It doesn’t take much to find out that many of the people I’ve met in India, travel to this mysterious country, because they’ve lost themselves somewhere on their path or simply have the feeling that there has to be so much more beyond ordinary life to discover.

Therefore the question “What brought you to India?” brings out so many interesting life stories.

Many of us are searching for something in India that goes beyond the busy monkey mind of material life in Western Worlds. Even many may not know it consciously before starting their journey to India– latest when they get here, they realize.

But what is that “something” that we are looking for?

“People just love people”, said my friend I. one day.This simple message has it all.  We are all desperate for having people around us that we can share life with, that are warm at heart, that are caring for each other, loving each other, touching each other, sharing food or a massage, sharing emotions, joyful or painful.

We are crazy about keeping our mind busy with projects that we want to realize, work, jobs, politics, what so ever, rather than focusing on our hearts:  We keep on forgetting about the thing that really counts for us – which is simply spoken: giving, receiving and feeling love.

People love people.

Relations filled with love that make us see and observe the beauty around us…to be touched and hugged by a friend, feeling profound and deep - rather than having superficial and practical relationships.

Often we feel too ashamed to ask for it, that all what we need in a certain moment is a little love. 

Seems like India is a place where travelers gather to find the forgotten land of touching each other's heart again.

People would do jokes with me before leaving to India, asking me, “ Ah, you go to India to find yourself?” and the paradox thing is, yes, in a certain way it’s true!  

There’s just something about India! As soon as I was around for some weeks I found myself rather being travelling on a journey to my inner self than travelling a country. Above all it’s the encounter with so many inspiring people in India that made me become a better observer of what’s my attitude towards life, how I treat others and myself and the relationships I got in life.

I mean that’s always the case with travelling, that you confront yourself with yourself in a world of strangers with different cultures, different food, different hygienic circumstances, different habits and different beliefs that makes you more aware of who you are, how you act and interact, what you like and what you don’t like, but nevertheless India is a special place to get closer to yourself and having a playground for new experiences and new perspectives. 

India! you land full of mysteries, magic, challenges, spirituality, chaos, traditions and rituals and weird artists that left me inspired, inspired, inspired! It will take some time to digest all of what I’ve gained on this trip! …Definitely to be continued soon. 

And last but not least: I want to give thanks to all of you, my new and old friends, for sharing life in all its facets!

Zusammen mit einer alten Studienkollegin machen wir uns am letzten Abend Helsinki auf die Suche nach interessanten Bars im alternativen Viertel „Kalio“, das einst ein Arbeiterviertel war und nun immer mehr KünstlerInnen anzieht, da die Wohnungen klein und die Mietpreise vergleichsweise günstig sind. Es dauert nicht lange und wir kommen mit einigen Finnen ins Gespräch – allesamt waren sie super offen und entsprachen somit überhaupt nicht dem Stereoyp der Finnen, wortkarge Menschen zu sein. Gegen späten Abend lernen wir dann in der Rytmi Bar vier Musiker_innen kennen, die an der bekannten und einzigen Musikhochschule Finnlands’, der  Sibelius Akademie, Musik studiert hatten. Wir verbrachten einen schönen Abend zusammen und weil’s so schön war,  trafen wir uns am nächsten Tag noch einmal zum Mittagessen. Diese Gelegenheit nutzte ich um von Tero eine Videoaufnahme zu machen. Tero studierte Folklore Gesang und hat sich über Jahre hinweg auf Throat-Singing und Oberton-Gesang konzentriert – welches zu den anspruchsvollsten Arten des Gesangs gehört. Ohren und Münder waren weit offen, während er seine Performances abgab. Er ist ein Mensch der es  nicht nur durch seinen Gesang vermag die Seelen von Menschen zu berühren, sondern darüber hinaus eine so warmherzige Art  an sich hat, die man selten antrifft. Eine schöne Begegnung!

Zusammen mit meinen neuen finnischen Musikerkumpanen Henri und Elisa machten wir uns nach dem leckeren Essen im Onda (Essen aus aller Welt - Buffet für zehn Euro - unschlagbar gut!) auf in einen Plattenladen, den Black & White Record Store, welcher eine grandiose Auswahl von ausgefallenen Platten bietet und dazu noch sehr sympathische Eigentümer hat. Ich lasse mir von den beiden drei authentische, ulkige finnische Platten raussuchen – unter anderem finnische Schlager aus den 70ern, Folklore und natürlich Finnischer Tango! Perfekt für den nächsten interkulturellen Umtrunk  - Wie überall auf der Welt  und so auch in Helsinki – Musik verbindet !   - kiitää musiikki - Danke Musik! 

...Was ist throat singing?

...Throat Singing gehört zu den ältesten Musikformen der Menschheit. Die Sänger _innen können dabei nicht etwas nur eine Note singen, sondern simultan mehrere Tonlagen durch spezielle Techniken und dank der Resonanz des Halses sogenannte Obertöne erzeugen. Obertonsingen ist in Zentralasien, insbesondere in der Mongolei beheimatet. Darüber hinaus findet man es auch in Kulturen in Nordkanada und Südafrika. 

 Weiter unten im Video könnt ihr eine kleine Performance von Tero sehen - Throat Singing in einem Vorhof in Helsinki - das war akustisch gesehen der beste nächste Ort für eine Aufnahme! 

In the labyrinth of the streets of old town Seville there’s a hidden treasure that appears like another little world in the middle of the city – a world of musicians, artists and artisans: The Pelicano.

Also nearby Pasaje Mallol offers great co-working spaces and other workshops that are rented out as Yoga and Dance Studios. The „Zona de Pasaje Mallol“ and the „Zona Plaza Pelicano“ together could be best described as a little village of creative minds and is ultimately developing to the Alternative Centre of Sevilla with new concepts of work places and living of Public Art. 

This old industrial zone from the 1920s is one of the few places in Seville where artists and musicians can rent out workshops and rehearsal rooms and work on what they most love to do: A.R.T.

By walking between the walls of the old fabric houses one can breath this fulminant artistic vibe in the air:  From Flamenco Dance and Guitar Workshops to Rumba Percussion Classes, Improvisational Theatre, Capoeira and Rock Bands. Everywhere you go, you are surrounded of a spirit of experimental art. 

It appears to me like a factory of dreams in the middle of the buzzling city:

Artists are working on their projects trying to make a living out of it, which gives this area this special atmosphere of a parallel universe with totally different ideas of values and appreciation of life.

Speaking in financial terms, the situation for artists in Seville is pretty difficult: Half of the culture budget goes into Flamenco events like the Flamenco Biennale, the biggest event in this music genre. Concert venues have to pay very high taxes to host concerts  (one of the highest in Europe with nearly 20%) and there is little money left to support the development of the poor infrastructure of alternative music scenes, which is outside the world of Flamenco.

This very little support of government,  let’s Seville’s artists get pretty inventive to find their own spaces like the Pelicano,  an arts world that feels like a resistance of existing conservative structures of the city.

Most of the rehearsal rooms in the Pelicano are not well insulated, but that’s what is there and more and more people are putting some great effort into restoring the rehearsal rooms. So does Paco, a drummer and talented carpenter that fixed up one of the rehearsal rooms that we rent.

If you are in Sevilla and looking for a rehearsal room to rent or to be connected to musicians of the Pelicano - contact us! 

Interview with Sehran about the vibrant music scene in Arambol, Goa in India. 

Arambol is a meeting place for musicians from all over the world. Incredible transcultural music projects are created and inspiring  shows are found on every corner! 

A true haven for musicians and music lovers!  

Sehran is an indian musician and documentary film maker currently working in his homeland together with his girlfriend Aldhara  - check their projects on: https://www.trueyogareviews.com 

After a chill out stop in Agonda with some awesome musical nights together with S. and A. in the south of Goa, M. and I moved on to the state of Karnataka to stay in Gokarna. Gokarna is home to four beach areas: Kuddle Beach and OM Beach (it got its name due to its shape of an OM symbol), Half Moon Beach and Paradise Beach. All of them are much less crowded as those beaches of Northern Goa and more “Hindu”. Two of them are not accessible with motorized vehicles and therefore appear to be a whole different world. As we heard before, Paradise Beach is home for people that just live on the beach in hammocks and cook their own food living the wild jungle beach life.

In order to get to those beaches one has to walk through jungle coastal mountains for respectively half to one hour or take a boat that only goes randomly when the waters are calm.

When we finally arrived at the magical place of Half Moon Beach we found some very, very basic huts with hardly electricity run by a family of Grandma and Grandpa that still live on very traditional terms, with rice cultivation on tiny fields next to the ocean, wearing traditional clothes (which means they hardly wear clothes), and their grandsons, that operate the two beach shacks.  What else is there? Well a beautiful Jungle surrounding, a calm little beach and a little crowd of hippies from all over the world, that’s it! This mixture makes this place to one of the mellowest but most interesting places I’ve ever been to.

