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Georg
Kajanus
09
February 1946
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The legend... taken from the
official SAILOR fanclub biography:
The Norwegian Georg Johan Tjegodiev Sakonski
Kajanus seems to have led a life nearly as long as his
name. He is the son of Prince Paulo Tjegodiev Sakonski of
Russia and Johanna Kajanus, the famous Finnish
sculptress. He is also the great- grandson of Robert
Kajanus, a composer and confident of Sibelius. Kajanus
has lived in Canada, where he learned English, in Paris
and St. Tropez, in Mexico City, where his mother's
studios are located, in London and - of course - in
Norway.
The most reclusive and primitive of the SAILOR musicians,
Kajanus' talents seem to exceed those of merely creative
artists. Born in Trondheim, Norway in 1946, Kajanus moved
with his mother and sister to Paris at the age of twelve.
In 1959, the family relocated to Quebec. Working as a
stained glass window designer in the French- Canadian
province, Kajanus was lured back to Europe by the Church
of England commissioners who had requested his assistance
in standardizing ecclesiastical symbology for use in
church architecture.
Since 1960, Kajanus has been at work compiling his family
journals, searching for manuscripts and contributing
scholarly articles relating to his famous forebears to
University quarterlies. Although an accomplished musician
and songwriter, his primary interest is not simply music.
"I refuse to limit my interest to any single
aesthetic discipline", says Kajanus. "The days
of the 'Matelot' were fun, of course. But, as far as my
involvement in SAILOR is concerned, I was only interested
in determining what limits might be applied to a medium
in not only its most expressive and experimental aspects,
but also its most readily- appreciated and commercial
forms. When I write music, I am a composer. But when I
paint or write, my interests are simply painting or
writing. There is time for everything."
Before moving to Paris to join SAILOR in 1967, Kajanus
lived in London (where he now again resides), and
directed the activities of another avant-garde group,
"Eclection". A close friend of M. Faux, the
legendary proprietor of the "Café Le Matelot",
Kajanus was shattered when the musical landmark was
destroyed by fire 1970. He travelled to Mexico City,
where he lived in seclusion until July 1973.
Kajanus is a man whose talents range across the entire
spectrum of the creative arts. Yet as a musician he is
unparalleled, communicating the wealth a richness of his
extraordinary gifts, filling a void in the world of
spread evenly with musical mediocrity.
And
here's the true story...
with
special thanks to James McCarraher:
Few bands can boast
royalty amongst their ranks, let alone their lead singer,
but then SAILOR was and still is no ordinary band.
Prince Georg Johan Tchegodieff (to give him his correct
title) was born on the 09 February 1946 into a family
heritage so steeped in history and cultural diversity
that it would have been implausible that the young Prince
would grow up to be anything less than extraordinary.
The only son of Prince Pavel Tchegodieff of Russia and
French/Finnish sculptress, Johanna Kajanus, Georg led a
quiet and settled existence in Trondeim, Norway until the
divorce of his parents meant a move to Paris in his
teens.
A further move saw Georg, his mother and sister relocate
to Canada, where he became interested in the folk scene
and early influences such as Gordon Lightfoot.
Eventually settling in the UK, Georg co-founded legendary
folk-rock pioneers Eclection, before teaming up with
young musician, Philip Pickett as Kajanus/Pickett.
Following a lack of commercial success, Georg
concentrated on BA Robertsons "Wringing
Applause" album before co-founding KP Packet with
Phil, the forerunner to SAILOR.
The demise of SAILOR following the "Hideaway"
album was a relief to Georg. He felt the project had gone
as far as it could at the time. It allowed him to indulge
other musical interests, including DATA and the Mamluks.
The reformations of SAILOR in the late Eighties and early
Nineties presented new writing opportunities but touring
filled Georg with a cocktail of emotions: "As we
retraced Hitlers footsteps through the concrete
tunnels leading up to the massive stage of the Waldbühne
arena in front of thousands of music-hungry, middle-aged
Germans, I felt a unique kind of terror. I was
experiencing a new kind of male menopausal
dementia!"
