Manafonistas

on life, music etc beyond mainstream

2023 12 Jan

„Doing Time“ – four questions for Robert

von: Michael Engelbrecht Filed under: Blog | TB | Tags: , | 2 Comments

 


One – Hainsbach and Mengkoven won‘t appear in another song again too soon, i think. What are your memories of those roads – no problem, if you speak your  „broken German“ in an evening radio show   – and what, apart from that, has been inspiring for that song called  THE ROADS?

Two – I  DONT DO DRUGS I DO TIME: that‘s what I call an instant classic. A song with sharp edges, full of memory flashes, and the things we can do with time. Not a wasted second. How did this song grow that makes me think, too, about the delicate balance between our experiences with time, and, well, drugs?

Three – I cannot remember I ever saw an album with the line  „The  musicians in order of their appearance are“ – this is something I know from movies, and in some ways one can experience this album like a movie. Can you explore the special affinity of your new album THE CANDLE AND THE FLAME with a  certain cinematic quality, and, did there come up a film in your mind… whatever….?

Four – Around the time you got to know Regensburg I was living in the Northern Bavarian Wood, working at  my first job as psychologist in a big clinic near the border to the former Tchechoslowakei. I know you returned quite often to that city. Can you bring up first memories that spring to mind when thinking back, the first deep impacts Regenburg left on you… may be a certain picture or some  imagery …?

 

Robert Forster‘s forthcoming album (to be released on Feb. 3, on Tapete Records), grew, in quite strange ways, around a dark time for his family, and ended up in a collection of heartbreakers, power pieces, singalongs (nearly), lifers, growers, invocations, deep sinkers,  straight rollers, and road meditations. The most exciting thing for me (as someone who followed the Go-Betweens and their „in-between“ solo albums from the first longplayer onwards) is how easily Robert seems to wander and stroll through different periods of his life, from teenage angst and dreams, over the sophisticated folk pop of the salad days (all the spaces between rural hinterland to 16, Lovers Lane), towards the ways of looking back, with a sharp eye and a decent quantum of sepia tinged sincerity. There‘s a cinematic feeling all over the place on this record! 

 

This entry was posted on Donnerstag, 12. Januar 2023 and is filed under "Blog". You can follow any responses to this entry with RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

2 Comments

  1. Lajla:

    “At your concerts you maintain close contact with the audience. I was impressed every time. Does it bring you a lot of joy?” Das würde ich ihn fragen.

  2. Michael Engelbrecht:

    Ah ja, wir waren beim gleichen Konzert im Gebäude 9 in Köln, nur er und Karin auf der Bühne, und ihre Tochter verkaufte Platten, Cds etc., unforgettable, that evening!

    These questions are already on their way to Brisbane. Long interviews in Uncut and Mojo.


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