My music
Ever since fell in love with playing the guitar, I have played in bands. Here is a short selection of some of the bands and projects that I have been involved with.
- Mufflon (drums, we play our own version of stoner rock, songs are in the making)
- Arlito’s Way (guitar, vocals, songwriting)
- Mon Petit Chou Chou (bass / vocals, songwriting)
- Nico Flash (Drums / vocals, songwriting)
- Dübel (drums / vocals)
- Arlito (solo, guitar / vocals, songwriting)
- Hamble Doodle (my first band, guitar, vocals, songwriting ca. 1995-2001)
- Carlsten Powernap (beats / vocals, songwriting)
Bio
As a child I already felt drawn to the drumset. A family friend had one in his living room and I was fascinated by the footpedal and the bassdrum. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to start in my early years due to money, neighbors, maybe a lack of pressure on my part. That’s why I advertise to parents the possiblilty to start drumming without necessarily owning a drumset in your house and the related noise. All you need is a pair of sticks and a pillow and you’re good to go. If your child is keen on playing give them the chance to try it out. It will give them a solid basis for any future musical endeavours.
I took my first musical babysteps on the piano. My sister took lessons and I went along. I must have been around six or seven. Unfortunately, I never practiced (I didn’t really know what or how to practice) and thus never really aquired any real piano skills. After two gruesome years (for my teacher) I quit the lessons. I want to think that some musical understanding was planted then.
We often went on family vacations and took friends along. After dinner there were many evening of singing popular folk tunes (Blowing in the wind, Donna Donna come to mind) . I didn’t realize it then but I was touched by the music and it surely engrained some feeling of music in me.
I really started playing the guitar when I twelve. My dad gave me and a friend of mine guitar lessons. I often felt pressured and there was a certain sense of competition which almost let me to quitting the instrument. I never thought I’d be able to play the guitar because it was hard. My finger hurt, it sounded bad, I didn’t know how to make any progress. However, there was always a guitar (my dads) in reach and I held it on my lap frequently (often while watching 90s TV shows such as ALF. Thus, I skipped through the most difficult part of learning and one day started feeling comfortable with the instrument. To this day, I really like listening to a podcast while noodling around on the instrument without really thinking about it.
I soon started meeting friends who were also into rockmusic and wanted to start a band. We played our first (headbanging) show in my parents living room on my mothers birthday party. We soon played everywhere around town (school festivities, youth centers and so on). The time was great for rock music. Nirvana were really popular and we did our fair share of painful Cobain impressions. Nonetheless, the feedback was always great which kept us going. I met my friend Thilo Möser, who to this day is one of my favorite drummers. I was blown away by his talent. He was able to play full albums of bands such as Slayer and Biohazard. His mother was somewhat strict and demnaded that if he wanted to play the drums he’d have to be serious about it, practice every day, join a marching band etc. It sure made him one hell of a drummer. We formed our band Hamble Doodle and played together for a couple of years with Tuomas Pelttari on bass.
I also met Carsten Tabel who asked me to join his band Dellwo on bass. I always felt a great deal of freedom playing bass as I was able to play harmony with the deeper notes without sticking out too much. It allowed my a great sense of creative freedom. Carsten and I also played in a project called Sonic Pennsylvania d.c. which was a punk / noise project. I played drums and really enjoyed it.
Oh, I skipped ahead. I took my first guitar lessons from Ole Rausch. He always kept me stoked on playing. I learned Guns n‘ Roses solos and also great rock and metal riffs such as Seek and Destroy and Whole Lotta Rosie which I love playing to this day. Unfortunately Ole got too busy at one point and we couldn’t continue our lessons.
When I was seventeen, my dad took me to Aschaffenburg to take a test to enroll in the professional program of future music school. My knowledge of music theory was far too little so I started taking lessons there for a year. It meant getting up really early on Saturday, taking a 1.5 hour train ride back and forth and I always bought Thrasher magazine on the way at Friedberg central station. So it was definitely worth it. However, I was into different things and did not go along with my teacher who wanted me to learn jazz harmony (in order to prepare me for the profesional program). I wanted to write my own music and create noisy rock music. So after a year I felt like it was too expensive for my parents to keep me enrolled while I didn’t put in enough of an effort. Who knows where I’d be if I had continued on that path.
After I graduated from high school I enrolled in a foreign language progarm at the University of Giessen. I studied English, Spanish, Portugueses and Music. I met many great people and fabulous musicians. I was also really active in the music and skateboarding scene of Giessen. This led to the decision of me quiting the music part of my studies because I felt overwhelmed by the theory and history part of it. I got and M.A. as a foreign language teacher and an offer to go to Spokane, Washington for a year and teach German. It was an offer I could not resist. I had a blast over there.
While in Spokane, I took guitar lessons and learned some Brazilian guitar. I also attended weekly open mics and really got into singer / songwriter music. I kept performing and my stage fright got a little better each time. To this day I get really nervous when playing on my own. In a band however, I feel really comfortable and have almost no sense of fear or inhibition.
I returned to Giessen after a year and we played a lot of music in my band Arlito’s Way. To this day it was one of the greatest experiences as we were able to rehearse a lot and got better every time. It’s such a great feeling when a band just clicks and magic happens when all members suddenly are in tune. I also started Carlsten Powernap with my friend Carsten Tabel. We did a bunch of home productions, wrote lyrics together, played guitar and recorded vocals in my wardrobe for the love of music and poetry.
In 2011 I decided it was time for a change and so I joined my wife who had just found her dream job in Andernach. We moved in for the first time and I started looking for jobs. I taught German to immigrants for two years before slipping into teaching at a private vocational college. I was never really happy at the job and gradually realized how much I was missing music.
In 2017 my mother died and in 2018 my sons were born. Two essential experiences which made me contemplate life in general. I decided to quit my path of being a unhappy school teacher and in 2022 I finally started my business as a music teacher. I teach at locals music schools and private students. I also still write and record music whenever I find the time to do so.
My ideas for a great music lesson
My motto „lessons that suit your needs“ is also my main philosophy. I know from personal experience how important it is that your lessons are motivating to you in order to keep you going and not frustrate you. Therefore, I adjust all lessons to each student’s individual needs and interestes. There is a plethora of content to choose from. You can learn your favorite songs, focus on technique, learn sight reading, jam and improvise, just to name a few. There is no one way to success. Everyone learns differently and I think the major factor is joy. You have to enjoy what you are doing in order to keep doing it. And that is in my opinion the most important factor for longterm success.
Practicing
Practicing is an essential part of getting better at your instrument. However, we all know how life is and how busy you can get. Therefore, I don’t expect you to practice a certain amount of time. I think it is much more important to love what you are doing and to keep going. Sure, if you want to study guitar or have other professional long term goals, you will have to make a plan. But for most of us who want to play for fun, I think practicing is not the most important part. Or it shouldn’t hold you back at least. That is what I’ve heard from many adult students and that’s why I stress it so much. Even if you can’t find the time to play for a couple of months I think it’s worth taking the lessons and staying on the path of being an instrumentalist. There will be a time when you find more time and you will enjoy playing all the more because you have trained your body and mind on the instrument over time.