Michael Woerz

Where do I begin? I guess I'll start with my youth. My parents were off the boat from what was at the time West Germany. I grew up with a wealth of different music to listen to courtesy of my father. I listened to everything from Lawrence Welk to Herb Albert to Dinah Washington and Brook Benton (The Two of Us-what a great LP) to German oom-pah along with all kinds of Classical Music, and a little later on, all kinds of Motown. That's probably why the taste of music I compose is so diverse. That can be good or bad I guess. My first instrument was a chord organ that had 6 chord buttons and a small keyboard. We had it in the house as far back as I can remember, but at 6 years old I began to really learn to play it and wrote my first small batch of songs on it. At 11 years old (1969) I got my first acoustic guitar. It was on. I got it for Christmas and stayed up until 2 AM until I could play my first 2 chords clearly. My first song I learned was "Go tell Aunt Rody" that was in a course that my parents supplied with the guitar. Later on I got a cheap electric guitar and amp. I never looked back. With my 1rst guitar came song after song that I composed and the more chords I learned, the more technical the songs became. On "Cityscape Suite" there is a song called "17th Street Retreat" which was originally named "17" and it was like the 3rd or 4th song I wrote back when I began to learn my major 7th chords. I grew older and hooked up with cover bands and eventually original bands. Writing music was really what I longed to do. There weren't the home recording set ups available at reasonable prices back then so it was a few trips to the studio here and there through the years. I've worked with cover bands, original rock bands and a Cover/Original Jazz Fusion band called "Tell Tale". Our original compositions were experimental in nature and usually came out great in the studio due to the excessive talents of it's members and the chemistry. (Fast Forward) In 2000 some old friends and myself got a cover band together and tried to do songs that a lot of other bands weren't doing. Midlife Crisis was the name at the time and we would do our own recordings on a multi track reel to reel. I've posted a couple of songs from that period and hope to post more in the future. After that came to an end, I decided to work on a home studio since I had purchased a house with a large, finished 3rd floor room. I started with a Yamaha AW16G 16 track Digital recorder and later on up graded to a AW1600. For about 12 years I recorded a large number of the songs I'd written over the years-just to see what they would sound like. I had a couple of side projects with "Mystical Roads" who were old friends that got together and wrote original rock numbers in the late 70's, mid 80's and late 2000's. The better part of the 3rd floor home studio recordings were of my music that I recorded myself. My recording has simmered down a bit due to my health (Diabetes and Blood pressure with a touch of Cardiac problems) and my involvement with an Original Alternative group called "Shadowstation"-of which I have a couple of tunes and videos posted here. So, for now I'm using Drooble (A wonderful Site it is) to post a majority of the music I've written and been involved with over the years. Kinda like a matter of record. Still composing, but with band mates now. The interaction is fun, especially since it's our own music. I still have music of mine I plan to record but it is secondary for now.

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What is music to you? What does it give you?

IT'S MY COMFORT, ESCAPE AND CREATIVE OUTLET. I STARTED PLAYING AND WRITING SONGS AT 6 YRS OLD ON A MAGNUS CHORD ORGAN THAT HAD 6 CHORD BUTTONS AND A SMALL KEYBOARD. GUITAR AT 11 YRS OLD AND ANY OTHER INSTRUMENTS I OR MY PARENTS COULD AFFORD. MUSIC IS MY CHILL PILL AND GIVES ME A SMALL TASTE OF WHAT GOD MUST HAVE FELT LIKE WITH HIS CREATIONS.

What is your music dream?

AT 60 YRS OLD, IT'S PRETTY MUCH THE MIRACLE OF HAVING THE EFFECTS OF DIABETIC NEUROPATHY THAT HAS BEEN SLOWLY HINDERING MY PLAYING.

If you could change the world - what would you start with?

CHANGING THE STEREOTYPES THAT A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE ABOUT MUSICIANS. I'LL LEAVE IT AT THAT.

Which is the most memorable song from your childhood?

THE SOUND OF MUSIC

Who are your favorite musical artists or bands?

SO MANY...BEATLES, GENESIS, YES, DAVID BOWIE, AND SO MANY OTHER GROUPS FROM THE 70S.

What inspires you to make music?

THE SOOTHING, WONDERFUL LOVE OF IT.

What is the message you want to send with your music?

THAT I, LIKE EVERYONE ELSE, GO THRU' TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS. I HAVE WANTS, NEEDS AND DREAMS. MY MUSIC IS THERE TO INSPIRE FEELINGS, THOUGHT AND THE IMAGINATION AND TO PROVIDE A RETREAT TO ANOTHER PLACE THAT ISN'T HERE.

How do you feel when you perform in front of an audience?

NERVOUS FOR 5-10 MINUTES, THEN TOTALLY INTO IT TO THE POINT OF JUST LISTENING TO WHOLE THING WITH OUT THINKING ABOUT WHAT I'M PLAYING.

How do you see the musicians’ reality nowadays? What could be improved?

THE MIND SET A LOT OF PEOPLE IN POWER HAVE THAT WE'RE ALL JUNKIES, DRUGGIES AND ALCOHOLICS AND OUR ART IS NOT TO BE TAKEN SERIOUSLY.

What do you think of Drooble?

I THINK IT'S GREAT-KINDA LIKE A F.B. OF MUSIC. THE HARD PART TO BELIEVE IS THAT IT'S FREE.

What frustrates you most as a musician?

THAT THERE AREN'T MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR TALENTED MUSICIANS TO MAKE A LIVING IN THE FIELD OF ORIGINAL MUSIC. A GOOD "COVER BAND" HAS MUCH MORE OF A CHANCE TO MAKE MONEY THAN A GOOD ORIGINAL BAND.

Do you support your local scene as a fan? How?

I WISH I COULD DO MORE BUT WITH MY HEALTH AND FINANCES AND A LOT OF TIMES THE DISTANCES INVOLVED, I JUST CAN'T DO WHAT I'D LIKE TO.

What qualities should a musician nowadays have in order to get their music heard by a larger audience?

I WISH SOMEONE WOULD TELL ME. I KNOW SOME SUPER TALENTED MUSICIANS AND SINGERS THAT MAKE EXTREMELY TALENTED MUSICAL WORKS, AND IT'S LIKE NO MATTER HOW HARD THEY HAVE TRIED, THEY JUST CAN'T GET ANYWHERE. IF I KNEW, I WOULD SPREAD THE WORD.

Share some awesome artists that we’ve never heard of.

THE PSYCHEDELIC ELDERS AND SHADOWSTATION TO NAME A COUPLE.