Q: Herr Binner, how long have you been making music, and how did you become a singer-songwriter?
HB: I started taking piano lessons at the age of 6 (when I started school), but you can't really call that making music. It really took off when I was eleven and started playing the bassoon. Since this instrument is quite rare, I quickly had the opportunity to participate in small ensembles and the school orchestra. At 12, I bought my first guitar, officially to play in the church band that accompanied the children's mass once a month. The church band quickly turned into my first basement band with electric guitar and noise. At 17, I had to decide whether to cut my hair and start a classical career as a bassoonist or let my hair grow and just play guitar. I chose the latter. Years followed in various bands and projects, from speed metal to disco. My Facebook friends list now includes various musicians I played with back then (including Edward McLean, the bassist of Peter Fox (SEED)). The singer-songwriter thing has a lot to do with what I just told you. My parents didn't really listen to pop music; including the ZDF Hitparade in the family TV program was quite a parenting task for my brothers and me in the early 80s. However, my mother always liked to listen to Reinhard Mey in the car, and I enjoyed that back then. So the incentive to learn to play guitar was born from the desire to impress around the campfire or on class trips by being able to perform complete songs alone with the guitar. I initially learned to play guitar by borrowing songbooks from the library (back then there was no internet) and practicing the chords while singing along.
In the bands I played in as a teenager and young adult, I always contributed a lot to songwriting. However, it was always important to me to leave a certain share to the respective singer, which led to the songs always disappearing after the respective band dissolved.
In 1998, after yet another one of my bands with great potential broke up, I started to consistently write my songs alone, back then still with the thought of a future band. I did that on the side for all those years.
Due to personal circumstances, there eventually became less and less time for bands and, due to many negative experiences, also less and less desire for bands.
After some changes in my life, I began in 2006 to play my songs publicly all alone with the guitar, initially more out of necessity because a band seemed no longer feasible, then more and more out of conviction because it is the perfect concept. As a singer-songwriter, I am no longer dependent on my fellow musicians and have complete control. All the technical and logistical difficulties fall away, especially since it also spurs personal ambition when you know that the songs have to be so polished that they work with the musically essential.
When I met Thilo with h at the end of 2008, who gave me a lot of affirmation and support, the step was made, and at the end of 2008, my first singer-songwriter album "Männermusik" was released. The reactions to it were very positive. Suddenly, unexpected opportunities arose! So I continued and just released my second album "Dasein ist kein Mannschaftssport".
Q: How do the songs you write come about?
HB: It's surprisingly clear to describe:
I sit in the kitchen, drink beer, and play through a few of my songs. Then I take a piece of paper and a pen and think until I have a theme and a title for a song. Then I start writing the lyrics, and usually, the melody develops at the same time. Very rarely do I have an idea for a melody and then write the lyrics afterward. Actually, the lyrics are always there first.
Q: You recently released your second album "Dasein ist kein Mannschaftssport". Tell me a bit about how the title came about and what songs are on the album.
HB: The album reflects the past year from my perspective. The songs on the album were all created after the release of my debut album. The title came from a headline in the TAZ, which referred to an event with Peter Sloterdijk. I liked the line so much that I cut it out and stuck it on my guitar. With this sentence in mind, more than half of the pieces were written. Compared to the songs on my first album, I had a clearer plan for the songs of "Dasein ist kein Mannschaftssport", both in terms of creative work and the lyrical side. The songs portray, from my perspective, the life and experiences of a thirty-something who could actually be quite satisfied but isn't. Thus, the album carries a certain sense of resignation and frustration. To put it succinctly, this thematic red thread can best be summarized with the words "Dasein ist kein Mannschaftssport".
Q: Your song "German Frau" could also be seen as nationalistic because you are against singing in English in the song. Many artists like to sing in English. You only sing in German. How important is that to you? How would you deal with the accusation of nationalism?
HB: I have nothing against singing in English; I actually don't listen to German music privately. But the English music I listen to is the music of English and American artists. I can't stand that everything sounds the same nowadays and that every pop act just works through the standard patterns of DSDS or Popstars. Additionally, I had the opportunity to work with really good African American musicians for many years, who have simply set standards. And when some Kristine or Michaela croaks out rhymes like "The Sky is blue and I love you" in broken English, that's just bad. If many musicians want to sing in English, they should feel free to do so. However, I don't want to listen to it if it sounds like the candidates for Oslo on Stefan Raab. I just don't like it. I would be the last person to dictate to anyone what they should or shouldn't do, but I also want the right to say what I don't like. And to summarize: I simply can't listen to music in English if the singer has a pronunciation like Klaus Meine from the Scorpions or Günther Öttinger.
And in that song, I even emphasize at the end how much I enjoy listening to English-language music, but from Lucinda Williams and not from Gabi Müller. The accusation of nationalism would make me laugh rather than upset me. I don't feel any "national pride" or harbor patriotic thoughts, but I love the language I've lived with for 33 years. I love the country and the city where I've lived since my birth. Even if not everything is right here, I'm glad to live in Germany and not in the USA or Iran. And there is a moment of personal experience and personal communication that I can only achieve in my mother tongue.