Basically we got stucked in Half Moon Beach: Every day when we were thinking about leaving to move on, we simply couldn’t leave. The atmosphere just keeps you there with its mellow people, sunrises and sunsets and magic full moon nights. Basically everyone was into music and could play some tunes, so my little guitar was very popular among young and old.

Those places and the people that gather there remind pretty much on Rainbow Festivals, where, for a period of time travelers meet and rest, creating a little tribe of Utopia with a glimpse of a feeling that a peaceful world could be possible. 

If you are looking for a place with an environment to be creative and create music, art, poetry, doing yoga or whatever, this is definitely a place to go. 

PS: My lovely Malin thanks for a wonderful travel adventure together! 

In Mapusa there’s a little magician known to create haute couture perfumes for each and every individual. To create the individual perfume for the person, he closes his eyes, meditates for a few seconds, opens his eyes and looks deeply in the eyes of his costumer and then starts to mix the essentials out of his hundreds of perfume oils.

When it was my turn, he looked into my eyes and  he told me: You are fire! I know exactly what you need. He asked me: “Have you ever really felt yourself? You should think about that! This perfume will help you to be aware who you really are!" And indeed, I have to say I love the perfume so much!  Hahaha it was an unforgettable experience – that’s incredible India!

Wow it’s done! Chakras, Nadas, Koshas, Doshas, Mudras, Bhagavad Gita, Krishna, Shiva, Samasthiti, Pranayama, Shavasana, Rhomboids, Superspinatus and so on and so on.....We learned so much. Nearly a month of intense Yoga Studies and exam stress that made us feel like going back to University or school days – we made it! Theory Exam and Practical Exam – done! Congratulations everyone!  We got pretty fit everyone – but also some knee issues saying hello to some after such a full on-Yoga Practice!

It was so amazing how everyone has developed their very individual approach to Yoga and Meditation in the final Asana Exam – beautiful ideas came up from mixing up Yoga with Martial arts, or making Yoga fit for people with disabilities, Yoga and Music, etc.

In my personal Asana exam I created a class of meditative Music Yoga and I called it “Nada Brahma”. “Nada” means Sound in Sanskrit, “Brahma” means god: So it means that God is sound or Sound of God - Before there was anything there was sound. Not only in Hinduism, also the bible says: First there was the word and the word was with god and out of this word came every single creation. 

– In Yogic Philospohy we learn that everything is in everything – “oneness”, so God is in all of us. God is Sound – and so are we.

I started with a meditation about imagining the own body as a lake of sounds – I asked my fellow students to imagine their breath as the waves of this lake and their mind as the wind. In Yoga we try to balance the mind, breath and body – so if the wind is calm, the waves are calm and the lake is quiet and peaceful and - only a quiet lake is able to reflect its beautiful surroundings. Throughout the Asana Practice I encouraged my test- students to remind their connection between the wind, the waves and the lake and to focus on a calm deep breath. The breath is the secret to keep mind and body in steady calmness.

In the end of the class – After playing some meditative tunes on the guitar and working with the singing bowl by placing it on the belly of some students,  I prepared a little Good Bye song for the course as we lay down in “Shavasana” (The dead’s pose – where we just lie down and relax into our body after all the body work). To close the class we sang "Lokaha Samasta Sukhino Bhavantu" together – which means “may all sentient beings be happy, wise and peaceful”. My first full Yoga Class was a wonderful experience – although of course I was nervous before! It was so much inspiring preparing the class in the days before and once again I feel I’ve chosen the right path.

I leave this teacher training with having learned a lot about myself, my mind, breath and body, going again one step deeper into immateriality, new encounters with wonderful people and inspirations from all of them. It’s incredible how we all developed in this intensive time with emotions going up and down. I feel so grateful for this time and I’m looking forward to see all of them growing in their paths - and of course I'm exited to move on now into my own journey of Music Yoga future! Thanks for loving' - thanks for letting me love!

The lyrics of the song that I wrote for the class: 

Traveller's souls we are

Like birds flying in the sky

Always hungry for more

Yes life it's a journey

I feel so grateful I have met you all

I wanna thank you for those precious moments 

And wherever your journey may take you

And where the heck in the world you guys all gonna be

Keep following the melody of your heart 

It knows the way how to be free

....to be free! 

From 7am till 7pm in the evening, 6 days a week: It’s all about Yoga!  I can’t deny: It’s really intense and broadens up my physical and mental abilities. I feel blessed and thankful that I gain this experience and about having the opportunity to learn so much.

Waking up with some religious chanting in the near distance we start our mornings with Asanas (physical Yoga practices), Pranayama (Breathing techniques) and Meditation sequences before we have breakfast. We go on with Anatomy and Alignment classes, learning about the effects of the postures on our bodies, which muscles are engaged and how the whole body structure synergizes. In Alignment class we learn about how to ”align” Asanas, which means how to explain and correct postures. In the afternoon we have Philosophy, Teaching Methodology and either Asana class again or Restorative Yoga. We finish the day with Meditation or Yin Yoga Practice, which often gets really deep into emotions.

So, sun comes up we are busy with Yoga,  sun goes down we are still busy with Yoga. Intensive, but awesome.

The twelve people of our course are coming from Spain, Germany, Netherlands, England and Indonesia. It’s really a nice bunch of people – every day we grow together more and more through this intensive experience that we are sharing.

We are situated in a jungle area surrounded by the lush green of trees and palms and  by the sounds of humming birds and insects, 4km away from buzzling Arambol.

The so-called “Jungle Dance Café” is a hidden treasure for silence seekers but also a space for artists to set up workshops and shows…and of course for Yoga.

The last week I had some really nice musical experiences, taking part in a “Free your Voice” workshop. Later on we had a music session at Love temple next to the beach, playing drums and guitars. People started to dance like crazy on the tables and sofas, others went into shamanic singing – and a brilliant vibe was created. Goa is a kind of parallel universe.

Last but not least I got to know some nice musicians and I had my first paid gig in a restaurant on the beach yesterday, which was great! Wooohhooo! I played together with Will a songwriter from England and Merel. Playing the drums with the sound of the waves of the Arabic Sea in my back was quiet a pleasant experience.

…Talking with all those inspiring people here about ideas of how to connect Yoga and Music practice lets me feel that I have chosen the right path to come here. Goa is a paradise for Musicians.

Om Shanti! Shanti! Shanti! Namaste.

Click on the photos below for dia show...

I post those pictures without big words as the battery of my laptop runs out! 

Just a little note: I always thought the era of Goa of being a place of living “la vida loca” started in the 1960s, when the first Hippies crossed the ocean to establish the Mecca for freedom lovers. Actually it dates back to Portuguese colonial times, when Goa was one of the most curious places for Europeans in India due to its rich spices culture. So Goa, after hundred of years still remains a place for freedom seekers from all over the world. It’s a place where you just can be the way you would like to be. The every day encounter with different people here has one message to tell: It’s beautiful to be a dreamer!

Lots of love from Goa!

Endlich habe ich es mal nach Indien geschafft. Purpose: Yoga-Lehrer-Ausbildung. Davor aber nochmal eine Woche Beach Life an Goas’ bekannten Stränden. Ein Kontrastprogramm also, von Strandcocktails, Essen, Konsum und  später geplante Askese, Enthaltsamkeit und Konzentration auf das Innere. Die Vorfreude ist riesig!

Nachdem wir nach einer knapp 18-stündigen Reise über Abu Dhabi, morgens um halb sechs in Goa ankommen erwartet uns eine Taxifahrt, wie sie nicht anders von Indien zu erwarten ist: Frontal entgegenkommende, überholende Autos, denen wir nur knapp ausweichen, ein LKW der uns beinahe von rechts in die Seite fährt, ein Fahrer, der mehr damit beschäftigt ist, Nachrichten auf seinem Handy zu tippen, als auf die Straße zu schauen, Kühe und Hunde, die auf der Straße herrenlos umher laufen und Menschen in langen, bunten Gewändern, die bereits früh unterwegs sind. Ich für meinen Teil bin während der Fahrt glaube ich vier Tode gestorben. Wir fragen uns, wie das alles so zusammen passt, die ganze Hektik auf der einen, und die ganze Spiritualität für welche dieses Land andererseits so bekannt ist und abertausende Erkenntnissuchende aus aller Welt anzieht.

Welcome to incredible India!

Es umhüllt ein süßer, wohlriechender Duft die palmengesäunte Landschaft mit ihren in bunten Farben leuchtenden Hausfassaden. Wir erfreuen uns bei der 1,5 stündigen Fahrt nach Arambol, trotz aller Müdigkeit  an den Bildern, die sich uns im Panorama der aufgehenden Sonne bieten.

Um Geld zu sparen, haben wir erst heute eine Hütte gemietet und verbringen noch halb im Delirium einige Stunden am Strand und später in der Bar und lassen es uns bei einem unschlagbar günstigen Frühstück, Mango Lassi und Masala Chai gut gehen, bis wir endlich in unsere kleine „Luxus“-Hütte einziehen können.

