MCD presents
REAMONN
Plus special guests
Sat 30 Sep '06
Marlay Park
Tickets: €85.50 inc booking fee
Gates: 2pm
Running Order
Reamonn
jack L
Dara
Sandi Thom
Bellx1 (DJ set)
Biography
Reamonn-Beautiful Sky
It's made of wood and string. There's a cable. The thing looks like a mix between a swing and a pulley-block with just one difference, there are no children siiting on it, just the washing.
"If you press here, the construction lifts itself," Reamonn Garvey proudly smiles. He has just finished building an electric clotheslineliftingdevice for the bathroom. But why'
"Well, it makes life easier. There is no need for one to lift heavy stuff any longer."
Yes, of course. That's understandable, obvious, absolutely, crystal-clear. But to be honest, there is nothing, that could express Rea's way of life better than this wooden-string-thing: "If something bothers me, I do something about it. I try and fix it," he says.
But Reamonn Garvey is no carpenter. He is a musician. An Irish Musician. He is the singer of Reamonn, the German-Irish band, that acchieved world-wide success with their debut album "Tuesday" in 2000 (at one point even Mariah Carey was wearing a "Supergirl" T-Shirt, because she loved their music so much). Now one could assume, that normally, somebody, who is so widely known like Rea, would spend his leisure-time in a deckchair, and not with a saw, a hammer and a heap of wood in a backyard in Berlin. But Rea isn't "normally".
We are in Rea's new flat in Berlin-Mitte. He is making coffee. The dog "Baby" does the popstar-thing, it leisures in front of the sofa. The aroma of hot fresh coffee and the sounds of "Beautiful Sky", Reamonns new album, fill the air pleasantly.
The band exists since 1999 in the same line up: Reamonn Garvey (Vocals, Guitar), Uwe Bossert (Guitar), Mike Gommeringer (Gomezz) (Drums), Philipp Rauenbusch (Bass) und Sebastian Padotzke (Keyboard/Saxophone). Before they found each other – the Irish man and the boys from Southern Germany – they were all working as professional musicians. When Rea arrived in Germany, being 25 years old, and having not more than a degree in Marketing and 50 Deutschmarks in his pockets, he started working as a roadie and as a merchandiser on festivals. As a musician he played in pubs, on his own, toured around and finally settled on the countryside in Southern Germany, close to Ravensburg. He placed and ad in a paper: Irish Musician looks for band. "The band is a circle. That's how it grew. Everybody brought somebody else. Gomezz brought Sebi, Sebi brought Uwe, Uwe brought Phil."
The last chords of "Allright", the opening ballad, fade away. The song sounds familiar. "That happens to us all the time," smiles Rea," people come up to us and say: "I know this song," but they can't know ir, because it's new."
Why would that be so'
"Maybe, people recognize something familiar in our songs, maybe the music reminds them of themselves' I don't know. But I like it."
"Allright" is such a song. Like the others, the band wrote it in Kerry, in Ireland. The album was prouced by Andreas Herbig (Bootsy Collins, A-Ha, Wolfsheim, Patrice, Deichkind*), "because he was just the best. He loves music and we love his work." They recorded the album in Motril in Spain and mixed in Hamburg.
Reamonn are songwriters. Like Radiohead they tend to write more songs than they actually need and in the end, they have to face the problem of deciding. For their debut they wrote fifty songs, including the hits "Josephine" and "Supergirl". For this one, their third album, "Beautiful Sky", they wrote eighty.
With a fat bumpy sound the washing machine finshes it's second run. Rea has to pack up his suitcase, quite soon. In a few days the band will start travelling. From mid April onwards they will play an extended club-tour. And "extended" in this context doesn't mean, that they play one night and rest for four days. It is quite the opposite. They will play 26 concerts in one-and-a-half months, only small venues, Irish Pubs, with a capacity of not more than a hundred people.
Why Pubs' Because everything started there'
"Because that's where everything unfolds," laughs Rea and explains why they want to present "Beautiful Sky" this way and not in any other. "Reamonn is about being direct, close to the audience, immediate, organic. I like telling stories in between the songs. We just love the atmosphere in these pubs. Plus: we don't want to hide behind a huge PA. Playing accoustic in such an environment is a good test, not only for the band, but for the music, too, for the songs. If you play like this, it 's like revealing the naked self of the band."
Reamonn might be popular, but they are not about pop. Whether Rea sings or talks, he tells stories. In Ireland this is, of course, the traditional approach towards music, where musicians entertain their audience, in the truest sense of the word. Intimacy is needed, an atmosphere, that can be shared by a few, not by as many as possible. And, too, an environment, in which it doesn't matter, if there are pauses between the songs, if somebody coughs, gets a drink, maybe yells something at Rea, who then might turn around, giggling and laughing, more about himself than about anything else, just because remembered the story, where he was completely off his head on Christmas day, somewhere in Ireland, and mistook Bono for a hotel-manager, or the other way round, a hotel-manager for Bono. Or when he recites stories from the weird world, that surrounds a man, who grows up with seven sisters. Or what it's like playing the midfielder in a German soccer team on the countryside, where not a single soul understands English and no one dares passing the ball over to him. Or why he was convinced, that God must be deaf, when he was little. And so on.
