„A Look in Between“ – #2

The sun was already low in the sky on this late autumn Monday evening – and I was on my way to the first blind date of my life. A musician had written to me saying he was starting a new band and was still looking for an electric guitarist. ‘Folk rock,’ he had said. Let's see, I thought.

I entered the café we had agreed to meet at – a place with the charm of a 1950s bar in downtown Cologne, which even triggers nostalgia in younger people for a time they never experienced themselves. Heavy velvet stools at the bar, bottles illuminated from below behind the counter, extravagantly dressed artistic types at the tables. The aroma of freshly brewed coffee and the sounds of an elegant bar piano filled the room – a backdrop that could easily be used as a film set.

I looked around and spotted a man wearing a flat cap at one of the tables, whose expression immediately confirmed that I was in the right place. ‘Hi Torben, I'm Franz. Nice to meet you!’

We talked for almost two hours. About the café, about our favourite bands, about Franz' musical ambitions. Piano arrangements and cheesecake. In the end, we both had a good gut feeling – and agreed to give it a try. Without ever having played a single note of music together.

On my way home, I kept thinking about what Franz had told me. A tight schedule for the upcoming year. Rehearsals to get to know each other. Studio recordings in February. Music video shoots in the summer. Concerts. Tours.

But I didn't know Franz. A mutual friend had connected us, but despite my good gut feeling, I had a healthy dose of scepticism. He could talk a good game. Let's see what happens. Certainly not everything he dreamt up.

It's been almost exactly a year since that meeting. Since then, we've got to know each other as a band, been in the studio, recorded an album, shot music videos for the singles – and I'm writing this on the tour bus. On the way to support shows for Fiddler's Green. ‘Call Me a Fool, Call Me a Dreamer’ is what the chorus of our new single says. Whenever we play the song, I think back to that first meeting with Franz. Not every dreamer is a fool. Torbensern baute.

Fast genau ein Jahr her ist dieses Treffen. Seitdem haben wir uns als Band kennengelernt, waren im Studio, haben ein Album aufgenommen, Musikvideos für die Singles gedreht – und diesen Text schreibe ich im Tourbus auf dem Weg zu Shows als Support von Fiddler’s Green.

„Call Me a Fool, Call Me a Dreamer“ heißt es im Refrain unserer neuen Single. Immer, wenn wir den Song spielen, muss ich an das erste Treffen mit Franz denken. Nicht jeder Dreamer ist ein Fool.

Torben