Goa ist der kleinste indische Bundesstaat am arabischen Meer im Südwesten des Landes und den meisten wohl geläufig als Hippie-Aussteiger-Paradies. Das gilt insbesondere für den Norden von Goa, wo wir uns aufhalten, mit seinen Goa Trance Beach Bars, Hippie Markets und Yoga Retreats. Eine kuriose Mischung von Menschen trifft man hier an, Old Time Hippies und junge Nachkömmlinge aus der ganzen Welt. Viele dieser durchaus hübsch anzuschauenden Menschen, gleichen herumwandelnden Kunstwerken, mit ihren Dreads, Schmuck und vielen Tattoos. Der Strand gleicht einem einzigartigen Hippie-Modell-Laufsteg. Natürlich schön!

Zur Strandlektüre gehört hier alles an spirituellen Themen was Indien  über die Jahrtausende so entwickelt hat – Man blickt um sich und sieht Titel gesäumt mit Yoga, Chakren, Ayurveda, Meditation und Co. Klischee erfüllt: Selbsfindungstrip am Strand von Goa!

Daneben zieht es insbesondere jetzt in der Hochsasion um Sylvester viele Inder zum Urlaub hierher.

Ja es ist Hochsaison und die Strände sind voll. Abends ziehen wir los – wir sehen tanzende Hare Krishnas, die mit ihrer Energie viele der „Noch-Nicht-Krishnas“ in ihren Bann ziehen und zum tanzen bringen, einige Meter weiter einen Drum Circle mit sich in Trance tanzenden Menschen und indischen Männern die ihren Hüftschwung zum Besten geben. Nochmal einige Meter weiter sitzen ein paar tolle Gitarrsisten die mit wohltuenden ruhigen Klängen wieder ein ganz anderes Gefühl erzeugen – We are One – Let’s celebrate. Die drumherum stehenden Menschen singen mit.

Wir essen tibetische Momos und ziehen uns zum Abschluss noch eine indische Musikperformance mit Tänzerinnen rein. Ziemlich divers das Ganze hier. 

Am letzten Tag des Jahres sind wir am Strand, also zwanzig Meter von unserem Hüttchen entfernt und spielen ein bisschen Gitarre. Wir werden im Minutentakt von vorbeikommenden Indern gefragt, ob sie ein Selfie mit uns machen können. Wir überlegen, ob wir daraus ein Business starten sollten: Ein Foto – zehn Rupien. Ein Inder setzt sich vor uns und bleibt über lange Zeit bei uns und schaut uns an, lädt uns zu sich in den Norden von Indien ein. Er wird uns bis spät in die Nacht immer wieder aufsuchen in der Bar und verabschiedet sich höflich.

Kurz vor 12 ziehen wir los und enden über Umwege in einem Goa-Psy-Trance Club. Auf dem Weg dorthin scheint es so, als ob nur indische Männer unterwegs sind. Die indischen Frauen sind schon zu Hause. Es ist der Wahnsinn wieviele Menschen am Strand sind!

Nach etwas Überzeugungsarbeit und unter Mithilfe eines süßen kleinen nepalesischen Halbopa mit unschlagbarer freudiger Energie konnte ich meine lieben Mitreisenden auch zum Tanzen bewegen und es stellt sich heraus, dass sie entgegen ihrer Behauptung, Goa-Trance nicht zu  mögen, heimliche Goa-Dance-Freaks sind – wir gehen so richtig ab und  lassen unserer Gefühlen freien Lauf – Abspacken! - Endlich mal auf Goa Musik in Goa tanzen. Barfuß am Strand. Herrlich!

In der Nacht kam dann doch noch die in Indien nicht seltene Überraschung: Magenprobleme und Übelkeit!  Ich bin verschont geblieben. S. und M. sind damit, so hoffen wir, bald grundimmunisiert.

Bis auf das, könnte ein Übergang ins neue Jahr 2017 nicht schöner sein. 2016 war ein aufregendes Jahr, ich bin froh sagen zu können, dass ich meine Träume lebe und ich danke all den lieben Menschen um mich herum, die das möglich machen. Ganz nachdem Motto von Goa "Leben und leben lassen" - Happy New Year 2017!!!!

This weekend was again heavy..Heavy music ;) I  went to a litlle festival @ Didim Hall which is one of the most important concert venues for Rock Music in Hongdae. After a long week full of conferences, interviews and a whole bunch of work it was necessary to get a relief. I’m a bit stressed out.  And that’s why I love to see this kind of music live: When I entered  the concert hall I just  got blown away by loudness, heavy drums, bass and guitars and the screaming singers and it just made me forget about all the stress and all the non-sense that kept my mind busy during the last days... BAAAAMMMM  into your face..so many emotions expressed throughout the music and I just discovered my inner self again..Tok Tok here I’m again..That’s where I belong. That’s what is really moving me..Of course the job is interesting. But I don’t necessarily identify myself with it…It keeps me thinking a lot when I then get back to music and see how much more I can feel life and get connected to myself and how much it feels more like my real identity...

The  bands that were playing were Silent Eye, Downhell and Hammerring. Actually all of them really great Heavy Metal Bands but internationally not well known. Especially Silent Eye is quiet famous here in Koera.

After being here a while I can see that the Heavy Scene is quiet small but full with really good musicians. But it seems that most of them don’t have a chance to get out of Korea to play gigs outside the country. The government is promoting K-Pop  as a cultural export a lot but for Rockmusic if it’s not commercial “K-Indie”  there’s nearly no support from the government. But that is what happens in most of the countries worldwide except the Scandinavian countries.

A funny new thing that I saw here is that when the guitarist is playing a solo the people would just go as close as possible to the stage and try reaching out their hands to the guitarplayer and play air guitar with him. And also it’s curious that most of the shows already start around 5pm and finish by 9 or 10pm.  Like this at least the younger crowd is also able to go to the concerts. All of the people I get to know here, they love German metal and I find myself sometimes embarrassed because they tell me from bands that I never heard about.

After the show we went with some people to Heavy Metal Bar, which turns out to be my new home here in Seoul. It’s a bar where you can put songs on request and the owner just has an amazing collection of music. Also there’s working Aki a very beautiful Korean Metal Girl and I get along with her very well. Yesterday when I went in the owner promptly put some songs from Pantera and Slayer as he already know I like those bands so much. It’s a great venue and I feel very comfortable there.

We had a good party.. As all the people are really mad about this music everyone was just like headbanging and singing together. Really great vibe!

When I requested a song from NATY one of the most famous Korean Heavy Metal Bands the owner just pointed his finger out to the two men sitting next to me at the bar and said: “They are NATY”…That was great! I had a really nice chat with those guys. They already play since 30 years but they still look so young. These Koreans are amazing – they all look much younger than they are. I’ll try to get those guys connected to the Metal Battle @ Wacken.  At least write an email to the organizers. So far there was no band from Korea at the Metal Battle as far as I know.

We finished the night at Three Thumbs another Rock Club and we were already quiet drunk but as everyone knows each other in this small scene we were still welcome….for more information on Korean Metal visit: http://asiametalhead.com 

Still feeling a little bit in Trance this morning I went with Jiyu for our traditional Sunday meeting and discover Seoul. Well, actually we didn’t see each other for some time now and it was nice hanging out together again. After having good food we went to one of the biggest Buddhist Temple and it was really amazing to see it..I just wonder how those monks can have a peaceful life because it seems that it is always crowded with people.

After a lovely weekend of a mixture of playing music, doing some landscaping work on the property and beach sessions and going out having some drinks we went to Little Beach on sunday afternoon,  where they have a drum circle each sunday for sunset.  I was thinking it's a tiny crowd of hippies, but arriving there I was surprised how many people where there! I felt like at Woodstock  -The beach is a bit hidden and you have to climb some rocks to get there. When we arrived we were asked by a girl at my age - hey you need  any LSD - mushrooms? She was naked and so high - real funny - I said thanks to her - no need for that! What a picture: Naked people dancing and playing the drums, a lot of them on mushrooms or LSD, others just enjoying their beers,  moms with their babies just enjoying the free spirit of the place!  What a wonderful place to be. American Dream is calling! 

Yesterday I spent a wonderful music day with Steve! We played two gigs - and one of it was at the catamaran on a sunset cruise.

We really had so much fun playing music together and people were enjoying so much, too. Food and Drinks were for free and they had delicious cocktails and finger food like king prawns on deck that made the sunset even more pretty. Next to our boat were swimming dolphins and when Steve performed his romantic tunes people would just start hugging each other looking at the sun setting  and getting sooooo smooth! This was really putting a big smile on my face - While on the boat I had to think of Michel and Sonja who are about to leave for their open end trip with their boat Pantera in May! It's so wonderful you guys doing this - it just has to be amazing!! hugs for you! 

