Frankfurt every year. I am there with Markbass, a Italian company I have an artist deal with.

Many of the musicians I meet there are telling me that the reason for them to go to Musikmesse is to get endorsement deals. Thats ok and it’s one of many purposes to attend a trade show.
What makes me think is that today I see a lot of “endorsement hoppers”. That’s what I call musicians who have endorsement deals, artist deals or what ever you call it, with one company one year and with another company the other year. Sometimes the periods are even shorter. To me it seems like some aim only for collecting equipment that they can get for free. For me this is not the way to go.

When I make a endorsement deal with a company I do it because I would buy (or I actually did buy) their products for the regular price anyway, because their products make my life easier, because I really love their products and I can identify with what they do and because I am proud to use them. To have a good relationship with the people at the companies my equipment is made by is very important for me as well.
Because I stick to this rule it’s no surprise that I have the same endorsement deals for many, many years now. On the other side, I wouldn’t stay with a company any longer if I wouldn’t be convinced by what they are doing anymore.

One more thought in that conjunction: Some say I am endorseing a company, some say I am endorsed by a company. From my point of view both is true. For me a endorsement deal only makes sense if it’s a benefit for both parties. I get something and of course I give something back. And that’s the way it should be, isn’t it?