Manuel, Christoph and I recorded six more songs and sent them to Role at Tonmeisterei for mixing. Around that time Manuel slowly became more interested in moving to Berlin than staying in Hamburg, and eventually he left both the city and the band. So we started looking for a new drummer.

After a few test rehearsals we met Jonas Czok. Things worked out pretty quickly and we started planning shows for 2020. Booking was going well and we were really looking forward to the year. In February 2020 we played a small weekender and everything felt like it was moving in a good direction.

Then I came home and saw the news: Corona. Lockdown. Shows cancelled. Our planned Palila tour was cancelled as well. Around the same time my wife and I separated, so that whole period is a bit of a blur when I think about it now. I guess everyone remembers that time in their own way — this was mine.

During that time I recorded a lot of demos at home. Some of those songs later ended up on Palila or Would releases in completely different versions, others never made it past the demo stage. A few of those demo recordings are included here as a small document of that strange period.

We kept writing songs, recorded new material and even played a small streaming show at Häkken just to keep the band going and to have something to do.

By coincidence the label Kapitän Platte discovered us and offered to release our two EPs Are We Happy Now and Tomorrow I’ll Come Visit You And Return Your Records together on vinyl. That gave me a lot of motivation during that time.

Not long after that Jonas and I had an argument and we decided to go separate ways.

– Mattze

Words & Music: Matthias Schwettmann
except #3: Words by Christoph Kirchner

Matthias Schwettmann – Vocals, Guitar
Christoph Kirchner – Bass
Manuel Tröndle – Drums

Mix #1–6: Roland Wiegner at Tonmeisterei, Oldenburg
Mix #7–10: Manuel Tröndle
Mastering: Roland Wiegner
Artwork: Lisa Büntemeyer / Tim Faulwetter

We grew up reading music magazines like Ox and Visions, so seeing our own self-recorded record reviewed in there was a pretty special moment. Here are a few scans.

On The Wall

Electricity

Stop And Rewind

Sundays / Control

Demo 1 (unreleased)

Planet C4DCB (Demo – later re-recorded for Mind My Mind)

Full Blown Fudge (Demo, unreleased)

Hipster Dad (Demo – later released on Would)

Sleepwalkers (Demo – later released on Would)

The Long Run (Demo – later released as standalone Palila track)

← back to releases