Bucharest - 19.11.09 - Kissogram Diary # xy
i'm in the hotel lounge of the marriot hotel in bucharest. be quick and you can meet me sitting on a red golden couch in white patent leather shoes and a serious facial expression. we've just seen the former palace of the romanian monstrosity of vanity, ceausescu, for the second time. bucharest is definitely not a beautiful city, but there's something goin' on that i seem to like. it's great to be here for the second time. joe has been here in civil war times, 1990. we've been here two years ago.
i just bought a bottle of stalinskaja vodka, the label says it's the romanian vodka no. 1.
so cheers, joseph, i'm going back to the room and then to a great bar we know from last time.
yours,
pope
ps our show is going to be tomorrow, in a pretty and pretty new venue called the ark. come!
19/11/2009
John peel slowly and see / if it's not new then it's not you (14.10.09)
today is the international john peel day. for sure, peel was the most influential radio dj of all times. on bbc.co.uk you can read his credo: i just want to hear something i haven't heard before. this is something we all should consider. mainly anybody who produces something. do something new! why? because: if it's not new then it's not you. copies are worthless from the artistic point of view. cook your own soup, even if the ingredients are never new. you know, you can't always find a new herb. but you can do a new mix.
fine.
i'm finishing my soup now. and then i'll cycle to kreuzberg. there's a few nice bands playing in honour of mr. peel. will you come too?
ps: i had the honour to be played by mr. peel in 2000 and 2001. that were the sitcom warriors. good ol' times i don't remember. i once got a call from his secretary, she asked me if i would like to do a 'peel session' with the sitcom warriors some time. it didn't happen. we split up. hmm.
yours
pope
14/10/2009
summerize festival/waiting for trams (07.09.09)
the summerize is a nice festival in berlin, kulturbrauerei. we were invited to play there last saturday. the third time. it would have made more sense, probably, to speak about the festival before playing there. but this is a diary and a diary is always late, just like trams in the GDR. there was a relaxed atmosphere in the main hall. pop historians described it as "hopeful-melancholic" years later. you could also say: fuck summer, fuck holidays, gimme back my problems! i liked it, and i liked masha qrella and das bierbeben very much. next day i was in the mood for hangover, bbc-documentaries us-open and kaurismäki-films.
looking at our myspace-site i realized that our festival season is over now. that means we have to drink more systematically now and we have to go back to work. but let me finish my coffee first.
yours,
pope
07/09/2009
you and me and the web (18.08.09)
the www is everywhere, you know that. there is almost nobody left
who hasn't got an e-mail address except mongolian nomad tribes. for sure
you all have your facebook and myspace accounts, with photoshopped
pictures of yourself kissing the camera; or you and your best friend trying
to look cool. all your interests, your favourite bands, in what mood you are, it's online,
i know that, you know that, i know that you know that i know it.
It's nothing special.
but it seems like nobody is writing songs about it.
two songs entered my mind: 'internet curtains' by denim and 'e-mail my heart' by britney spears.
sure there are more (please send me some, i need to know) but apparently
song writers can't admit that the internet is as important for them as bread and alcohol.
why is that? because 'i got an e-mail from my sweetheart' doesn't sound romantic
enough? does it have to be a letter? how about 'rocking all over the web'? is that dull?
what about 'google me, google you'? not funny?
what if you change 'ten years after's 'going home" into 'goin' online'.
'i'm goin' online, my baby?' gonna meet you there? is that the new kissogram song?
anyway we're online now (kissogram..de) and we have interesting things to offer.
this is what we did for you. 'love in html', if you need another song title.
in return i want to know from you, if you know songs about the internet. think about it.
yours,
pope
18/08/2009
Working titles (05.08.09)
Often a new song comes into my mind and i don't have a clue, what this song is about. Is it about love? about tomatoes? anyway you need a title when you want to work on that song. that's why the beatles' 'yesterday' had the working title 'scrambled eggs' before it was renamed. we had many songs that were called 'new 1', 'new 2', 'new 3' 'new 45' etc. but it was hard to remember these songs. so we gave our songs names of criminals (OJ Simpson, Arno Funke..) but that wasn't easier. so we tried to give them names that described the sound and the atmosphere of the song: washing mashine, boring song, esoteric, funny song, brushing teeth, techno frogs from outer space.. that seemed to be the best way. that's what the beatles did with 'yesterday'. imagine the following conversation: paul: i made a new song. wanna hear it? john: yes, go on. paul: what do you think? john: nice. soft. and somehow.. yellow. paul: i think i have a name for it..
