I learned to play the piano. It’s just not always so easy to take the Bechstein grand with me on the train. That’s why I like to take my ukulele with me on the road and write a lot of songs with it.
With the song Bundeswehr, I thought it actually sounded great and just skipped the step to the piano.
I am lucky to be part of the best collective this side of the Elbe, the Neustadt Art Kollektiv. It is this collective that organises the annual Neustadt Art Festival, where we like to throw various ideas around on Sundays.
Fabi came up with the idea in 2021 that we needed a collective shanty. Ok, I thought, and started and a little more than a year later the recording followed – of course with the whole collective. Rumour has it that there will be a video soon…
Every year, the adriAkustik Liedermachenfestival calls for the Liedermachenliga. In this league, a song has to be written within four weeks on a given theme or keyword.
In 2021 I took part in it, the theme was Spätverkauf (late shop). As an old jazzman, I stole the harmony and melody from the 1930s “All of Me” and put lyrics to it: An ode to late shops!
For the call of the art festival Begehungen 22, the wonderful Omani Frei and I applied with a concept. In the end, the concept did not make it to the shortlist, but I would like to record it here for posterity.
Empty places created by people are usually surrounded by a very special atmosphere. When one enters such buildings, one is overcome by the desire to demonstrate the place’s dignity in the form of silence.
In the case of a swimming pool, this seems downright absurd.
After all, what makes such a place if not liveliness? Memories of outdoor swimming pools are inevitably linked to a loud soundscape. A confusion of voices, splashing water, squeaking noises, children laughing – all this is simply part of the swimming pool. If such a place is lacking, one becomes painfully aware that something is wrong. So the place must not be punished with silence, the voice must be given back to it. With Hall’n Bad we want to do just that.
The acoustic epicentre of any swimming pool is the large pool in the middle of the hall. Hall’n Bad sets the scene for this centre. During the residency, Jan Kosyk will use the existing objects in the bath and its surroundings (slides, pipes, brickwork, cabinets, glass, water, voices, etc.) to create different sounds, record them and compose works with the sounds. These works are then played back via eight boxes in the floor drain of the edge of the pool. The individual loudspeakers are only audible in the immediate vicinity, like an impressive reminder of times gone by. In this way, the perceived history of the bath can be traced along the edge of the pool.
Since the sound installations are not visible, Omani Frei will paint the tiles inside the pool to create a visual attraction. Ecologically safe clay colours and pigments will be used: ultramarine, iron oxide red, delicate spinel turquoise and a little gold ochre. The resulting abstract painting matches the colour of its surroundings and is an eye-catcher at the same time.
The world is full of things that no longer work: Social injustice, climate change, capitalism, favouritism towards rich people, mass murder in the Mediterranean – the list seems endless. But since I don’t just complain, I’ve made it my business to throw constructive ideas and little utopias into the room. And preferably musically!
You can find the music on Spotify, Soundcloud and here.
You also have the option of receiving the album on CD by post. Just send me a short message with the delivery address and the number of copies and I will send the music on its way.
| Jan Kosyk | vocals, piano |
| Atze Rudolf | guitar, ukulele, banjo |
| Henk Teichmann | bass |
| Achim Jurenz | drums, washboard |
| Remo Devago | 2nd vocals at Spätverkauf |
| Virtuose Vibes | Recording studio, mixing, mastering |
We threw the record release party together with our Fatschenhock for Smörgåsbord and since then the album is official! 🍾
Pssst, the recordings are ready. We’re doing a little pre-release here before the official release in March.
Today followed the finish: Together with Remo Devago I gave the song Spätverkauf content. It was short and crisp and also a new experience to record vocals without a live band. Thanks Remo!
We did it: We recorded 8 songs in the Virtuose Vibes recording studio. It was fun, exciting and we are mega satisfied.
