In the pursuit of the weird I spent some time in Berlin with a yoga group. As with all things creative I find that there is something to be learnt from other disciplines that can shine a light onto the musical world and on top of that I am looking for interesting venues to run Bluescampuk projects from in the next couple of years.
I have never been to Germany before and the possibility of going to the Kreutzburg area of the city was a great possibility as the graffiti art bohemian aspect seemed pretty cool to me.
The Germans seem very concerned with making sure that the rules are followed and that all things are undertaken seriously including following the instructions for the dynamic meditation that we found ourselves involved in. The deep rapid breathing was fine and then we came to the section where we were supposed to let it out. At that point the room was full of Germans beating the living crap out of the cushions and pillows and screaming at the soft furnishings. It all reminded me of Richard Bandler’s description of meeting Fritz Pearls for the first time. Pearls was the originator of the Gestalt therapy which Bandler described as someone beating the shit out of a harmless looking chair whilst the assailant screamed insults at the furniture as though it was his father.
I think that playing and writing music is a good release of the inner demons and is more beneficent to the furnishings of the house. I quite like the resident spirits of my cushions and chairs and I am sure they are happier that way with me serenading them to happiness than beating them into submission whilst I undergo some form of primal therapy.
Berlin outside of the Yoga Centre was fun and I enjoyed the vibe a great deal and I would certainly go back there, not so sure about the music in Germany in general as there seems to be a time warp quality to the listening from American AOR to retro reggae and punk mixed with some Kraftwork style stuff .
The euro pop style is also still quite a thing and it makes me realise how we can never again write a Euro Vision winner we just do not have the mindset for it.
The history of music and its impact on government control is something that we in the West find difficult to understand but in East Germany music was one of the main contributors to the fall of the communist regime.
Punk was one of the driving forces in youth culture that absorbed the Stasi and it trying to control the minds of the young. Enormous risks were undertaken by teenagers not just listening to the music but smuggling bands in from the West and forming their own bands and playing in secret places often churches in the East.
That relationship with music that we had in the UK in the 60s for change has lost much of its power that needs to be re found in the music that we create, but maybe without the Germanic sensibility.
Vic
