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- If love is your religion
- Henry
- Save me
- Light of love
- Coming home
- Since you're gone
- Thunder road
- For a rainy day
- Hypersonic
- Stand by you
- America
- Time is on your side
- Keep on
- Stay
Ad-Rian is primarily the
talented Adrian Sturzenegger from Switzerland, playing
with a band (with Markus
Stefani,
Goran Filic, Mitch Oliver and Reto Freitag) as and when required.
Ad-Rian gives us a touching Pop-Rock with a taste of California. After
the release of the album "Adrenalin" in 2001, and "Coming Home" in
2006, Ad-rian is back in 2007 with an acoustic album :
" La Maison Bleue " (which means in French : "The Blue House").
Interview with Ad-Rian:
S: Who are
the persons behind the name of Ad-Rian ?
A:
Ad-Rian - that's myself and a small team of 3 people behind me that
helps to keep things going.
When I'm performing live, Ad-Rian is also the band behind me but many
shows I just play by my self without a band - just with the acoustic
guitar.
S: How and
when did all begin with music?
A:
When I was five years old. I was on ski-holiday with my parents and
we were going to this hotel bar after dinner. There was a band playing
and I thought: "man these guys are so cool, I want to be one of
them..." After holiday I gave my parents such a hard time, till they
got me a small drum set from the used instrument shop. So I started
with playing drums
- Jojo Mayer by the way was my drum-teacher, he grow up in the same
town as we did.
S: What are
the positive and negative sides of being a musician in Switzerland?
A:
Uff - there are many negative sides - let me think of something
positive first to start with...
Ok, I guess positive is that Switzerland is a good country to be
creative, because there is a lot of rain. That helps to stay inside and
focus on what your doing. Switzerland has also a lot to offer on the
countryside, very good for inspiration and peace of mind.
The negative sides: Switzerland is a very small country, this is very
hard when it comes to selling records.
S: How many
gigs have you ever done approximately ?
A:
I don't know, that's very hard to say - many !
25 years of playing is a long time - what I do know is that in the
past 25 years there was not one year without a gig.
S: Do you
feel anxious before a show ?
A:
Sometimes - depends how big the show is and how my constitution on that
day is.
Sometimes I feel more secure about my self and what I do and on someday
less - I guess that's normal...
S: What
musicians or artists had an influence in your life and in your work?
A:
Jackson Brown, Bob Dylan, REM, John Mellencamp, Coldplay, Bono, Keith
Urban, there are many...
But there are also producers I look up to.... Daniel Lanois, Brian Eno,
Traver Horn are just three of my favorite producers.
S: Do you
remember what was the first Cd you bought ?
A:
That was an Elvis Presley CD followed by a Beatles CD.
But Elvis was my hero - well I guess up to this day - I still love to
listen to his voice.
S: Do you
think the emotion is different between a song in English and in German ?
A:
No, I don't think so. But I am sure, that there are much more people
that understand English songs then German. If we look at music as a
universal language to communicate, the languages should be English,
Spanish or Arabian.
S: How
could you define the music of Ad-Rian?
A:
Oh my god - I hate that question - that is so hard to say when you
write your own music. Let's say singer/songwriter rock - am I off the
hook now? (lol)
S: Do you
agree with Victor Hugo who said :“Melancholy is the pleasure
of being sad” ?
A:
Absolutely, at 100%.
Melancholy is a wonderful state of being. I think good songs always
have a kind of melancholy within them. I mean there is nothing wrong
with "happy” songs, happiness is an important part of life.
But I
think music is also the platform where people can feel understood and
melancholy helps the people to bring out feelings, they can maybe not
show in their everyday life...
S: When you
write a song you follow your heart, your brain or your hand ?
A:
My heart - If I would follow my brain, I would maybe not write a song
and my hand is just doing the work.
Well, sometimes I have to say... There are moments when my
hand is not doing what I want it to do; I am not the best guitar player
in the world but I am working on it...
S: "Is love
your religion" or your "adrenalin"?