The crowdfunding was successful! Many thanks to all supporters, so the release of the songs on the web and on CD will follow in the next few weeks. \o/
At our penultimate rehearsal before the dress rehearsal we recorded all the songs. Feel free to take a look:
We had another rehearsal yesterday and I finally managed to take some pictures. I don’t want to deprive you of them:
It’s getting serious: Crowdfunding is going live.
This page is being created and this much can be revealed: We have scheduled rehearsal dates and booked the recording studio.
On 12 June 2022, there will be an election for mayor of Dresden. Dr. Martin Schulte-Wissermann is a candidate for the Pirates. Reason enough for me to make a musical statement.
I met Toti Liedermachens from Braunschweig years ago at the adriAkustik. Back then we took over the hammock stage together with Mengede and from then on we met every year for a beer, a song or a chat somewhere at the festival.
Now Toti recently wrote to me – with a soundtrack attached – and the request to “play something to it”. So I did, played several ideas with piano and Wurlitzer on it and sent it all to him. With the addition of a bass track by Philip Omlor, the song Flaschenpfand was rounded off. And because every good song needs a good video, we shot a few takes in Dresden and Toti in Braunschweig. This is how the following video came into being, in full compliance with the corona ordinance, and will now remain forever in the collective memory of posterity.
As it happened, I was able to accompany the wonderful Omani Frei to the Cinanima Festival in Espinho in 2021. Inspired by the concentrated load of animated films, I started working on my own animated film while still there.
The song Ufo by Yok Quetschenpaua, which has been with me for a long time, is the template for this and is now being filmed in an English and German version in an animated cartoon. 🎉
The song, freshly mastered from the studio, is here. Bilingual, of course:
I gather three other musicians – Atze, Henk & Achim – around me to record the song in the recording studio. We rehearse for six weeks and on 25 February the time has come and we record in the Virtuos Vibes recording studio in Dresden.
In parallel, the great Alina Milkina creates the world in which the film will take place. Berlin as a cartoon:
The text is ready. \o/
Still in Espinho, I start working on the storyboard and the translation of the German text, with great support from the lovely Brad Hock.
As a participant in the mp3+4 :: 4 Werke project of the Neustadt Art Kollektiv, I was allowed to put my song Alex into a film in cooperation with the gifted painter Helena Zubler and the up-and-coming artist Alexa Paul. I am supported by the great Omani Frei.
🥳 Alex was awarded for the second time and will be shown at the 18th Der Phantastische Trashfilm festival from 5 to 7 May in Kassel. Keep it up!
Not quite, but almost: The Courage Film Festival voted Alex into the semi-finals. Then the screening time was out. 🤣 Still, the first laurels, and at a festival where Alex definitely belongs. Thank you!
It is done, the film is released.
The colouring of the drawings by Alexa Paul is completed. Now the last step is to assemble the pictures into a film. The video has to be ready by 30 April. ⏱️
Helena has finished the nine drawings. The colouring is now done by Alexa Paul.
Ich habe – parallel zum Song Anarchia – mit den Musikern Atze, Henk und Achim eine Version des Songs einstudiert und aufgenommen. Wir haben uns dabei den Spaß gegönnt, mit Banjo, Waschbrett und Kontrabass zu arbeiten. Herausgekommen ist ein Stück Leichtigkeit, das ihr hier schon einmal genießen dürft:
I rehearsed and recorded a version of the song with the musicians Atze, Henk and Achim. We had the fun of working with banjo, washboard and double bass. The result is a piece of lightness that you can enjoy here:
The project is funded and we are excited to create a total of four videos with three other art teams. Helena, Omani and I have had the first video call and I have submitted my storyboard to Helena for submission.
The keyword of the adriAkustik-Liedermachenliga 2020 was “Humming”. So I sat down in the Alaunpark and wrote a song about humming. Now this word doesn’t even appear in it, only twice someone “hums”. The result is a story full of utopias that clears up this employer/employee doctrine.
Update: As part of the »mp3+4 :: 4 Werke« project, a music video is being produced for it. 🥳
