crima

ABOUT

Introduction

Beside my work as a solo artist, I‘ve been working as a sideman for various institutions and artists from all over the world, e.g. 

I played the piano for French chansonnier Philippe Huguet, Bossanova singer Viviane de Farias from Brasil, the Latin Band of Dany Labana from Cuba, actress and singer Barbara Zechel; 

I played the keyboards for German pop star Xavier Naidoo, rock singer Hans Hartz, Rolf Stahlhofen, drummer legend Pete York from England, the session-band of the British keyboard player Jason Wright, the project-band Chameleon; 

I played the drums for travesty artist Mary from Switzerland and the Nationaltheater Mannheim; 

I was a musical director for the Capitol in Mannheim and a musical coach for the Theatre of Heidelberg.

I‘ve also been doing collaborations with the chanson duo Tête-A-Tête (on piano and vocals) and The Doors tribute band Lovestreet (drums) for over 20 years.

This inspiring work with a variety of styles, has been an important part of my education after graduating at the Universities of Music in Mannheim as well as Trossingen.

And there were and are more things going on…

Singer-songwriter

All over the years I’ve written and produced songs in different languages.

Film Score

The film „Brausepulver“, directed in 2013 by Milan Kappen, under the mentorship of Anke Engelke at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, was an experimental project: switching from soap opera to drama in 25 minutes.

It starts by describing the superficial life of three mid-twenties consisting of love affairs, self-celebration, partying and drugs. Gradually, it becomes obvious that their self-images are based on lies. One evening, a party ends in a disaster…

I’ve chosen this score as an example, because it captures a variety of styles from pop song to string quartet. (Attention: Some of the original scenes are replaced by a sequence of stills.)

Milan also directed an award-winning music video for my song „Allein“ with the band Amini in 2006. This clip was broadcasted on european tv stations like Arte and 3sat.

Jazz artist

On the album „From Seconds to Hours“ I played drums with Peter Schnur and Gernot Kögel and contributed two compositions.

„A Question of Blues“ was song of the week on Radio Swiss Jazz in 2009.  It was also broadcasted on the German radio like SWR and HR.

Composer

Besides song and film scores, I compose in a variety of music styles.

One example is from a cycle of minimalistic piano compositions, the other a sound art composition.

Music education

For a couple of years I’ve been working with young people. In this example I realized a modern version of the „Anthem of Europe“ with students in the ages between 11 and 15. Comprising a lot of spontaneous and creative ideas by the young musicians, we prepared a live presentation and recorded the song in only two days.

Music education is an amazing addition to my artistical work.

Arranger

It‘s quite interesting to set music into a new context. There are unknown qualities to discover, or just to see what would have happened if Michael Jackson met The Doors or Franz Schubert heard ABBA.

Singer-songwriter

All over the years I’ve written and produced songs in different languages.

Film Score

The film „Brausepulver“, directed in 2013 by Milan Kappen, under the mentorship of Anke Engelke at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne, was an experimental project: switching from soap opera to drama in 25 minutes.

It starts by describing the superficial life of three mid-twenties consisting of love affairs, self-celebration, partying and drugs. Gradually, it becomes obvious that their self-images are based on lies. One evening, a party ends in a disaster…

I’ve chosen this score as an example, because it captures a variety of styles from pop song to string quartet. (Attention: Some of the original scenes are replaced by a sequence of stills.)

Milan also directed an award-winning music video for my song „Allein“ with the band Amini in 2006. This clip was broadcasted on european tv stations like Arte and 3sat.

Jazz artist

On the album „From Seconds to Hours“ I played drums with Peter Schnur and Gernot Kögel and contributed two compositions.

„A Question of Blues“ was song of the week on Radio Swiss Jazz in 2009.  It was also broadcasted on the German radio like SWR and HR.

Composer

Besides song and film scores, I compose in a variety of music styles.

One example is from a cycle of minimalistic piano compositions, the other a sound art composition.

Music education

For a couple of years I’ve been working with young people. In this example I realized a modern version of the „Anthem of Europe“ with students in the ages between 11 and 15. Comprising a lot of spontaneous and creative ideas by the young musicians, we prepared a live presentation and recorded the song in only two days.

Music education is an amazing addition to my artistical work.

Arranger

It‘s quite interesting to set music into a new context. There are unknown qualities to discover, or just to see what would have happened if Michael Jackson met The Doors or Franz Schubert heard ABBA.

Selected Discography

Tête-A-Tête:
De l’autre coté de la rue (1999, piano, vocals, drums)
Beziehungswaisen (2004, piano, vocals, percussion, guitar)
Eisblumen und Rote Rosen (2009, piano, vocals)
On Board with You  (2014, piano, vocals)

Andrea Reichhart:
Moment of Beauty (2004, piano, vocals, percussion)
Magnolia (2008, piano)

Xavier Naidoo:
Telegramm für X (DVD 2004, keys, guitar)

Amini:
Transparent Soul (2007, keys, vocals, guitar, percussion)

Thomas Haag:
Different Faces (2007, keys, producing, drums, bass)

Peter Schnur Trio:
From Seconds to Hours (2009, drums)

Huub Dutch Duo:
Max und Moritz got the Blues (2018, sound engineering, percussion)

crima:
The Ball Chair Experience (2021, everything)
Both Sides of the Ball Chair (2022, everything except violin, cello and saxophones)

Send an E-Mail to: info@crima.de