comedy feature

Letter To Edinburgh: Die Roten Punkte

Quite often after our rock ’n’ roll concerts in Edinburgh I get asked why I play such small guitars. On this tour I am travelling with a half size Epiphone Les Paul (Pee Wee), an Epihone Flying V (Vee Wee), a ‘Mini Maton’ acoustic and a Yamaha SHS-10 mini Keytar. Well, the reason is not because I have very, very small hands and feet. The main reason is because it is much easier to sleep in your bed with a small guitar.

I have been sleeping with guitars for about six years now. I found that as soon as I moved my guitars from their cases into my bed I instantly became a better player. I am more musical, I feel more connected to my instrument and my sister Astrid says I have great technique.

Also, sometimes I have dreams and I want to turn them into a song as soon as a possibly can. Having a guitar in my bed cuts out that “lag time”. That’s how I wrote ‘Ich Bin Nicht Ein Roboter (I Am A Lion)’. I went to bed one night with my keytar and woke up with a finished song. I had a nap one afternoon after watching ‘Pretty In Pink’ and I woke up with ‘Straight Edge Girl’. Super!

I used to own some normal guitars but they were nothing but trouble. When I used to sleep with a big guitar it hurt the front of my body and sometimes I would get out of my bed in the morning with bruises. So ever since then I started to be with small guitars. I have been getting more sleep and I feel better and I play better. I like playing live with my Flying V but I get more sleep with my Les Paul.


Die Roten Punkte – Robot/Lion Tour, Pleasance Courtyard, 5 – 31 Aug (not 17), 11.11pm (12.21am), prices vary, fpp43.

published: Aug-2009

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