Georg left SAILOR in late 1995, formed Noir with Tim Dry
and appeared as a television chef on UKs Channel Four
show, "Feast". He is currently putting the
finishing touches to his classical composition
"People Industry": "People Industry is a
highly distilled observation of the fundamental mechanics
of mankind instrumentally illustrated by a twelve
piece ensemble (four violini, two violi, two celli, two
contrabassi, timpani and cassa) and verbally defined by
four vocalists (soprano, mezzo-soprano, counter-tenor and
tenor). The focal point shifts from extreme close-up to
celestial panorama; from the agony of childbirth to
rampant consumerism; from our mutant bacterial ancestors
to communication and our modern high tech world."
© James McCarraher 2004.
A full
and detailed account can be found in the book "A Glass Of Champagne
The Official Sailor Story".
Fanclub
letter to the fans
1991
Ola Compadres Marineros !
Yes, you guessed it right, I'm back in Mexico again. I'm
sitting here in La Huerta, sipping my Sol beer and
feeling inspired. I've been going a lot of painting as
always, but music is still my greatest passion. It seems
that this place has all the right ingredients for
stimulating the body and mind. The girls look as good as
ever, although there is a noticeable lack of clientele. I
guess the recession has hit Acapulco as well.
After the break-up of SAILOR in 1978, I should have come
straight here and steeped myself in romance, rather than
losing myself in the electronic twilight of DATA. My
intentions were good, but the reality of this
"documentary- style musical doomsday machine"
proved to be too much, even though the title track of the
album "Opera Electronica" became the sound
track to a short film called "The Towers Of
Babel" which went on to the Silver Hugo Award in
Chicago. Despite everything I made two more albums for
DATA, "2- Time" and "Elegant
Machinery".
After DATA, I received a phone call from a mysterious man
from the East by the name of Umi Bayashi, famous in Japan
for his pop album ("Umi", RCA/ Victot, Japan)
he wanted me to produce for him in London the following
year. I had never been to Japan, so off I went. I
discovered, however, that there would be a greater
involvement than merely production. I ended up teaching
Umi English and co- writing the songs. But in spite of
this, it was a most rewarding project and we have
remained good friends.
Since then, between many trips to the sanity of Mexico
and the wilds of Kenia to help a friend research a book
about African lions, I finally made my way to Helsinki so
that I could shift through the mountains of material in
various archives and sort out, once and for all, the
facts concerning my great-grandfather Robert Kajanus. He
was a celebrated conductor and interpreter of the work of
his close friend, Jean Sibelius, and was instrumental in
bringing his music to the rest of the world. In Finland,
Kajanus was equally well known for his womanising and
living it up in the shady milieu of the decadent arts
community of turn- of- the- century Helsinki. I have, on
several occasions, been accused of having inherited some
of his more disreputable traits. These are, of course,
all lies.
I have finally managed to sell my studio, or should I
say, my laboratory. My electronic "Jekyll and
Hyde" days are over. I've drunk that potion once too
often, and I'm now looking forward to 'melody' and
acoustic instruments again, i.e. SAILOR. And for the
third time, working with my old friends from 'Le
Matelot'.

Georg
Kajanus is selling 9 paintings in order to finance his
new project:
- Sailor's Night On The
Town
- Blue Desert
- The Old Nickelodeon
Sound
- The Girls Of
Amsterdam
- Dancing
- Melancholy
- Keep Off The Streets
At Night
- Guitar Passion
- Self Portrait With
Christine
To see
these paintings and to get more information about them,
click here!!
Radio
Interview 2000
The following
interview with Georg Kajanus was made by Karsten Wagner via eMail in November 2000. It
was used in the second SAILOR radio special for the
"Free Radio Kassel":
Question: Is it
true that you have built the original Nickelodeon by
yourself?
