The Tomcat is involved in Foul Play

“I can’t take any more!” with these theatrical words, taken completely out of context and as such incomprehensible, Adam, my human tin opener, entered our sweet home, threw his laptop bag into the first available corner and disappeared into the depths of your garden.

Dust particles were dancing in the slanting incoming light, the air appeared somehow electrified.

I left him alone for a few minutes, before I tracked him down in the hammock at our huge copper beech. This tree had already frequently borne witness to chapters and turnings in both of our lives. Numerous marks, hearts, names of lost loves and dates of life phases were carved into the bark.

I sat down silently at his feet and waited. Finally he began to speak with his eyes closed and in a quiet voice. “This work does not fulfil me! The constant stress, all the commotion because of minor details, permanently subjected to the criticism of colleagues and superiors – all day I have the feeling that I’m lagging behind.

On top of that I have saddled myself with the double burden of elite training at one of the most renowned institutes in Switzerland. That really stretches me to my limit! I wanted so much to progress but my talents are not appreciated at all, they are not even needed. I quit my job today. I would like to enjoy my life, to travel, run a marathon, paint or write a book. I could take singing lessons, I was a very impressive tenor – why not!”

I stared at him with a shocked expression, my ears were lying dangerously close to my head and my tail was whipping the grass nervously! His moaning and groaning had sent my tolerance and acceptance levels to the moon.

He wants to lead a fulfilled life, I thought distraught. But why?

The idea of Adam hanging around the house all day, bawling loudly and disturbing my usual routine is insufferable. I couldn’t stand this human near me, constantly advocating pointless theses, for more than 2 days.

“You were happy until now! Just think about it a little, where you draw the line and which things you do not want to do without!” I said understandingly.

In my opinion I thought that eating, sleeping and occasionally going jogging must be enough for such a simple cluster of amoeba cells.

In the end I raised my game and convinced him that he had to look for another job. Everyone needs a goal and fulfilment is not served on a silver platter – you have to work hard for it! He could also combine a number of things. Hanging around at home simply is not an option, as he has a home to maintain after all and bears the responsibility for a pampered tomcat whose living standards are really not up for negotiation.

I left him in the hammock with this broadside, strolled confidently and with my head held high into the house and got busy looking at job advertisements and writing ingenious applications, while he scratched around on the tree trunk with his knife.

How did it turn out? Thanks to my application he easily found a new job. Now, to satisfy his longing to travel, he drives one hour to his new office in the country every day singing loudly. After work he goes jogging out there in the countryside and is training for a marathon that he will never run. When he comes home completely exhausted I send him off to shower and accept the evening meal from the luxury delivery service.

We lead a happy, fulfilled life – well, I do anyway!

Copyright Illustration: Manuela Dona

An interview with the Italian composer

The Italian pianist and composer, Ludovico Einaudi (66), is the most streamed classic artist of all time. He fills auditoria and temples of pop with his music, which is partly of a meditative to lounge nature. ADAM THE MAGAZINE talked to him about the origins of his new album «Underwater».

Your music has a healing effect on our pandemic-troubled souls. We should be able to get «Underwater» on prescription …
Yes … (smiles), put it this way: there is an actual connection between this music and the situation we find ourselves in. The first pieces were written two years ago. I had just come back from giving concerts in Australia and Singapore, when the first signs of COVID-19 appeared in China, but no one thought yet that this virus could also come to us. Then it exploded here in northern Italy as well and the lockdown came. I actually only wanted to spend a week in our house in the mountains, but then the week turned into several months.

How did you spend this time?
It was as if all activities in the world had been stopped. I had never experienced this before, nobody had ever experienced it. If we factor out all the suffering, which many people experienced, the sudden tranquility and silence had a positive effect as well. There were almost no airplanes in the sky, air pollution was reduced and the fish returned to the lagoon in Venice. It was as if nature wanted to tell us to take everything a bit easier and not to stress the planet as much.

And did you obey?
During those days on which I had no responsibilities I began to sense the freedom and felt almost like a teenager, living one day at a time and only doing what I loved. I went for walks, then sat down at the piano, composed, recorded pieces … Everything ran smoothly, without pressure, without a defined objective. I actually did not want to make a new album.

But then?
I was doing everything out of pleasure and delight because I had unrestricted time. As no one knew when the pandemic would end I had the feeling of infinity. I began to write down several ideas on paper. I became particularly fond of the pieces because this music came to me without me having to look for it. Then I noticed that I wanted to share it with others.

