Henk Fischbein

MyGen Profile Generator MyGen Profile Generator MyGen Profile GeneratorLegend has it that when Henk saw the light of day, early in the morning hours of February 10th, 1981, in the dark countryside of Franconia, all the horses started kicking and the animals of the surrounding forests broke into chants of exaltation. Or was it chants of woe and fear? There’s still much disagreement on the issue. Henk however was convinced that the fact that the Holy Virgin Mary (who after all is nobody less than the mother of God) made an appearance in Heroldsbach, his town of birth, 30 years ago, confirmed his secret assumption. The Holy Virgin must have been looking for an appropriate place to send a delegate when time was ripe: him, Henk Fischbein! ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------Early on, a peculiar feeling of being different took over Henk, and in his search for the reason he blamed circumstance at first. One issue was smells. While other children smelled of rose and mountain spring scented fabric softener, such chemical extravagance was banned from the Fischbein residence because of the fabric softener's negative effects on the environment. Other children had coca cola and toasted white bread for breakfast while listening to the morning show on the radio, surrounded by the happy voices of the exasperating hosts. Henk had to make do with tea and whole wheat bread and classical music whilst eating breakfast. But was that really the reason for feeling he didn’t belong? Not until he had visited a child psychologist did Henk realize that maybe he was a little weird and that his divine roots were not the only problem. He didn’t like going to school. in fact he hated going there so much, he didn't even shrink away from faking an infection of his appendix, so he could go to hospital and get surgery instead. The only part he liked at school was when he got to climb the pole in gym class. The lovely feeling he felt in his loins just before he reached the end of the pole captivated Henk. It didn’t take long for him to find out that he was able to reach the same results with the public swimming pool’s underwater jet system. In those years, Henk spent a lot of time in the amusement park that was right next to his house. He was able to get in any time of the day because there was a hole in the park’s fence. He rode electric boats, spat on llamas and collected the bullets still smelling of gunpowder that the fake cowboys of the “Western Show” left lying about all over the place. In those days he also made his first experiences with home recording, sitting around with his younger brother and taping songs and fake interviews. ------------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------At the age of 10, Henk was sent away to a boarding school and became a member of a pretty well known boys’ choir. During the three and a half years that followed he traveled places both near and far and learned that the lovely felling in the loins can happen without climbing poles or underwater jet systems. During the end of the time with the choir he fashioned his hair into a Mohawk with the help of a friend and a pair of scissors, because they did not have a razor. As a consequence, Henk was regarded as an abuse to the eye and not allowed to sing at concerts for a few weeks. He had had it with the choir anyway, so he packed his bags and moved back home. He was able to keep his choir outfit. ------------------------------------------------------------ ------------------------Back at home and still only 13, Henk started his first band. He played the drums and sang. The music was loud and the lyrics dealt with bored animals in the forest, boredom in general and other adversities that made his life difficult at the time. Slowly, his criminal energy, which had been brooding all along, surfaced. Within the same year, he had several unintentional confrontations with the law, such as illegal graffiti and verbal abuse of a police officer. Thanks to his late birth or rather his status as a minor, he did not have to suffer any legal consequences. During the course of the next years he had a few jobs on the side while he was still going to school. He worked in a factory and was in charge of the compactor. He was so fascinated by the unbelievable forces caused by the mere touch of a button that he started throwing things down the compactor that were not intended to be compacted. Shortly after, he was fired.------------------------------------------------------ -------------------------- Some time and several bands later, he had grown to be 19 and could no longer stand the smallness of the rural life. He left to go to Berlin and met many interesting characters. With some of them he started making music, most of which was of experimental nature. He played shows in different formations, in the USA, England and France.----------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------- Sometimes Henk loves making pop music; most of the time that’s what comes out when he is at home, alone, in front of his old computer. His apartment only has two windows, so it is very dark and in the wintertime, it gets very cold, and he sits there and drinks wine. When he gets sad, he thinks of Stalingrad. A friend once told him that thinking of Stalingrad helps when you don’t feel good. Often he thinks of nice things as well, like the sea. or maple syrup. Or a sea made of maple syrup. Or what it would be like to have an ostrich as a friend and ride it down his street...