It was quite some time ago, when I travelled to San Francisco to visit a friend. He lived off the Haight and Ashbury and of course I had to check out the funky neighborhood. I always thought I want to have one of those retro mics—and I found it the Haight and Ashbury Music Store.
At that time the San Fransisco Retro Swing Scene was just beginning to blossom in a cool little art deco bar called “Club Deluxe” where we would hang out every night, enjoying their fabulous cocktails and rare jazz records and admiring the way they dressed in vintage clothes of the forties. It was great.
With those strong retro impressions I travelled back to Switzerland, dreaming about a life in San Francisco.
I started playing gigs around my hometown, always using my stylish microphone. It sure looked good but the sound was somewhat limited. I probably sounded a bit weak myself, so it didn’t make that much of a difference.
A few years later, when the opportunity arose to move to San Francisco I didn’t hesitate for a second. At my “going-away gig” in a cool local club down by the river the sound engineer told me to “drop the ridiculous mic and be professional.” His comment hurt, but of course he was right. I sounded a little better that night, and by then, I could hear the difference too. That night the club administrator asked if she could borrow my mic for a photo shoot and I gave it away with no objections.
Two days later I moved to the Bay Area and completely forgot about my microphone. At some point I actually figured I had lost it and hoped it was in good care…but I definitely considered it gone.
Three years later and a thousand experiences richer, I moved to Berlin.
One day about a year and a half after my arrival I got a strange phone call.
Franziska, the administrator of my hometown club, called me to tell me that she still had the microphone and was living in Berlin as well. She literally moved my mic to Berlin with her. So it was in good care after all!
We met for coffee and she returned it to me—I hadn’t even expected to ever see it again!
Through all my time as a singer, people have always admired my beautiful mic. It complimented my style and sure is a looker all right! There have been plenty of flyers for gigs where it has been the perfect accent.
When we were taking new pictures for this web site the mic emerged once more to accompany me in the photos. But this time, the mic is not just for me—but an invitation for you too to step up and share your voice with the world.
I still adore it so much, although I haven’t used it since that good-bye gig in my hometown. But you never know…it has been part of my life for so many years, maybe some day I will sing with it again.