The mild softness of a guitar is audible, the first chords of "Star". It is quite an unusual love song, that deals with growing up, with the conflict between a father and his daughter, and it concludes with a simple and beautiful message: "If you love, you have to let go."
But not all songs on "Beautiful Sky" deal with intimate relationships. The album focusses on issues, that affect our society, it deals with the fears, that people share, and it shows ways to overcome the daily-dosis of paranoia and frustration, that so many in the world nowadays encounter, too.
"Many people feel a lack of confidence into the future, they miss a certain security in their emotions, they miss long-term perspectives. In Germany and elsewhere, a lot of people already experience crucial changes, and I am not only talking about recession of unemployment, I mean a cultural shift. How can you expect to comfort people, if you give them a culture that bases itself on short-term-pleasures' Of course, then what happens, is that people loose the ability to enjoy the silent bits, the little things, that make you happy, the tiny bits of all-day life, that are designed to grow slowly'
Well, that sounds a bit too beautiful, doesn't it'
"What's wrong with beauty'" asks Rea and stares into his empty coffee cup. "Look, if somebody nowadays would say: "Life is wonderful.", people will just laugh at him. But why'"
Maybe it just doesn't sound cool. Maybe one isnt supposed to say that. Maybe there are so many more reasons to feel the opposite'
"Yes, I do understand that, too, but doesn't make things better. The only thing that helps is hope."
Maybe that is why the melodic and powerfully written ballad "Strong" is one of Rea's favourites. "It was the first song we had written, and when I heard it, I knew, that the album had begun."
The subliminal energy of "Strong" grows throughout the whole album. "This song is meant to incite a rebellion. An inside rebellion against stereotypes, against prejudices that distort our way of perception and impede the freedom of our mind." Every other song carries this spirit into other aspects of life. "Beautiful Sky" is about staying curious, being brave enough to ask, having the courage to form and issue an opinion, the energy and will to get involved, to do something.
"And look, I don't want a revolution. I just want to say: This is your world, let's try and do something, so that it doesn't go down the gutter. It will be allright, but only if we act. There is no danger in speaking out loud, there is only danger in remaining silent."
If somebody says something truthful, the politness of the English language suddenly becomes sporty. They say: "Fair enough". "Fair, Rea says, "is, of course, always good." He then excuses himself. The washing waits. And the wooden-string-thing.
REAMONN
Plus special guests
Sat 30 Sep '06
Marlay Park
Tickets: €85.50 inc booking fee
Gates: 2pm
Running Order
Reamonn
jack L
Dara
Sandi Thom
Bellx1 (DJ set)
Biography
Reamonn-Beautiful Sky
It's made of wood and string. There's a cable. The thing looks like a mix between a swing and a pulley-block with just one difference, there are no children siiting on it, just the washing.
"If you press here, the construction lifts itself," Reamonn Garvey proudly smiles. He has just finished building an electric clotheslineliftingdevice for the bathroom. But why'
"Well, it makes life easier. There is no need for one to lift heavy stuff any longer."
Yes, of course. That's understandable, obvious, absolutely, crystal-clear. But to be honest, there is nothing, that could express Rea's way of life better than this wooden-string-thing: "If something bothers me, I do something about it. I try and fix it," he says.
But Reamonn Garvey is no carpenter. He is a musician. An Irish Musician. He is the singer of Reamonn, the German-Irish band, that acchieved world-wide success with their debut album "Tuesday" in 2000 (at one point even Mariah Carey was wearing a "Supergirl" T-Shirt, because she loved their music so much). Now one could assume, that normally, somebody, who is so widely known like Rea, would spend his leisure-time in a deckchair, and not with a saw, a hammer and a heap of wood in a backyard in Berlin. But Rea isn't "normally".
We are in Rea's new flat in Berlin-Mitte. He is making coffee. The dog "Baby" does the popstar-thing, it leisures in front of the sofa. The aroma of hot fresh coffee and the sounds of "Beautiful Sky", Reamonns new album, fill the air pleasantly.
The band exists since 1999 in the same line up: Reamonn Garvey (Vocals, Guitar), Uwe Bossert (Guitar), Mike Gommeringer (Gomezz) (Drums), Philipp Rauenbusch (Bass) und Sebastian Padotzke (Keyboard/Saxophone). Before they found each other – the Irish man and the boys from Southern Germany – they were all working as professional musicians. When Rea arrived in Germany, being 25 years old, and having not more than a degree in Marketing and 50 Deutschmarks in his pockets, he started working as a roadie and as a merchandiser on festivals. As a musician he played in pubs, on his own, toured around and finally settled on the countryside in Southern Germany, close to Ravensburg. He placed and ad in a paper: Irish Musician looks for band. "The band is a circle. That's how it grew. Everybody brought somebody else. Gomezz brought Sebi, Sebi brought Uwe, Uwe brought Phil."