Georg: I conceived and designed it, then built
it with a little help from Henry.
Question: Some people say that the official band
history - the story of the Café "Le Matelot"
is not true. Can you tell us something about it?
Georg: What really is true or not in
life is usually a matter of perspective or expediency.
With regard to 'The World of SAILOR' that we brought to
the public, everything was utterly true.
Question: The first SAILOR songs were planned
for a musical. Will it ever be possible to bring it on
stage?
Georg: Who knows? I have spent a great
deal of time on the stage play (the book of the musical)
and written further songs for it. So the package - the
blueprint - is ready, if and when an interested party
comes along...
Question: At the moment no original SAILOR
albums are available in the record stores. Do you see a
chance for a re-release on CDs?
Georg: I don't know. It is up to Sony
and BMG, I suppose, to decide whether SAILOR is still
marketable.
Question: With the SAILOR image you can do very
much. The band had a good restart at the beginning of the
90s, but unfortunately your great album "Street
Lamp" did not get much promotion. The band only
performed live on Oldie nights. Then came the second
break and the captain decided to leave the ship. What did
you do having left SAILOR?
Georg: I composed music that was close
to my heart. It is important to experiment and reach out
to new places for inspiration. Some projects may be
successful, some may not, but it is vital to "Follow
your bliss". In other words, do whatever is
necessary to feed your soul.
Question: What are your next plans?
Georg: I will continue to compose music
that is close to my heart. I am presently still working
on an opus that encompasses classically trained vocalists
and a ten piece string orchestra plus timpani and
orchestral bass drum. It is a sizeable work and I had no
idea when I started it that it was going to take this
long to compose. I have had to research the mechanics and
emotional boundaries of everything from childbirth to the
intricate workings of microbiology as well as the
theories of earth as a living organism, just to mention a
few themes. This all takes a great deal of time.
Hopefully, in 2001 I will see an end to it!
Question: Are you still in contact with the
other SAILOR guys?
Georg: Yes.
Question: Many leadsingers leave famous bands
and most of the time nothing works for both sides any
more. What do you say about the sentence: "Never
change a winning team"?
Georg: That may work for many bands, but
inspiration was in short supply for keeping SAILOR going
as an Oldie Nacht entity. Without new recordings and new
visions, projects become stale and this certainly
happened with SAILOR, from my point of view. I never saw
SAILOR as a cabaret act, doing covers of other people's
material. The original SAILOR was for me a tremendous
passion. But that was many years ago.
Question: SAILOR had their 25th anniversary last
year. Do you see a chance for a project with the SAILOR
guys again?
Georg: Although, I would never rule
anything out, at this moment, I would have to say no.
Question: Will you inform the fans about your
future projects on our website?
Georg: Of course. I will always inform
the fans about any up and coming projects.
Georg Kajanus Interview
about Eclection
Conducted
by eMail, for Richie Unterberger's book "Eight Miles
High: Folk-Rock's Flight from Haight-Ashbury to
Woodstock" (Backbeat Books, 2003)
with special thanks to Richie Unterberger www.richieunterberger.com and to Gary
Diamond
Question: How
was it that the group formed, particularly one which
had such varied background and nationalities?
Georg:
"Bangers", a well-known English-German sausage
restaurant on the corner of Moscow Road and Queensway in
London's Bayswater district, was the birthplace of
Eclection. I was doing table-to-table entertaining with
my huge Gibson B45 12-string, singing Gordon Lightfoot
songs, amongst other selections. One of the customers one
night was Canadian Michael Rosen who immediately sensed
some North American connection between us. (At the time,
Lightfoot was pretty unknown in Europe.) Michael was
cruising Europe, much as I was doing, and had ended up in
England to partake in the "fab" London music
scene. We fantasized about forming a band that very night
with great enthusiasm. We both lived in the area and had
several subsequent musical encounters.
