Like a gipsy
In spring 2005 I had the chance to meet two extraordinary people, who have both the talent to open hearts of other people. One of them, Bruno Würtenberger does this with his words - in a very impressing and humorous way.
The other is a well-known, excellent musician and represented once his home country Austria at the great "Eurovisions Songcontest". His "real" name is Michael Scheickl, also known in earlyer times as "Duo Mess" together with Elisabeth Engstler.
Now Michael has found a beatiful work: As singer "Mosaro" he sings songs with a deeper sense, which can touch people in their inner being. The wonderful lyrics are written by his wife Sahrea.
Bruno Würtenberger and Mosaro are working together in a team, called "Grooving Spirit".
And in this team they are great!
As I met them, I laughed a lot about Brunos humor, which is so deep and loveley. And I had to cry, too, because the songs of Mosaro touched me so deeply.
I am full of gratitude, because I met this two people.
Mosaro and Bruno Würtenberger
After the event I talked with Mosaro about his music. One song of him impressed me so much that I wanted the CD. But a CD with this song wasn't avaliable at this time. So I left without.
But I came again. On my way home I suddenly thought:
"I must have a CD from this musician - now"
So I turned back and met Mosaro again. I told him to need one of his CDs and called him for advice, because I didn't knew, which CD I should take.
Mosaro said, he didn't know, too, because for him all his CDs were important at a time. But then he said: "I think, this is the right one for you". And he gave me following CD:
Mosaro said: "This is the right CD for you"
So I took the CD and said: "Oh yes, it has a very beautiful cover!" . And Mosaro answered, that he takes every time the beautiful pictures and he would be a little bit afraid of showing a less beautiful side of him. And that was still the moment, something made a "click" in me. I didn'nt knew, why, but this would be shown soon.
I said good bye to Mosaro and went home - but of course I had asked him before to sign the CD:
The loveley signed CD from Mosaro
After a little while I knew, what to do: If Mosaro don't want to show a less beautiful side of himself, I could do this for him!
And so the idea for a new projekt was born.
A projekt, which fascinating story I couldn't knew at this moment.
As I heard the CD at home, I immediately knew, which songs had to be on the new CD:
The song "Ich weiß, wovon Du träumst" (I know what you are dreaming about) - Mosaro sang it at the event, too and it has touched my heart. And of course the song "Wie ein Zigeuner" (like a gipsy) - already the cover had this title.
As I made the recordings I was full of enthusiasm: After a while I found a very nice variation for the second voice for the song "Ich weiß, wovon Du träumst". And the song "Wie ein Zigeuner" was going better from day to day, too. I could sing out my "inner gipsy" better and better.
If I had a special theme, then I want to know more about it. In the Internet I read, that there are no gipsies. So I read about the interesting stories of "Roma" and "Sinti" and I was very fellow-feeling with them because they were so often banned from their home, but for work always welcomed.
Then I had to learn, that the word "gipsy" is a offence for a lot of people. But I want to show my own picture of a gipsy
Of course my outlook had to change, and so I stopped shaving. The reactions of the other people were different. Here some examples:
An older man at the swimming-pool called me: "King Ludwig" (Bavarian King in early times)
A "nice" colleaugue: "You look like a plucked shaping-brush!"
A neighbour: "Are you the Jesus of reserve?"
My nephew: "Rasputin!"
An even "nicer" colleaugue: "Oh, are you going to let your ugly face grow over now?!"
You can see, such a gipsy had to hear a lot. But a real gipsy doesn't care about. But it was a little hard for me. And thanks to god, there are other meanings, too. Peter Makena said to my outfit: "It fits to you very well!". And that filled me with joy.
And as Heiner Heine told me, that he would like to shoot the photo for the cover, I was filled with joy, too. He already worked with me in some of my other projeks and I don't have to accent my enthusiams extra.
Searching for a background for the CD-cover I soon realized, that only the nature would present a adequate outlook. So I went to the woodlands to find a appropriate place.
After a while I found two places which looked very nice. One of them was approachable by car, but the other was a little bit deeper in the woods. Near the place there was a way passable by car, too, but it was closed by a toll-bar.
Because taking a lot of equipment with us, a possibility for going there by care would be helpful. So I searched about the "Key-owner" of the toll-bar.
At a farm I found him:
A friendly woman told me to wait a moment, because she had to inform her husband.
The husband was not very cooperative.
"Thats not possible",
"Nobody can drive there",
"If there something happens, I get much trouble!",
I had to hear. And who I would be, from where I would come and what I would want at all. And only the projekts importance for me let me be friendly.
He continued: "You can't drive in there, you have do go by foot!"
After I while and some questions later I got some further informations: The way was closed by the community and if I want to drive there with the car, I had to talk with the burgomaster.
"Oh, thats no problem", I said, "I meet him sometimes", and I asked the man if a document would help to clear the circumstances.
Unwillingly he gave his o.k., but he talked again about the danger of an opened toll-bar at a lonley farmers way.
I thanked the man and agreed, that it would be impossible for him to cary this "high risk" by himself and that I would get a document or would look for an other way. Now the man became a little bit friendlier and even gave some tips, which other way I could take.
"Oh, you poor, bureaucratic Germany", I thougt by myself on my way home, "how far were we gone, if even the farmers need a document for driving on their lanes. And I asked me, which bad experiences this man would have made in the past, to make him react in this way.
And I even had some fellow-feeling about.
Immediateley I began to create a document. On the one hand I didn't want to trouble the community about it, on the other hand I wanted to create the document by myself.
Everything was going right. At the next day I drove to the swimming-bath and fortunately I saw the burgomaster swimming there. Well, I did this, too and a little bit later at a adequate place - in the dressing-room - the wet and half-naked burgomaster signed my "official document":
My "official document" for driving at the farmers way
Well, the bureaucratical preventions were deleted. And now I had only to wait, until the weather was right and Heiner had time, too, to shoot the photos.
