The German jazz collective Hoczeitskapelle are back with a new album: “If I Think About Love” which will be released on the 13th of September via Gutfeeling Records. The record is a collection of cover versions of some of their favourite songs. The band, a live-music loving troop made up of some of Germany’s indie music “royalty” – Micha & Markus Acher (The Notwist), Evi Keglmaier (Keglmaier, Zwirbeldirn), Mathias Götz (Le Millipede) and Alex Haas mix sousaphone, trumpet, drums, viola, tuba, organ, harmonium, trombone, glockenspiel, toy piano and banjo to magical and healing effect. We are delighted to premiere the second single from the forthcoming disc, namely “Anohito”, a version of the Spirit Fest tune which has featured here previously.
Indeed Spirit Fest themselves are an avant-pop supergroup built around acclaimed Japanese duo Tenniscoats and The Notwist, Jam Money and Joasihno. The new instrumental version builds on the fragile beauty of the original, the banjo-picking sketches a sinuous line under the delicious brass and the gentle rise and fall of the melody.
Markus also answered some questions about the record below. My favourite line is “There are so many beautiful songs, it’s very easy to find them. The world is full of songs 🙂 “. Amen to that brother.
Given the disparate moods/styles of the songs on the record, it comes out as a remarkably coherent piece. Was that the intention?
I think that’s maybe the special instrumentation and the way, we play the songs. Also this time we decided to put slower songs onto the record, which also gave it a bit of a melancholic mood ..
How did you choose the songs?
That’s all songs, we really like, from all corners of the world, from very old to recent, from folk-tunes to Indie-pop-songs, for dancing or for crying…or both at once :). Most of them are originally songs with vocals, that we just play instrumental, and they have such strong melodies, that they somehow tell their stories even without the words. It’s fun to make this a very international, uncategorizable music, where in the end, with most of the songs, you cannot guess anymore, where they come from or if they are new or old ( unless you know them ). There are so many beautiful songs, it’s very easy to find them. The world is full of songs 🙂
Are there other covers that didn’t make the final cut?
Not really…there are sometimes songs, that are totally great, but just don’t work so well with this band and these instruments…but we normally hear this very soon the first time we try to play them.
How long did it take to record?
It was only 3 days, all in all, I think. We record everything live in one room, and there are very few over-dubs. The sound is more difficult and it takes some time to find the right room and the right microphones.
Who is/are your favourite “film music” composer(s)?
I think everybody in the band has different ones…for me personally Francois de Roubaix, Egisto Macchi and Ennio Morricone. I also like so much, what Mica Levi is composing for movies.
I count at least 30 covers of Rainbow Connection – does any one of them come close to the original Kermit version?
Actually, I didn’t know the song before, as I also never saw the Muppet-movie. I only heard the song on a 7“ by Tara Jane O’Neill, who I am a big fan of, and thought it was hers. As it sounded like a wonderful song for the Hochzeitskapelle to play, I looked for a youtube video of her recording to send it to the others…and was very shocked, when I saw Kermit sing it 🙂 I like the Kermit-version, but for me the original and most beautiful one will always be this Tara Jane O’Neill cover.
Word Association: Please say the first word that comes into your mind after these words –
1) Voodoo – Maya Deren
2) Windmill – Steve McQueen
3) Weezer – Hmmm…I don’t know Weezer so well, sorry…
Will you be doing some shows with the new album?
Actually, we always have concerts with the Hochzeitskapelle, so the record is only a documentation of songs, we play at the moment at concerts, parties, weddings and in bars. But we will go to Japan in two weeks to play with our friends the Tenniscoats and Zayaendo, and Takuji Aoyagi alias Kama Aina, with whom we recorded the album ‚Wayfaring Suite‘. There we will sell the new LP for the first time, so this will be very special release-concerts somehow. We are very happy about this tour.
What else have you on the go at the moment?
There are 7“’s planned with some special songs. And everyone in the band has other bands and projects.
super world indie tunes 