Michael was an aspiring lead guitarist as well as a
trumpet player, which was to prove to be one of our more
unusual features later. It was through Michael that the
mad, Australian, redhead Trevor Lucas, became a member of
the band. He was also out looking for a place in the
musical sun of London. His track record was more
considerable than Michael's or mine. He agreed to join up
but was initially unhappy about playing bass rather than
playing his favourite acoustic Fender six-string. He
grumbled a bit but finally gave in. It was through Trevor
that we met Kerrilee Male, another Australian, who
impressed us with her wonderful voice as well as her
beautiful appearance.
Also hanging out in Bayswater in those days was another
friend of Michael's, Joni Mitchell. It was Joni who came
up with the name "Eclection." There is, of
course, no such word as Eclection, but her idea for the
name was based on the eclectic nature of our
nationalities as well as our diverse musical backgrounds.
Soon we determined that the group would benefit from some
more weighty rhythm, so I believe Trevor brought in
Englishman Gerry Conway who is a very talented drummer
and percussionist.
Question: The
Eclection album, on which you wrote most of the
songs, seems to me have a rather Californian
pop-folk-rock feel, particularly in the harmonies and
production. Would you agree or disagree, and how much
was the folk-rock of the era an influence in your
songwriting and arrangements?
Georg: I
would agree that the musical direction of the group was
probably closer to American folk-rock than anything else.
I must confess, having spent my formative musical years
haunting the folk clubs in Montreal, Canada and watching
all the current folk and folk/rock programs on TV, I was
strongly influenced by this music. The most influential
artists for me at the time were people like Dylan, the
Byrds, Fred Neil, Simon and Garfunkel, the Beach Boys,
the Mamas and the Papas, and Gordon Lightfoot.
Pre-Eclection, I was a purist fighting the acoustic
battle versus the electric "demons" creeping
into the scene. I remember being shocked when Dylan went
electric. It is therefore ironic that I should end up a
few years later playing an electric 12-string in
Eclection. My first "ax" with Eclection was a
green monster called a Burns Baldwin which weighed a ton
and gave me neck-aches after concerts, but I didn't care
as it had a great sound. Later I bought a Fender electric
12-string from Pete Townshend, who for some reason wanted
to sell the guitar rather than destroy it in his usual
manner.
Question: As
the principal songwriter of the band, I'm interested
in your appraisal of what might have made Eclection's
material stand out, stylistically, from other bands,
whether folk-rock ones or just other pop and rock
acts.
Georg: In
some ways I am surprised that I ended up the principal
songwriter in Eclection since I certainly did not think
of myself at the time as an accomplished composer.
However, I was very prolific and I had a good ear for
melody. Other powerful influences on me at the time were
classically-orientated music as well as the French
chanson, i.e. Jacques Brel and Georges Bressens, so an
interesting combination was created. As to my lyrics,
what can I say? English was my third language (after
Norwegian and French), so that should give me license for
some of my poetic obscurities.
Question: It's
interesting that you were signed to Elektra, possibly
the most respected independent popular music label in
America at the time. The label had signed very few
other British artists at the time, other than the
Incredible String Band. Do you recall how you got the
deal with Elektra, and what sort of expectations the
company had for the band in terms of the music and
the audience it wanted to reach with your recordings?
Georg: My
memories are a bit murky here, but I believe it was
through Michael Rosen and Joni Mitchell that we managed
to contact Jac Holzman. He came over to see us and seemed
to like us. Of course we were flabbergasted when he did
sign us, considering the icons he already had on his
label. As far as expectations of the record company were
concerned, we had no idea as we were never that planned
or calculating in our approach. We just did what we
wanted to do and hoped that people would like it. Sadly,
the promotion of the album was badly organized in the UK
by Polydor and we only made a few TV appearances, mainly
in Holland. As far as America was concerned, there was no
promotion that I can remember. Although Jac loved the
album, there was definitely a problem somewhere in the
marketing department. Perhaps it was the fact that we
were based in the UK and signed to a US record company
that presented a major logistical problem. Of course, the
Incredible String Band did make the Atlantic crossover,
but I guess we didn't catch the same boat. Also, we
didn't have very forceful management at the time, which
didn't help.
