Leslie Mandoki: Criticism of “ambitious” election campaign

Leslie Mandoki (68) and his Mandoki Soulmates are back: On Friday (September 24th) the band will release their new album “Utopia for Realists”. There is also a big tour on the program for the next year. As usual with Mandoki, socio-political issues are brought up on the long player. Leslie Mandoki is also worried about the general election. After the second TV triall on September 12th, he was seen in the midst of a cheering choir for CDU Chancellor candidate Armin Laschet (60), the “Armin Laschet becomes Chancellor!” sang. Mandoki himself just stood there smiling. The situation was “obscure and very strange” for him, he says in an interview with the news agency spot on news.

Because of global challenges, musicians need to be louder than ever, you said recently. Why is it so important to you to draw attention to grievances?

Leslie Mandoki: As a teenager, I was often censored and arrested behind the Iron Curtain because even then I was of the opinion that artists, especially musicians, have a very direct, responsible relationship with their audiences and the mandate to be a thorn in the flesh of the To be company. Right now, the pandemic was a test of character for all of us. My mission is to make music that connects – and doesn’t divide.

Music can be the best prophylaxis against the penetration of radical ideas into the center of society and is therefore an important protective mechanism for democracy and our free, solidarity community. We all feel how ambitious the election campaign is, too much remains superficial, we miss powerful, generational visions. This is precisely why it is so important that we musicians sing about our “Utopia for Realists”. That’s why there is no campaign song, but a clear, holistic, artistic statement.

Climate change is one of the topics that concerns you. What are you doing yourself to live more climate-neutrally – and what can each individual do?

Mandoki: We should all work for a climate-neutral life. It starts with daily little things: So that you always have a shopping basket with you and no longer use bags, buy as little plastic and plastic packaging as possible, and use toothbrushes made of wood, for example, and use cases no longer made of plastic, but of bamboo. The diet should be more and more seasonal and regional and meat consumption should be reduced. You can take such small steps in your own personal environment. And of course, as an artist, to work socio-politically for a generation-appropriate environmental and climate policy. That’s why we wrote our song “Young Rebels” for Fridays For Future:

Preserving our environment, for example preserving the Hambach Forest, is simply a matter of generational justice. Environmental and climate protection must not come at the expense of our grandchildren. This means that the problems that we cause must also be solved by us.

You once fled to the West. How do you look back on your beginnings?

Mandoki: When I came here at the age of 22 as an illegal immigrant, as a refugee and asylum seeker without knowing a word of German, I found an incredibly tolerant and livable country that was in love with the success. Actually, I only wanted to stay in Goethe’s and Schiller’s, Bach’s and Beethoven’s land for a short while, and then move on to America, the promised land of musicians. Thanks to Klaus Doldinger and Udo Lindenberg, I quickly became a proud citizen of Udo’s ‘colorful republic’.

Today I say that Germany is my home, Hungary is my country of birth and my home is Europe. I am infinitely grateful for all the opportunities I was given to develop as an artist. It is an honorable privilege for me to continue to do so.

In the federal election you appear as a supporter of the CDU. What do you think of the election campaign?

Mandoki: I am depressed by the general lack of ambition and superficiality of this depoliticized election campaign. The challenges that lie ahead of us are so important that we can only overcome them together. In the second triall, for example, the education system, in which we have massive deficits in all areas, was not even talked about.

The topics of integration and the conveyance of values ​​were also not on the table, which I especially miss as a former asylum seeker. There was not even the slightest bit of debate about Europe, which is currently on the verge of trembling. It is so important that the EU, which is drifting apart, is brought together again. According to Willy Brandt’s motto: “Change through rapprochement”.

We will only create a just future if educational opportunities are the same for everyone, regardless of their socio-cultural and socio-economic origins.

A chorus of CDU supporters after the TV triall was ridiculed on social media. How did you feel in this situation?

Mandoki: I found the situation obscure and very strange. I drove from Triell with Armin Laschet and some CDU politicians to the Konrad-Adenauer-Haus. I found the cheers of the committed young people friendly, but completely inappropriate for me in this context. This is about the future of our country, an immense challenge because too much was left lying around for too long. The previous, catastrophic climate policy now also needs a holistic answer. I was extremely reluctant for good reason; I felt completely out of place in this cheering choir.

“Utopia for Realists” is your first album to be released worldwide. How proud are you of it?

Mandoki: Of course we are so proud that we have a worldwide release for the band’s 30th anniversary. This is the dream of every musician from Buenos Aires to LA, from New York to Tokyo, from London to Berlin: Music lovers everywhere are addressed by our artistic vision. That’s why I say thank you for sharing our musical utopia, for allowing us to be a part of your life and for letting us into your souls and hearts, what moves us artistically.

How much are you looking forward to when the Mandoki Soulmates can be on stage together again?

Mandoki: We were able to bring this album to the stage on August 21st in front of more than 30,000 people. It was so moving to rehearse together again and to be able to play a big concert without restrictions. In the eyes of the organizers, it was a daring adventure because we played a pure album presentation concert with only new music. But we are convinced that this is exactly what we owe our audience. Music for today and tomorrow. That was the soundtrack for the light at the end of the Covid tunnel. The many encores and standing ovations were an incredible enrichment and inspiration.

Your daughter Julia is also involved in “Utopia for Realists”. What is it like to have her on board as a family member?

Mandoki: That is of course very enriching. Julia is an extraordinarily talented songwriter and an exceptional singer and that is a new facet of our philosophy. Musically, too, the Young and Old Rebels together form a wonderful mélange for a generation-appropriate bridge in sound aesthetics as well as in the lyrical, musical messages. That’s why it’s a moving moment for me that, in addition to so many legendary icons, father and daughter can also create music together in the studio and on stage.