It’s been ten days that I’m on Maui and it felt good to be back here after 12 years! From the first day I felt like home here – I got the same room that I had back then and Steve borrows me his car and I’m free to move around. I’m living upcountry in a kind of jungle area where it’s nearly always humid and raining a lot. Steve got a  very huge property and I live here with Steve, Marc, Rose, Michelle, Patrick, Markus, Dave and Patrick. Rose and Michelle live in two old School Busses that are on the property which is really cool.  All of them are into music and art: Marcus and Steve are professional musicians – Marcus played with a lot of famous musicians like Billy Idol and Willie Nelson,  Steve worked for Bob Rock, who produced albums from Metallica, Patrick is an audio engineer who worked with many bands, too and still is working here in the studio that we got in the house. Except Marc and Rose they are all already in their 60s and they all formed part oft the hippie movement in the 1960s/70s in California,  they hitch hiked the USA and played music during many years and it’s so much fun listening to their stories. Three days ago I met Toto who is a popular percussionist and I was so overwhelmed when he told me that he'll go on tour with Neil Young this summer - I was like whaaaaat???? Neil Young? Oh man....

 It’s so nice to be in this musical environment and everything seems more reachable here and I'm so motivated to work on my musical skills. 

Watch the music video below to see crazy Jose and a bit of the show that we were playing yesterday at the Yacht Club.

Wieviele abertausende von Menschen suchen ihr Glück in dieser Stadt – den Traum von einem glamourösen Leben,  auf den großen Bühnen von Las Vegas zu stehen! Tänzerinnen, Sängerinnen, Musiker, Showkünstler..von Burlesque, über GoGo-Dancing, Hard Rock und Jazz, hier sieht man einfach alles...auch sieht man diese, dessen Traum hier geplatzt ist, bei denen die Versuchungen des Nachtlebens  zu groß waren und ein Leben im Rausch überhand genommen hat und letztendlich ein Leben als kaputte Freaks auf der Straße Realität geworden ist...Welcome to Sin City LAS VEGAS!

Ich hatte mir ein Zimmer im Four Queens Casino gebucht und es war wunderbar nach der langen Reise in der engen Holzklasse in einem Zimmer mit Queen Size Bed anzukommen.  Ich beschloss mich nach einer erfrischenden Dusche erst nochmal aufs Ohr zu hauen, bevor ich mich in das Lichtermeer der Stadt stürzen würde. Beim Einschlafen dachte ich mir, was wohl in diesem Zimmer schon so alles vor sich gegangen sei! Anstelle von meinem Wecker geweckt zu werden, wurde ich dann von Lärm an meiner Tür geweckt – Oh Schreck! Jemand versucht in mein Zimmer reinzukommen – ich steh auf! - Mega Herzrasen - geh zu Tür - verriegel sie - total gejetlegt konnte ich es erst gar nicht richtig einordnen. Der Betrunkene versuchte es noch eine Weile, gab dann aber auf – Nu denn er hat sich wohl einfach in der Zimmertür getäuscht. Auf jeden Fall war ich jetzt wach, wenn auch total durch den Wind. ein guter Start in den Abend ;)

Es war mittlerweile dunkel geworden und da ich ein Zimmer im 16. Stock hatte, bot sich mir eine tolle Aussicht auf die in tausend Lichtern gefärbte, laute Stadt. Musik tönte aus allen Ecken und die Geräusche der Casino-Automaten waren unüberhörbar.

Mein Hotel liegt inmitten der bekannten Fremont-Street-Experience, mit der komplett  aus Leuchtröhren- und LED’s bestehenden Rund-Überdachung. Also raus aus dem Jetleg, in den Fahrstuhl runterwärts und BÄM - Steh' ich mitten im Casino, die Leute spielen, rauchen und trinken was das Zeug hält.  Die geilen Psychedelic-Teppiche, so wie die Hotelzimmer erinnern mich an "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" und ich ich komme mir vor als würde ich inmitten dieses Filmes stehen, das gefällt mir und zaubert mir ein Lächeln aufs Gesicht.   Die Casinos sind alle nach vornehin geöffnet und mit der Fremont Street verbunden, so dass ich mich einige Schritte weiter auch schon mitten auf der Street befinde: Überall tausende von Menschen, Straßenkünstler, Musiker, Tänzer, Verrückte, Batmans, Spiedermans, Sexbomben zum anfassen,  aus den Boxen dröhnt laute Musik und überall Blinky Winky Lichter, Lichter, Lichter!!!

Ich gönn mir ein paar Bierchen und lass’ die Atmosphäre auf mich wirken, schau mir ein Rock-Konzert an – es war schon geradezu perfekt und ich dachte es sei ein guter Zeitpunkt schlafen zu gehen, man soll ja aufhören wenn’s am schönsten ist.  Aber als ich in meinem Zimmer gehört habe, dass die Band immer noch geile Sachen spielt – konnte ich nicht anders und bin doch nochmal runter J Die Band , die spielte, erinnerte mich an Steel Panther, eine Hairy-Glamrock-Band. Die Jungs sind in den letzten Jahren international ziemlich erfolgreich geworden, aber davor waren sie jahrelang auf den Cover-Bands-Bühnen in Las Vegas zu Hause, bevor der große Durchbruch kam.

...Man kann über die Amis denken was man will und vielerlei Kritik, insbesondere wenn’s um Politik geht, ist wichtig und einfach eingebracht, aber auf der anderen Seite hat hier so viel Gutes seine Heimat – insbesondere der gute alte  Rock'n'Roll – Er lebt und atmet hier und diesen Teil der Kultur inmitten der Menschen so erleben und erfahren zu können - I love it! 

In ROCK’n’ROLL we trust!!!

 Amaro – mein bester Kumpel in Spanien ist Psychologe und Musiker und da liegt es mehr als nahe, dass in seiner Arbeit zu verbinden. Wir beide interessieren uns schon lange für Musiktherapie und es war schon öfters Gesprächsthema – Seit einiger Zeit setzt Amaro das auch im Kontext seiner Arbeit in die Tat um - in einer Einrichtung für Menschen mit geistiger Behinderung. Es wurde mir die große Freude zu teil, dass ich ihn bei einer seiner Sessions begleiten und unterstützen.

„Hola soy Diana de Alemania!“stellte ich mich den Leuten vor und die „Chavalles“, wie Amaro seine Patienten gerne nennt, waren ganz aus dem Häuschen, dass jemand zu Besuch war. Um Musik zu machen, gingen wir in einen nahe gelegenen Park – dafür mussten noch die Instrumente gepackt werden, wofür zwei Rollstühle herhielten, die voll bepackt wurden mit Trommeln, Rasseln, Gitarrre, etc..

Gemeinsam mit ca. zehn Mann sah es schon aus, wie eine kleine musikalische Völkerwanderung. Die Eine oder der Andere tanzte schon auf dem Hinweg ausgelassen eine Sevillana. Im Park angekommen setzten wir uns in einen Kreis und breiteten die Instrumente auf einer Decke aus und es dauerte nicht lange da ging es auch schon los - von Scham (fast) keine Spur. Die Kunst des oder der MusiktherapeutInnen liegt darin, das ganze in freier Improvisation zu gestalten ohne irgendwelche Vorgaben zu machen, aber auf der anderen Seite auch ein Feingefühl dafür zu haben, dass das Ganze nicht in einem Chaos endet. Gar nicht so einfach. Es war auf jeden Fall auffällig, dass sich die Energie total geändert hatte, als die Chavalles die Instrumente in die Hand genommen haben. Besonders interessant war für mich zu sehen, wie sehr die Chavalles dem Flamenco verfallen sind und wie wichtig auch bei Menschen mit schweren geistigen Behinderungen die Kultur für die eigene Identität ist -  Für das Gefühl sich irgendwo aufgehoben zu fühlen. Nachdem ich mich dumm gestellt habe, und so tat als würde ich nicht wissen, was die Sevillanas seien (Die Sevillanas sind ein andalusischer Volkstanz) , wurde in die Runde gefragt, wer mir das erklären könne – Dabei haben mich weniger die Antworten überrascht, als die Art und Weise wie mit vollem Stolz über das andalusische Kulturgut sinniert wurde. Danach wurden die Sevillanas angestimmt, es folgten Gesänge und Tänze voller Inbrunst, was für eine wunderbare Energie!

do you know that feeling when you leave home in purpose of going out to the city but you feel so tired and you think it's tooooo cold outside and it's toooooo far to get there and you'd rather prefer hanging around on the sofa watching movies or something? Then you enter the venue!... - the band starts to play....... and puts a big shiny bright super smile on your face, your heart opens up, the blood cells in your veins seem like dancing a molecule dance and  make you feel like a brand new human being!  jajaja oh yes!  this is the power of live music! and this is what happened to me last weekend again when we went to the concert of  'ten years after' a cult band from the late 1960s/ 1970s in the legendary Colos Saal in Aschaffenburg. Of course I didn't miss out the chance to meet the band and take a photo with them. I'm very honored of having had the opportunity of  meeting them.

After the show, when they came from backstage to the march stand  - people were already waiting for them for signatures,  but there was nearly no younger audience or let's say younger girls - so in order to create and give them back a bit of their pop star feeling that they had in the 1970s I started screaming oooooohhooooo oohhhooo ooouuaaaa they are coming!!!!! when they passed me...and they gave me a scary look and started laughing and it was a good start for a little chat :) Oh man I can be so embarrassing ;)  

Only two of the four remain original members. But the young Marcus Bonfanti is doing a great job as new frontman and guitarist. Great show - great evening! 

