Headphones #115: Wels, Copenhagen, Caribbean

Freedom. The man, who goes by the name Arno Drugowitsch in everyday life, often uses this word during conversation. Freedom in the sense of not being controlled by others. That’s the hippie in him speaking.

On the other hand, there is a family man who is a trained lawyer, but for whom life as a lawyer was no longer even an option. The musician who was always in him was calling out ever more loudly for fulfillment.

Can you live with your wife and two small children? Can you do that if you’re sitting in Copenhagen while your musical comrades, especially David Haider (aka Manuel Normal), are in their old homeland? Questions upon questions to which he eventually answered: “I just want to try it.”

A novel combination

Now Andy Soda is there, with his very own mixture of reggae-soaked lightness that picks up the holiday dreamer, puts them on a plane and lets the sky open. In “Alles gut” he is not singing about a holiday idyll, but rather the dilemma of an emotional person who has already learned that life hangs by a thread. But the singer-songwriter knows how to put a nice little touch on everyday life, because at the end of the day everything is somehow good. Or is it?

“Alles gut” continues what Andy Soda started last year with his magnificent “Coconut Café”. Chilled reggae sound with intelligent German lyrics, you’ve never heard anything like it.

An album is on the list of things to do, it’s sort of finished, but it will still take a while. Because a perfectionist can always find a fly in the ointment, in this case the musical one. “I want to get closer to reality with words and music,” he says. It’s about enjoyment, even if you need the dark to see the beautiful.

“Denmark is like the Caribbean”

The fact that Andy Soda and his family ended up in the north, in Copenhagen, was not only because his wife, an architect by profession, had the University of Copenhagen on her list for a year abroad, but also because of the Danish blood that flows through the Wels native’s veins.

“My great-grandparents are from Copenhagen and later settled in Norway,” says the musician. “The clarity, the pragmatic, the relaxed attitude, less emotion, a little cooler, but the great solidarity – I always loved that.” So Andy Soda went with his wife. They stayed, with a break.

Today they live with their two children in the south of Copenhagen. “The beach is nearby, we take the children there on cargo bikes,” says Andy Soda, raving about the city, which “looks like the French Caribbean in summer.” That explains his musical approach. But it is also due to the long winter, the long dark period in northern Europe. “In winter, when it’s dark, I only listen to FM Jamaica Radio from Kingstown Town to get me through the season.” No further explanations for his music are necessary. And that’s a good thing.

Andy Soda “Everything’s fine” (allesgutmusic)

This week in headphones

1. Propaganda “Purveyor of Pleasure”
   When synth pop bands were popular, the Düsseldorf band was also a big deal. That was a few decades ago. Now Propaganda is back, still electronic to the core, but with a soulful pop appeal that characterizes “Purveyor of Pleasure.” A strong foreshadowing of their new album.
2. Meghan Trainor x Niecy Nash “I Wanna Thank Me”
   A good dose of Motown sound that emotionally turns back the wheel of time and yet makes it clear that good things never go out of style. Soulful retro charm that, brought into the present, is perfect for dancing.

   The 20-year-old songwriter screams it out: I am a woman.

   Photo: Denise Perhab

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