Boogiemania - 88 keys to the soul: 40 years live on stage

By Nico Brina and Richard Koechli

In over 4,000 performances in 19 countries to date, the award-winning Swiss boogie and blues pianist Nico Brina has experienced the magic of improvised music, how it affects people and what it triggers in their souls. Music as a world language. Already in his German-language book "Von 100 auf 0 in 1 Sekunde" (From 100 to 0 in 1 second), published in 2022, he talked humorously and up close about his career and about unusual projects that enabled him to keep the flame alive even during the coronavirus pandemic. Just in time for his 40th stage anniversary, a direct continuation of this successful author's journey is now being published, and this time also in an English translation: "Boogiemania - 88 keys to the soul"

Nico Brina takes a deeper look into his life, telling funny and sometimes even totally crazy anecdotes from his multifaceted career. A thrilling book that in personal, direct language provides valuable insights into the nature of uncompromising dedication on stage. Brina repeatedly succeeds in creating a philosophical link between the art of improvising on 88 keys and normal life. In this way, he draws highly inspiring images that give people the courage and strength to engage with the moment and surrender to the so-called "flow". In doing so, he perhaps even provides something of an explanation for the timeless secret of boogie and blues magic.

• Language: English
• Publisher: tredition
• Release date: Jan 11, 2024
• ISBN: 9783384115126

Nico Brina

Nico Brina (1969) ist ein international renommierter Boogie Woogie-, Blues- und Rock'n'Roll-Pianist, Sänger, Komponist und Musikproduzent aus der Schweiz. Er wurde 1995 mit dem Schweizer Show-Preis «Kleiner Prix Walo» in der Sparte «Special Act» ausgezeichnet, schaffte 1996 den Eintrag ins Guinness-Buch der Rekorde (mit dem weltschnellsten Boogie Woogie «Nico's Highspeed Boogie») und wurde 2014 mit seinem Album «Flight 6024» für den Preis der Deutschen Schallplattenkritik nominiert. Zum 66. Geburtstag von Udo Jürgens wurde Brina vom Fernsehsender ZDF zusammen mit neun Boogie-Woogie-Pianisten aus aller Welt für einen Special Act eingeladen. Nico Brinas musikalisches Rezept ist die Verschmelzung von Boogie Woogie, Blues und Rock'n'Roll – oder wie er selber auf seiner Webseite schreibt: Boogie Woogie Power – Blues Feeling – Rock'n'Roll Show.

Book preview

WELCOME TO BOOGIEMANIA

Elvis, Machine Grease & Rock‘n‘Roll

My hairstyle was not always shaped like Elvis‘ so sweeping back. On the contrary! At the beginning it was really difficult, indeed it seemed almost impossible, to teach my hair the shape I wanted. That was no wonder, because in my first eleven to twelve years of life my hair knew only one direction: falling straight down! It looked as if my hairdresser had put a pot on my head and simply snipped it off all around, more like the Beatles‘ mushroom head style. For me it was as clear as day: this had to change immediately and abruptly! The first attempts I started with Brillantine and with the time I brought that better and better. Unfortunately, this hair care oil was quite expensive, so that I saw myself forced due to my modest financial possibilities, to look around for another, cheaper solution. One day I actually found what I was looking for in a large department store just around the corner - what I discovered there was machine grease! That was the „breakthrough"! One can cost only about five Swiss francs and gave much more than the comparable, much more expensive brilliantine. It may sound strange now, but this machine grease was ideal, because firstly it was neutral in color, secondly it was almost odorless and thirdly it was much cheaper. So my hairstyle finally took the desired shape, and to this day, with my 54 years, I am still happy about it. There is one small difference from back then; today I use hairspray instead of machine grease - but, anyway, my hair has slowly realized in which direction it should look, and in the meantime it does this almost by itself.

Ah right, that reminds me: Sugar water was also an experimental option for a short while. With it, I was able to fashion a quiff for myself, which became so stiff that, riding on the Töffli (moped), it literally snapped backwards, but as such remained whole. When reaching my destination, I could then simply fold it forward again. However, this rather brute method was not quite handy in the long run - and not quite so sexy.

My quirk and the ability to style my hair in this way impressed my friends so much in my early teenage years that they often asked me to get their hair into the desired „rock‘n‘roll shape before we went out together on Saturday nights. In a way, I was a little master in hairdressing, and so it happened that at the age of 16 I actually started my first apprenticeship as a hairdresser. I found an apprenticeship in a very large and renowned hairdressing salon, „Coiffeur Vogue Joe Jauch in Biel-Bienne, and the work actually suited me wonderfully. If it hadn‘t been for those penetrating chemical fumes …

Day after day I felt headaches and burning eyes; already from 10:00 a.m. I was drained and felt so miserable that I didn‘t know if and how I would get through the day. It was bad, very bad - I feared these corrosive chemical fumes would eat me up piece by piece and ultimately destroy me! With every fiber of my body I felt: this can‘t be it, I can‘t take it. Fortunately, I listened to my inner voice and abandoned this apprenticeship early.

