I love that feeling, when you wake up you are in a different frame of mind, counting down and using well the hours before you have to be there. Arrive at an empty club, and hope and watch it fill up. Getting the sound all nice and then playing that first chord in the hope you connect well with the songs and the crowd. Everything plays a part to a good performance. If it is a nice vibe from the crowd, a chilled bar, good sound system, lots of stuff. I got a good feeling tonight is gonna be a good one.
Been practising this new set all morning and feeling so proud of how it is sounding. And as the band joins me, it will grow and grow from this positive and fresh root. Feeling so fresh and excited about life again! Every day is a new day, and the sunny days are just around the corner. I am in the most vibrant city in the world and loving it. I have been going with the rhythm of the city and I feel she has truly welcomed me and been looking after me. It´s strange, but just like Kan Tiki, you feel at one with the forces that move this world if you go with the flow and your instinct.
Yesterday was such a joy, I had just started the first song, and a woman wanted to buy a cd, she only had a twenty and I didn´t have any money in the world. I said "Ahh, just take it, love" She was asking people walking by for change, but noone had any, so she apologised with a smile and went to take her train. About ten minutes later this other woman was putting a business card in my pocket saying she had a restaurant and would love me to play there, when the other woman came back with a crisp ten euroes and bought my CD. It really touched my heart this. I put my hand on my heart and thanked her.
I went out expecting to make a couple of euroes and in the end made a nice hat and had some lovely experiences. Ahhhh, what a kick busking is hey. But gigs are great aswell, as they make you really practise your set and songs, busking you can do what you want, but gigs are a show and require a different mindset, which I love. I´m hoping this busking band comes together nicely, double bass, guitar and cajon would be a great start and been getting some nice messages.
Well, was just a quick one this, but also to stay in the habit of writing every day. See sou at the gig tonight. x
I wrote that in my journal, I reckon it has a nice ring to it. Anyway, I was putting off going busking all day today. Just sat and coloured for hours, spoke to the boys about life, but knew I needed to go as I did not have one penny to my name. I spent it all last night on a new hairtcut at my favourite Turkish Barber and a few Rothaus Pils at Artliners.
Feeling good with my new ´do´. There is this guy who cuts it who is such a character. An old guy of about 60 with big white hair with some black bits and lots at the front like a skunk do. Hard to explain, but he is one stylish guy. When he cuts he snips the scissors so rhythmically and hypnotically taking such care with every snip. There was another guy in front of me, but he called me over first because he remembers me. Bit by bit the new me is coming together.
April has been a month where you can feel Winter and Spring co-exist in one day. Out one window it is cloudy, cold and murkey, and out the other side its sunny warm and bright. Just as I left the hair dressers it became Spring again. I sat and drunk a beer in my usual Spetty, checked my hair and wrote a little bit as I felt the warmth in the sun fill my bones. I then made the walk to Artliners and there was a good band warming up, so I smoked a little, drunk a little, listened to the first set and then left in a great frame of mind.
I have been giving money to every homeless guy who gets on the ubahn, I just think it is a positive seed to sew, they must have a hard day and night, and when they get a euroe or 2 euroe coin it puts a nice smile on their face (most of them anyway) I was one euro short for a Doner Kebab. I hadn´t really ate since my breakfast and thought it the best investment with the last of my geld. I found a nice Gemuse place close to Warschauer and there were a couple of guys outside it. I say "Alright boys, would you like to keep the positive and beautiful vibe of Berlin going by giving me a euro so I can get a kebab" One shook his head straight away and looked away, the other had a smile, took out 2 fifty cents,.and gave them to me. I smiled, patted him on the shoulder and said, "Danke, buddy". It was a good Doner aswell
But anyhoo, today I was putting it off and slowly getting the busking stuff ready. I just thought ´fuck it, come on´. I got on the train unsure of which station to hit, I had hit my fave nearly every night this week. Then just as we got to FWP, I felt the urge to jump off and try here. Always trust your instinct I thought and made my way up. I would have been happy with a few euroes to get online, it is Sunday and im not expecting to make much, I just wanted a practice for tomorrows gig more than anything. In less than an hour, I sold all my CD´s, this girl sat and listened and filled me with such lovely praise and good words. The new set is sounding really good and I am so happy I am on my own again, I feel this voice come out from deep inside me, which is hard to bring when you are always playing with people.
So, I am playing a gig tomorrow with me good mate Dave Gaffney, it´s at a lovely little bar in Friedericshain and this last week I have been getting a set together that is what wants to come out of me. For me, my favourite singers are the fearless ones. People who express themselves how they feel deep down. People like Tom Waits, Neil Young, Kurt Cobain, David Bowie, John Lennon. They got out of them what was inside now matter how rough around the edges. I am learning to be as fearless and confident as I can, and letting what wants to come out, come out. Simples.