«Underwater» is your first solo piano album in 20 years…
Yes, however I did not realize that in the beginning, as other albums include individual solo piano pieces. I love returning to this pure form, to the dialogue between pianist and instrument, which is both giving and taking. You influence the piano with your breathing and movement, the piano answers with the sound, which leads again to the pianist’s breathing. It is almost like playing the didgeridoo! (laughs)

What was the inspiration for the album title?
«Underwater» is synonymous with the sound that is not present in our everyday lives, in which the world pulsates and moves, but from a sphere in which everything is more round and muted. Under water you hear your own breathing, your pulse, and you perceive yourself differently.

What does the swan on the cover symbolize?
In ancient Greece it was a symbol for beauty and grace. Apollo, the God of poetry and music, considered the swan to be sacred. The swan also stands for depth and reminds you to follow your instinct – the flow of life.

Is it true that you took the photo yourself?
Yes, since I was 14 years-old photography, in particular with films, has been a great passion of mine. I have a small camera collection and love to take photos when I’m out walking or on tour. My concerts often begin with projections of pictures that I have taken.

How do your compositions develop?
The initial ideas come from improvisations, from an irrational rhapsodic impulse. Then I play the individual parts again and again, revise them, and sometimes write the notes by hand in my exercise books. The repetitive process slowly shapes the form of the pieces, until I am happy with them. After this first phase of stabilization other variations may appear when performing in front of an audience, which change the composition only for the evening or permanently. Interestingly, I never know when recording an album which pieces I will like to play most in the long run and which will be more popular. It varies extremely.

How would you describe your music philosophy?
I like it at concerts, also my own, when there is a certain detachment from the original recordings and an unenforced intensity. As if the music is playing by itself and is being driven by a constant energy. To be able to express all emotions that are important to me, joy, strength, melancholy and sorrow, I have to be able to immerse myself in the music and find inner peace, which I do not always manage.

Your music also inspires because you allow a lot of space for personal thoughts. What effect does it have, when you hear your recordings yourself?
I recognize the strengths and weaknesses immediately and think about whether I was able to express what I wanted.
I identify with the sound and sense whether this sound is speaking and conveying its full potential to the public. Of course, everyone is free to hear what they want to hear, but it is important to me that it is coherent.

What does it mean to you to be the most streamed, classical musician of all time?
I do not think about figures too much. However, the fact that an increasing number of people are listening to my music is an additional motivation to consistently improve my work and only to do it with complete conviction. The success does not change any part of my passion, objectives that I follow or the evaluation of my work. I am extremely critical of my own work and do not settle for anything but the best.

Ludovico Einaudi was born on 23 November, 1955 in Turin into an influential family. One grandfather was the Italian President, the other a composer and conductor, his father a publisher. Ludovico learned to play the piano at an early age, went to the conservatory and then began to write stage and film soundtracks and to present minimalistic solo piano programs, inspired by Philip Glass and Erik Satie. His most famous sound track is the music of the blockbuster «Intouchables». His current album «Underwater» (Universal Music) contains twelve meditative piano instrumental pieces.

Photos Copyrights: Ray Tarantino / Universal Music

Illustrationen Copyrights: Manuela Dona

 A tomcat‘s perspective

As always, when things are not at all balanced in my life, I sit at the window of our posh luxury property and gaze questioningly into the starry night. What is wrong with the world? What’s happening here? But apart from getting breathtakingly intoxicated by the stars, the firmament has no answers to questions posed by a tomcat searching for meaning.

Who is spoiling everything for me and bringing a bitter note to my otherwise privileged life to date? Where has the beautiful, carefree life gone? Where? Humanity is divided into good and evil, black and white, loud and silent, those willing to work and those looking, speeders and brakers, vaccination supporters and vaccination opponents. There is no longer an inbetween factor; there are no shades, no nuances. Can we even recognise the grey tones at all in our society? For two years a pandemic has got the better of us, the economy has been destroyed and is only recovering slowly. Viruses and masks, with annoying rules in the meantime and human tragedies, are still determining our daily lives. Political disenchantment is running rampant. One scandal follows the other. Trust in our elected representatives is virtually at zero, if the surveys do not tell the right story they are doctored, warped or embellished with false assessments. Virgin forests are burning, the oceans are suffocating on plastic waste, the polar caps are melting and more than onehundred species are becoming irretrievably extinct each day, because profit and greed for power are widespread.