Next, I started working as an unskilled laborer in the construction industry, with the prospect of being able to start an apprenticeship as a bricklayer a year later. When the masonry apprenticeship contract for the following year was signed and sealed, I enjoyed being outside in the fresh air on construction sites. As a construction worker, I was suddenly earning really good money - which I immediately used to buy my first real leather jacket. I liked the work on the building site very much and I still love it today to be active as a craftsman, to create something with my hands (not only music!), be it concreting, sawing or whatever.

After that gap year, I started my apprenticeship as planned and became an apprentice bricklayer. This job suited me so well that already in the first year of my apprenticeship I was allowed to raise large masonry structures on my own or to form complicated circular staircases for concreting. At the same time, I played on the weekends with my rock‘n‘roll band „Jive Boys", which we had founded just two years earlier, while I was still at school. I rocked the piano as best I could and always gave my very best with great passion. I loved playing the piano and I loved Rock‘n‘Roll more than anything - then and now! We rehearsed two to three times a week and pretty much every weekend we were allowed to belt out our show on some hot Rock‘n‘Roll stage. With continuously huge successes, which let my big dream of being a professional musician grow unstoppable.

Everything was perfect - until work threatened to get in the way of my musical ideas and my dream. Anyone who has ever worked on a construction site knows that this work demands a lot from you physically. Especially the hands - they are always stressed and strained to the utmost, whether it‘s sharpening, shoveling or bricklaying. So after almost every working day on the construction site, I had to painstakingly and laboriously restore my hands with a nourishing bath and hand ointment, so that in the evening my fingers did more or less what I expected of them on the piano keys in the practice room. So that I could fully deliver on stage again on the weekends.

I never complained and accepted this physical wear and tear as belonging to it. However, the longer it lasted, the more I seriously thought about whether and how this should continue. And one day I inevitably asked myself the decisive question: a -career as a bricklayer in the building trade or as a pianist in show business?!

We know the answer; I also broke off this training early.

However, to this day I have not regretted the 18 months on the construction site for a single second; not in the slightest, on the contrary. On the one hand, this time made me stronger, and on the other hand, paradoxically, it strengthened the dream of a life as a professional musician even more, pushed it into my consciousness - until it exploded and I couldn‘t help but follow it. Everything has its meaning in life, even such difficult times.

After that, I worked for two years in trade fair construction and mounted building signs, to dedicate myself to Rock‘n‘Roll after work, full of enthusiasm and devotion. I used every free minute for practicing and recorded every concert and every single rehearsal with my tape recorder in order to analyze what I played afterwards. We got better and better, but also worked really hard for it! Looking back, I have to admit that we were certainly not the very best rock‘n‘roll band in this country. But our strength was our strong ambition, our unconditional will to get the audience going and to freak them out. We succeeded very well and we went on and on.

Together with the singer and drummer Tom Schürch, I composed my own songs, we made our own arrangements with the band and always worked very hard on our program to include the audience with interactions in the show. We always presented our music with the utmost passion, authenticity, with endless joy and dedication. Today I am convinced that it was exactly these qualities that allowed me to reach my great goal at some point.

Nico Brina (1987)

Finally, the big dream really came true!

When the decisive moment came and I entered the working world as a self-employed musician and artist, I very quickly understood that one of the most important prerequisites is to make decisions for yourself, be they small or large. I am sure that this is true for all self-employed people, in fact for everyone in general, no matter what professional position or private stage of life they are in. It should always be you who decides what you want to get involved in next, when a project fits your vision, when the project is finished and in what direction you want to push your creation. As soon as you leave it up to other people to make those decisions, you run the risk of losing authenticity. Of course, it is important and can also be very exciting, interesting and instructive to hear other opinions, to accept input from outside. First and foremost, of course, there is your team, your familiar environment and your network, which can give you valuable and groundbreaking tips. It is your task to sort and classify these views and suggestions, but the final decision should always rest with you. Making decisions is often not that easy, in business as well as in private life - because sooner or later the two areas will intermingle and therefore it should all remain in your hands.

But how do you know if a decision is right? How do you recognize the perfect time to complete a project? How do you recognize which course should be set and in which direction?

I don‘t think there‘s a magic formula, but I‘ve found that for me personally, it‘s relatively simple: I prefer to be guided by my heart, by my gut feeling, by my intuition. This has proven to be very reliable. As soon as I get chicken skin (goose bumps) when I make a decision, I know: THIS is it, this feels right to me. In addition, this tingling, warm and homely feeling then arises, which begins to spread throughout my entire body. Should the head resist, and it often does, I always take its doubts seriously and weigh them carefully. But when in doubt, I usually give intuition the benefit of the doubt, because no matter how I decide, once the impulse has come from my heart, I know with certainty that I cannot be completely wrong. If a decision has been made wholeheartedly, there is never really any reason for me to question it!

By the way, this method has another