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Crafty producer / songwriter (Karma, Solar Moon, Klaus Schulze...) meets tough urban female singer with truly exceptional timbre. That’s the short version.
As simple as it may sound - but it’s not. So what drove Tom Dams, said producer -and enough of a singer himself- to dig out such seemingly undiscovered talent in Germany’s capital Berlin ? Isn’t he busy enough already ? And what’s that band name all about anyway ??
Well... both had discovered their mutual need for ‚the real deep shit’ in some dubious experimental vocal workshop where they had ‚accidentally’ met for the first time. And particularly deep vocalese shit it would have to be.
So while Simone Reifegerste had to be dug out from the Folk heritage of the 80’s, singing with ‚Be Mine Or Run’ – Tom was still to be persuaded to work on ‚yet anuzzer totally unmarketable’ project.... but what he could hear in Simone’s voice simply turned the tides. Simone had begun to sing before she could walk or talk - and she never stopped ever since. A true maniac, so to speak. And sure enough,
one fine day in 2004, the two just couldn’t help it... giving it a try at 'The Clinic' - Tom’s studio.
That very first recording session resulted in the haunting ‚Walking under Water’ track. Which immediately convinced electronic music legend Klaus Schulze as well as fingerpicking guitar hero Ian Melrose to contribute to the album production.
And Ramesh Weeratunga, one of Berlin’s finest World Music producers, heard the track the day after – and muttered he was struck „by that... germanic sound“.
Tom and Simone took him by the word - and decided to call themselves ‚The Germaniacs’, lowering their already slomo-ish rocker attitude even more... how few bpm can you stand ?
And here they are – ever-flooding themselves (and the world around them) with true passion and vulnerability – something you don’t find often anymore these days. Which brings us back to where we started: As simple as it sounds – but it’s not ...
Be prepared for a special listening experience. Those guys actually have something to tell us. Something we need to know.