Johannes Schult

Yes, I am a huge fan of Per Gessle. I’m especially fond of his solo album “The World According to Gessle”. Perfect pop! A dream came true when he finally decided to embark on a small solo tour through Europe. I had to be there: 27th April 2009, Cologne. The band on stage was in a splendid mood. The audience was in a state of euphoria throughout the set. The music was magic. Excellent choice of songs (see below), very good sound, happy faces all around! :-)

P.S.: I wrote a long review in German over at Vampster.com.

1. Dressed for Success
2. Drowning in Wonderful Thoughts About Her
3. Stupid
4. The Party Pleaser
5. Wish I Could Fly
6. She Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
7. 7Twenty7
8. I Have a Party in My Head (I Hope It Never Ends)
9. Late, Later on
10. Listen to Your Heart
11. Do You Wanna Be My Baby?
12. Opportunity Nox
13. Doesn’t Make Sense
14. Church of Your Heart
15. Dangerous
16. Joyride
17. C’mon
18. Are You an Old Hippie, Sir?
19. The Look
20. It Must Have Been Love
21. (I’m Not Your) Steppin’ Stone
22. Sleeping in My Car
23. Queen of Rain

This is my shadow (i.e., out of competition) entry for the Masters of Song Fu #3 Final Challenge. Some trivia about it:

• A whole verse was cut out of the finished recording. Surprisingly, it still works.
• What you hear: vocals, electric guitar, keyboard, ukulele.
• The alarm part is set to the verse chords of What’s the Baby Using.
• Harold likes to wear a cowboy hat.
• Dickensack, AL is a fictitious town and the original home of dieholzmannjungs.
• The Patrick in the song was heavily inspired by a Patrick I know.
• I’m unhappy with the “doesn’t wait for the smoke to clear” line. It implies that the firefighter is reckless and that the story is like these unreal Hollywood action sequences.
• Yes, the title was inspired by Richard Shindell. No, I’m not worthy.
• The lines with the fire/higher rhyme got mixed up. I have no idea why.
• For the most parts “Reunion Street” was recorded last Saturday.
• The initial idea for the story was born while I was jogging by the local fire station and the adjacent traffic lights turned all red due to an actual alarm.
• Singing about dancing is easy and fun, whereas dancing is usually not so easy and not always fun.

Download the song: mp3 (more music)

It’s a quiet night in Dickensack, Alabama
But there’s a light on in Reunion Street
In a wooden house a father tells his little daughter
Don’t cry for Mommy, hush, go to sleep

Mommy’s out of town, she’s staying with her sister
She won’t be back for at least one more day
Now I’m not in the mood to listen to your stories
I want to smoke and drink my troubles away

So please don’t start to weep
Just go back to sleep

My little darling, will you please be quiet
I’m sure the sandman is going to bring you sweet dreams
I have to go back to my beer can and my baseball
And I don’t want to be disturbed by your screams

So please don’t start to weep
Just go back to sleep
No, don’t start to weep
Or else I’m going to have to…

Meanwhile in the local pub there’s a party going on
Harold and his good old boys have been jamming all night long
Not it’s getting late, but it sure was great, there’s still time for one more song

Patrick and his girl-friend Nat are dancing on the stairs
It’s their anniversary, love is in the air
And as the party ends he takes her hands and gently strokes her hair

And then at home they dance some more
And they get rid of what they’ve worn
And just before they fall asleep he says, I love you
And just before she falls asleep she says, I love you, too

3 am, the alarm goes off
Four seconds later Patrick is up
Five steps to the closet door
Hey honey, please sleep on

Six calls in as he gets to the station
Seven miles to drive from there
815 Reunion Street
A two-story building is on fire

The neighbours called when they saw the fire
The owner of the house had gotten drunk and passed out
His burning cigarette fell down on the carpet
And soon the flames got higher and higher

But he did not wake up

Suddenly there’s a faint and distant whisper
Patrick doesn’t wait for the smoke to clear
Up the ladder, his axe breaks the window
There in the bedroom a girl cries in fear

He lifts her up and turns around
And soon they’re safe back on the ground
Meanwhile his friends struggle on
And two hours later they have won
The flames are gone

It’s a quiet morning in Dickensack, Alabama

(words and music by Johannes Schult)

A little while ago I contributed some backing vocals to the song “Big Red Nose” by Mick Bordet. Please check out his Song Fu page for the song and further information on the why and when. There you can also find the detailed results of the first three rounds of Song Fu #3. I ended up 8th, which isn’t that bad at all, I think. Thanks for voting! It’s now up to Molly to defeat Paul and Storm. (Or for the latter to show that all the food and touring didn’t hamper their creative juices.)