Question:
There were relatively few other groups in the UK at
that time that were combining elements of folk and
rock with full electric and orchestral arrangements,
as Eclection did. Did you feel that you were somewhat
unusual in England in that regard, and why do you
think there were relatively few other artists
following that direction there at the time?
Georg:
Again, Eclection's mixture of musical backgrounds and
influences were in vast contrast to our contemporaries in
England at that time. Also, our producer, Ossie Byrne,
who discovered the Bee Gees, was instrumental in
utilizing the string arrangements that lifted the tracks
away from the current sounds. As a matter of fact, we
weren't even sure of the idea when he first suggested it,
but we were all pretty pleased with the result.
Question: To
what degree were you pleased or dissatisfied with the
Eclection album, and what are your favourite songs
and/or aspects of the recording?
Georg: I
have never made an album that I felt totally pleased with
and the Eclection album is no exception. That said
however, I listened to it recently when Collectors'
Choice Music re-released it on CD and I was struck by the
mood created by the vocals generally and some of the
inventiveness of the vocal arrangements. I was also
saddened by the fact that Kerrilee Male's voice was so
tragically under-used. This was one of the main reasons
why she finally left the band. I was also struck by the
sloppy timing of many of the songs, however, that is more
due to current music of today being "time
perfect" (computer- or sequence-based.) Basically, I
liked the naive and wistful flavour of the album.
Regarding my favourite songs, that's very difficult. I
think the most original song on the album is "In The
Early Days" sung by Trevor rather than myself. He
was absolutely in love with the song and desperately
wanted to sing it. I let him perform it, because the
quality of his voice seemed more effective than my own
for this particular piece. Michael's trumpet sounded
quite magical on the track as well.
Question: How
well do you think the songs of Michael Rosen, the
only other writer with material on the album,
complemented yours on the LP?
Georg: I
don't feel that Michael's songs created any conflict with
my own on the album since to a large extent the
arrangements were worked on by all of us.
Question: Do
you recall the details of how Kerrilee Male left?
Georg: As
far as I know, she went back to Australia after the
split. As I mentioned before, her voice was exceptional
and I wish that we had found a way through our
arrangements to create more lead vocals for her.
Question: Eclection
didn't record much after the first album, although
the group continued to play live for a while, with
some different members. How did the group's sound
change during that time, and what led to its
dissolution?
Georg:
After Kerrilee left, Doris Henderson took over. She was a
very respected American singer in the folk scene in
England. Unfortunately, the musical direction of the
group then shifted to a much more jazz-orientated
approach due to numerous guest musicians passing through.
I was feeling more and more trapped in an alien musical
environment and I finally had to leave. Also, the fact
that nothing happened with the album was a bit of a blow
to all of our egos. We never made any further recordings,
other than a few demos.
FRK Radio
Interview 2003
The following
interview with Georg Kajanus was made by Karsten and
Katrin Wagner
via telephone in September 2003. It was used for a radio
special about Georg's various music projects in Karsten's
show "Handmade" at the "Free Radio
Kassel":
Question: Do
you have a project that you are working on at the
moment?
Georg:
Yes I do, very much so. Although I have to say I think I
just finished it. My last recording is in London this
coming Friday, the 03rd of October. This is not the
completion of the project, but a work that I've been
battling away with the last four years. It is not really
anything like SAILOR. I'm not singing in it, I'm not
performing in it, other people do that, but I've written
everything - the music and the words. It's not really an
opera, but some people might call it like that. In the
area a lot of people refer to it as
"crossover", which I don't really necessarily
agree with as a term, but it's difficult to label things.
So basically that's what I've been working on for the
last four years. It will be finished and ready for the
next stages very soon, hopefully for live performances
and recordings and all sort of stuff. It's a big project,
it takes a lot of time and involves many things - visual
things and quite a complex staging.
