First New Tune In Ages

When I made the choice to completely focus on my artistic side upon my return to Germany, I had "soundscapes of epic proportions" in mind, and I still do for the MagmaSonic project, to which this domain is the "home on the web".

However, the first new tune that "came out of me in ages" was something completely different. Maybe my new (and at the same time very old) surroundings "infected me with the Volksmusik bug", maybe my SillyGene(ius)® (which has taken over completely) is responsible. We may never know... ;-)

It all started one day, when I was walking through the streets of Sleepytown, Germany (the small mountain village where I grew up), and all of a sudden, I had some lyric fragments and a melody for an oompah tune popping into my mind. (That's popping... not pooping... even though that would work for me, too... creative mind fertilizer, you know?)

Then the fine folks over at the Production forums "foolishly" encouraged me to enter the song contest on their site, even though I was so totally not ready, yet, for any "serious" music. I was eventually going to do a cover version of my favorite Bob Seger tune "Turn the Page", but that would have had to wait until 2008. So I resorted to bugging an old band buddy of mine from 30 years back, who has had a nice recording studio for many years and lives just a stone throw away. Armed with the more-or-less completed lyrics and the melody in my head, we sat down one day shortly before the end of 2007 to record this fun-spirited little oompah tune (with a touch of techno sprinkled in for good measure) in a matter of about 3-4 hours. Now get ready for this tune to get stuck in your head for days, once you listen to it. You have been warned! ;=)

Stream it from here:

http://www.myspace.com/sillytworocks

Or download it from here:

http://soundclick.com/share?songid=6116074

What you hear is really me singing there. Yup, I have no shame! ;=)

We layered my voice about 10 times to make it sound like a whole "gang of beer drinkers" singing there. (A little trick my ole band buddy adapted from Queen: "Mama-mia, mama-mia, mama-mia, let me go! Magnifico-oh-oh!" Insert some serious headbanging here...)

Oh, and I did "channel my inner Heino" (a once very popular german oompah music singer) when I conjured up the appropriate singing style for "Bier für Mir!"

There is a whole slew of funny remixes in the works that shall start seeing the light of day as soon as I have finished optimizing and fine-tuning my computer recording workstation. So stay tuned for more "Beer for Me!"

What? You already wanna know more about those remixes now? Okay, here are a few teasers.

First up, the full-length version of "the original", with another one or two raunchy verses and lots of gimmicky sound effects. (I can already hear this version coming out of every tent this Octoberfest in Munich!)

Next up: a "Germlish" remix, with a German-English word salad the likes of which the world has never witnessed... ;=)

Also in the works: a Japenglish karaoke remix! With all new Japenglish lyrics: "Sake and Shiitake, Hai, Kampai!"(This version is the mega-hit in the Japanese download charts this year, and still in 2009! I can already see the staggering download numbers in perfect clarity!)

And then there's the "Alm-mighty" remix... ("Alm" is the German word for a mountain meadow where them cows graze... there are a lot of Alms in the Alps, so prepare yourself for Alphorns in this remix... Toooooot! ;+)

After I've brushed up on my rusty Spanish skills, the tune shall receive the Spanglish remix treatment, too. "Cerveza por Mesa!"

Maybe I should do a Frenglish remix, too. My girlfriend always tells me that my French is very good, and I don't even speak the language... ;+)

And for those who can't get enough of "vocal acrobatics": I'm also creating an a-capella / vocalizer remix, with just my voice filling in for all the instruments. (Yup, Bobby McFerrin has been a great teacher! Thanks, Bobby, and "don't worry, I'm happy"!) Now is the perfect time to figure out how my shiny new E-Mu sampler, the mighty fine Emulator X2, actually works...

Once all those remixes are done and the endless stream of cash from all those downloads around the globe starts flooding in, it should be about time to start touring with "The Stumbling BeerBunnies®". Participating in the Calgary Stampede on July 4 seems like a good starting point for our world tour. What, you never heard of "The Stumbling BeerBunnies®"?

Well, witness "history in the making" here...

(Please note: don't drink any beverages while reading those posts... I won't clean up your computer monitor for you! ;+)