INTERVIEW – Morrigan’s Pit
If you’re interested in guitarplayers then you should definitely check out Raimund Burke’s solo CD “Get It”. You can buy it from him for a very low price, so check out his website! This sympathetic German talent extensively answered my questions with a lot of humor, so be sure to read it all – enjoy!
You are “already” 36 (don’t worry, I’m older :)), how come you never released a solo CD before?
Of course that’s also because of the technical possibilities we have these days. To get something like this done back in the day, you had to book a studio and bring a lot of money 😉 These days you can do it on your own. That’s a great thing!
You have played in several hardrock and fusion bands, are you currently playing in any bands?
Yes, recently I’ve been joking around with Peter (Warhead) and Björn (Rebellion) about resurrecting Inverness and directly going on a world tour 😉 No, but seriously, not at this point. Working alone is pleasently stress-free. I like it that way. And you can make your music without any compromises. Not that it means that compromises are bad. It can also enrich your product, but this time I wanted to make music that was really all mine.
How did you end up writing a song for Roland Grapow’s solo CD? I don’t know his version, can you describe how your version compares to his?
In 1997 Roland was still looking for one more song for his album “The Four Seasons Of Live”. When listening to some songs, he immediately stopped at “Dedicated To…?”, that I had written a few years earlier. He rearranged a few things, like e.g. the end. And in my orgininal version I didn’t use a piano, but an acoustic guitar. His ending, that I liked better than my own original one ;-), I also used in my own current verion.
You don’t actually play on it (on Roland’s album), do you?
Unfortunately I got a big problem at the end of 1994 with a nerve in my left arm. The so-called “funny bone” had been pinched so severely that it had to be moved. Up until the operation I didn’t have any power in my left hand anymore. And the chances on recovery where 50/50. With a lot of work, a very good operation and a lot of patience, almost everything returned after years and I can play again. But not yet when Roland was recording his album. Of course I would’ve loved to play on the song.
Oh, and who IS it dedicated to? 😉
The song wasn’t dedicated to anyone special. I thought everyone should have the option to dedicate such an emotional song to someone dear. That explains the dots and the question mark 😉
How did you get the idea to cover something as unique as “The Typewriter”?
As a kid I saw a lot of Jerry Lewis movies. Those must’ve been his best years. I was very fascinated by Mr. Lewis’ timing there. And I liked the music. Beautiful melodies played virtuoso. Great. And it had humor. Just the idea of using a typewriter as an instrument is ingenius.
When did you write the songs that are on your album now (at least “Dedicated To… ?” isn’t so new)?
Except for “It Happened Tomorrow” and “Dedicated To…?”, which both were written around ’93, all songs are new. I may have used a few older ideas here and there, but all in all most of it is new. It’s good to not only have old songs on it, otherwise I would have to be scared to have used up my stock 😉 On the next album I’ll have a similar mix. A few older ideas are still worth being recorded. But I also have tons of new ideas. I’ll probably even have one or maybe two songs with vocals on it.
Which song you ever wrote are you most proud of and why?
Actually I’m always proud when I’ve completed a song and first of all like it myself. And even more when I play it to someone and (s)he likes it too. But I have to say that I especially like “Dedicated To…?”. I’m going to have a song on the next album that puts me in a good mood whenever I hear it. Oh and a ballad that… but that’s how it always goes *gg*
You’ve had some bad luck with back problems and an that infected nerv. Do these things still bother you and how do (or have) they affected your carreer (writing, participation in bands, playing in general, playing live)?
Yeah, unfortunately that did hurt my career a lot. When I moved to Hamburg in 1993, things were good here. A few things were being planned, like e.g. my own band. So with my own songs. I’ve done music for some commercials, one has been played on the radio here for years. I was already in pre-production in the studio for a bigger job for a commercial for Schultheiss, when that nerve problem came up. So I was put out of commission for the next years.
Do you have any plans to play live?
That would be nice. But it always turned out to be difficult to find the right musicians, who first of all have to be able to play the music, but are also willing to stay in the background. And that’s not all that easy.
What or who made you ever pick up a guitar and when was that?
Oh that is quite clearly my sister’s fault. I had a kid’s drumkit at age 12 already. I always had weird ideas, I had to stand at the bottom of the staircase in my parent’s house and play the drums. But no one except me thought that was really cool. Which I didn’t understand of course. I thought it was great what I was playing there. Well, at age 15 I bought a real small drumkit and played for about 3 weeks in my small room, until even the neighbours from surrounding houses complained. Then my sister convinced my parents to buy me a guitar. Well, this is what came of it ;-)) BTW, that guitar (without strings) is now hanging above the bedroom door.
Some influences are obvious, but who are your favorite guitarists now and which ones influenced your style the most?
I have always loved to listen to Deep Purple or Rainbow. So that way it started with Richie Blackmore. Gary Moore also became a big influence. Or the old UFO stuff with Michael Schenker. Awesome. Or Uli Roth back then with the Scorpions. Almost visionary. And in this day and age you can’t ignore John Petrucci. I also loved Al DiMeola or Paco de Lucia etc. So not only hardrock. A big influence was also Iron Maiden. We sat in front of the sound system and said “woah, one day maybe we can play like that too”.
You also play drums, are there even more instruments you play?
Oh yeah, drums are my hobby. I would really like to play all the drums on the next album. In 1999 I played in a metal coverband. That was cool too. They disbanded unfortunately.
Or anything you would like to learn still?
I would like to learn, no, I would’ve liked to learn to play the violin. Or flamenco guitar. I only know the basics unfortunately.
What music do you listen to? Anything your fans might not expect of you?
Well I am e.g. a big fan of swing music. Tommy Dorsey or Glenn Miller, I pretty much like all these great bandleaders. But also soulful popmusic. Whether it’s Mr. Jackson or Anastacia, great. But I also listen to a lot of hardrock. Aerosmith or Maiden or Dream Theater or Gary Moore, UFO or Michael Schenker, Purple, for me please. So I like the old traditional hardrock more. Oh I’m forgetting the new James LaBrie album. That gig was killer and those guys are killer. Simply awesome.
Is there anything else we should know about you, or that you wish to say to our readers?
Last year I saw the Shaolin Monks live again. And I was very impressed by the old abbot. The man is somewhere in his eighties and does a perfect splits on stage. Incredible. Esp. when you know he had a stroke some years ago and couldn’t move anymore. And thank Qigong he can walk and do a splits again ;-)) I couldn’t even do that at 20 ;-)) At 80 I will probably accomplish it once and then never again ;-))))
And in that context this motto of mine fits in well. A well known saying is “the way is the goal”, I think it should be “the goal is in the way”. If you live by that, the way becomes the goal again, but it sounds funnier ;o)