Question: Do
you have any musical influences? If so, from which
sites?
Georg: I
have very many different musical influences, as one
probably could observe, with all the things I have been
involved with. It really spans the whole lot, all the way
from my very very early days. I grew up on Elvis Presley
in Norway. And then I discovered the French chanson in
Paris later on, and then folk music in North America in
Canada. But all this time I also had a very strong urge of classical music, for a lack of
a better term, thanks to my family. So I had many many
different musical influences. And then of course Mexican
music, Latino music too, very strongly. Basically, what
I've been doing in my life is, whenever I had a strong
idea about something, I can not decide what it should
sound like in terms of using this influence or that
influence. Like for instance the current work that I'm
working on, it takes more from the classical area than
from the strict pop area. So that's how that works.
Question: You
had the biggest success in the band SAILOR. Which is
your favourite album and your favourite song of the
band?
Georg:
It's really difficult because I wrote so much of it, or
pretty much all of it. It's a little bit difficult to
have favourites, but I think if I'm really honest I
suppose the very first album meant probably more to me
than any of the subsequent ones simply because it was the
realisation of a dream if you like. And also because I
was able to input some sound ideas as well at that time,
which obviously was not really possible later because of
recording business politics. So, yes, the first album
would be my favourite album. But in terms of favourite
songs I really couldn't tell because the each mean
something. It's a bit like having lots of little babies
and each song is a kind of little precious package that
gets send out there and I have different feelings for all
these little precious packages. There are certain songs
that maybe I like more than others, for instance the
songs "Sailor", "Let's Go To Town",
"Sailor's Night On The Town", "A Glass Of
Champagne", "The Old Nickelodeon Sound".
These are songs that I still quite like as songs. I don't
listen to these really any more. There has to be a reason
for me to listen to them, either a friends asks me, or
something happens and it's relevant to have a listen to
some of the old stuff. And it's nice to hear the things
back, but I have to keep looking forward. But listening
for instance to the stuff that I mentioned I still get a
lot of joy from, whereas others I don't. I'm not going to
tell you which ones they are. So, there we are.
Question: Do
you like performing your songs live?
Georg:
That's a big question... I've always been very nervous
performing live. There are several reasons for this, but
let us start first of all with the initial reason: I was
always very concerned about all the technical stuff that
we had on stage. All the workings of the Nickelodeon,
especially in the beginning, because certain things were vaguely mechanical. And I was always
worried about things going wrong, and if something would
go wrong it was me who would have to try to fix it
because I had basically built the Nickelodeon. That sort
of weighed upon me. And also things like later on: is the
radio mike working from the guitar and all sort of stuff.
So, there's always been a lot of technical pressure in terms of
things being correct and working well, as far as from my
voice, is it going to hold up, of course I experienced a
couple of occasions losing my voice which was very
nerve-racking, and also: is the monitoring good, are we singing on
key, are we singing horribly off-key and various things.
I always used to be very worried about all those things,
so it maybe wasn't such a pleasant experience. But I
tried not to show it. I hope I didn't. (Comment from
Karsten: "You always looked cool!") Maybe that's why I was
listed as "more serious". And of course just
making sure I get everything right. Sometimes before
going on stage if I was not careful I would start
thinking about all the lyrics that I'd have to remember.
Ok, I know I wrote all the lyrics, so there's no excuse,
but I still sometimes thought "am I going to
remember all the lyrics of all the songs?". It's a
terrible way looking at it because you can sort of psych yourself to getting into trouble.
You must just let it go, just do it, and it comes. You
have to trust your instinct. (Comment from Karsten:
"Remember the middle part of 'Shakespeare'!
;-)") Oh
yes... There are plenty of things, and I remember for
instance the last concert we did in England on the last
tour which was at Cambridge College, a ball or something,
and I was doing "Dancing" and I forgot
virtually all the lyrics, or halfway through, and I was
just mumbling some sort of semi-Norwegian to the
audience, who looked very puddled. They were from
Cambridge and tried to decide "is this some new
language?". So that was a problem too. But basically
live performances have always scared me, so I've tried to
do the best I can, I hope it worked, but that's how it
is.