If you haven’t check out the most recent round, I urge you to rectify this at once. I highly recommend the entries by Edric Haleen, Mike Lombardo, Molly Lewis, and Hank Green. They all make sense at the end, I promise!

In terms of non-Fu music news, the death metal my brother and I have been working on is close to being released. A homepage and demo songs are scheduled for early May.

Last Saturday, Eric Bazilian and Rob Hyman, the key players of the Hooters, performed live at the Musikmesse in Frankfurt/Main. Hohner had invited them to their booth and they gladly obliged. Armed with an impressive arsenal of instruments, they ran through a set without surprises, but with good spirit and maybe a couple of hundred listeners. It was the first time I saw them playing a full set as a duo in a somewhat acoustic setup; very enjoyable, indeed! It was also the first time they didn’t do a singalong ending in “Johnny B”. We got to be the pirate choir on “Morning Buzz”, instead. Here’s a pic and the setlist:

1. I’m Alive
2. All You Zombies
3. Karla with a K
4. Morning Buzz
5. Star of the County Down / Johnny B
6. Satellite
7. And We Danced

This is an attempt to play true, slow metal with soaring vocals and a guitar solo. Not that I’m a good singer or guitarist. Although I used the song for the April Fools’ Day at Vampster.com, it was originally written for the 3rd round of Song Fu #3 at QuickStopEntertainment.com. Still, the video hopefully augments the message and, well, the recipe. So please consider going there and voting for me/my song if you’re into metal or just enjoyed the video.

Download the song: mp3 (more music)

Seek the mother of a calf
And steal some of her milk
Take two cups and a half
Make sure they are filled
Take the feathered’s unborn
And crack open their shell
Take all that’s inside
And pour it into the cauldron
Pour it into the cauldron
Pour it into the cauldron

Seek the wheat in the valley
Defying the wind alone
Cut it down without mercy
And grind it with a stone
Separate it from the chaff
Obtain a snow-white powder
Take enough to fill two cups
And pour it into the cauldron
Pour it into the cauldron
Pour it into the cauldron

Stir it! Stir it! Stir it! Stir it!

Now take some of the thick mass and some oil
And pour it into the frying pan
Into the frying pan
Heat up the frying pan
Heat up the frying pan
Devour them all
Satanic pancakes

(words and music by Johannes Schult)

Check out the second round of Song Fu 3 over at QuickstopEntertainment.com. The task was to write a song using exactly 10 different words in the lyrics. I came up with a fanboy song about Jimmi Simpson. It’s called “God of Bingo” and was obviously inspired by Jimmi’s role in D.E.B.S. If you loved the movie as much as I did (or just like little punk rock songs), please consider voting for me/my song.

Download the song: mp3 (more music)

Jimmi Simpson is awesome
Jimmi Simpson rocks
Jimmi is the God of bingo
Jimmi Simpson rocks

Jimmi Simpson is awesome
Jimmi Simpson rocks
Jimmi is the God of bingo – bingo
Jimmi Simpson rocks

Jimmi Simpson is God
Jimmi Simpson is God
Jimmi Simpson is God
Jimmi Simpson, Jimmi Simpson
Jimmi Simpson is God

Jimmi Simpson is awesome – awesome
Jimmi Simpson rocks – he rocks
Jimmi is the God of bingo – bingo
Jimmi Simpson rocks

(words and music by Johannes Schult)

This entry refers to the current Song Fu round. Check out the next update for details (and the song I actually submitted).

When the challenge was posted last week, my first idea was to do a flower song that goes something like “she loves me, she loves me not”; repetitive, but believable. Soon enough I had a nice little song that was heavily influenced by Per Gessle. I turned the lyrics into a lament of one of the characters in Wet Hot American Summer, a very enjoyable movie I had just discovered via Riki Lindhome (of Garfunkel and Oates fame). I played the song to a couple of friends and the feedback was, well, not good. The song is utterly harmless, and someone complained that Andy is a really bad name for the hot guy.