With many of the musicians from Germany who write their lyrics in English, I feel that they do so to hide the fact that they are actually embarrassed about what they are singing about or that they actually have nothing to say.
Q: Many of your songs are quite melancholic. Is that intentional, or are you a rather introverted person who swings between reality and depression?
HB: I can't say it's intentional; it just is. My songs express what I think and feel; maybe not every lyric is a one-to-one reflection of my life reality, but ultimately all the lyrics are very honest and very personal. I don't swing between depression and reality; I'm rather depressed because of reality. I don't think I'm introverted; I'm more chronically dissatisfied and restless.
Q: Love, longing, and dear alcohol are themes in many of your songs. Are you a dreamy romantic, or how would you see yourself?
HB: I used to be a dreamy romantic. As comes through in the songs, I've been more of a jinx when it comes to love. Loneliness and being unhappily in love are themes I've been involuntarily grappling with for 20 years. After the experiences I've had in my private life, I wouldn't describe myself as a romantic anymore, but rather as a realist plagued by the longing for something that apparently doesn't exist.
Q: With some of your songs, especially the serious melancholic ones, I think of Element of Crime. What do you think of the band? How do you see a comparison to them?
HB: That makes me blush. Element of Crime has certainly been an important influence, especially because they consistently wrote lyrics in German, far removed from the usual schlager and pop level. I really like many songs by Element of Crime and admire Sven for his songwriting skills. I see myself as younger and differently influenced in comparison. Musically, my stuff is also much simpler. My lyrics are rougher and more primitive.
Q: You play a lot in Lower Saxony and northern Germany.
Do you have particularly many fans there? Where do you like to play the most?
HB: That happened rather by chance. Certainly, a key starting point was the Spiellunke in Westerweyhe near Uelzen, where I had my first performance outside of Berlin. I found all the venues and festivals where I played last year to be great, with a few exceptions. Of course, it was a special pleasure to be on stage as a support for Poolstar at S.O. 36 in Berlin-Kreuzberg. I would also like to play more outside of Lower Saxony; I welcome every inquiry. The Ruhr area would be very appealing to me!
Q: You also play with DIE BIERTENÖRE. What kind of group is that?
HB: DIE BIERTENÖRE are a singer-songwriter band. That means four singer-songwriters came together and decided that it is much more fun to be on stage together and play in turn. This means that while the others are performing, you can drink beer and smoke, as well as celebrate the songs of others on stage and be celebrated yourself. Unlike the bands I played in before, there is no risk of "losing songs when the band breaks up" with DIE BIERTENÖRE. This means each of us brings our finished songs into the band, which we can still play at solo concerts and which we can continue to play if DIE BIERTENÖRE should no longer exist. Since everyone mainly needs to know their own songs, we also don't need rehearsals or stressful logistics (practice room, rehearsal dates, etc.). The concept is quite common in hip hop, where several rappers perform together and support each other. DIE BIERTENÖRE are Felixxx, Diaz, and myself. Our fourth member Thilo with h is currently on hiatus.
Q: DIE BIERTENÖRE have mostly funny and ironic songs. How do you fit in there?
HB: The mix makes the cake round. In the basic lineup as a four-piece band, we could offer an enormous range and thus provide the audience with greater variety and appeal to a broad spectrum of people. It was very good to have a few songs with rather dark input alongside Diaz's more youthful songs, Felixxx's funny stuff, and Thilo with H's biting and ironic pieces. This way, I could also reach people who certainly wouldn't have listened to a whole concert of mine. On the other hand, there are also people who wouldn't listen to a whole concert of Diaz or Felixxx but found their songs very refreshing in the context of mine. However, I must say that I also have a fairly extensive repertoire. With DIE BIERTENÖRE, I play 10-12 songs per concert. The faster and more positive songs are selected for that.
Q: What do you prefer, performing with DIE BIERTENÖRE or standing alone on stage?
HB: That's like the question: Do you prefer to smoke or drink? Both have their appeal and both have their exhausting sides. Being on the road with DIE BIERTENÖRE is the perfect band experience because all the normal band dynamics fall away; moreover, there are completely different performance opportunities with DIE BIERTENÖRE than alone. Concerts by DIE BIERTENÖRE offer the chance to be on stage for more than three hours and be part of a truly varied program. But DIE BIERTENÖRE don't work if you can only play for 45 minutes or if the stage is tiny.
Playing alone is exhausting, but when the right audience is there, it's extremely satisfying. Alone, I can also score well as a support for bands and make a good impression with a 30-minute set.
Another very pleasant thing is to play a singer-songwriter concert with just one colleague, which I will happily do again soon with Thilo with H in Cottbus.
Q: What is a concert by HERR BINNER like? Why should someone come to one of your gigs?
HB: A concert by Herr Binner is an experience! You should come because there is even more dynamism live than on the recordings; since I play alone and practice quite a bit, the performance is clean, the lyrics are tight, and the guitar is handled properly. The songs are musically varied, and many songs create earworms. With the lyrics, there will always be that moment in your head where you think: Damn, that guy is right; I know that feeling.
Anyone who wants a preview can find various live videos on YouTube!
