Mike Breeze ♆ Stories behind “DIAVOL” - 1st solo mini album, 2024. ♫
👾 🎨 1. “Idea”
Ideas float around… It is the second-newest track on this mini album. While preparing for the live shows in 2022, I started rehearsing piano by some kind of improvisation to get into the mood, as I often do. And this music emerged persistently. We recorded it later in 1 take. It is edit-free, which is unusual for my studio rituals.
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Mike Breeze ♆ Stories behind “DIAVOL” - 1st solo mini album, 2024. ♫
👹 🔮 2. “Diavol”
On 19. May 2021 I created a cute little blue devil (Russian: дьявол - diavol) out of plastiline and some extra details.
At the same time I started writing a short, simple, rhythmically-driven rock song about him and decided to make it the title track of my first solo single (that evolved to a mini album).
According to the song lyrics, mice are moving their tails cozily while Diavol has hidden himself in their mousehole.
The stereo photography of Diavol can be best viewed via the OWL device, developed by Brian May, for full 3D effect.
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Mike Breeze ♆ Stories behind “DIAVOL” - 1st solo mini album, 2024. ♫
⚰ ➡ 3. “Deadborn”
While preparing myself for final master track recordings of the “DIAVOL” mini album, I was also checking my archives to see if there was something interesting unreleased, which could be used for it.
Funny enough, there was a Mirror demo which I recorded in 2004, called “Deadborn.” It was one of the first songs recorded in the Rosenquarz Studio in Lübeck. The ironic thing about it is that the title was prophetic. I did not like the demo and we never made a master track recording of it and deleted the demo.
But as I found out, on one of my back-up memory discs, the demo survived. I remembered that the most of the song sucked, but there were a couple of cool guitar riffs that we later used elsewhere, and the piano solo was a short but pretty one. So I dug out the piano solo and decided to release it finally.
Decided not to re-name it. Frankly, I could not find a better-fitting title any way. Of course it is not literally about dead babies, but rather meant metaphorically. What about stones? They are not alive but still can be beautiful.
Another curious thing I found was a collection of drum patterns that I recorded in the Rosenquarz Studio in 2006. As far as I remember, I was laying down the drum tracks for our cover version of Hide’s “Lemoned I Scream”. Ian [Mirror drummer] was elsewhere. I played a right-handed drumkit (as opposed to “Glitter Critter” in 2012). Once we laid the drum tracks down, I thought, OK, we have the drumkit set up, we have some time left, why not fool around? So I jammed some beats and we recorded it to put it in the can for possible future use.
The final step was my idea to marry “Deadborn” to this “Drum Song” in the studio. Strange enough, both parts run in the same tempo, so it was not hard to edit.
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Mike Breeze ♆ Stories behind “DIAVOL” - 1st solo mini album, 2024. ♫
🐭 🚀 4. “Moustronauts”
In 2018 I read in an article that NASA had sent 20 mice to the ISS in order to study their behaviour on board of a space station, their adaption to micro gravity etc. That, for a start, is not so dramatic. There was a special box built for the mice so that they could cope with their life in space as comfortably as possible. I also saw footage of them running around in that box and looking absolutely fit.
But then I found out, NASA’s plan was not only to examine the mice’ blood, weight, behaviour and other regular things after the end of the experiment, but also to kill them and to perform an autopsy on their bodies. An absolutely cruel and useless idea. Brave little heroes should not be killed!
So I created a petition for NASA to drop this idea and to have mercy on the moustronauts.
Many people supported my petition (though NASA never replied) and Brian May [Queen guitarist] kindly shared my petition on Twitter. That inspired Leif Astroid [Solowshow* lead singer] to write a poem about this story. And that led to me writing music for it and making it a song.
It was scheduled to be the title track of the next Solowshow* single. But then we had some opinion differences within the band and the single was put on hold.
So I decided to release it on my debut solo record. Time moved by and by now, even if NASA had mercy on the moustronauts, and did not kill them, they probably already died of old age any way. The topic is still very important, but now it is old news.
When I wrote “Diavol”, I decided to make it the title track because it is more cheerful and to release “Moustronauts” as track #4 on the mini album.
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Mike Breeze ♆ Stories behind “DIAVOL” - 1st solo mini album, 2024. ♫
💃 🌳 5. “Tatar Melodies”
[ADAGIO] Урман кызы ~FOREST GIRL~ [PRESTO] Утыр әле яннарыма ~SIT DOWN WITH ME~
On Mirror’s 2007 “SHOCKING DEBUT” album there was, among others, a speed metal remake of the famous Russian song “Kalinka” (“Snowball Tree”). On Mirror’s 2012 “VALENTINE’S EVE” album I included a tune called “Bassism” which included some Tatar, Jewish and Russian melodies. “Kalinka” appeared there again.