Discarded Song #1: The Flower Song (Coop’s Lament)

I spent most of Sunday working on the flower song, but already felt that it lacks something. Then I came across the dulcimer sound on my keyboard. Next thing I know, I was singing a shanty about Captain Tikapakabi (or something like that). It was hardly original, but had more drive and avoided the x loves y pattern some other challengers have (possibly) used. I stayed up late recording a drunk seamen choir, making up the song structure on the fly. I revisited the recording on Tuesday, re-arranging it, dropping the second refrain, and re-working the lyrics to actually be 10 unique words.

Discarded Song #2: Captain Tinglebaraby

I still felt that the 10-word restriction limited the songs’ potential. I made a fresh start on Tuesday night. I had always wanted to write a song about Alice and Bob. Their conversations shouldn’t suffer from a shortage of words. Still, I wished had two or three more words to use. And a better singing voice. Not to mention the lack of a female singer for the last verse. I recorded a demo, anyway.

Discarded Song #3: Alice (demo)

I had planned to focus on Captain Tinglebaraby on Wednesday, but alas, I ended up penning a punk rock song about Jimmi Simpson. I figured that 10 words might be used in a straightforward way. Instead of creating love triangles (or love-octagons), I pay tribute to a great actor. At least some of the visitors of QuickstopEntertainment.com are movie buffs who possibly appreciate this. In the end, the choice was somewhat arbitrary, because each song has its short-comings.

I was very happy that so many people voted for A Mallful of Brains in the first round (landing me an 8th place, yay!). This time around, I’m still not expecting too high a position. But we’ll see/hear. Others have apparently struggled with their songs, as well.

I really like Hank Green‘s entry for this round; neat melody, good vocals, and many, many words! Funnily, Molly went Metal, an option I considered, too. (“Steel! Pain! Death! Glory! Power! Heart! Dragon! Honour! Battle! Metal!”) Other ideas I didn’t/couldn’t turn into proper songs: the first 30-something digits of pi, the algorithm of evolution, “if you take … and … you might just get …; take care of … and … and…” with sounds and noise for the dotted gaps, e.g., bean eating noise and soda drinking noise = fart noise.

In other news, the death metal songs I recorded with my brother and a ‘singer’ a while ago were mixed last week. They rock! More on that after the second round of Song Fu.

Check out the first round of Song Fu 3 over at QuickstopEntertainment.com! The task was to write a happy song. I came up with a song about a happy zombie. It’s called “A Mallful of Brains” and contains plenty of happiness (e.g., ukulele, brains). It’s the very last song on the page, so don’t despair while scrolling down. If you like zombies (or just like the song), please consider voting for me/my song.

Download the song: mp3 (more music)

Today on my way to work I met Sarah from next door
She drooled and took my hand and jerked me to the floor
I tried to get back up, still dizzy from the fall
Suddenly I felt hungry, so we headed for the mall
Because there is nothing like a mallful of brains
There is nothing like a mallful of brains

I looked across the street to the diner by the mall
A sign said ‘all you can eat,’ so I tried to eat them all
Later on my friend Mike came by to grab a drink
I took a little bite of him and then went to see my shrink
Because there is nothing like a mallful of brains
There is nothing like a mallful of brains

I really like to eat brains
I really like to eat brains
I really like to eat brains
I really like…
Brains, a mallful of brains
Brains, a mallful of brains
Brains, a mallful of brains
Brains, a mallful of brains

Mmh, eyeballs!

(words and music by Johannes Schult)

Self-absorbed triviality. Assessement of lack of content. Typographic erorr. Unexplainable urge to share my boredom with a virtual audience. Lame fart joke. Link to meme that is so last summer. Cryptic reference to the title of the post.

Verbose prelude to supposed highlight. Dream I had tonight involving two opposite bands and a bunch of people I haven’t seen in ages. Fill words. Hidden reference to actual event =-). Another cryptic reference to the title of the post.

(Inspired by “Title of the Song” by DaVinci’s Notebook)

They noticed me.