Damo Suzuki with MKM: Norbert Möslang (Cracked Everyday-Electronics), Jason Kahn (Analog Synth) and Günter Müller (Percussion) http://www.palace.sg/
I don’t like DB (Deutsche Bahn…German rail), it’s most expensive in Europe and every time I take this, delay or canceled, I’d never had good luck…even if train go “Normal” I will be surprised and I have to mark this date on my diary. This time also as usual… not out of unfortunate. Anyhow I felt something will be happen this morning, You know sometimes you feel something before thing happen….7th inclination?
A couple of weeks before I took contact to Rainer, is cousin of excellent guitarist late Michael Karoli. Rainer and I have not seen for more than 5 years and he was really happy to meet me and experience my performance. So, I decided to go St.Galan a day before the performance since he mailed me and informed that he is living very close to St.Galan. So, our plan to meet today and go for pub and eat (is just not happened). Fortune in unfortunate, I didn’t miss my performance. My odyssey…. Cologne-St.Galan is really far.
I bought rail ticket a week ago before I flied to Italy to avoid stay on long line at ticket office. DB has bad service too, especially when you buy ticket you have to wait for around half an hour if it’s goes well. And every customer on the line looks very nerves, angry, some shout at ticket seller..it’s not good atmosphere. (Now a day I buy on net.) Always something in the air. So, I bought mine at airport, I don’t have to wait so long, also before fly generally I take enough time. My train schedule is quite mess. Cologne to Mannheim, Mannheim to Ulm, Ulm to Friedrichshafen Stadt, Friedrichhafen Stadt to Friedrichshafen Hafen, Friedrichshafen Hafen to Ferry, Then to Romanshorn in Switzerland, then from there to St.Galan. Many changes.
I feel quite skeptic, if one of those train come a bit later all my schedule will be messed up. Every change has around only 5 minutes between. DB (Deutsche Bahn) did it again!!! Already at 2nd change at Mannheim, train I have to take was delay for 70 minutes on technical problem. (Mainly this is the reason..wait, wait..don’t they check locomotive before ?…Quality Check?) So, now on I have to improvise, through all plan away! Anyhow I arrived in Friedrichshafen…I have to go to opposite side of Bodensee, biggest German Lake between Germany, Switzerland and Austria. It took not long to realized couldn’t reach last ferry of the day. I took Hotel near Friedrichshafen train station…and also went to hotel restaurant. If you had plan this kind of situation is just empty solution. Rainer called me in Hotel and we had appointment for tomorrow. The day 1st is over. 2nd day, I woke up early enough to get breakfast..I was not able to sleep. Just let my body rest. If your body is really resting then next day (This is my theory).
Early enough at harbour, ferry across Bodensee. Breakfast at restaurant on ferry. A small bottle of sekt (German Champagne ..generally far cheaper) and white sausage (strange combination!!) I could see Rainer already far as there are not that much people waiting for passenger. Through sleeping villages seeing mountains to his apartment. We had enough time to visit is his colleague and share local drink (exactly I say local snaps!). When we arrived the venue that is theater it was early enough, three sound carriers tonight were already there for sound check or preparing their self made machine that makes soft electro-mechanical sound. (Oh, We don’t have any percussion at all, not standard formation..Even no Bass and guitar….I thought in my head)
All three sound carriers are electro noisemaker, set up their instruments on desk. They look much like professors of physic or whatever. But, they produce not loud noise. So, soft..Almost like technical lessons at school or research labor. Then after all we went to eat at old part of city. Switzerland is mainly you can eat good quality things. ( I don’t mean price here, my Yams are paid by the promoter Damian a very young guy, and he got this job at the spot as booker recently. The performance was very strange sort, I say. Sometimes I felt like homeless child in sound they make. So, I left the stage and running through audience for a couple of times (Am I sporty?) They on the stage thought I escaped from this kiri kiri electro insect sounds. I tell you, I feel sometimes happiest person on this planet, have opportunity to challenge many kind of sound making.
This was truly one of most interesting performance which I’ve ever done. There are many possibilities to create and this night I won another experience, which makes me rich in my energy source. Finally I was happy to be in this sound universe.
Next day before I leave, Rainer took me to restaurant runs by two nice young ladies. Final close often like beginning. Way back to Cologne, bad situation with DB was exactly same like when I come to Switzerland. This trip was almost like from nightmare to dream and back to nightmare…….