I am banging out these blogs in a spetty within an hour, so I know they might be rough and a bit all over the place, but I will edit them all later I suppose. I just wanna capture whats going through my head on this journey, and days.
So yeah, the re-invention is going good and I am finding myself in some old blues songs. I am happy. I am in the rhythm of this incredible city, but anyway, I feel I´m repeating myself, so lets put this one to a close.......click x
It was nearly 5 years ago on the 5th of May 2012 when I set out on a pink moon for some adventures with just my guitar and an open heart, and in that time I have grown so much as an artist and person, I wouldn´t change a thing. The sleeping on park benches, hitching on the freeway, bunking the trains, busking the markets, all of it has filled me with the most beautiful memories and brought wonderful, like minded people into my life.
I have filled many notebooks with drawings, thoughts, lyrics, songs and doodles. Written and recorded 5 albums, but why do I do it? I have been asking myself that. Why do we fill these books and write songs. Even if the idea of success fades the older you get, you still hold on to the idea that you are doing something good in the world. By creating something that wasn´t there before. You are putting a piece of yourself into the world. And also, I couldn´t imagine doing anything else with my life.
I love to spend a rainy day colouring and drawing for hours and hours, I love to busk in the Ubahns and make a hat of geld, spend it all the next day and then head out again to sing for my supper. I love to be able to do whatever I want. The very idea of a job and a boss does not work to well for me. I have tried it in the past, but even though the money comes and goes and rolls and flows through the holes in the pockets of my clothes, I don´t answer to anybody but myself. I can quite happily spend the days filling white paper with many different inks, singing like Louis Armstrong at midnight in the ubahns.
I don´t have a home as such, but instead stay with wonderful people and friends I have met along this journey. If I wanted to leave for anywhere tomorrow I could go. That feeling is precious to me, just like the hours that flutter away, freedom and time are the most valuable things we could ever posses. Berlin has a hold of me though, and I feel it is wrong to leave here when it is full of such positive and good vibes, and filled with beautiful, colourful and creative people. Let me tell you about last night....
I had spent my last few euroes on a trip to the spátty, and then a pint of Imperial Special stuff at the kiwi bar and had a chuck o darts. Knowing I needed to go busking, but not really feeling up for it I went to Rathaus Steglitz ubahn. It is under construction so no shops, and a nice warm reverb. I had just set up when 2 BVG guys said I can´t play here. I tried to break through their uniform, and hit a chord with them. We spoke for about half an hour, and I said ´Why don´t you just let Berlin, be Berlin.´ The main instigator tells me he is a musician himself and I say ahhh it makes sense now. When he tells me he is better than me, I laugh loud and say, well on this Friday night, I am making music, and you are stopping it. Ok I will go, catch me if you can..
That was the jist of it anyway, so I went to my favourite station, and even though I had been there 3 times already this week I thought fuck it. Be like the gypsies. They play for ten hours a day, 2 songs on a loop and hit the same stations. It was quite late about half nine when I started. I had one beer and a little hash. I started playing and the drops were coming in. I was really connecting with the songs and my voice. A guy came and sat, made a joint and gave me a big handful of weed! I kept playing and then someone I was hoping to bump into walked past and we exchanged smiles. Just as the beer was running out, I look up from closing my eyes and this beautiful girl is handing me a Radeberger Beer. A very fine German Pilsener. I just laugh and say I love it I love it I love it.
I play for another half hour and in that time as I was smoking 4 boys start walking past with a hip hop beat playing on a ghetto blaster. I get in with the rhythm and start rapping The Fresh Prince and they love it. They all chuck in a handful of coins and we fist bomb. I just laugh to myself in love with this city. I finish the night with around 50 euroes, feeling exhilarated I was strict and did not eat a doner. Eating them last thing at night, really makes that belly swell. So if I have one now, I eat it late afternoon and use the energy it gives you.
I feel I am going with the rhythm of the city. Trusting my instinct. Going busking and not worrying too much about what I make, just that I enjoyed myself and put my whole heart into the music that some people connect with. Although it is needed, I don´t let money be the main factor of busking. Be happy with whatever you get and just enjoy yourself.
Today, I head East...Get a much needed hair cut and maybe enjoy a Rothaus Pils. Ahhhhh, bliss...x
For the last year I have been writing in a journal. I fell in love with the feeling of filling clean white paper with black ink. I thought about Egyptian Hieroglyphs and how they took so much time with writing, like an art form. So I have been trying to write as neat as I can, all my inner monologue and experiences this last year filling many pages and books along the way. But as a consequence I have neglected this blog a little too much, so I am going to try to get back into the habit of updating it regulary......