 I’ve just got back from South Africa where I presented a paper on a conference about my research in Korea and I still had a week to discover... I mainly stayed in Capetown.  Surrounded by the table mountain and an impressive coastal scenery it’s indeed one of the most beautiful cities I’ve seen so far. But also, it’s one of the most exhausting cities as it full of contrasts between rich and poor, black and white and colored people. We went out at the famous Long Street where we found numerous clubs of all different types of music playing.  What we felt was that segregation is still in the air of this street. In the first club we entered, only blacks were hanging out, in the other club, where a  very nice Jazzband was playing,  it was mainly crowded people from the Cape Malay community which is an ethnic group with partly South-African and South-East-Asian routes. In another club where we hoped to find Hard Rock and Metal music, mostly Whites where hanging out. Well they played only Indie-Music…anyway, it’s quiet shocking to have on one hand a world in Capetown that reminds you on the luxury world of Ibiza with having kilometers of slums (they call it “informal settlements”) right beside it. Of course, in many countries you find that phenomena, for example in Latin American countries, but in South Africa this contrast between different worlds is enormously extreme and I wonder if I could live there, although the nature and the vibe is awesome…

Well, Capetown is known for its vibrant Jazz-Scene and is often called the New Orleans of Africa and you find such beautiful venues, small bars where you can listen some really delicious Jazz Music.

… And my musical experience was the other side of my South African trip which again showed me the intense power of music: As you can see in the (well, not very nice) video a white grandma is playing together with blacks and colored people…In music the ridiculous distinctions of  colors of the skin doesn’t matter  and this is where I could find the spirit of Nelson Mandela so present Capetown: Viva la musica :) 

since I got back to Germany  I'm training the dogs billy, ozzy and lilly to sing and perfom with a little harmonica that I bought in Australia...today first try with the guitar! enjoy our first results...stay tuned for the next songs!

tobi and me are travelling together since one week and we were heading down south into the Southern Forests in Western Australia..Huge forests with Karri and Jarra Trees that belong to the tallest trees in the world..This area is so much of a spiritual place to be ...and non of a touristic place and we are wondering why...It seems people tend to go to the East Coast..We are just overwhelmed by the beautiness of the vast forests in combination with the empty beaches..I letEckhart Tolle speak for me in the following:

Use your senses fully.

Be where you are. Look around. Just look don't interpret.

See the light, shapes, colors, textures.

Be aware of the silent presence of each thing.

Be aware of the space that allows everything to be.

Listen to the sounds.

Allow everything to , within and without...

We love this place...music the woods, the ocean..happiness :)

This weekend was full of Music! And in my time here I am connecting to myself in a way that I couldn’t do since a long time.

I played music with Koji Matsumoto, who is an extraordinary Didgeridoo and Hang player known for having his very own particular style of playing didgeridoo. He's been travelling the world since many years playing on streets. He came to Perth to give a didgeridoo workshop and a concert. I already saw videos of him on youtube and was so happy that I had the chance to see him live, but it got even better  as I ended up playing together with him “on stage” (well, we were sitting on the floor ;))

Koji travels the world playing festivals and busking on the streets and of course it awakens this feeling of just wanting to live this lifestyle, too of just playing music and music and music and create and give beautiful sounds! My "wild" travelling side is calling so much on me again and I'm confrontated with one side in myself that wasn't there in such a strong way since a long time! Sometimes you need to meet certain kind of human beings to reactivate and get aware of the hidden parts of you!  On the other hand I've always dreamt of an interesting job that would pay me travelling and creating music without depending on it financially as it is at the moment. I'm so happy, but also confused, because sometimes I still don't know in which world I belong and I'm travelling through so many different kind of realities at the moment. But one thing is sure: We always come back to who we really are! And we reflect on the gap between our dreams and the confrontation with the life we are living in reality.

Anyway...

We had a lovely jam session in the afternoon playing the Hang Drum, Sanshi playing the didgeridoo and me playing the guitar and percussion. And in the evening I joined on two tracks on guitar and drums at the show. And I loved it and all loved it! It was an amazing atmosphere and the music was mind blowing us and the audience.

I’m still feeling like in trance and I’m not able to concentrate on work ;)

Thanks Music , thanks Didgeridoo vibe, thanks KOJI, thanks SANSHI (you are such a wonderful spirit!)  and all the other wonderful people!

PS: In the video is me (obviously ;) playing on a hang! Since so many years I want to have a Hang, but it's so difficult to get one! - I need all of your good vibes to get one in the future!..but there are long long waiting lists...

On Friday evening I had the pleasure to join the Band “East Wind” from Fremantle supporting  them on percussion in a three hours show in a Tapas Bar in Freo. The band consists of a guitar player, the Estonian singer Kristiina who has an incredible voice,  a damn good Saxophone player and  Sanshi, the Japanese Didgeridoo god. He’s amazing!!! …And well this time with me on percussion. They play ( we played) a mix of all kinds of music from oriental stuff to Nordic (Estonian) folksongs. It was  quiet challenging  for me as they are all very good musicians and the rythms were quiet complicated going from Irish folks songs to Arabic songs and Improvisation and I never practiced with them before. But it worked out really good and I found my way into the music quiet easily after the first two songs. The saxophone player also plays all kind of flutes so that the music changes its ambient totally when he’s taking another kind of flute. The top of the show is the belly dancer! She came in for three songs and really shocked all the men in the bar with her beauty dancing. It was so funny to see the faces of the men..You could really see what they were thinking of haha :)  She was doing a fantastic performance! It's really such a nice mix of instruments..with the didgeridoo and the saxophone...

After the show we had dinner together. Yummi Spanish food with fabulous Spanish chesse. Oh my god it was such a long time I haven’t had such a good cheese!

And even they split the momey with me! I really didn’t want it as I was happy that I could join them…but I had no chance!

All of this inspires me a lot! Thanks MUSIC !!!

 On friday I had my first Jam Session with a brilliant Didgeridoo Player and a bunch of other Didge and drum Players. The Jam Session took place spontaneously in a  shop which is specialized in high quality didgeridoos and they are marketing didgeridoos from one family tribe that has a tradition in didgeridoo making for over 3000 years.

I really enjoy being here... I'm taking and (am needing) the time for myself playing guitar and writing on the beach and connecting to myself here. It's wonderful!

Haha yesterday I passed  a bus with an one old hippie sitting inside with his guitar. He asked me if he can join me playing on the beach and I said: "Don't take it for granted but I jsut arrived and would like to play a bit for myself". He was totally okay with that, gibing me an understanding "Hey I know those moments" - smile and gave me some tipps were are the less windy sports to play. He said: I'm playing here since over 20 years" Yeah Yeah...this all reminds me on the USA here..

 I live in Fremantle which is a little town on the beach near Perth. I decided not to look for an apartment in Perth but having an apartment close to the beach and it was a good decision as it takes me the same time to the University where I’m working as if I’d have chosen an apartment in the city. Freo is quiet famous for its really laid back lifestyle and there’s a lot of Hippies hanging out here. The most important questions are: Shall we have coffee first? Or go first to the beach? Or first beach and than coffee? I don’t knooow ;) Also very important things to have here are: Long Hair, Tattoos and a Skateboard. Until late night I can hear the skateboards grinding from my balcony. It reminds me on my young childhood…when I also tried to be a cool skateboarder  ;)

One thing that really shocked me is that as the cliché tells about aboriginal people being alcoholic and hanging around on the street and not being integrated in the “Australian society” just was totally fulfilled when I got here. That’s so terrible. I don’t wanna sound naive but it really shocked me to see that there’s such a strong segregation going on here. Of course I know that not all aboriginal are drunkards but arriving here all the ones I saw were drunk! I mean I know about the struggles of segregation in other countries due to colonization but here it seems even worse to me to a certain extend: 2% of Australian population are aboriginal and I mean it was their land but it seems they are not integrated AT ALL!! Oh man…what the fuck happened? I still don’t know too much about the structures behind that paralleled society that's why I need to be careful of what I’m saying but I wanna get to know more about the aboriginal politics here as it can’t be true!! I really would love to get to know more about their culture and hopefully will share it with you..

After being in Korea where everyone is so concerned about their bodies and is dressed up nicely and clean (Oh man I’m really talking in stereotypes in this blog – I’m sorry – but it’s just what my experience is) it seems to be so strange to be here seeing so many people that really don’t care how they look like – So viele feddische Leud hab ich schon lang nimmer gesehe ;) - but on the other hand it’s so nice – its such a multicultural place and you find people from all over the world! The people are very friendly and open here and the nature is just amazing…On my flight from Bali to here I made friend with an indonesian girl and we met yesterday as well..We were chatting and laghing the whole flight and for sure we were annoying lost of people...I'm stucking with the Asians ;) By the way Bali is for Australians what Mallorca is for Germans...When I was there I was overwhelmed by all the Australian rednecks...

