Andreas Hinterseher - Simple Life And Heavy Nights Andreas Hinterseher

Teamwork is everything in life – but sometimes it can also be very beneficial to form a team with yourself.

Andreas Hinterseher’s new album is, for the most part, a musical collaboration between the accordionist from the band Quadro Nuevo and himself. He composed and arranged twelve of the thirteen tracks on the album. For two of them, he brought in guest musicians: Tanja Conrad on the violin, Anna Rehker on the cello, Philipp Schiepek on the guitar and Didi Lowka on the double bass. He played the accordion, bandoneon, vibrandoneon, piano, trumpet, flugelhorn and trombone himself. The recording took place in his studio in Fischbachau, a tranquil village in the Alps.

Hinterseher’s first album, Stay Away and Play! (GLM Music, 2021), grew out of the original idea of recording music using locally available resources during the lockdowns. He has taken this idea further and is now focusing even more radically on his own capabilities, drawing in particular on his very recent daily experiences and inspirations. Between Simple Life and Heavy Nights.

Sopa Salada de Patata is dedicated to an incredibly salty potato soup that was served to the musicians of Quadro Nuevo by a supposedly renowned chef before a concert.

Anja Tanja. This piece was dedicated to the two fellow musicians who performed this chamber-style tango featuring bandoneon, violin and cello.

Simple Life. That incredibly liberating feeling of travelling across the Alps on a bike, with a tent and very little luggage in my bags and on my mind.

Heavy Nights. Alone in the studio, struggling hard to find inspiration amidst a huge pile of challenging tasks. A tango plodding along laboriously, accompanied by bandoneon and piano.

Letters from the Dark. Recorded on the wintery Aegean island of Samos with Philipp Schiepek on guitar and Didi Lowka on double bass. One room, one lead sheet, one take. An attempt to find the light in the darkest hour.

Makarska. The Balkans have always been a great source of inspiration for Andreas Hinterseher. A wild ride through the sun-scorched landscapes of Croatia.

El Dia Que Me Quieras. A tango classic by Carlos Gardel. A joyful celebration of hopelessness, a solo piece for the accordion.

SUN! After a long Central European winter, sailing in the sunshine on the Croatian coast in a small catamaran. Wonderful!

Milonga. Angry, furious and even a little brutal. But the music transforms these destructive emotions into a conciliatory and relaxed conclusion.

Michèle's Valse. Hinterseher’s homage to the musette waltz. A tongue-in-cheek, wistful recollection of the so-called golden age, when, in early 20th-century Paris, accordionists were the pop stars of the music scene and people danced in their thousands to the protagonists’ virtuoso triplets.

High Above the Deep Blue Sea. Sitting on a night-time flight. Wearing headphones that block out the sound of the engines, and listening to good music that blends seamlessly with the turbulence at an altitude of 10,000 metres.

Ghosted by my Sister. A very personal solo piece for the accordion.

Why? Anyone who has ever had a pet knows that where there are animals, there is always death. Some animals are special. So special, in fact, that they leave a deeply healing mark on the community in which they live. Their loss leaves a deep void in the lives of those left behind. “Why?” is a requiem for a very special companion.

The album Simple Life and Heavy Nights is a very honest account of some intense years. From moments of utter darkness to feelings of utter freedom. All packed into a very small space, overlapping, radically intertwined, happening simultaneously and yet somehow liberated.