VITA

– from grandmas pots to a multi-ethnic-drumkit

The short Version: Growing up in the 60’s in the border zone, just next to the old „GDR„. As a kid I spend a lot of time in nature. It was somewhat idyllic, but it wasn’t an easy childhood.

At age 11 I started to play the snare drum at the local marching band. After a year because I knew that I wanted to play „Rock“ and bought and build my first very basic drum kit .

Soon after I got a „real“ drum kit and co-founded my first band „Hochspannung“ in 1972. I rehearsed and jammed a lot and quickly earned a reputation for my drumming skills.

I went through different bands and moved to Göttingen. I became kind of famous and I played many kinds of music in ensembles from duo to big band in almost any band in the area.

In the 80’s I came in contact with meditation which had a strong impact on my approach to music. Travels to the USA and India helped broaden my musical horizons even more. I became part of the band „HAMSAFAR„. Together with the multi-instrumentalists „Prem Joshua“ and Chintan Relenberg I co-founded this East-West-Trance-Fusion project, which grew over 8 years to some fame, before it ended in a clash. We recorded one album named „Lifeprints“.

Our split led me to focus more on my interest in shamanic work and trained with Frank Natale, an american New Age pioneer, who brought shamanic rituals and techniques from the indigenous people to our western culture.

I met Harshil Chiostro from Italy with whom I created the shamanic TranceDance music project „Rishi & Harshil„. We produced 4 albums together and played many live TranceDance events. We earned some fame in the Conscious Dance scene, specially with our album „Forget Your Limitations„, which is still gaining a lot of interest worldwide.

After 1999 I moved several times,  traveled quite a lot, moved to England and Sweden and 2009 moved to Milan, Italy, where I lived for the next 11 years. I started touring with TranceDance Events with my new friend Dhwani Will Zapp as „Rishi & Dhwani“. Since that time I also started to use „Facilitated Drum Circles“ as a tool to get people together and to support community and co-operation.

Today I live near Cologne/Bonn in the countryside and create and produce music, organize TranceDance events, shamanic retreat and play with Dhwani, Shakya Grahe, Sun Fran and various other projects in Germany and the rest of Europe.

The long version

 – somewhat of a biography

Grown up in the 60′ in the beautiful countryside of the Harz mountains, in those days it was right in the vicinity of the old border between West Germany and the German Democratic Republic. Today that part is now in the geographic center of Germany (yet, in the middle of nowhere).

We had neither internet, mobile phones nor TVs,  and so I spend a great part of my childhood in nature, amidst hills, meadows, lakes, trees, birds and flowers. Thus I always had a strong connection to nature and it’s spirits.

Due to my „nervous“ tendencies – like drumming on grandmas pots sofa armrests – my mother send me to the local marching corps to channel my energy into something creative… (Thanks forever, beloved mom!!!)

However – „just“ a snare drum was not quite enough for me! And the musical stile of our marching corps was not very satisfying!

I stepped out of the marching band and used all my savings to buy myself a proper snare drum plus a Crash-Ride cymbal. But I missed tom toms, and so I mounted some washing powder cardboard bins on a wooden stand. That way I created my first self-made drum kit! (Unfortunately there is no pictures from those days).

On this kit I kept banging along to my favorite vinyl albums on our attic, trying to play the drum solo from „Deep Purples – Made in Japan“ without HiHat and Bassdrum, which was quite an undertaking… As my mom realized, that I was pretty „serious“ about drumming, she surprised me one day with a „proper“ „TROMSA“ drum kit. Suddenly I had everything I could wish for and it was the entry ticket to my first band called  „Hochspannung“ (High Voltage).

„Hochspannung“ consisted of Tommy Wawer on Organ, Jörg Deterding on Guitar and another guy, who’s name I don’t recall on bass. The latter were soon replaced by Jürgen „Rosie“ Rosenbaum (†) on guitar and Martin Tychsen on Bass and vocals, who later became lead singer „Jo Jo Tyson“ of 80’s Pop trio „Silent Circle„. The last addition was Leo Leonhard on congas. I was an exciting time of practicing and growing together as a band, playing the first concerts and dreaming of success.

My drum-kit grew bigger every year and for a while I had a rack mounted on top of my kit with any kind of things to bang on, like broken cymbals, bells, triangle and the like.

It was the 60’s and 70’s and I learned to love and play a wide range of musical styles from Hard- to Latin-Rock, Prog- Jazz-Rock and Fusion, trying to copy as much as possible from my heroes like Ian Paice, Jon Hiseman, Billy Cobham, Curt Cress, Michael Walden, just to name a few.

Hochspannung lasted for about 3 1/2 years. Before it came to an end, I was already forming my next band called „Nimbus„. Together with Dirk Heimberg on Guitar, Xxxxx on Saxophones and Xxxxx on Bass we played a very interesting mix of Blues, Funk, Fusion and Jazz. We had a lot of fun, but after some time, we had all different directions and it was time to move on.

In the break of a concert of the quite famous German band „Kraan“ in Göttingen, a tall guy came to me to ask me to join his next band project Göttingen was my playground to develop my personal style and to become more flexible.

