I’ve been coming to Europe for almost a decade, and Munich has always been my home base. That’s because it’s the home of my wife’s family, and we almost always fly in and out of München no matter where we’re traveling on the continent.  I always feel comfortable there. Yeah, maybe it’s because her family is there, maybe it’s because my grandma on my dad’s side was German, but there definitely a warmth to this place that’s undeniable. There’s actually a German word for it: Gemütlichkeit. It means warmth, peace of mind, friendliness, coziness. Like sitting in a warm beer hall with a roaring fire eating a schnitzel, or under a chestnut tree in a beer garden surrounded by friends. It’s just a place that wraps itself around you and keeps you feeling safe.

And sure, maybe Germans aren’t exactly famous for being the most openly warm folks, but that’s kind of part of it for me. It takes a little time and effort to get on their good side, and you have to earn it, but once you prove yourself to a German, they’ll be your friend for life. Living in San Francisco I can’t even tell you how many people I’ve met who are, right off the bat, without knowing you at all, like “oh my god you’re the best, we’re gonna be best friends forever,” (seriously, I’ve had people say that to me multiple times), and then fast forward a few weeks or months and you never see them or hear from them again. Just a fade away after declaring their undying devotion to you. And god forbid if you really need help. I’ve made some of the closest friends of my life in California, don’t get me wrong, but there’s a lack of genuineness sometimes that Germans never fail to deliver. I still get emails from German friends I haven’t seen in years just asking how I’m doing and if everything’s ok. Good people.

Anyway, what I’m saying is that this edition of Echolocation felt exceptionally personal. You want to honor a place that you feel has accepted you, that is home to so many friends and family, and I felt like the tone was wildly important. The last thing I wanted was to misrepresent this place, so I tried to take this one seriously, maybe even too much.

And the tone was the biggest hurdle for me. I worked on the piece for a few days and was relatively happy with what I’d done, but kept ending up with a really dark, ominous tone in the music. Now we all know that Munich has some pretty dark history and I wouldn’t dream of ignoring that, but modern-day Munich and Germany is more than that. It’s never, ever forgotten the crimes of its past and the people, young and old, work hard to make sure no one forgets it. But when it comes to outlook and how they’ve built the ir new world, it’s different, it’s fun. The city is filled with an incredible amount of interesting activities, beautiful architecture, and stunning art – it’s so much more than history would tell you. So I decided no, I won’t let this one just be dark… but I’ll let it be a little dark when it has to be. And besides, there’s almost always a little darkness in my music, so who am I to deny that?

Yet in addition to the tone of the places I visit, these Echolocation pieces are really about the sounds I start with. What is the aural experience of a place, how does it hit my ears and affect my experience of it. The third largest city in Germany, Munich’s filled with a bonkers amount of urban and natural sounds. It’s a big place and you could spend years listening to it in microscopic detail. Given my limited amount of time on this trip, I dove into some of the biggest spots with the most unmistakable, recognizable, and beautiful sounds. This tune is built around sounds the Frauenkirche church bells, morning birds in the Englischer Garten (this one wild-man of a woodpecker in particular), stretched-out/twisted vocals from local singer and friend Regina Graf, ditties on old upright pianos found in friends’ houses, and even a string quartet recorded through a keyhole in a room that used to be Hitler’s office (eeeeew). Lots to unpack there, light and dark, good and bad. Look down at the photo gallery to see more of the places I’m talking about.

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