I'm partial to Maren because she's a close friend and former bandmate. But aside from those two things, I'm a huge fan of her music. She plays almost any instrument you can think of and her songs are nothing short of little pop masterpieces. In an effort to help maintain this blog and keep it interesting and different, I decided I wanted to send Q&A's to my favorite musicians and here's my first Q&A. Enjoy!
K: You grew up in Germany. Did American bands have a big influence on your life growing up?
M: yes! in Europe American bands are very popular. they pretty much play the same songs on the radio like here, but we also have all the European bands coming into the mix, which gives it a nice change! My mum was a fan of Cat Stevens, Simon and Garfunkel, Beach Boys and Leonard Cohen.
My dad always listened to Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Jerry Lee Lewis, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones and he loved Abba. My mum also plays classical piano, so i grew up with lots of Beethoven too :) I remember loving that song "The Letter" from the Box Tops when I was 12! ...buy me a ticket for an aeroplane..lalala. so good!
K: Why did you move to America?
M: I did work as an intern at a Tv station in Germany right after High School. I was so fascinated with California, seeing it from the movies, i had always dreamed of moving over there. When the company i worked for had to let go of all its employees, i thought that i could either go to school here in Germany or move to California and become a musician. As you can see I chose the second of the two. :)
K: What was the first concert you ever went to?
M: um...i think it was a reggae festival in Cologne called Summer Jam. The stages are on an island in a lake and only connected by a couple of bridges. All around the lake people build up their tents and camp there for a week. It was so much fun and i remember not taking a shower for 4 days!!
K: First record (or CD) you remember buying?
M: My first cd i bought was for this guy i had a crush on when i was 12 or 13. He invited me to a birthday Party and I bought him "mmm" by the Crash Test Dummies, because it was his favorite song...:)
It was also the first time i ever went into a music store by myself and bought a cd. I was so intimidated by all the older cool kids there hanging out and looking through records, that i ran inside, asked the guy at the counter for the cd, bought it and ran out as fast as i could not looking at anyone... i think one of my first cds I bought for myself was Operation Ivy or Ace of Base! one of the two.
K: Recently you joined a bigger band as their guitarist to tour nationally, opening up for the Killers. That must have been really exciting to perform in front of such a large crowd. Do you prefer performing in front of thousands of people, or performing in front of a smaller, more intimate crowd, playing your own music?
M: It was pretty nerve wracking to go on in front of thousands of people but in the end i realized that its really not about how many people you play to, its more about what you can share with an audience music wise as a performer and become one with the music and the crowd and be able to share something so personal like a song with an audience. This can be in front of 20 people or thousands.
K: If you could cover any song, what would it be?
M: Right now me and my band are trying to cover the song "changes" from David Bowie. I also would like to cover" these days" from Nico (velvet underground)
K: If you weren’t a singer and a musician, what would be your dream job?
M: um... i always wanted to be an astronaut...ya, i think i would wanna be that. I'm fascinated with space!
K: You’re stuck on an island and have one record to listen to for eternity. What would that record be?
M: oh no, I can't really answer that. I don't think I want to listen to only one record for eternity. It would drive me crazy! I think I would prefer my guitar , so i can play whatever. I would get really good with all the practicing.
K: What is your favorite dessert?
M: a brownie and chai latte is all i need!!!
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