Apart from all the shocks that I got from social realities here it’s indeed a fantastic place to be! …And it seems that there’s a lot of music going on.

So after coming back from Perth on friday I just popped in that shop and started playing on one of the drums and then the owner joined  playing the didge– a very nice Japanese guy –  and also some other people started to  just taking the instruments from the shop and we really rocked the show. The shop is more like a hang out place for Didigeridoo-fetish-people I guess ;)   I never went into didgeridoo playing – it always gave me a too strange feeling on my lips and I rather left that to Mario or others ;) But now here in Australia I’m thinking of giving it a try..maybe…  ;) Anyway those guys on the didge were amazing they were playing so many good rythms and fully internalized the breathing techniques… we really had a beautiful session!

Good Bye Korea – Hello Australia

I really felt a bit sad to leave Korea and the craziness of Seoul. I was sad thinking of how I gonna miss the people and the culture which I just started to explore. The culture is still not very transparent to me but so appealing and fascinating. And of course the amazing nightlife of Seoul and all the Metal Dudes… I really fell in love with Korea and I’m fascinated by its development and its history. You can hardly imagine that this country was one of the poorest countries only some decades ago…

I’m excited to work on Korea's development experience for the next two years and its meaning for other countries in Africa. I’m really convinced that it is a country of which other countries can learn from.

But it’s important to note that it’s not only about learning from the success perspective but also from the bad side effects of this incredible rapid development.  It seems obvious to me that many African countries look to South Korea: It was a damn poor country fifty years ago – it suffered a brutal Japanese colonization and had one of the most destructive wars in the history of human mankind which lasts more or less until today (North Korea). And today South Korea made it to be the 13^th biggest economic power worldwide. But also to mention is: It’s the country with the highest rate of suicide: It puts so much pressure on education, people are mad on education. The system is killing its own habitants with that education pressure. Two days before I left Korea there was the examination day of High School and I already heard of kids killing themselves just after the exams.  

It’s also known as one of the unhappiest nations of the world.

But due to its history – many African and other developing countries can identify themselves with Korea as it has gone through the same experiences like them.  I hope I can make a little tiny contribution to this Korean-African dialogue with the work I’m doing – at least to shed lights on the dynamics on those emerging discourses. I’m excited! What may Korea deliver what other donor countries failed to do in over 60 years of development cooperation? Is there something different or not? – In one point I’m sure: It’s something else when Korea interacts with African countries as a donor country: There’s no connotation of Imperialism in these relations.

But always keep in mind: Is that what we understand under development? Is that the desired outcome of development? A suicide paranoid unhappy society ( to put it in a very extreme perspective) we should think about it...and learn from all those aspects..

What was most amazing for me is the life of Koreans between “traditional”  (whatever traditional means) and contemporary culture. You have this culture of respect surrounding you, you find those nice tea houses all around in traditional “Hanook” houses where you can experience such a great spirit and such a calm aura, you have all the temples and martial arts which seem so mystique. On the other side  you’ll find the fast moving drive of this mega city..

On my last day I went out with one professor that I made good friend with over the time and he took me to this small tea place and I was just so flashed by all the pottery details and the warmth of this place and its owner. I certainly fell in love with Korean pottery - Which is another interesting story: In the time of Japanese colonization Japan has stolen pottery art of Korea: They forced Korean artists to show them how to make pottery and then declared it as being Japanese art. Anyway I learned so much hanging out with elderly people imagining that they experienced all that different realities of Korea: From being colonized and not allowed to speak their own Korean language, building up the country like hardcore and facing the world of today. Especially my professor friend who 's actually one of Korea's leading economists (but a critical one ;)) taught me a lot. Amazing…Sometimes I got really emotional while talking with those elderly persons and I feel a deep respect for them.

One thing is sure: Korea is a damn hard working country. All the people I met they were very serious about their jobs and a work day from 9 in the morning till 1am in the morning is nothing special! I mean Germans are quiet famous for being disciplined but we’re definitely far away from that hardcore working mentality as you find it in Korea. For a relief Koreans drink a lot as well...

Anyway there are so many things I would like to tell now but just in all I really had a great time and I’ve learned so much!

Now I’m in Australia! Wow…amazing beaches…amazing LAZY mentality in comparison to Korea haha…and on top of all good being back into a natural environment…but I have to admit living in a real big city like Seoul also has good sides ;) !!!
I'm reflecting a lot on my time in Korea at the moment...It's such a different world in Australia now and it makes me think a lot...But more on this in another chapter...Rock on Korea and thanks to all for having me around and giving me a good time!

For a change I went out with my Korean girls to a „hot“ club in Gangnam.  Most of the girls that I hang out here are not into Heavy Metal but that’s fine I’m flexible ;) …At least one time I was able to see what’s the meaning of the famous Gangnam Style song for real. For those who maybe do not know: Gangnam is a district in Seoul where the rich and beauty go out spending their money in fancy clubs drinking expansive drinks and are very concerned about their  style. We went to Octagon and the girls told me the club is ranked as the 9^th best club in the world. Actually I have no idea on which criteria they put those strange rankings but actually the club -from the sound and the interior- was able to compete with the clubs in Ibiza but not the music ;).

We went running there to get in before 11pm so that we don’t have to pay the full price. We were there exactly at this time and they said half minute later we would have to pay the whole price..

The first thing we did is going to the Women Restroom. But those restrooms are really rooms to rest: I never saw it before in my life in any club..the restrooms where like little parallel universes inside the club  only for women. Girls hanging around on Sofas..smoking and drinking and the most important: watching themselves in the many mirrors that covered the whole area and taking selfies and renewing their make-up again and again…Korean girls are the most beauty obsessed I’ve ever seen. And I guess for all the boys beneath you…you would go crazy here for the many beautiful girls ;) Korea seems to be the Italy of Asia: Everyone is dressed up so damn nicely here…I mean it depends how you define “nice” but I mean they are really concerned so much about their outward appearance..Not only the girls also the boys. Another curious thing is that in the toilets you have mouth rinse dispenser with little paper cups to always have a fresh breath for kissing J

Well the dancefloor was still empty and Naeun said: Common before we die at least I want to have opened up an empty dance floor once in my life.. So we went and not that much later a crowd of girls in Killer High heels and mini dresses went screaming on the dancefloor like a huge swarm of bees laughing and shouting…wow what an energy that immediately got pulled off and all over sudden all the boys came to chase them…hahaha it was so funny…

Because the drinks were that much expansive we went out to a mini-shop to buy some Soju and having some Instant noodles. In this minimarts you can sit down and have your drink and can use the hot water machines to put your instant noodles to share it all together. Korean Style of a varied night.

After repeating that two or three times we got then back to the disco reinvigorated and rocked the dancefloor until the morning. It was amazing to see that fancy world – which is indeed so completely different to the Rock Scene…I like it but don’t live it…

Friday after attending the North-East-Asian development forum with really interesting presentations from Japan, China, Korea and Russia I  went out with some Russian professors (sounds old but they were not much older than me) and one thing that I figured out again is that the love for cultivated drinking really connects Russian with German blood… J. Together with tow Korean friends we were exploring the posh night scene of Gangnam and of course taking a Tourist photo to show “Hey we were in Gangnam and danced Gangnam Style”  was of course included. J  I love the Russians always when I meet Russians I’m fascinated by hearing them talking Russian… The language…I love this language…

Saturday I turned back to Metal…

 Well actually I didn’t expect to have such a great night on Saturday as I was still a bit with a hangover..but as many of you know those nights when you don’t expect anything turn many times out to be very good ones..

I met with Dan my metal friend here in Seoul and Mickey from Singapore and we went to a concert from the bands Zihard and Bum @ the venue “Dream Hall” which is a very hidden place next door to a fitness studio. That was weird but this is actually what I like from Seoul..there are so many hidden places and you would never expect that place to have a Metal concert going on..Actually the sound in there was amazing…Even the music was loud the sound was so clear and not hurting the ears at all..good sound equipment and good sound engineer.. Thumbs up!!

After Bum was playing some nice smooth stuff -a bit experimental and melodic -Zihard went on stage and Youngsoo Park rocked the stage..I was impressed by his guitar playing..my friend told me he plays like Yngwie Malmsteen and yes indeed he does!!! Wow…

After the concert there were a whole bunch of musicians and I just went out with them for eating and drinking…

That’s so curious about Korean Culture when you go out you’ll have dinner maybe two or three times in a raw and you drink..Soju with beer…you sit on the floor you eat…drink.. and..having a good time…and then you go to another place and again you’ll have food and drink…Soju with beer. It’s like Tapas in Spain but so different, food is much more in the center here... because they have little barbecue stoves on the table and a lot of vegetables (Kimchi) and side dishes and you can refill them for free..

So I found myself with 30 or more Metalheads and among them were members of some of the most important Metalbands in Korea that wrote history in the 90s and even are active until today. I couldn’t believe it. There was the guitar player from Blackhole, Black Syndrom and Zihard. I read about them before but haven’t expect to meet them all at one night..It’s like a big family…and I enjoyed so much hanging out with all of them..

