Why are you swelling so much, Lucille?
Nearly eveybody knows the well-known song "Lucille", which so many different stars have sung. Fans of country- and westernmusic just have to know it.
It tells about the story of a little flirt in a bar, which suddenly gets a tragic change, as Lucilles husband enters the bar and says: "You picked the fine time to leave me, Lucille. Four hungry children and a crop in the field ..."
It seems I have heard it too many times. Because I have no other answer that the songtext slowly changed and the song suddenly told about a new story:
It is a tragic story, too. It tells about a farmer who has not much luck in his life. After a lot of catastrophes his favorit pig lucille gets very ill.
So the farmer began to drink. But his alcoholism took him out of control and it ends at a disaster at the bar.
A really tragic story, too...
A story which has to be told!
So I had no choice and recorded the song in my "private studio".
But this was not enough. The story was too tragic and big!
"Oh, what's that? A competition of musicians in the internet? There I have to join in, this at least I have to do for Lucille!" , I thought in summer 2003 and I immediately I made the announcement. (This was the time, the name ALEXANDERSOUND was born - because they asked about a bandname and I got no better idea ;-)
A cover for the CD would be nice, too. It may look more interesting.
And soon I knew:
I need a pig!
"But where could I get one?", I thought by myself. It shouldn't be a "normal" pig, which maybe would be eaten the day after photographing. Because if my song would be successful, how could I answer a little child if it's asking me about Lucille?
So it has to be a pig, which is loved by his owner. And such a pig is hard to find.
And because the time was not so much until the competition will start, I had to realize:
I need the newspaper!
How else could I find Lucille? The best newspaper for this job seemed to be the "Wochenblatt". So I wrote a letter to them and created an imposant presentation map with the DEMO-CD:
Soon I got an joyful answer at the phone: The Wochenblatt was fascinated about the story and wanted to write about. So I was waiting for the interview and now it was clear:
I need a T-Shirt!
Because we would need a adequate presentation photo for the title side. No problem, the needed things were organized soon and so I made the T-Shirt by myself.The interview at the Wochenblatt was very nice. Mrs. Parchatka asked me some questions about me and "Lucille" and told me, that she would write an adequate story, to find the pig as soon as possible
And a few days later the newspaper was ready:
"Haben Sie Schwein? - An artist from Garching is looking for a "covergirl"
(Remark: "Haben Sie Schwein?" - translated: "Do you have a pig?" - but it also means in German: "Do you have a lot of luck?"
this nice story wrote Gina Parchatka from the Wochenblatt
Also in the internet the story was presented
And now I had to wait. But not a long time, because on the first day after publishing the newspaper my telephone became hot. And I was surprised, how many people have pigs. So the next days I visited some of the possible "models":
Nice, isn't it? - but too small!
Oh, that is a real big one, isn't it? - but it seemed to be a little too big!
That's the right size, and such a friendly one!
At least there were two pigs, which could be the models: Pig "Emma", which has the complete noble name: "Emma Dorothea von und zu Rockersbach" (you can see it at the last picture). The second favorit was pig "Lucie", which hadn't any noble titles, but convinced with it's talent as an actress. And notice the similar names: Lucille - Lucie!!!
Well, two such top-models and I should fell a decision. I decided to let make the photos first and fell the last decision after all.
The story got more and more interesting. Now I couldn't let make the photos by a hobby photographer. So I realized:
I need a professional photographer!
By chance in a photoshop I was asked about the story in the newspaper. And so I asked, if the master of photographs himself would like to come in this curious story making the photos. He would. But I haven't told him, that there were no funds planed for this projekt and so I called him. Nevertheless he told me, to make the photos. But I had such a bad feeling after that, because I had surprised the man. And I didn't want him shooting the photos only for kindness. I felt, this was not the right way. Surely, you know this feeling, too, if something is wrong in your life. And I only can give the advice:believe in your feelings!
But what should I do, because the fotoshooting already was planed for the next day. And it was not possible, to put it off, because the time was too short. I didn't know, what to do. Despairing I took the next telephone-book. And then I found an advertisment looking quiet good:
Heiner Heine
I already knew Heiner, because a few years ago we met us at an event at the Institute for firms floating in Töging. And his laughing there at that time was so heartiness, that I was sure: This would really be the right man for the job!
Immediately I called him. But he wasn't at home. He would come back late in the evening. So I sent a message and waited...
And late in the evening the telephone rang - Bells of angels cannot sound nicer ;-)
Heiner was very inspired. He would make the photos with pleasure. And I was so happy, that this would work! Now I really believed:
The projekt will be a great success!
Because if you have the right people, working with the right mood, then nothing can go wrong! It is very important to bring that enthusiasm in the work, only then it will be successful.
Then it was time to shoot the photos - Day X - the great day! The weather: fucking bad! - Good conditions to "bring over" the mood of my story. We met on time at Emmas home: Helga Prante with husband - owner of the pig, Gina Parchatka - reporter of the newspaper "Wochenblatt", Heiner Heine - photographermaster and I. And we all were in a top-condition. Nearly everyone. One weren't: The pig.