What has happened to humanity? What triggered it? Which chromosome is missing? The world will perish, if humanity no longer trusts that it is also worth living for tomorrow. How can we pull ourselves out of this situation and what is really keeping the world going and what will get the pulse beating again? I gaze at the skies for answers but the universe is silent. Silence. Pure silence. I suddenly notice a gentle rustling in the garden. I see a magic shadow on the wall, which quickly disappears from my eye cones. Quiet, careful advancing in the moist autumn leaves. I am beginning to think that I have imagined it, when a subtle but incredibly beguiling fragrance penetrates up to my nose and grows to an olfactory hurricane that is clearly and at the same time difficult to identify. My whiskers are vibrating, my ears are set for reception, and my tail is continuously whipping to and fro. What is happening here? I am wide awake and at the same time almost in a bewitching unconsciousness. Is it the answer from the universe or a sign from the cosmos? Then the moon slowly creeps over the edge of the roof and a beam of light falls into the night garden. Then I see her. She is sitting like a Madonna upright on the stone wall, elegant, angelic and not at all hidden, in the light of the moon. Unbearably slowly she turns her head and looks directly at me with a soft glance. I am mesmerized by her gaze. She gets up and slowly turns to the darkness of the garden. «No don’t go », screams every fibre in my body, but my voice remains silent. She turns around once more, looks at me challengingly and in a split second the spectre is over. The shockinduced paralysis dissolves like a spell. I push my head through the cat flap of the terrace door, follow up with a bold but elegant dive to immerse myself in the darkness and follow the scent trail that shows me the way to the only thing that makes the world go round. Love of course. Maybe the world will perish – someday – but not tonight! Meowwwwww!

*) In my stories I obviously address all genders (m/d/f).

Illustrationen Copyrights: Adam´s Tomcat, Manuela Dona

“It is extremely cool here.” Clueso checking in at “Hotel California”

Pop Star Clueso (41), who became famous to the broader public through his collaboratin with Udo Lindenberg and Die Fantastischen Vier, on his James Bond “Album”, formatting his hard disk, his view of Zurich and his affinity for chilling in the bath.

You refer to «Album» as the result of your ambition to create your own James Bond. Which actor was your favourite, before you arrived?
(Laughs) What I meant with that statement was that I wanted to make a musical Blockbuster, which – like a Bond film – provided something for every taste. I still think Sean Connery is the coolest of all Bonds. Roger Moore was also cool, but he always had a touch of the granddad «fondling» the girls. In the old Bond films there were also other things that would be seen as no-gos today.
«Flugmodus» and «37 Grad im Paradies», the first songs on the album, elevate the listener. «Hotel California», like the Eagles title of the same name, deals more with the dark side of the American dream.

Which are the action scenes and which the love scenes on «Album»?
I have to think about that one … «Leider Berlin» and «Flugmodus» provide the action. We just finished playing the largest live concert in Germany, 7000 people were there. Without masks. The 2G rule or the 3G rule? I never know which one is which. (Laughs) In any case I noticed there that the public go crazy for the songs. The love scenes begin with «Sehnsucht …». I think it is beautiful story when we can generate a feeling chatting on a App, although all senses are removed. But that’s how we fall in love in 2021. The most intense moment is «Alles zu seiner Zeit». I wrote the song myself but cannot say when it happened or how. I only needed twenty minutes to write the lyrics.

A lot of hits are written quickly …
That’s a fable but it is true! Afterwards I looked at the wall and thought: «Cool that I was there!» (Grins) Now when I sing that song, the public are all ears. I love that. It is the only elegiac ballad on the album. I think about the question «What would be if …», because in my profession I get to meet so many people. Any one of them could become my friend or girlfriend.

«Flugmodus» and «37 Grad im Paradies», the first songs on the album, elevate the listener. «Hotel California», like the Eagles title of the same name, deals more with the dark side of the American dream.
It corresponds to what I have experienced in the music business since I was 19 and got a record deal. I have been offered everything that exists in the line of narcotics and stimulants, also from people who probably thought:«Now I’m going to get Clüsen wasted!» (Laughs) Fortunately as a child I found tablets and ate them. Afterwards I felt so awful that I stayed away from everything, except for smoking pot and drinking alcohol. Now and then I have even planned to reformat the hard drive. But otherwise I have always kept myself in check.