Oh, I nearly forgot to talk about my equipment. It was very interesting to realize, that I already had got the most of the outfit:
A shirt, which I had bought by auction at ebay a little time before
A pair of adequate black trousers
Some jewellery which were got for the projekt "Lady in Red" but not were needed
As gipsy-shoes I used my old winter-boots in "Robin-Hood-look", which I coloured black.
In a big store I saw an adequate "gipsy-ring"...
...and at a market I found a "gipsy-cup"
A further important tool was a wandering-stick, which has a special significance for me and already was in use for an other artistic project.
Such perfectly prepared nothing should go wrong. And soon the god of weather and Heiners appointment book were leniant and we could start:
At the late afternoon of 14th of June Hiner arrived with his multi(media)-van. I packed my equipment into his car and we started. Soon we were at the first place. Some outlookers a half mile away interested noticed my transformation to a gipsy, but the place for photographing was empty and very good qualified for our operation.
Heiner shot a lot of photos and as we had the feeling, that the cover-foto was gotten, we started to drive to the second place.
Now I would need my "official document" and I took my very important looking presentation-map and went to the farm.
Again the friendly woman opened the door. I told her, that we inteded to shoot the photos and that we would need the key for the toll-bar. Again the woman answered, that she had to go for her husband.
And some times later, a drunken farmer staggered to me:
"What's up?"
he shouted to me. And in a friendly way I told him, that we would like to make the photos today and that we would need the key for the toll-bar and that we had even a "official document". I gave him the document.
The farmer studied the document very careful.
- long time of silence -
And suddenly the man raging shouted to me:
"FROM WHERE ARE YOU COMMING AT ALL?"
And that impressed me and I didn't knew how to answer. So I said nothing and looked with a poker-face to him. Not again I intended to had a longer discussion with this guy. Now the might of my look had to be enough.
- short time of silence -
My resolution and the official document impressed the farmer and he said: "I will bring you the key".
Unwillingly he gave me the key. But he got sure, that we would close the toll-bar after our work and the lock, too. He told me how to close the toll-bar in a detailled way with his military-sounding voice and I answered with a military-sounding voice, too. This seemed to calm him.
At last he said, that he wanted no have no "filthiness" and I told him that we didn't want this, too, whatever he had meaned with...
The "trophy" - the key!
Done! The crazy drive could be started!
At the second place I had bad luck:
We already had shot a lot of nice photos, as I had to realize, that I was carrying my spectacles:
And a gipsy with spectacles?!?
No, this doesn't work! So we had to start again.
But unfortunateley it began to rain and we had to stop our work. There were not a lot of photos made at this place, but I hoped that we already shot a good photo.
And because one bad luck comes not alone...
we had an accident at driving home:
As we passed the toll-bar, an unfriendly sound arrived our ears:
We had ramed the fucking toll-bar!
And as I presented Heiner the sad results, some parts of his car, he made a "langes Gesicht" ("long face" - means in German, that somebody is not very happy about something)
But fortunateley it were not such important parts of the car and we could continue the driving. Even the toll-bar wasn't damaged.
At the farm the friendly woman opened again, and she didn't had to go for her husband, because he probably has allowed her to take the key.
We talked a little about the weather.
But the friendly woman talked such a lot about it and as she also started to talk about the weather of the last years, I saw only one possibility to come to an end:
In a louder voice I answered:
"Oh yes, too bad this weather!"
Then I shouted to heaven in a theatralic way:
"Father of heaven, father of heaven, what are you doing with us?!"
"Oh, father of heaven - what are you doing with us?!"
The woman stood there with an open mouth and I could catch the moment to say good-bye!
In the car a laughing Heiner waited for me.
The second part of the photoshooting in the studio of Heiner was less exciting - until we had to go one time more outside and cought the attentions from some people, because I stood gesticulating at the upper rung of a ladder and Heiner shot one photo after the other.
As I got the results, I was impressed about the lot of wonderful photos and it was hard to choose from nearly 800 (!) photos the pictures for the cover and the booklet.
And after some "night-shifts" the following cover was created:
And the CD itselfs looks like that:
And once again very nice to see is the booklet of the CD:
It's a lot of work to create a CD-cover and a lot of material is needed. The mainwork is at the computer. Here the pictures were sightened, choosen and designed. The results had to be printed some times, because only then you can see, if the wished impression was got on the paper.
The booklet needs a lot of work, too: The sheets of paper were printed, then stapled and cut. Often the outlook isn't correct at this time, then this had to be corrected and the booklet had to be printed, stapled and cut again. And this step of the work had to be done and done again, until it is all perfect.
Here a little sight at the "material-fight" of creating cover and booklet:
Unavoidable waste at the creating of cover and booklet
The last step to do was to present the work Mosaro. A good time for this seemed to be June the 26th, were Mosaro and Bruno Würtenberger arranged a "playshop":
The journey to Munich was less exciting. But in the town I had some trouble: I already had planed the route before, but a road block crossed my planes. Near the destination I had to change my planes and suddenly I was on the highway again and I had to make a detour of some miles.
Well, the second try was more sucessful an I arived at time at the "Alten Wirt" ("Old innkeeper") before the event has started (at least the time-plan worked ;-)
To see Bruno and Mosaro there, was great joy for me and I could made a lot of interesting experiences at the "playshop". At the end I surprised Mosare with the CD and I was curious about his reaction.
Mosaro was very happy and I was happy, too, that the surprise was so sucessful!
Mosaro with "our" CD
Of course there is a demo of the CD:
DEMO "Ich weiß, wovon Du träumst"
DEMO "Wie ein Zigeuner"
Alex and Mosaro