The last chords of "Allright", the opening ballad, fade away. The song sounds familiar. "That happens to us all the time," smiles Rea," people come up to us and say: "I know this song," but they can't know ir, because it's new."
Why would that be so'
"Maybe, people recognize something familiar in our songs, maybe the music reminds them of themselves' I don't know. But I like it."
"Allright" is such a song. Like the others, the band wrote it in Kerry, in Ireland. The album was prouced by Andreas Herbig (Bootsy Collins, A-Ha, Wolfsheim, Patrice, Deichkind*), "because he was just the best. He loves music and we love his work." They recorded the album in Motril in Spain and mixed in Hamburg.
Reamonn are songwriters. Like Radiohead they tend to write more songs than they actually need and in the end, they have to face the problem of deciding. For their debut they wrote fifty songs, including the hits "Josephine" and "Supergirl". For this one, their third album, "Beautiful Sky", they wrote eighty.
With a fat bumpy sound the washing machine finshes it's second run. Rea has to pack up his suitcase, quite soon. In a few days the band will start travelling. From mid April onwards they will play an extended club-tour. And "extended" in this context doesn't mean, that they play one night and rest for four days. It is quite the opposite. They will play 26 concerts in one-and-a-half months, only small venues, Irish Pubs, with a capacity of not more than a hundred people.
Why Pubs' Because everything started there'
"Because that's where everything unfolds," laughs Rea and explains why they want to present "Beautiful Sky" this way and not in any other. "Reamonn is about being direct, close to the audience, immediate, organic. I like telling stories in between the songs. We just love the atmosphere in these pubs. Plus: we don't want to hide behind a huge PA. Playing accoustic in such an environment is a good test, not only for the band, but for the music, too, for the songs. If you play like this, it 's like revealing the naked self of the band."
Reamonn might be popular, but they are not about pop. Whether Rea sings or talks, he tells stories. In Ireland this is, of course, the traditional approach towards music, where musicians entertain their audience, in the truest sense of the word. Intimacy is needed, an atmosphere, that can be shared by a few, not by as many as possible. And, too, an environment, in which it doesn't matter, if there are pauses between the songs, if somebody coughs, gets a drink, maybe yells something at Rea, who then might turn around, giggling and laughing, more about himself than about anything else, just because remembered the story, where he was completely off his head on Christmas day, somewhere in Ireland, and mistook Bono for a hotel-manager, or the other way round, a hotel-manager for Bono. Or when he recites stories from the weird world, that surrounds a man, who grows up with seven sisters. Or what it's like playing the midfielder in a German soccer team on the countryside, where not a single soul understands English and no one dares passing the ball over to him. Or why he was convinced, that God must be deaf, when he was little. And so on.
The mild softness of a guitar is audible, the first chords of "Star". It is quite an unusual love song, that deals with growing up, with the conflict between a father and his daughter, and it concludes with a simple and beautiful message: "If you love, you have to let go."
But not all songs on "Beautiful Sky" deal with intimate relationships. The album focusses on issues, that affect our society, it deals with the fears, that people share, and it shows ways to overcome the daily-dosis of paranoia and frustration, that so many in the world nowadays encounter, too.
"Many people feel a lack of confidence into the future, they miss a certain security in their emotions, they miss long-term perspectives. In Germany and elsewhere, a lot of people already experience crucial changes, and I am not only talking about recession of unemployment, I mean a cultural shift. How can you expect to comfort people, if you give them a culture that bases itself on short-term-pleasures' Of course, then what happens, is that people loose the ability to enjoy the silent bits, the little things, that make you happy, the tiny bits of all-day life, that are designed to grow slowly'
Well, that sounds a bit too beautiful, doesn't it'
"What's wrong with beauty'" asks Rea and stares into his empty coffee cup. "Look, if somebody nowadays would say: "Life is wonderful.", people will just laugh at him. But why'"
Maybe it just doesn't sound cool. Maybe one isnt supposed to say that. Maybe there are so many more reasons to feel the opposite'
"Yes, I do understand that, too, but doesn't make things better. The only thing that helps is hope."
Maybe that is why the melodic and powerfully written ballad "Strong" is one of Rea's favourites. "It was the first song we had written, and when I heard it, I knew, that the album had begun."
The subliminal energy of "Strong" grows throughout the whole album. "This song is meant to incite a rebellion. An inside rebellion against stereotypes, against prejudices that distort our way of perception and impede the freedom of our mind." Every other song carries this spirit into other aspects of life. "Beautiful Sky" is about staying curious, being brave enough to ask, having the courage to form and issue an opinion, the energy and will to get involved, to do something.
"And look, I don't want a revolution. I just want to say: This is your world, let's try and do something, so that it doesn't go down the gutter. It will be allright, but only if we act. There is no danger in speaking out loud, there is only danger in remaining silent."
If somebody says something truthful, the politness of the English language suddenly becomes sporty. They say: "Fair enough". "Fair, Rea says, "is, of course, always good." He then excuses himself. The washing waits. And the wooden-string-thing.