A:
Love is what I would like to see as a religion - globally.
John Lennon said, "Imagine no religion", that would probably even be
better but we couldn’t make it without religion so far, so my
idea was to try it with love as a religion....
S: What is
your favorite song of Ad-Rian and why?
A:
That depends on the mood I'm in. Right now:
"Stay" and "10° Below" from my acoustic album "La maison bleue".
"Stay" has such nice "melancholy" feel to it and "10° below" is
just simply a good song for my taste.
A good song means: Good melody, good lyrics, good to play with an
acoustic guitar, good to sing along in the chorus, good feedbacks when
I perform it live, a good moment when I wrote it and so on...
S: As a
musician, what’s your feeling about Internet?
A:
I personally think music and Internet don't really go together, but
that is old fashion thinking.
Today Internet is a part of reality. The Internet is a platform that
makes artist more independent then in the early days - but there are
also some problems to the whole Internet thing, some aspects we did not
think of.
But I guess there will also be solutions to these Internet download
"bla bla bla" problems the music industries have to deal with today.
They will find a way - Someday... (Wow, that rhymes)
S: How many
musical instruments can you play ?
A:
I play guitar, bass, quite a bit of keyboards but my main instrument is
my voice....
S: Can you
describe what is a typical Ad-Rian’s day ?
A:
Get in up in the morning, making coffee, walk the dog, go to the
studio, work on songs and ideas, take a short break in between to eat a
bite, go back to the studio to work, walk the dog again, back to the
Studio, work into the night, going to sleep between 02 and 03 O'clock,
sleep, geting up again and so on...
S: What are
your hobbies aside music?
A:
Traveling, I have an old 1926 tugboat in Holland - I try to spend as
much time as possible there. And we have a great dog, witch is also
like a hobby, I love dogs!
S: Are you
venturesome person?
A:
I guess so...
S: You
prefer "walking on sunshine" or waiting "for a rainy day" ?
A:
I prefer the rainy day since that is my own song.
S: Where
would you like to play in the future, is there a place in the world you
would love to visit ?
A: I would
play anywhere.
I would like to visit.... maybe New-Zealand, I love nature.
But maybe also Norway or Sweden if it should be a destination a little
closer.
S: Are
there any things, which you are afraid of? Do you have any fears?
A:
Yes I have global fears, for example fear of the political situation
in the world, fear of the global warming and of the way we treat nature.
But I also have personal fears, fear of sickness, fear of my own
weakness and so on....
S: Have you
"a little secret" for us ?
A:Yes
!
I am working on my new album. The release is planed for beginning of
next year and I just finished a great song yesterday. I am very happy
with the recording-progress.
S: As my
website is dedicated to Manic Street Preachers maybe can you say some
words about them, if you know them ?
A:
I just know them from your website. It's hard to say something about
someone you don't really know.
What I did see left a good impression on me!
S: I know
it’s a difficult question, but if you would have to keep just
one
album from your Cd collection what album would it be?
A:
Maybe from Lyle Lovet (Step inside this house)
But that is in deed a hard question.... also a terrible thought imagine
only one album... uff – I would also keep my "la maison
bleue"
album...
S: What was
the last song you listened to before the interview? And, if you know,
which one will be the next?
A: The new
song I finished mixing yesterday. The next song will also be song from
the new album I am working on.
S: Can you
tell me the title of one French song, or the name of one French singer?
A:
Francis Cabrel (Card Postal)
I love Francis Cabrel - He has such a great feel for music.
S: And say
one word in French ?
A:
Je suis René - ton cousin de Genève (lol)
S: What are
your plans for the nearest future ?
A:
Write more songs, produce good albums, travel a lot, meet new people,
spend time with friends, spend time with my band playing. Many things I
plan to do but these are the most important ones...
S: And
finally, what’s the most important thing in life for you?
A:
My Family, my friends and loved ones.
MANY thanks to Ad-Rian for the
interview!
More informations about Ad-Rian:
- on the official website: http://www.ad-rian.com
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