Some examples for our working titles: 'forsaken people' was 'new 8'. 'girl in my shower' was 'kaufhalle', meaning 'supermarket'. 'falling Star' was 'nu funk'. the 'deserter" was 'kindertechno' and 'snowwhite' was 'der kranke inder' (='the sick indian'). but what song should we play if you scream: 'oriental hippie disco in space'? i know it.
yours,
pope
05/08/2009
Music in cars (30.07.09)
Everybody knows: the most important thing in cars besides motor and horn is the car radio. the advantage is clear: while listening to music you don't have to talk to other people from your band or to sound engineers, managers, tour managers or whoever joins the journey. the music has to be pleasant somehow, so you can relax, but it should be annoying for the people in the backseats. they usually read books and look serious. from time to time they fall asleep and give up their seriousness for half an hour.
what music are we listening to, when we're on tour? we have a bunch of mix cds and some cds we carry around for ages. for example: two mountain goats albums, psychoanalysis by prince paul, gonzales' solo piano album, captain beefheart's safe as milk, bridget st. john, bobby conn and one or two dylan cds. also kinks and de la soul. and classical music, mostly piano.
you might ask: is there typical car music? music that is made for listening on the highway? it's maybe the ramones, but not when you're hungover. same thing with the beastie boys. what about classical symphonies? absolutely impossible, as long as you don't have a compressor to balance the volumes. another bad cd for cars: nine inch nails' the downward spiral. it's a good record but it makes your car jump and sometimes brake hard.
i'm currently listening to turkish music from the sixties and seventies. there has been an interesting beat, pop and psychedelic scene. selda bagcan and neset ertas are really famous in turkey. many people know fikret kizilok too, i guess. i like the music he made in the end of the sixties. tomorrow we're going to play on the apple tree garden festival in deep holz (the catering will be apple pies). i'm going to check out, if fikret kizilok is suitable for cars.
pope 30.07.09
30/07/2009
i'm in the hotel lounge of the marriot hotel in bucharest. be quick and you can meet me sitting on a red golden couch in white patent leather shoes and a serious facial expression. we've just seen the former palace of the romanian monstrosity of vanity, ceausescu, for the second time. bucharest is definitely not a beautiful city, but there's something goin' on that i seem to like. it's great to be here for the second time. joe has been here in civil war times, 1990. we've been here two years ago.
i just bought a bottle of stalinskaja vodka, the label says it's the romanian vodka no. 1.
so cheers, joseph, i'm going back to the room and then to a great bar we know from last time.
yours,
pope
ps our show is going to be tomorrow, in a pretty and pretty new venue called the ark. come!
19/11/2009
John peel slowly and see / if it's not new then it's not you (14.10.09)
today is the international john peel day. for sure, peel was the most influential radio dj of all times. on bbc.co.uk you can read his credo: i just want to hear something i haven't heard before. this is something we all should consider. mainly anybody who produces something. do something new! why? because: if it's not new then it's not you. copies are worthless from the artistic point of view. cook your own soup, even if the ingredients are never new. you know, you can't always find a new herb. but you can do a new mix.
fine.
i'm finishing my soup now. and then i'll cycle to kreuzberg. there's a few nice bands playing in honour of mr. peel. will you come too?
ps: i had the honour to be played by mr. peel in 2000 and 2001. that were the sitcom warriors. good ol' times i don't remember. i once got a call from his secretary, she asked me if i would like to do a 'peel session' with the sitcom warriors some time. it didn't happen. we split up. hmm.
yours
pope
14/10/2009
summerize festival/waiting for trams (07.09.09)
the summerize is a nice festival in berlin, kulturbrauerei. we were invited to play there last saturday. the third time. it would have made more sense, probably, to speak about the festival before playing there. but this is a diary and a diary is always late, just like trams in the GDR. there was a relaxed atmosphere in the main hall. pop historians described it as "hopeful-melancholic" years later. you could also say: fuck summer, fuck holidays, gimme back my problems! i liked it, and i liked masha qrella and das bierbeben very much. next day i was in the mood for hangover, bbc-documentaries us-open and kaurismäki-films.
looking at our myspace-site i realized that our festival season is over now. that means we have to drink more systematically now and we have to go back to work. but let me finish my coffee first.
yours,
pope
07/09/2009
you and me and the web (18.08.09)
the www is everywhere, you know that. there is almost nobody left
who hasn't got an e-mail address except mongolian nomad tribes. for sure
you all have your facebook and myspace accounts, with photoshopped
pictures of yourself kissing the camera; or you and your best friend trying
to look cool. all your interests, your favourite bands, in what mood you are, it's online,
i know that, you know that, i know that you know that i know it.
