rock'n'rill

From wrestler to writer

People are often surprised when they hear that I used to be a successful wrestler and now I’m a songwriter. Apparently, these are two things that don’t go together in most people’s minds. To me, however, wrestling and writing/performing my type of music have a lot in common. There are a lot of similarities between the two activities that shaped my life. Let me explain.

When I talk about wrestling, I talk about the Olympic sport, not the dubious entertainment known as professional wrestling. Here’s what fascinates me about this sport: It is very honest. It’s not flashy. It’s very real, very bare bones. And it’s not about having better equipment or a better team or any kinds of trickery or smoke and mirrors. It’s all about yourself and being in the moment. Very basic and very natural.

And that’s exactly how I feel about songwriting and performing solo. It’s honest, it’s not flashy, it’s real and bare bones and there’s no smoke and mirrors involved. It’s basic and natural.
Do you see what I mean?
I don’t play pop music, I don’t use dance routines, drum machines or synthesized sounds. I like handmade music.
And wrestling is a “handmade” sport, if you will. (For those who don’t know much about wrestling, maybe I should add that it’s got very simple but strict rules. There’s no scratching, kicking or hitting in wrestling, no choking, no activity that could hurt your opponent. It’s as much about agility, quickness, endurance and tactics as it is about physical strength. In short, it’s really a wonderful, comprehensive, honest sport.)

What’s interesting to me is that when I ended my serious wrestling career in my mid-twenties, I was convinced I’d never be as good at anything in my life as I was at wrestling. I had started wrestling at age 5, it was the focal point of my life for 20 years or so. I had won numerous German championships and international tournaments and was at one point a member of a junior team training for the Olympics.

My wrestling career ended for two reasons: 1) music became more important to me and 2) I realized I would never be as good a wrestler as my friends Alexander Leipold and Jürgen Scheibe. One of them went on to win world championships and the Olympics, the other won medals at European championships. Both of them are now Germany’s national coaches.

Me, I write songs and I travel around and play music. I feel like I’ve become a worthwhile songwriter, maybe a better writer than I ever was a wrestler. And what I enjoy most about making music is the camaraderie and the feeling that it’s not about being better than the next guy. Wrestling, ultimately, is about winning. No matter how smooth you move, what clever tactics you employ, if you end up losing, the other guy was better than you.
In music, luckily, there’s no such thing. My music may speak to someone, someone else’s music may speak to someone else – art is not a competition. I cherish that a lot. And also the fact that I’ll be able to create and perform music for many years to come.

25 July 2011 ·