It´s been over a month now back in Berlin and the first 3 weeks were so beautiful. I felt so energised by the experience in Argentina. The biggest thing was the appreciation of buying good fruit, veg and yoghurt for a few euroes. In Argentina the prices were hard, and we lived off potatoes and egg, with a bit of salad mostly. Which I loved! Eating the potatoes was the highlight of the day after working in the studio. When I got to Frankfurt and bought some Tobacco, Coffee, Chocolate and beers I didn´t feel the same pain I used to feel in Argentina when buying anything. It was so expensive there!
I stayed in Frankfurt a few hours before my train to Berlin and enjoyed the clear blue skies and a warmth in the March sun. Listening to the album we had just made, I felt proud. Mission accomplished. Although it was the end of us, I didn´t fully realise it yet. I took the train to Berlin and watched the landscape fly by, still slowly adjusting to life in Europe again, hearing German around me istead of Spanish. Feeling a couple of beers inside me I felt the old buzz of Berlin. I made it to the city and starving, ate a great Gemuse Kebab.
The next morning I went to the Aldi, bought some Red Irish Chedar Cheese (I had been craving for this so much in the desert) Some fruit, yoghurt, walnuts, avocados and stuff and made myself a breakfast I have been eating every day since. An Apple, Banana and Kiwi cut up very small, with walnuts, Greek Yoghurt and Honey. It felt so incredible, a whole bowl of goodness. After a few hours practising guitar and piano, I would eat the avocado with some tomatoes and Irish Chedar. Drink me 2 litres of water and then head out busking.
I knew I needed to be strong here, and eating good food will give you a lot of much needed strength. I was also riding the bike a lot. From Steglitz to Warschauer St, a 32 km round trip. Which made me feel great. It was a couple of weeks until my birthday and the weather had been beautiful! Another positive step I made was to get rid of my laptop computer. It is incredible how many hours flutter away doing nothing at all on that thing. So instead of getting online, I would draw, write and practise my guitar.
Berlin wouldn´t be so magical for me if it wasn´t for Alice Phoebe Lou! In those first few weeks I saw her 3 times and her incredible, voice, presence, lyrics and songs blottted out the rest of the world and touched something deep inside me. Whenever I hear her play she goes through my head for days and days, her voice and lyrics drift on rotation in my head. I even dream about her! I think it is because she emits something so powerful, pure and beautiful and it really touches me deep. I often feel tears well up in my eyes when she plays.
I love her very much, but I imagine many people do and feel the same way. She has this way of singing, like she is singing directly to your heart. It is also a curse, because after she has finished. Nothing sounds as pure anymore. She is truly a special talent and soul and it makes Berlin even more magical. It was my Birthday weekend, and the sun had been hot and warm from Friday to Sunday. It was bliss, and the perfect finishing touch was hearing Alice at Mauer. Anyway....
Because I wasn´t online much. I had just been going to the local Spátkauf and logging in for an hour a day. Nizha found the seperation hard and felt it best we just let go fully. I knew she was right, it was the best thing to do, but it always hurts when you are seperating yourself some someone. So I had a few weeks of testing times. I played an AWFUL gig at Artliners, which was supposed to be our welcome back party. The noise of the people in the bar was like a hammer to ears, and there is nothing more efficient at blocking out the feeling of a song than a noisy bar. Felt shit afterwards, but picked myself up and kept at it.
I knew I needed to re-invent myself and find my strength musically. I was doubting myself a bit, and not making as much as I was whilst busking. Then I had a great busk at Hallesches Tor, met some lovely people and found my voice and style start to show itself even more. When I was in Argentina, I was playing House Of The Rising Sun, and for a moment I felt this old blues, strong voice come out of me. I tried to keep hold of it and find it in other songs but it would drift in and out. Since then I am getting it out. Not using the mic whilst busking and really projecting my voice and it´s working!
I got through the end of that dark period over the Easter Weekend, seen some incredible music, met some lovely people and found my positive self again. It is natural to feel down when a relationship ends, but I kept hold of the feeling that good days are not far away and now I am singing strong with a new style I am feeling on top of the world! I posted an ad to put together a busking band and had a great response. So now I am in the stages of putting together the right people to do Berlin in style this summer.
So yeah, here I am. The Dead Sea Captain. Finding myself again and feeling very alive in this wonderful city. Have a listen to the album we made in the Desert.
I have the spent the last 3 years on and off in this incredible city and have learned a little bit about the best places to go and how to fill up your days. So if you are new to Berlin and looking for things to do and the best Doners, read on....
