All the things that have happened to „the guys“ are definitely worthy of print. All of them have worked with different bands and musicians. There are stories of flying television sets and destroyed hotel rooms. Musicians jumping out of windows onto the roof of their cars. All fairy tales of decades past long before LoveLinus was founded in 2003.
Hans and Max crossed paths practicing with a session band that had gigs every week. Max was playing drums and Hans, keyboards when they started jamming to a Stevie Wonder song and just couldn't stop. The two realized that there was chemistry between them.
It was at a time when Max was fed up with all of the front men he had been playing for. On top of that, he had a drawer full of songs that he had written throughout his years as a drummer that he had never had the chance to play with other musicians. So...it all started to fall into place. The following week, the two practiced as a DUO -with Max as the singer and guitarist and Hans on the keys. The old Session band then soon found themselves in need of a new drummer and keyboarder.
LoveLinus was spoken into being! Both of them started to write more songs and played in any club they could find. In the summer of 2004 they won the Mannheim Music Award 2004 in the category: „Best Singer“ and published their first single: „Keep on Dreaming“. In spring 2005 they produced a video of the single and from April 2005 on the video could be watched and downloaded on SWR3's homepage.
The time had come, to present themselves as a whole band so they started looking for the right drummer and bassist to support them. That summer they practiced with Daniel on the drums, and it was like magic. Max had known him as a drummer colleague for years, but had never seen, until that day, how amazing Daniel was: ie. the perfect drummer for the job. He mentioned a bassist he knew and after a few measures with Manuel, it was easy to see:
We are complete!
MAX - VOACALS & GUITARS
My first musical experience that I can remember is jumping on my parents' sofa singing Frank Sinatra on my LEGO MICROPHONE. Although the true fun was the jumping, it was still a musical experience. I was about four years old.
When I was nine I consciously took notice of my first LIVE BAND. This guy was doing something really cool with these little sticks. The following weeks were spent collecting and banging the living daylights out of pots, lids, wooden spoons, and wash baskets.
And then I got this record for Christmas: BLACK GOLD: all the classics of SOUL on one record, that I still miss to this day. Then I heard a song on the radio: „Message in a Bottle“. I had never heard anything like that!
In fall I watched the TV show „ROCKPALAST“ with THE POLICE and to the dismay of my parents, it was clear that my calling was to become a drummer! That's where my road to becoming a professional musician started. Now, I use a real microphone and have numerous gigs as a drummer or as a singer and guitarist, and am just as addicted to music as I was then.
HANS - KEYBOARDS
“I don't know when I started loving music, but I think it was before I could think“. Hans was 6 when he started playing the piano, and at 7 he took up the accordeon as well. “My father played piano and accordeon, there was always a lot of music at home. I was most excited about the funk and soul of the late 70's. My role models were and still are Earth, Wind & Fire, Stevie Wonder and Motown classics.“
Although his musical roots were planted there, his influences range from Herbie Hancock to U2.
He wrote his first song when he was nine years old and played bass in a school big band when he was 14 where he started writing his first compositions and arrangements. “This time in my life definitely expanded my horizons, because I learned how to play the bass. The best thing was, however, gettting to hear how my own compositions sounded being played by a big band.“ On the side he was playing traditional and modern music on his accordeon at youth competitions. All along he was taking lessons in classical and jazz piano and later studied music in Frankfurt (Musikwerkstatt). “Although, I had a lot of different teachers,“ he says, “I taught myself most of what I know.“ The years following school further influenced his musicianmanship as he toured with a Fusion Jazz Rock Band. “It was a hard, yet important time in my life. We played a lot of clubs and bars, a lot of them really run down places, seeing everything there was to see. However, I always had a lot of fun and realized that I couldn't imagine my life apart from the stage.“
Before he met Max, he was a songwriter and live keyboarder for a lot of different bands ranging from jazz combos to blues and rock'n'roll.“
DANIEL - DRUMS
Once all of mommy's pots and pans were ready to be taken to the junkyard, he was finally given a REAL drum set. That was when Daniel was 13. 5 brothers and sisters, a dog, a cat, and some paraceets patiently suffered through his not always quickly expanding repetoire of grooves. Once the SAGA-, Marillion, and TOTO cassettes were worn out and ready for the trash can, the first bands, who's dreams of international breakthroughs seemed centuries away, were started...
But, he wouldn't have to wait that long: he was soon led along a path away from his idyllic hometown to the Bavarian “nirvana“, where he received a pop musician's education under Prof. Udo Dahmen that left it's marks on him. After successfully concluding his studies and taking part in a legendary Pop course in Hamburg, he started playing all over the country.
Musicians' appreciation of the fruits of years of work is shown by the list of over 60 CD productions that he has been able to leave his groove „stamp“ on. More and more or these tracks are being recorded himself in his own recording studio in Mannheim.
Since he not only is content to just play himself, but also has passing the torch of his experience and knowledge of rhythm to others on his heart, he also has his own drum school in Mannheim and teaches at the pop academy there. His teaching experience also includes courses for the Bundesakademie für Jugendbildung in Trossingen (a national youth learning program), many workshops he has taught in and outside of Germany, as well as involvement with the Modern Music School in Heidelberg.
MANUEL - BASS
As the first child, born in 1977, into a musical family, I was always, starting very early on, fascinated by this incomprehendable structure of harmony and rhythm, so dynamic and alive, that is only found in music. My mother told me that she listened to a lot of Bach while she was pregnant with me. Maybe that's why I wanted to play violin and got to finally start at age 7. Wow, was I proud! I learned a lot of knew things: playing in a string quartet, duetts with piano, or playing in an orchestra – making this gigantic harmony come to life, not only outwardly, but also inside of me. But still my violin era ended after 10 years. I wanted to play acoustic guitar, and I bought a electric bass from a youth group leader for 40 DM which he had smuggled in from Czechoslovakia. I don't even remember why I bought the thing.
In 1993 my brother and two neighborhood boys and I started our first band - „on a mission“. The following years led us onto many German stages big and small and even into countries outside our borders. Studio sessions and our first recordings allowed the calling to mature and become focused: completely on music. My musical horizon was expanding from rock to funk by way of pop, blues, country, reggae, jazz, drum & bass, etc. – very different styles and with a lot of bands and projects. In addition to playing, I also started writing songs as well as producing and teaching while working intensely with “new blood“.
In 2004, I started my studies at the Popakademie in Mannheim that I have just completed. What still remains of is my joy and passion for music. So here we go!
