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MTV Biography of the Geyers
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Laut der Musikkanal
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Geyers
There are more than enough bands seeking for the newest, most modern and „hip“ sounds. Very seldom they would reach the goal.
At the time bars´other end there are musicians feeling a strong connection with their cultural heritage. Europe – especially the German speaking countries – offer lots of possibilities to explore the musical past and give new life to sounds of those days long gone by.
One of the best known representatives of this guild are the Geyers. The line-up of the four piece band are Thomas Roth (vocals and strings), Albert Dannenmann (vocals, wind instruments and hurdy gurdies), Georg Hesse (guitar) and rhythm mate Jost Pogrzeba.
Since the mid-eighties they played together using the name 'Des Geyers Schwarzer Haufen' , at first without Georg Hesse who joined a bit later. The name has been changed in 2000 for legal reasons, and so after that they simply called themselves The Geyers.
During the peasant wars 1524/25 there was a leading revolter who´s name was Florian Geyer. His followers were the “Schwarzer Haufen” ( engl. black cohort), black as a synonym for poor.
During the year 1525 there could have been a loss of „exactly 7995“ of his 8000 warriors... So only “5 absolutely lovely, good-looking and musical warriors” have survived... And these 5 visit the stages everywhere, provided anyone wants to hear them... They do not seem to be serious about themselves, and that´s the good thing!
The members of the Geyers joined more or less by accident, there was never a plan like “ Let´s go and play Renaissance music!”
It was more of a coincident. Thomas Roth played the violin at a party in a castle, another musician drumming along. The host of that castle liked it so much that they invited them to play again and again. One by one more instruments joined, like a hurdy gurdy and bagpipes, and the repertoire widened. Some day, when Albert Dannenmann joined, the line-up was complete.
Since the early days they have a close musical friendship with Ritchie Blackmore, ex-Deep Purple and Rainbow guitarist. His project Blackmore´s Night was inspired by the sounds of the Geyers, among other influences.
As Ritchie says, the 1988 cd „All Voll“ is the essence of Renaissance music. “There are some unbelievable things!” And so the master of all strings regularly thanks his idea source. The Geyers support Candice and Ritchie every year on tour, to heat up the audiences, and on Geyer´s CDs sometimes you can hear Blackmore´s guitar.
But not only in Blackmore´s Night´s kind of modern context the Geyers draw attention. Concerts all over Europe transport their music abroad, and most of the big tv stations have broadcast them.
Variety is their concern playing their songs full of athmosphere. Be it as an acoustic quartet or a bit more eletric with Michael Walter on the bass. They do not use keyboards at all, but change instruments very often during the songs, to produce an athmopheric sound.
They use things like „ nyckelharpa, hurdy gurdy, German, French, Spanisch, Italian and Scottish bagpipes, pipes, horns, dulcian, lute, mandolin, Irish bouzouki, djembe and udu”
They not only recite old melodies, but skillfully mix old lyrics with their own music, or make up new lyrics for old melodies. Live on stage they always add some irony, being anything else but deadly seriuos.
In any way it is sure that Geyers always work out exiting sounds.

 

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