Sunday, the day of rest. And there is no better place to rest than Mauer Park. Head towards Eberswalder Strass and walk down to enter the very special bubble. It is like a free festival, with street musicians from all over the world every few metres, a giant flea market (If you walk around at about 3 or 4 pm they are virtually giving away the stuff). There is a Spatkauf just accross the road selling a wide selection of German and Czech beers from between 1 and 2 euroes. There is also a big Karaoke Colliseum where you can sing to a very big and very supportive crowd. There is also a basketball court and the smell of BBQs all around. This is why I love Berlin, there is space for everyone to express themselves. Sing your favourite song at the karaoke, busk, shoot some hoops in front of a crowd or sell your old belongings. If the weather is nice, Mauer is a must!
After a lovely day and a few beers you are probably gonna want a Doner and there is a place close to Eberswalder Strasse that makes the best! It is called Royal 44 and is close to the Ubahn station. It is 3 euroes for one of the most spectacular Doners in all of Berlin. It is a Gemuse Chicken which means it is roasted chicken breast sliced up, with Gemuse which is like Potatoes, Aubergine and other veg fried with a hint of spice, then mixed with the freshest most delicous salad. You get free Turkish tea and a smile from people who do what they do with pride and love, that Doner is a must! There is also a good pizza place just accross the road which does nice pastas, salads, lasagnes and much more for only 3 euroes.
Monday, head to a park in the day. There are so many here in Berlin! The ones I have found are the best are Gleisdreik, Neukoln, Grunerwalder Strasse and so many more. Just take a nice walk around and you wont be far away from a nice chilled park with a bench always waiting for you and nice people around playing frisbee and supping a Sterni. Warschauer Strasse should always be a station you pass by, as there are usually brilliant buskers plying their trade their. Though, the police are sopping them more and more, and there is a growing darkness, but it is still always worth a look.
In the evening head to Sandman Bar in Neukoln. They have live music every Sunday and Monday and it is a great meeting place for musicians and artists. You can smoke whatever in there and they have a nice brown bar feel and a good selection of whiskeys.
Tuesdays it could be good to head West. There are a lot of nice places here and though it doesn´t have the vibrancy of the East, it is still worth a visit. I usually find a game of darts at the Kiwi Bar is a good night. It is run by a very great Kiwi guy who has built a beautiful bar and it has a real dart board! Most bars here have electronic darts and I never got the hang of that. But here he has the real thing a very broad selection of whiskeys and beers from around the world. It is on Albrechtstrasse in Steglitz.
After the Kiwi bar you are gonna want another Doner, and this one is joint 1st with Royal 44. It is called Ruya Doner and is located on Albertstrass and can be reached by taking the M48 or M84. It is 3.90 a Doner but SO worth it. There is usually a big queue outside and that is always the sign of a goooood Doner. I had to wait 40 minutes the other day, but with that first bite I realised why it was worth it.
Take the Ubahn to Warschauer, see what´s occurring and then take the tram and head towards Artliners Bar. You can smoke whatever there and they have live music nearly every night! It is a very nice brown bar, with a good vibe and very smokey!
You might want a break from the Doners, so, close to Warschauer Strasse, there is an Indian Restaurant with a menu that has every dish for about 5 euroes and is always lovely. Just go to the bottom of the bridge that goes over the train station and turn right and you should see it.
All around this area there are great bars and most of them have live music, which is free entry and you make a donation to the hat at the end, a great system if you ask me. Wednesdays is also an open mic at Bar Bobou in Frankfurter Allee. Again, smoke what you want with a great selection of whiskeys and usually always a good standard of performers.
Thursdays - Go to the big Turkish Market called Maybachufer in Kreuzberg. They have a lot of cheap, good quality food and stalls and a great vibe. There are usually street musicians there and it is the heart of Kreuzberg. Then keep heading through the market and get to Treptower Park. Very nice there, with boats and lovely places to eat and drink for very cheap. Find a bar on the way and enjoy the night.
Friday, head down Warschauer, see what´s occurring and then just pick a direction and walk.
If you are lucky, you might catch the wonderful Alice Phoebe Lou
Saturday, there are so many markets, but your best bet would be to head to Hackesher Market. It is close to the centre and always has street music and a nice vibe. You are close to the river, so just walk towards it and you end up in this beautiful park watching the boats pass, while numerous street musicians play.
Sunday.....Ahhhhh, Mauer.
Hope this helps! And if you see a street musician, drop a euro or a coin in as it helps to sustain the vibrancy of the street music culture here. Alles klaar.
Other things worth a mention are....The Yorkstrasse Doner, a very strong contendor, located between the S and U bahn. They have beef Doners here aswell, all bio ingredients, but my fave is the Gemuse Chicken.
Keb´up on Nollendorfplatz is also an excellent Doner. They have lamb or gemuse.
Get out at Schleisches Tor and pick a direrction to walk, there are great bars and music around there.