In between, I had recorded a totally different version of both Tatar melodies with Manuel Pilgrimm 2008 in his Coalescene Studio in Neumünster. We used only synthesizers and programming. No guitars or real drums. I always thought, this version is so different and deserves to be released one day. Now it found its home on “DIAVOL”.
People tend to discuss which version of what song is better. Original vs. remix vs. cover version etc. My philosophy is different. Of course, there are some cases, where a version of something is utter crap. But in most of the cases, I compare different exciting versions of the same song to viewing a sculpture from different perspectives or in different lights. It is thrilling how certain melodies can work in totally different styles and instrumentations. No obligation to choose which is “number one”.
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Mike Breeze ♆ Stories behind “DIAVOL” - 1st solo mini album, 2024. ♫
🤖 🌫 6. “Stormy Skies”
The newest composition on this record (written approximately end of 2023). Minimalism in music. Initially it was even more minimalistic. But while the equipment in the studio stumbled (like it frequently happens), I killed time jamming at the piano, creating scenes that can occur before and in between of stormy skies and so came up with intro and middle. Sometimes bad things lead to good results!
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Mike Breeze ♆ Stories behind “DIAVOL” - 1st solo mini album, 2024. ♫
👺 🧺 7. “Deine Wasser”
In September 2018 Solowshow* was playing gigs in Moscow once again. At the gig in the club Alibi on 9. September, our Russian manager Bella served us still mineral water with the words: “Deine Wasser und… uh… stakanchiki!”
She speaks German but not perfectly. In Russian, water is a feminine noun. But in German, water is a neuter noun. Your water in German is “Dein Wasser” and not “Deine Wasser”. But the funniest thing is the ending. She forgot what is German for “little glasses” which is “Gläschen” and used the Russian word "стаканчики" (stakanchiki) instead.
We all spent the rest of the evening laughing about it and Grisha from our local support band Sexy Kill Device supposed we must write a hard industrial/rock song with “Deine Wasser und stakanchiki” as chorus.
Time went by and I still had this sentence ringing in my head. I remembered, I had programmed some really cool drum loops in 2007 on my computer that would fit this rhythm.
So we got a funny chorus in broken German and in Russian, some guitar riffs… Now we need a verse! The English verse including Krampus came easy to me.
Later I created a Krampus and a Bülbülbağa out of plastiline and wrote a poem in German about them. (Bülbülbağa is a nightingale with proboscis, horns, hooves and shell.) This poem became the second verse.
Finally I decided to invite DJ Svinök ^('..')^ as a special guest singer for the middle part and for the outro. He nailed his part perfectly! (He usually grunts on stage at my live renditions of “Sex In School”.)
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Mike Breeze ♆ Stories behind “DIAVOL” - 1st solo mini album, 2024. ♫
❄ 🌱 8. “Piano Spring Scene In G-Dur”
In Spring 2016 I spent some time in a hospital. In a hospital you can sleep, eat and read books all the time. But sooner or later you might wish to do something else.
In the big dining room there was a piano. Of course I played it a lot. I practised Mirror and Solowshow* songs. I remembered cover versions of X Japan, Queen, Guns N Roses, other bands and some old classical music like Beethoven. Sooner or later things evolved naturally:
I started jamming around and a romantic melody appeared all of a sudden.
Besides sleeping, eating, reading and playing piano, I used the time for some short walks. And I saw the first crocuses of the year emerging from under the snow. That inspired this composition and its title.
Piano Spring Scene… whatever sweet happens to you in Spring… To me these were the crocuses.
There are not many different parts in this track. It is mostly the main melodies being repeated over and over again in different flavours.
Partly inspired by Maurice Ravel’s “Boléro” construction, but while “Boléro” is built on constant crescendo, “Piano Spring Scene In G-Dur” jumps up and down through moods and volume levels.
I finally recorded and edited it with Leif in 2017 in his Red Satin Lounge Studios in Hamburg. It was scheduled to appear as one of the bonus tracks on Solowshow*’s “Moustronauts” single. But since it was never released, I decided to close my solo mini album with it. Spring is a beginning… Nice to end something with a start!
Originally we also recorded Leif’s Baoding Ball solo for it. He was supposed to hit it once somewhere in the middle of the song, but confused the Baoding Ball with a love ball and performed a whole orgasm scene on it. I still have the file and it may get released one day, for example if Solowshow*’s music gets re-released - or on some other fitting occasion.
I included “Piano Spring Scene In G-Dur” into my solo gig setlists as the first of the new tracks with premiere on 15. May 2022 in KDW, Neumünster. It’s only me playing piano and it fits well the concept of acoustic performances. Let me take you to the Spring!
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You can buy "Diavol" album and figure on Mike Breeze's official site:
http://www.veddma.com/mirror/discography.php
Videos:
http://www.youtube.com/visualmirror
Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/visualbreeze
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