Back to basics but far from ordinary, this brilliant analog offering from Berlin has a retro vibe but couldn't me more current. Listen once then listen again. But be careful, you may not be able to stop.

12 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Modern Rock, ROCK: Psychedelic



Details:
There was this girl at a Halloween party in South Philadelphia in 1993. No, wait a sec.... Zoom ahead to New York City at the end of the 90's. I was fronting a band called Happy Fernandez and playing all the usual places. It was a monster three piece, and we really rocked. Religiously gigging once a month and getting fairly well known until we got really well known. Then something really weird happened. We started to suck. I couldn't figure it out. We rehearsed and got worse. Of course in retrospect it's clear. Our bass player was this French woman who thought she was Bootsy Collins and kept trying to sneak funk grooves into my rock songs. Nothing against Bootsy or French women but misplaced funk is an absolute catastrophe. Around this time, when the trouble started, I met a German woman. Nadia. More trouble. Not trouble in the way women usually are for men but in the way that being with her meant moving to Berlin. Hmmm. What was keeping me in NYC anyway? My cat had a cancerous tumor, the daily thrill of working in a calling center was waning, and my band was badly broken.

So I moved to Berlin and met:

Hendrik (the Griller) Stiller, Organ & Rhodes -- Ga Nuong Voi Ngu Vi Huong. (Vietnamese 5 spice rubbed bar-b-cued coq.) Served with rice, a generous dusting of chopped fresh coriander, and Hendrick's secret spiced sherry makes this the perfect dish for a warm summer evening entertaining guests on the patio. And with a crisp,well chilled chardonnay, this light and easy dish is sure to please. For a copy of this delicious recipe and fun decorating tips, email the Griller at hendrik@oharalive.com.

Pelle Hinrichsen, Drums -- Pelle never really liked sports. His name vaguely resembles that of a famous Brazilian soccer player from the 70s and he fights an on going battle with foot fungus but thatâs as far as it goes. A heated debate with his father about foregoing fußball for the viola ended with a drum set emerging as the nearest compromise. Phew.

Nick Glöckner, Guitar -- Want a muffin? Questions like this one can throw Nick into an impenetrable trance that is often misinterpreted as aloofness. But he's merely weighing pros and cons, contemplating ramifications, visualizing theoretical scenarios, etc. With furrowed brow and glazed eyes you can hear him utter, "Muh... muh..."

Sven Mühlbradt, Bass/Vocals -- Technically, its not a lie to say you are the singer in a rock and roll band even if you only occasionally sing back ups. And for someone who wears his headphones like a crown of thorns, lying is not an option. So why the bass? He remembers angels in white dancing around him and a great star above casting tiny beams of light in all directions. Behold, on a clear April night in 1975, a child was born unto a disco floor.

So these guys and me...

Jeremy Fitzkee, Vocals/Guitar -- A Jack Russell chokes himself on the end of a leash. The sound of gasping and doggy nails scraping the pavement. No progress despite the frantic scurry. Jeremy awakens with a jolt and in a pool of sweat, reaches for the phone. "Hey, Nick! How about O'Hara".

...formed a band.

So what IS O'Hara? It's not my last name and it has nothing to do with Gone with the Wind. Maybe some things are maybe better left untold. A little mystery is a good thing. Maybe it has something to do with a girl at a Halloween party in 1993. Maybe not.