It's funny that more than ever in my life before here in Seoul  I'm into two very polarizing worlds...on one hand dealing with all that political stuff running around in Business dresses on conferences, talking with politicians and academics about Koreas role in Africa during the day and than when the night comes Life gets a completely different perspective on reality when I go out for music...

Yesterday I went to Jarasum Jazz Festival in Gapyeong which is an 1hour train ride from Seoul. Well as moving around in Seoul is so time-eating it took me 2.5 hours in all. 

..damn, it was so good to get out of the city. Situated in a magnificant scenery of mountains the first thing I did was lighting up a cigarette and just watch  the green soft shapes of these epic landscapes. I could get a first real impression of how beautiful Korea has to be and I'm so looking forward to getting out in nature again. I could feel my whole body just relaxing and the air was so good to breath. Everything seemed to move so much more smooth than in the megacity that never sleeps.

the festival itself was quiet a culture shock: I've never seen a festival so organized and clean and so chilled out. It was so much systematized and very much organized in a capitalistic manner with lot of promotions of all kinds of things that one can buy. It's a bit sad though seeing a musical event so capitalized, but the atmosphere was still good!

What I've never seen before was that EVERYONE was sitting. It really was a sitting festival. People enjoying wine or Makioli or Soju (Korean Wine) and having good food on little tables that they bring. Nearly everyone was sitting on mats. and noone goes on the mats with shoes.. even it was queit chilly when it got nightitme.

One funny thing was that when there was a break between the acts they would put simple dance videos with simple texts on the big screens and so many people just stood up and danced. Of course -when you sit all the time- at least in the break you have to dance- that's so logic :)))

You were not allowed to smoke anywhere except in ONE smoking area and  the festival site was big!

Also there was absolutely no littering. They have clean zones where you can put your trash and really it was soooo clean! Unbelievable.

It was really an experience to go there!

To the contents of the festival: the music was pretty good. All kind of famous Jazz Acts like Dominik Miller were playing but it seemed to me that really many of the visitors were not really Jazz-Lovers, I think it's just hip to go there and living this kind of life-style - listenning to Jazz and have some wine. It's really so intersting to see that.

I met one musician from Holland that played with his japanese band on the festival and also him he couldn't believe how organized everything is and he said, "it's really a kind of scarry tom me."

Well conclusion is: The festival atmosphere was good but even the scenery was so breathtaking it was a bit too emotionless due to its over-organization.

...AND: I'm a nature girl! I could feel so much more connected to myself when I got out there... but it was strang though, when I got back to the city in the night I kind a felt home and cozy, too in the metrostations with the tons of people running around and all the huge buildings and traffic and the noise. Haha :)

Today we went out to Zombie Walk woohooh! Quiet a crowd of Zombies walking around in the district of Hongdae scaring lots of people.  Some Zombies were really doing a good job going into shops or running after people and some got REALLY scared. Haha! was really good fun though.

But the best just came after the Walk….

I made my first steps into the Metalworld of Seoul. How exciting :)

I met some really nice people - especially Michael who is a such a great photographer! thanx for sharing the pics - and we went to a Heavy Metal Restaurant and had a lot of Soju( which is a Schnaps traditionally made from rice, wheat, or barley and without wasting time it really leads you right to the aim of being drunk very quickly). I don't know if it's true, but Koreans told me it's the most sold Schnaps in the world.

The owner of the restaurant is playing in a band and the atmosphere was just so good there! I can’t remember that I’ve ever been to a restaurant where you can find good food and really good rock music at the same time. It is really a very unique place. While having a good meal I got a class on Korean Metal from a really nice Korean guy that has a big collection of Rockmusic . Haha and I made them so jealous on Wacken. They all wanna go! Of course – Because Wacken is the best festival in the world ;)

Afterwards we went to Threethumbs Club and were so lucky that there was just a Metalfestival going on with Bands from Seoul and Busan ( which is the 2^nd largest city of Korea). Also here the atmosphere was really nice. In the entrance  at the cashier there was a girl sitting in the dark with only a candle giving a real mysterious light. You have to go up the stairs and you enter a little tiny smoky club with a wooden interior and with candles and beer for self-service. The music was really heavy! When we arrived the band "Manixive” from Busan was just starting to play and the female singer was so damn good at shouting. If you’d see that girl on street you’d never think she’d be able to scream and act like she’s doing while performing.

 As there was no stage which would put the musicians on a upper level from that of the audience you were really head banging face to face with the band and I think this always creates the best atmosphere for live music. The energies of the musicians just reach you straight away and go through your body. Oh I love that!

Afterwards the bands had “midnight-dinner” in one of Seoul’s traditional Barbecue-Restaurants (where you have stoves on the table to grill your own stuff) and I went with them and we had more Soju Schnaps and a real fun time.

I was glad to finally get first insights on the scene and I was lucky to hang out with all this bands that night which gave me a good entrance into Korean rock music.

videos of the bands in asia-section on this website!

Today my friend Jivu took me out to explore her views on Seoul. What an amazing day. After my first Korean Barbecue on the roof-top at Nayoungs' House with chatting and dancing until dawn, I was a bit tired and it was so hot at this day. In this situation big cities like Seoul with all that noise and thousands of people running around can really be so exhausting for a person like me that's coming from the woods.

But it appeared to be such an intensive day with so many good impressions and meeting good people. First of all we were lucky to see a traditional music event that took place in one of the amazing palaces of Seoul. I have to ask Jivu to tell the story about these musics, she told me everything but I have to be honest..I only remember parts of it ;).  Because that's an important topic, I'll do an extra-section for that on the website anyway.

There was one woman who came to me and asked me what I'm doing in Korea and I told her about my Saemaul Undong research and then she got so emotional. She said that it is incredible that not so long time ago thousands of korean nurses went to Germany when Korea was still a poor country. And now I come here to study about Saemaul Undong which especially amongst the older generation is something like "holy". She was so emotional with me, that I really got tears in my eyes feeling that she went through all of that history from being completely down after the Korean War until today where Korea belongs to the richest countries among the world! Wow!

But not only this was so heart-touching, also seeing those artists playing got me really overwhelmed.

Afterwards we went to Insaartcenter where we met artist "J Solo". Her artwork (created with oil on cutted steel) in the exhibition called "The century of Melancholy" is just capturing so well certain kinds of (sexual) realities behind the curtains of Seoul's shiny city.

Seoul is a very, VERY big city with 10 million habitants and I was impressed when I arrived here. Everything is on a digital/technical standard that European cities still can dream of. Seoul is also known as the most image-possesed city in Asia and you can tell that while walking around: Not only girls and women, also men are  dressed up stylish and trendy and even Rockbands often have their own Asian style with stylish short hair cuts and glamour hipster clothes.

A big topic in South Korea is Cosmetic Surgery. It's kind of normal to do a little OP to let your eyes appear more round and you'll find Beauty Shops all over. Well, no comment on that here.

It’s curious that at least in Germany nearly noone knows about Seoul as being such a vibrant metropolitan city that has everything to offer.  Especially when it comes to fashion, food, bizarre architecture designs, art and of course…

music...on streets in Hondgade, Sinchon and many other areas you’ll find a lot of musicians playing during late evening and nighttime. You’ll not only find K-Indierock or K-Pop (K for Korean), which is so popular among whole Asia, but you can find some really good creative bands playing finest music on streets but I'm still new here and still have to explore a lot.

 ...When I was a young girl – aged 15 - I hitchhiked throughout Israel with two good friends of mine. We got very close friends with three Beduin guys that we stayed with for several weeks. We played Darbuca (Arabic drums) for hours many days.

Now as I’m a grown up (Oh no I’m  not – but society says I am ;)) I realize the huge impact that those moments had on my future life:  Throughout my following teens and twenties there was nothing else that I wanted more in life than playing music and travelling and explore and share other cultures through music.

No one (not even neurobiologists) really can explain with words why music affects us as much as it does. But everyone shares it: a passion for music.

In one or another way we all need music in our lifes. Music connects us and touches our heart. It expresses what words cant' express. It helps us being happy and being sad. A catalyst for our emotions - and we all love it for that!

It’s been a long time that I have been thinking of opening up my diary writings to share it with people that I care and love and that care about me.

That's why...

...Feel invited to join me on musical journeys to explore music and different lifestyles throughout AFRASIA!

It doesn’t take much to find out that many of the people I’ve met in India, travel to this mysterious country, because they’ve lost themselves somewhere on their path or simply have the feeling that there has to be so much more beyond ordinary life to discover.

Therefore the question “What brought you to India?” brings out so many interesting life stories.

Many of us are searching for something in India that goes beyond the busy monkey mind of material life in Western Worlds. Even many may not know it consciously before starting their journey to India– latest when they get here, they realize.

But what is that “something” that we are looking for?