Question: Is
there any chance that the SAILOR musical version will
be on a stage one day?
Georg:
Well, it is possible. But ironically I had contact from a
person in England who has been working on an idea using a
lot of these songs from SAILOR. It's an interesting idea.
He's putting it into a kind of amateur production just to
start up with to see what happens. He's got some good
people working for him and good connections, he's also
got connections with the Edinburgh arts festival. So, I'm
observing to see how that goes. My own idea of the
musical, which the whole idea of SAILOR was based on, has
transformed more into a filmic idea. I've been speaking
to my publisher in America about that, but it's
difficult. Certain things have to happen in the
marketplace with these songs to create a sufficient
interest to unleash the sort of fun that one needs to
create the songs or a musical. Those are very expensive
things. But it's not impossible that there might be at
least one version surfacing quite soon in England. I'll
keep you informed.
Question:
There are plans to release a SAILOR album with
rarities entitled "Buried Treasure" next
year. Do you have any never released tracks in your
drawer for that project?
Georg:
Yes, there are some - as you put it - unreleased tracks
in the drawer. The question is of course whether it's
best for them to stay in the drawer, or whether they
should be dragged out and put on a CD... It's something
that the audience will make their decisions about. There
are good reasons... maybe... why these are still in the
drawer. But actually I shouldn't say this because I don't
want to take away the potential interest. There are some
things which nobody has heard, and they will be going on
to this SAILOR album.
Question:
Once we heard that you wrote a song for the charity
"Jonathan Seagull" festival which was
planned in Hooksiel, Germany in 1995, "Seagulls
Are White"...
Georg:
"Seagulls Are White"? Oh yes, that's right. But
nothing ever came of that, which is often how things go.
I also wrote another song which was called "Stone
After Stone" which was all about my feelings when
the Berlin wall came down, but we decided not to use it
because it felt a bit too political for SAILOR. We are in
the nostalgia business rather than in the politics
business. That will probably go on this as well, so you
can make up your own minds.
Question:
Which are the best circumstances for you to write
songs or to have song-ideas?
Georg:
That's very difficult to say. The initial ideas tend to
come whenever they want to come, not when I decide I want
to have them. They dictate by their presence when they
come. Once the idea is there, there are a lot of
different things that I do to nurture the idea forward.
One thing is sitting in cafés drinking a glass of red
wine or an Espresso looking at people in Paris is
enormously useful. Let's face it: People have been doing
that for a long time, a lot of writers, a lot of
musicians and composers have been doing that, especially
in Paris. It just seems to draw things out of you which
is wonderful, especially in terms of the thoughts behind
things. But I also tend to need solitude as well as the
café-life. The two things together can nurture the idea.
Question: On
which instrument(s) do you compose songs?
Georg: I
used to compose mainly on guitar in the days of SAILOR -
my several 12-strings. But it wasn't necessairily the
only way. At the time because I was playing guitar all
the time with the band I would tend to sit down at home
with the guitar and work things out rather than on a
piano or something. It depended. But generally speaking
it's the guitar. These days: no instrument. It's
basically just all comming out of my head and into the
computer, which is the way most people compose these
days. With my huge library of instruments on the computer
I can just draw anything I want, which is of course the
dream of all composers. So I don't really use the guitar
any more.
Question: But
you still have your guitar(s)?
Georg:
The guitar that I used for SAILOR I left with the band
because if they wanted to continue it seemed to make
sense. In case they wanted to have those sounds, you
know, like the Charango. Not the harp, because I don't
think anyone would fancy learning to play the harp. The
harp is still with me. I hope it's still surviving. I
haven't played that for a lot of years, I tell you!
Question: Is
it true that you constructed the first Nickelodeon
all by yourself, and was it complicated to do?
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