It's nothing special.
but it seems like nobody is writing songs about it.
two songs entered my mind: 'internet curtains' by denim and 'e-mail my heart' by britney spears.
sure there are more (please send me some, i need to know) but apparently
song writers can't admit that the internet is as important for them as bread and alcohol.
why is that? because 'i got an e-mail from my sweetheart' doesn't sound romantic
enough? does it have to be a letter? how about 'rocking all over the web'? is that dull?
what about 'google me, google you'? not funny?
what if you change 'ten years after's 'going home" into 'goin' online'.
'i'm goin' online, my baby?' gonna meet you there? is that the new kissogram song?
anyway we're online now (kissogram..de) and we have interesting things to offer.
this is what we did for you. 'love in html', if you need another song title.
in return i want to know from you, if you know songs about the internet. think about it.
yours,
pope
18/08/2009
Working titles (05.08.09)
Often a new song comes into my mind and i don't have a clue, what this song is about. Is it about love? about tomatoes? anyway you need a title when you want to work on that song. that's why the beatles' 'yesterday' had the working title 'scrambled eggs' before it was renamed. we had many songs that were called 'new 1', 'new 2', 'new 3' 'new 45' etc. but it was hard to remember these songs. so we gave our songs names of criminals (OJ Simpson, Arno Funke..) but that wasn't easier. so we tried to give them names that described the sound and the atmosphere of the song: washing mashine, boring song, esoteric, funny song, brushing teeth, techno frogs from outer space.. that seemed to be the best way. that's what the beatles did with 'yesterday'. imagine the following conversation: paul: i made a new song. wanna hear it? john: yes, go on. paul: what do you think? john: nice. soft. and somehow.. yellow. paul: i think i have a name for it..
Some examples for our working titles: 'forsaken people' was 'new 8'. 'girl in my shower' was 'kaufhalle', meaning 'supermarket'. 'falling Star' was 'nu funk'. the 'deserter" was 'kindertechno' and 'snowwhite' was 'der kranke inder' (='the sick indian'). but what song should we play if you scream: 'oriental hippie disco in space'? i know it.
yours,
pope
05/08/2009
Music in cars (30.07.09)
Everybody knows: the most important thing in cars besides motor and horn is the car radio. the advantage is clear: while listening to music you don't have to talk to other people from your band or to sound engineers, managers, tour managers or whoever joins the journey. the music has to be pleasant somehow, so you can relax, but it should be annoying for the people in the backseats. they usually read books and look serious. from time to time they fall asleep and give up their seriousness for half an hour.
what music are we listening to, when we're on tour? we have a bunch of mix cds and some cds we carry around for ages. for example: two mountain goats albums, psychoanalysis by prince paul, gonzales' solo piano album, captain beefheart's safe as milk, bridget st. john, bobby conn and one or two dylan cds. also kinks and de la soul. and classical music, mostly piano.
you might ask: is there typical car music? music that is made for listening on the highway? it's maybe the ramones, but not when you're hungover. same thing with the beastie boys. what about classical symphonies? absolutely impossible, as long as you don't have a compressor to balance the volumes. another bad cd for cars: nine inch nails' the downward spiral. it's a good record but it makes your car jump and sometimes brake hard.
i'm currently listening to turkish music from the sixties and seventies. there has been an interesting beat, pop and psychedelic scene. selda bagcan and neset ertas are really famous in turkey. many people know fikret kizilok too, i guess. i like the music he made in the end of the sixties. tomorrow we're going to play on the apple tree garden festival in deep holz (the catering will be apple pies). i'm going to check out, if fikret kizilok is suitable for cars.
pope 30.07.09
30/07/2009
Some pictures from China:
(C) Kissogram & Matthias Krebs 2009