Anything else could cost you your career, or more.
In principle, however, I find both fascinating: When someone burns out like Jim Morrison and when someone is in complete harmony with himself like Sting. In Los Angeles I came into the studio where twenty rappers were hanging out in the vocal booths and forty cough mixture bottles were on the table. The guys were barely able to respond. The song is mainly about the fact that, if you are hurting, for example at the end of a relationship, you need a little distraction. Then you check in at «Hotel California».

In «Punkt und Komma» you realise from a distance that your love story at home has reached the final chapter. In «Alles zu seiner Zeit» you sing that you have never written a love story that ends well». How do you deal with that?
I am on the road a lot and my first love is music. That is difficult for a start. But I understand that people are incredibly interested in what is happening in my private life. However, I try to protect it. I do not talk a lot about it, I prefer to process it in my songs. The best are mostly autobiographical, because personal narratives touch you the deepest. I also find relationships that do not work more interesting. When I’m making music I am extremely fond of melancholy!

You are giving a concert in the Volkshaus on 31st January 2022. How well do you know Zurich?
A little. I still have to be driven around. I gave my first concerts in Kaufleuten. We were very torn because we were such an alternative clique and had to come to terms with the trendy types from Zurich. Then we were shown the club scene, which surprised us Thuringians a little. That must have been 15 years ago at least. It is extremely cool here and at the end of my promotional tour I have arranged to extend my stay by two or three days so I can go for some walks at the lake. I need that as the past few months have been flat out.

How do you spend your free time otherwise?
When I see a bath in my hotel room, I have to get into it. Even in the morning! Then I switch on the old series such as «Star Trek»; I don’t even have to watch just enjoy the mood, or I play music. I also love to go into the sauna. I even had one built in the studio, because it’s embarrassing when people recognize me and shout «Cello». Or I take my guitar and drone on a bit. For nobody. Music gets lost in noth-
ing. Playing is pure relaxation.

Fotos: Sony Music

Sustainability in a feeding bowl

Have you ever stopped to think how sustainable it is to own a cat? No? Neither have I. I simply could not care less! Because it does not bear thinking about granting a cat access to our dignified male abode.

At the moment keeping a pet is mutating into a national sport. Does nobody for one second think of the consequences? Now mother, father and children are stuck at home with their home office and homeschooling, then on top of it they bring a hairy cat creature into their intimate universe that eats constantly and scratches everything.

Yes, and who gets the animal after separation? Wars have been waged because of a pet, because as soon as love dissolves, everyone pounces on what’s left to get their own back on their partner. Emotional booty like a cat fits the bill perfectly in the eyes of even a halfway intelligent warlord. As I said no one thinks of the consequences. Pets are only hoarded on a whim. Mankind is obviously suffering not only from the Corona pandemic, but also from an extremely contagious form of an amnesia mutation.

But I am digressing. Even if the positive ecological balance of a cat will never affect me, I recently led a heated discussion with Adam, my can opener, on cat food alucups. I hate those things. I would not expose my well-trained body to the disgusting stuff, I prefer to stick to my fresh salmon and well-matured dry-aged beef, but I took a sniff at one of those cans once and apart from the deplorable stink, an alucup simply cannot be sustainable. Zero Waste is allegedly the trend of the season and it is clear to even the most stupid that alucups, tin cans, cat litter, mink shampoo and fur mice are far from being Zero Waste. I don’t want to even think about the monster cat toilet – Yuck!!!

And scratching trees? My claws itch when I think of the constructions wrapped in sisal cord or the monstrosities covered in fleecy carpet that are set up in the living room devouring multiple square metres, while the cap takes a nap in the bed, the washing basket or in the Amazon box and sharpens her nails on the living room chair or the silk wallpaper. No, the world has to wake up and protect itself from these senseless money and resource eating monsters and the
industry behind them!

That was my thinking 2 hours ago, and then Adam came back to our upper-class villa, which is kept in tip-top condition, with a little kitty in his arms. The delicate little paws of the 12 week old, sugar-sweet ball of wool had barely touched the ground when she swirled up a tsunami in our sedate male domicile and brilliantly brought down my founded opinion on the sustainability of cats. Only a tomcat with a heart of stone could have resisted those naïve eyes. I am now clearing some space in the cupboards for an Armada of snacks, kitten milk and toys. Which reminds me, I’ll have to ring the carpenter about the scratching tree I ordered.

But no one should ever forget – sustainability concerns us all!

Illustrationen Copyrights: Adam´s Tomcat, Manuela Dona