Lutz Lagemann (now with „New Horses„), was my mentor and introduced me to his world of communal life, West-Coast music and helped me to move out from my family home. We formed „Hot Licks„, a five piece Funk Rock Blues band with a female singer and I started to dare to sing harmony. In the 80’s, New Wave and Ska was hip, and we changed long hair and hippie clothes for suits and shades: „COMBO kommt“ was the next thing – playing Reggea, Ska and Dancehall.

Besides all that I played in a Top 40 band at weddings with the infamous „Karl Heine Sextett„, later renamed to „Sunshine Band“ and helped out in almost any Dance, Blues- and Rock band (and even Dixie and Big-band Jazz) in the area.

During that time I started building electric guitars and basses, first as a temp at „Rockinger Guitars“ and then founded „ChaCha Guitars“ with Lutz Lagemann, who was, like me, a great craftsman. Although we produced some fine instruments – the custom made guitar business was difficult and I started to produce high quality transport (flight) cases for musical instruments and high tech equipment. Later extended to develop also professional PA speakers. “Cha Cha Cases” was born and grew over the next 12 years from a one man workshop to a 6 employee „enterprise“ before I got really tired of dust and fumes and sold the business to ML-Cases.

It was a time of many personal changes: I felt spiritual longing in my life and got introduced to meditation, which opened new directions and dimensions and to a long time relationship. It was time to move. I packed my stuff, left Göttingen and relocated to Munich.

The Bavarian capital received me well and shortly after I played in several Funk- and Fusion bands like „Freddies Fat Bag“ and „Tico Feo„, latter was one of the most skilled and uncomplicated bands, I ever had the honor to play with…

In the meantime my quest for inner peace had led me to the famous Indian mystic Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, and through him I met world music virtuoso Prem Joshua, Ravi Freeman and Chintan Relenberg. We first played in their existing band „Terra Incognito„. But Ravi left the band and we founded the Ethno Trance Fusion project „HAMSAFAR„. This delicious mix of melodic and very groovy dance- and world fusion-music presented by five highly flexible and skilled musicians started off with high expectations. In the next 8 years we toured and played many concerts all over Europe, India, USA and gained a bit of a reputation for our concerts. My drum-kit kept growing further, and I started to integrate hand drums, like congas, djembe, darbouka and other percussion instruments into my setup.

However, „HAMSAFAR“ split after 8 years, soon after the release of our first and only album „Lifeprints“ and I was quite heartbroken…

Meanwhile I got introduced to my next important teacher, who introduced me shamanic ritual and TranceDance: Frank Natale, an American pioneer, who was re-importing shamanic ritual and ceremony back into our western culture. He inspired and awoke my old deep connection to nature and it’s elements. I began to experiment with shamanic events and workshops combined with live music – specially drumming and chanting. The impact of the live music on people was significant and I noticed, how much faster and deeper people emerged into a state of trance when real musicians played real instruments in real time.

After HAMSAFARs split, I became part of Milarepa’s tour band, a spiritual singer/ songwriter from the US. We toured through Europe and the US in various lineups from trio to 8-piece band.

Through him I met percussionist Harshil Chiostri from Florence. It was „love at first beat!“ We were simply ment to „groove“ together!

Harshil and me decided to produce a TranceDance album and started recording in Harshils seminar center „Podere Amarti“ near Pisa and our first collaboration „Forget your Limitations“ – A TranceDance Journey, quickly hit the shamanic trancedance and personal growth scene. The second album, “Shamans Return” A Shamans Meditation was finished 2010 and the third album „Remember Your Freedom“ was released in 2019.

In 2009 I met my other musical brother – Dhwani W. Zapp, (owner of Oilios Music), during the HAMSA-Festival in Sweden. Dhwani and I were another musical love affair!

We formed “Rishi & Dhwani”, touring Germany, Czech Republic. Switzerland, Austria and the northern European hemisphere with TranceDance and Dreamtime – Healing Sound concerts.

Another important meeting I had at the NoMind festival in Sweden with my Norwegian drummer brother and Drum Circle facilitator Mikael Khei. He is also a trained TaKeTiNa teacher and leads drum workshops all over Scandinavia.

Mikael introduced me to the work of Arthur Hull, a pioneer in the field of „facilitated Drum Circles„. I had already experimented with the intriguing power of drums and percussions in many occasions and used some simple techniques like „call and response“ and „drumming around the fireplace“ in workshops, concerts and festivals to uplift the energy to foster a space of creativity and community. Arthur really worked the whole thing out and created a special „language“ to teach and inspire people all over the world which has become a huge movement by now. From the ancient drum circles of the tribes and clans he lifted it to drum circle facilitation, helping to get people drumming together at any given occasion and level of skills. I first read his books, than booked his training. A fantastic inspiration and a huge expansion for my work and an invitation for anyone who wants to experience the uplifting power of rhythm and drumming in his own environment.

These days I focus much on Shamanic Experience Retreats and TranceDance events, but you can meet me also on various spiritually oriented Music, Dance- and Tantra festivals.