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Number 116 117: "Minor is difficult, minor is always sad"
Photo: Sebastian Gollnow / dpa
SPIEGEL:
Mr. Geiger, under your stage name "Chillheimer" you composed the music for the queue for the vaccination hotline.
How did you get this job?
Geiger:
The company that made the telephone announcement for the hotline called me.
They still needed music to make it a little friendlier.
However, it was about Hessen at the time.
To be honest, I don't know why this is being heard in Hamburg.
SPIEGEL:
Did you have any specific ideas about what kind of song it should be, or did you make suggestions?
Geiger:
I was only asked whether that would be fundamentally possible with our music titles, then the price was negotiated and after that I didn't hear anything more.
Up until now I didn't even know that the order was accepted, nor what title it had become.
But »Cozy« is definitely appropriate, I would have suggested something like that: comforting without sounding like an elevator - a flatterer.
SPIEGEL:
How did the song come about?
Geiger:
I wrote it in 2006 for a computer game that unfortunately never came out.
The track was for a peaceful level.
The soundtrack is completely finished and can be heard on Spotify.
"It's functional music, the artist remains hidden."
Bernard Geiger
SPIEGEL:
Otherwise he didn't have a great career?
Geiger:
No.
SPIEGEL:
Are you pleased that so many people in Germany are now getting to know your song?
Geiger:
The context may not be so pleasant, but of course I always like it when my music is heard and maybe even has a positive effect.
Although people don't know that it is from me.
That is the problem in my niche, royalty-free music: It is functional music, the artist remains hidden.
I don't mind if the authorship becomes known now.
Basically, I'm not the type of person who goes on stage and makes a big fuss.
I am satisfied when I can produce music on my computer at home and make a living from it.
SPIEGEL:
Speaking of which, did you at least get rich with the job?
Geiger:
No.
I gambled high, but was traded pretty down.
SPIEGEL:
What do you earn with a song like that?
Other musicians are paid based on how often their songs are played.
Geiger:
A title costs between 19 and 79 euros for small and medium-sized companies.
For large companies and authorities, the price is negotiated depending on the range.
For Hesse that was in the middle three-digit range.
SPIEGEL:
Does the corona crisis also affect your company?
Geiger:
When it started, it was really tough.
Orders have plummeted by 80 percent.
I am glad that I received the Corona aid back then.
If it had gone on like this for three or four months, I would no longer exist.
It then gradually improved, but still: The business of music for Christmas markets, which is important to me, has completely disappeared.
SPIEGEL:
And how are you currently?
Geiger:
The situation is emotional, like any other, and it is difficult to work with two children at home.
Otherwise everything is okay.
SPIEGEL:
You must have noticed - people who want to have a vaccination appointment for themselves or their relatives hang in the queue on 116 117 for hours and are accordingly annoyed.
How do you compose a song that puts you in a good mood or at least makes you persevere?
"Minor is difficult, minor is always sad."
Bernard Geiger
Geiger:
It is important to be in a good mood yourself.
And there are a few basic rules: minor is difficult, minor is always sad.
Then the sounds you choose - a hard house piano, for example, would be unsuitable, it hits you in the ear.
So you first lay down a nice, soft surface and maybe dampen it with an equalizer.
There shouldn't be too much going on either, just a little banter in the background, but that creates structure.
Of course, the melody shouldn't be annoying.
SPIEGEL:
Do you have hotline hits in your catalog?
Geiger:
There are already a few that are selling well.
In general, the things from the "World Tour" album, which also includes "Cozy", are often used for phone stories.
SPIEGEL:
What is your favorite song on hold?
Geiger:
I'm overwhelmed by that.
I don't hang around in queues all the time.
Luckily.
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