“People just love people”, said my friend I. one day.This simple message has it all.  We are all desperate for having people around us that we can share life with, that are warm at heart, that are caring for each other, loving each other, touching each other, sharing food or a massage, sharing emotions, joyful or painful.

We are crazy about keeping our mind busy with projects that we want to realize, work, jobs, politics, what so ever, rather than focusing on our hearts:  We keep on forgetting about the thing that really counts for us – which is simply spoken: giving, receiving and feeling love.

People love people.

Relations filled with love that make us see and observe the beauty around us…to be touched and hugged by a friend, feeling profound and deep - rather than having superficial and practical relationships.

Often we feel too ashamed to ask for it, that all what we need in a certain moment is a little love. 

Seems like India is a place where travelers gather to find the forgotten land of touching each other's heart again.

People would do jokes with me before leaving to India, asking me, “ Ah, you go to India to find yourself?” and the paradox thing is, yes, in a certain way it’s true!  

There’s just something about India! As soon as I was around for some weeks I found myself rather being travelling on a journey to my inner self than travelling a country. Above all it’s the encounter with so many inspiring people in India that made me become a better observer of what’s my attitude towards life, how I treat others and myself and the relationships I got in life.

I mean that’s always the case with travelling, that you confront yourself with yourself in a world of strangers with different cultures, different food, different hygienic circumstances, different habits and different beliefs that makes you more aware of who you are, how you act and interact, what you like and what you don’t like, but nevertheless India is a special place to get closer to yourself and having a playground for new experiences and new perspectives. 

India! you land full of mysteries, magic, challenges, spirituality, chaos, traditions and rituals and weird artists that left me inspired, inspired, inspired! It will take some time to digest all of what I’ve gained on this trip! …Definitely to be continued soon. 

And last but not least: I want to give thanks to all of you, my new and old friends, for sharing life in all its facets!

Zusammen mit einer alten Studienkollegin machen wir uns am letzten Abend Helsinki auf die Suche nach interessanten Bars im alternativen Viertel „Kalio“, das einst ein Arbeiterviertel war und nun immer mehr KünstlerInnen anzieht, da die Wohnungen klein und die Mietpreise vergleichsweise günstig sind. Es dauert nicht lange und wir kommen mit einigen Finnen ins Gespräch – allesamt waren sie super offen und entsprachen somit überhaupt nicht dem Stereoyp der Finnen, wortkarge Menschen zu sein. Gegen späten Abend lernen wir dann in der Rytmi Bar vier Musiker_innen kennen, die an der bekannten und einzigen Musikhochschule Finnlands’, der  Sibelius Akademie, Musik studiert hatten. Wir verbrachten einen schönen Abend zusammen und weil’s so schön war,  trafen wir uns am nächsten Tag noch einmal zum Mittagessen. Diese Gelegenheit nutzte ich um von Tero eine Videoaufnahme zu machen. Tero studierte Folklore Gesang und hat sich über Jahre hinweg auf Throat-Singing und Oberton-Gesang konzentriert – welches zu den anspruchsvollsten Arten des Gesangs gehört. Ohren und Münder waren weit offen, während er seine Performances abgab. Er ist ein Mensch der es  nicht nur durch seinen Gesang vermag die Seelen von Menschen zu berühren, sondern darüber hinaus eine so warmherzige Art  an sich hat, die man selten antrifft. Eine schöne Begegnung!

Zusammen mit meinen neuen finnischen Musikerkumpanen Henri und Elisa machten wir uns nach dem leckeren Essen im Onda (Essen aus aller Welt - Buffet für zehn Euro - unschlagbar gut!) auf in einen Plattenladen, den Black & White Record Store, welcher eine grandiose Auswahl von ausgefallenen Platten bietet und dazu noch sehr sympathische Eigentümer hat. Ich lasse mir von den beiden drei authentische, ulkige finnische Platten raussuchen – unter anderem finnische Schlager aus den 70ern, Folklore und natürlich Finnischer Tango! Perfekt für den nächsten interkulturellen Umtrunk  - Wie überall auf der Welt  und so auch in Helsinki – Musik verbindet !   - kiitää musiikki - Danke Musik! 

...Was ist throat singing?

...Throat Singing gehört zu den ältesten Musikformen der Menschheit. Die Sänger _innen können dabei nicht etwas nur eine Note singen, sondern simultan mehrere Tonlagen durch spezielle Techniken und dank der Resonanz des Halses sogenannte Obertöne erzeugen. Obertonsingen ist in Zentralasien, insbesondere in der Mongolei beheimatet. Darüber hinaus findet man es auch in Kulturen in Nordkanada und Südafrika. 

 Weiter unten im Video könnt ihr eine kleine Performance von Tero sehen - Throat Singing in einem Vorhof in Helsinki - das war akustisch gesehen der beste nächste Ort für eine Aufnahme! 

In the labyrinth of the streets of old town Seville there’s a hidden treasure that appears like another little world in the middle of the city – a world of musicians, artists and artisans: The Pelicano.

Also nearby Pasaje Mallol offers great co-working spaces and other workshops that are rented out as Yoga and Dance Studios. The „Zona de Pasaje Mallol“ and the „Zona Plaza Pelicano“ together could be best described as a little village of creative minds and is ultimately developing to the Alternative Centre of Sevilla with new concepts of work places and living of Public Art. 

This old industrial zone from the 1920s is one of the few places in Seville where artists and musicians can rent out workshops and rehearsal rooms and work on what they most love to do: A.R.T.

By walking between the walls of the old fabric houses one can breath this fulminant artistic vibe in the air:  From Flamenco Dance and Guitar Workshops to Rumba Percussion Classes, Improvisational Theatre, Capoeira and Rock Bands. Everywhere you go, you are surrounded of a spirit of experimental art. 

It appears to me like a factory of dreams in the middle of the buzzling city:

Artists are working on their projects trying to make a living out of it, which gives this area this special atmosphere of a parallel universe with totally different ideas of values and appreciation of life.

Speaking in financial terms, the situation for artists in Seville is pretty difficult: Half of the culture budget goes into Flamenco events like the Flamenco Biennale, the biggest event in this music genre. Concert venues have to pay very high taxes to host concerts  (one of the highest in Europe with nearly 20%) and there is little money left to support the development of the poor infrastructure of alternative music scenes, which is outside the world of Flamenco.

This very little support of government,  let’s Seville’s artists get pretty inventive to find their own spaces like the Pelicano,  an arts world that feels like a resistance of existing conservative structures of the city.

Most of the rehearsal rooms in the Pelicano are not well insulated, but that’s what is there and more and more people are putting some great effort into restoring the rehearsal rooms. So does Paco, a drummer and talented carpenter that fixed up one of the rehearsal rooms that we rent.

If you are in Sevilla and looking for a rehearsal room to rent or to be connected to musicians of the Pelicano - contact us! 

Interview with Sehran about the vibrant music scene in Arambol, Goa in India. 

Arambol is a meeting place for musicians from all over the world. Incredible transcultural music projects are created and inspiring  shows are found on every corner! 

A true haven for musicians and music lovers!  

Sehran is an indian musician and documentary film maker currently working in his homeland together with his girlfriend Aldhara  - check their projects on: https://www.trueyogareviews.com 

After a chill out stop in Agonda with some awesome musical nights together with S. and A. in the south of Goa, M. and I moved on to the state of Karnataka to stay in Gokarna. Gokarna is home to four beach areas: Kuddle Beach and OM Beach (it got its name due to its shape of an OM symbol), Half Moon Beach and Paradise Beach. All of them are much less crowded as those beaches of Northern Goa and more “Hindu”. Two of them are not accessible with motorized vehicles and therefore appear to be a whole different world. As we heard before, Paradise Beach is home for people that just live on the beach in hammocks and cook their own food living the wild jungle beach life.

In order to get to those beaches one has to walk through jungle coastal mountains for respectively half to one hour or take a boat that only goes randomly when the waters are calm.

When we finally arrived at the magical place of Half Moon Beach we found some very, very basic huts with hardly electricity run by a family of Grandma and Grandpa that still live on very traditional terms, with rice cultivation on tiny fields next to the ocean, wearing traditional clothes (which means they hardly wear clothes), and their grandsons, that operate the two beach shacks.  What else is there? Well a beautiful Jungle surrounding, a calm little beach and a little crowd of hippies from all over the world, that’s it! This mixture makes this place to one of the mellowest but most interesting places I’ve ever been to.

Basically we got stucked in Half Moon Beach: Every day when we were thinking about leaving to move on, we simply couldn’t leave. The atmosphere just keeps you there with its mellow people, sunrises and sunsets and magic full moon nights. Basically everyone was into music and could play some tunes, so my little guitar was very popular among young and old.

Those places and the people that gather there remind pretty much on Rainbow Festivals, where, for a period of time travelers meet and rest, creating a little tribe of Utopia with a glimpse of a feeling that a peaceful world could be possible. 

If you are looking for a place with an environment to be creative and create music, art, poetry, doing yoga or whatever, this is definitely a place to go. 

PS: My lovely Malin thanks for a wonderful travel adventure together!