Johannes Schult

This is a pop music fragment. There’s also a bridge that didn’t fit into th 52-second format. If I ever get to produce an album with Chris de Burgh (hah!) I’ll pull this one out of the archive for sure.

#49 Hold Me

I don’t want to be the one
To turn away and say the word goodbye
Cause I know that you’re the one
To bring me through the night

So won’t you hold me, hold me
Take me in your arms
Why won’t you hold me, hold me
And I will be all right with you tonight

(words and music by Johannes Schult 2015 Creative Commons by-nc 4.0)

Ich habe die Zukunft gesehen. Sie tanzt. Von wegen Lisbeth spielten im Rahmen des Hellopop-Festivals in Stuttgart im Im Wizemann (Club). Mühelos überzeugte das Berliner Quintett das Publikum, in dem ich zur Abwechslung mal zu den älteren Semestern gehörte. Dabei gab es gleich zu Beginn zwei bislang unveröffentlichte Stücke. Melodie, Groove und Eingängigkeit waren aber auch hier sofort zur Stelle. Es gab reichlich Applaus. Die Band verzichtete angesichts der Festival-Situation auf ausschweifende Ansagen. Stattdessen gab es eine Stunde lang durchweg flotte Stücke, die mit Popappeal, eigenwilligen und doch auch nachvollziehbaren Texten und rockiger Liveatmosphäre punkten konnten.

Nachdem ich Von wegen Lisbeth im September diesen Jahres in Potsdam live gesehen hatte, ohne vorab mehr als ein paar YouTube-Videos zu kennen, war ich diesmal besser “vorbereitet”. So gefielen mir neben den Bandhits “Sushi” und “Lang lebe die Störung im Betriebsablauf” gerade die neuen (?) Songs “Bitch” (toller Beat, griffige Textphrasen in den Versen und im Refrain) und “Vor deiner Tür” (klasse Atmosphäre). Einmal mehr faszinierte die Band mit zahlreichen Instrumentenwechseln, gerne auch innerhalb einzelner Songs. Optisch zeigte sich die Klangvielfalt unter anderem in der Abwesenheit der sonst so verbreiten MacBooks. Auf alle Fälle war es ein starker Auftritt, der Von wegen Lisbeth einige neue Fans beschert haben dürfte. Ich hoffe nun, dass ich nicht allzu lange auf den nächsten Konzertbesuch warten muss.

1. Vor deiner Tür
2. Bäreneck
3. Kafka Luise
4. Plötzlich
5. Milchschaum
6. Drüben bei Penny
7. Lang lebe die Störung im Betriebsablauf
8. Bitch
9. US-Studie
10. Sushi
11. 14 Tage Testversion
12. Schwester
13. Das Zimmer

This is the result of my overexposure to Star Wars. In a post-“Return of the Jedi” world I can imagine guided tourist tours over the Endor battlefield. Who needs Gettysburg when you can stroll through the ruins of the shield generator? Speeder bikes available for extra charge. Yet, given the vast green forests on Endor it must be raining rather often.

The lyrical idea and the main melody lay around for a while until I figured I’d use my digicam to capture me recording the individual parts. I completed the lyrics in a hurry, scrapping my otherwise favourite line “Like a rainy day on Endor with no fur to keep you warm”. The audio tracks are actually those from the camera, so please excuse the crappy quality. You can see excerpts from all five tracks in the video.

#31 Rainy Day

Now I’ve finally reached my aim
But it really ain’t the same
Without you by my side
Feels like a rainy day on Endor
Feels like a rainy day on Endor

I can’t enjoy my victory
Because I was too blind to see
Just what you meant to me
Feels like a rainy day on Endor
Feels like a rainy day on Endor

(words and music by Johannes Schult)

This is my new single! It consists of two short songs. Check out jutze.bandcamp.com for further song details, full-length audio samples and various download options. NB: You can download the songs for free by entering zero Euros (0.00€) when naming your price.

This is probably the most annoying song I’ve ever made. I could pretend that there is a deeper meaning behind the lyrics. But it’s really just a trip on memory lane back to when school children had electronic pets that were as annoying as my falsetto vocals. If you want to translate the situation to today’s portable devices with their apps and cameras, do so at your own risk. The main reason for even publishing this is it lowers the bar even more. At least it was a good exercise to play all the synthesizer parts. I corrected almost no notes and I wouldn’t even know how to digitize the tracks to the beat.

#14 Feed Me

Feed me, need me, keep me closer
Love me, touch me now
Please me, tease me, take me with you
Tell me all your secrets
Take good care of me in the morning
Keep me in your sight
Dream of me while you are sleeping
Hold me close at night

(words and music by Johannes Schult)

This is another example of why I like the 52-second format: If this lonely hearts ad was any longer, people would actually start taking it seriously. I was somewhat uncertain about the exact wording, the organ in the background and the main chord sequence (D G E A was in there at one point). But I think, the song works in its present form (p < 0.05). The concept of the song was inspired by an old statistics lecture that featured remarks about Love@Lycos, matching algorithms and bootstrapping.

#7 Lonely Hearts Ad (Bootstrapping)

I’m looking for a woman who is capable of bootstrapping, yeah
I don’t care if she’s tall or thin or if her hair is red

It’s good for a romantic relationship to be based on common interests, yeah
Even though I’m the first to admit that bootstrapping’s uncommon

This statistical procedure
Is an important feature
Of our future late-night conversations

I’m looking for a woman who is capable of bootstrapping, yeah
If we can figure out bootstrapping we can figure out everything else

(words and music by Johannes Schult)

I just recorded a video of me playing the song at home:

In response to John Green’s offer to give away a copy of his latest book Paper Towns I wrote a song about me not having said book. Yet. I have his previous two books, though. If you haven’t heard of John Green, I suggest you check out An Abundance of Katherines. It features eloquent German insults, but is ultimately a young adult novel. With math.

Writing the lyrics to this song was fun, because I could arrange the actual books accordingly. Once I had recorded everything I made a little video to illustrate this process – and also to clarify what I’m actually singing about.

Download “I Have Many Books (But I Don’t Have Paper Towns Yet)”: mp3 (more music)

I have the best German fairytale, the best Scholastic book
I have comedies and screenplays that are really, really good
I have My Heart So White and a book about you
About the end of the world and about aliens, too
I have Looking for Alaska as you can see
An Abundance of Katherines belongs to me
I have many books from A to Z
But I must confess I don’t have Paper Towns, yet

I have books that sound dirty but are really all right
I have books that sound nerdy but are dirty inside
I have Reasons to Be Pretty, I have reasons to be smart
I have books about emotion but none about art
I have Looking for Alaska as you can see
An Abundance of Katherines belongs to me
I have many books some of which are red
But I must confess I don’t have Paper Towns, yet

I have The Devil’s Dictionary and books about Gods
The complete works of Shakespeare, a book about odds
I have books that are funny and some that are sad
Some are amazing and some are rather bad
I love Catching Fire; I wonder how it ends
I have The Elements of Style in your pants
I have Looking for Alaska as you can see
An Abundance of Katherines belongs to me
And for full disclosure I also have The Fountainhead
But as of now I don’t have Paper Towns, yet

(words and music by Johannes Schult)