Pig "Emma" had "her days" and was very nervous. Impossible, to find the right pose for a coverphoto. Helga Prante and her husband really tried to quiet Emma. But all the flashs from the photoapparat and the many people were too much for Emma. You must imagine this scene:
There is the nervous pig, which runs around the place. Then there am I - I am running after the pig. Then there is Heiner - he tries to get a photo of me and the pig. Than there is Gina Parchatka - she tries to get a photo from Heiner, as he tries to get a photo of me and the pig. A really crazy situation - an outside visitor probably would have laughed until he died about this happening. By the way, a film-company wanted to come, too, because Mrs. Prante knew some people there. But they had another work to do last moment. I was glad about it. Not for disgrace, but the pig was nervous enough, and with all the foreign people...
With little tricks and some delicacies for the pig, there finaly some nice photos were made - but would this be enough for the cover? I had suspicions...
But there was a second chance. We intended to visit model "Lucie" next. Mrs. Parchatka already had done her shooting and said goodbye. Heiner and I said goodbye to the Prantes, too and drove to the home of Lucie. But there Kurt Gmach, the owner of pig Lucie came out of his house and had bad news for us:
"Lucie is already sleeping!"
He told us, that Lucie played and ran around the whole day and was now very lazy. That were really bad news! But we went to Lucies "bed" and Kurt intended to wake up Lucie:
But no chance - the pig lay down like dead! - But then I thougt: "This is quiet the scene we need for the photo!". And I told Kurt, to let Lucie sleep (but, he wouldn't have had success in waking up, because even a crashing meteor could do this, so deep were the sleep of Lucie).
I began to design the scene: Some bottles of beer at the ground, my bottle of whisky in the hand I lay down to the pig and Heiner shot one photo after the other. Then happened something unbelievable:
The wonder of Kastl
Suddenly a little white cat entered the scene. It was very interested about our photoshooting, walked through the scene and sat down in front of it.
And Heiner shot
Bingo!
That it had to be!
Picture of the year:
The farmer drunken lies at his dangerously ill pig (and she really looked like dead whith the straw in it's face), in his hand the half empty bottle of whisky, empty bottles of beer everywhere an in the front of this tragic scene: A little, whit cat, which looks at it!
Unbelievable!
If you would like to shoot this photo, it would be very difficult. Maybe with trained animals and much work. But in this case happend something completeley different. Something natural. It seemed like a higher might, which pulled the strings to construct this scene in an ideal way.
Of course, my expectations were completeley different at the begin of the work. But this perfect results I didn't expect even in my dreams.
The "unbelievable picture": Drunken farmer - dangerous ill pig - white cat
Artistic worthful!
Some days there was another interesting happening:
We made some shootings for test at Helga Prante with pig "Emma". And if the pig would knew, which photos were wanted, it took the right positions by itself. And so there could be created a nice picture story which was taken for a booklet to the CD.
Perhaps you may think, that this were trained animals or I have something special experiences - but this is not the case! As little child I only had a cat, but not extraordinary experiences or trainings with animals. I respect animals as I respect every living creature, that's all. And this projekt was the first I had such a near contact with pigs. And I was very fascinated about this all was working at itself and the animels seemed to know by themselves what to do.
The photo was shot, even the photo of Mrs. Parchatka. And the newspaper published it together with another very exciting story from her:
This story was published in the Internet, too
Now it was time to design the photo for the cover. And fortune helped again:
There was an illustrator calling me after the first article of the Wochenblatt. He missunderstood it and thought, I needed a paintd pig. But if this wasn't I said good bye to the illustrator - after gotten his telephone number, because "you don't know, if you need an illustrator some day"...
...and the chance came sooner than believed. Because why shouldn't this illustrator desig the coverphoto? Because it was his fault to telephone me ;-)
And so it happened, that in consequence of the soon comming time of presenting the CD, the night tariff of the Telekom had to used again and at the other end of the line an enthusiastic
Rene Wimmer
gave his agreement to design the cover.
And some time later Rene presented me together with his wife, who is an illustrator, too, a lot of estimates. Here a selection of the 12 pictures:
But my favorite picture was the following, which finally became the coverphoto for my Demo-CD:
- without words -
The CD is ready - and the result is just
marvelous!
And the competition? - Well in the final round there were only modern and English songs to hear - no place for German entertainmentmusic. But this makes me not feel sad, because I had so many nice experiences and learned such a lot at this projekt, and not forget the many nice people whith I worked together and the experiences with the animals, too - all this is a great present for me.And that is sure: If the world will be ready for "Lucille", I am, too - I'm just standing here at the starting-pit ;-)
The booklet you should see, too:
I am so sorry cannot present you the song here because legal requirements.
In the column "People at the Wochenblatt" I was a third time in the newspaper:
