Text: Constantin Jacobs
Photo: @koalkoalson
With a love for the Viennese dialect, surf rock, the Misfits of the 1980s, Austropop of the 1970s and a passion for vintage music equipment, Georg Danzig creates new sounds for his music.
So if you are not afraid of experiments and combinations of "old" and "new" you should keep your eyes and ears open in the future and let Georg Danzig impress you.
Nailhead Magazine: Your stage name is Georg Danzig. What's behind the name?
Georg Danzig: Hmmm, well, behind the name is simply the combination of two musicians - both of whom I appreciate very much: Georg Danzer and Glenn Danzig.
In another way, it's also about combining two different styles of music and creating something new out of it. I liked Austropop from the very beginning as well as the early Misfits. I just thought, let's see what comes of it...
Nailhead Magazine: Who or what inspired you to start making music?
Georg Danzig: Phew, there is so much music that I listen to and artists that inspire me – I stopped making music in between, before it tempted me again. I would put it this way – it all started sometime when I was 15.
I taught myself how to play the guitar at first. Elvis as well as AC/DC and Kiss were the first bands/artists that I consciously listened to - even if there isn't much left of them in my music today (*laughs*).
Nailhead Magazine: (Almost) all your songs are in dialect, what fascinates you about the Viennese dialect?
Gerg Danzig: I like this creative and colorful combination of words and this certain serenity with a good dash of black humor. In what other language can you find a combination like that?
Nailhead Magazine: What do you like about Vienna more than other Austrian cities?
Georg Danzig: This openness and diversity is simply something great about Vienna, which in turn has a positive effect on creativity. In addition, Vienna is a city with so much morbidity and bad-tempered people that you can't help but make dark music with a wink.
But I have nothing against other cities - I also think St. Pölten or Graz are very beautiful, for example but I can only imagine life in Vienna at the moment. In addition, my favorite football club is based in Vienna.
Nailhead Magazine: What makes you different from other dialect musicians?
Georg Danzig: I don't really think that much. What might be different for me: I just have a very broad spectrum of influences – from surf rock, the Misfits of the 1980s to Austropop of the 1970s. And beyond that, there are no limits to creativity.
I just don't shy away from experimenting.
Nailhead Magazine: Describe the creative process of creating a new song.
Georg Danzig: Hmm, a lot of things happen to me quite spontaneously. A lot of ideas go through my head when I'm sitting in the subway or tram and have time to think. Most of the time, more finished/better songs come about when making music with friends.
Lyrically, a lot of things come to mind in the middle of the night – usually around 3 or 4 a.m. – then they wake me up. Why that is, I do not know. I guess I was a vampire in a previous life or something (*laughs*).
Nailhead Magazine: What are your songs about?
Georg Danzig: About a lot of gloom and sadness in life. Also about failures or certain moods. Morbidity is not meant to be taken quite so seriously, you might say.
Nailhead Magazine: You've played live a few times, why isn't your music online?
Georg Danzig: Hmm, well I started this band project shortly before the Corona pandemic. At the beginning, I wasn't able to really assess what we were facing with Corona and how unfavorable it is to start a band project in this phase because of lockdown, no gigs, etc.
So I haven't had a really suitable opportunity to stop by the studio with my band for a longer period of time (financially and due to the pandemic) - which I would like to tackle soon.
In this somewhat uncertain time, I switched to DJing for the first time (note: Schorschi Danzig) - which I really enjoy and also see as part of my overall concept. In addition, I unfortunately don't know anything about home recording, which I'm learning a lot about right now. In addition there were numerous private commitments from my band members and I, which contributed to this delay/break.
I also like preserving something mystical about Georg Danzig (*laughs*). Unfortunately, music has degenerated into something very inflationary in our time - there is often something special missing, I think. Not that I'm anything special now - not at all! Unfortunately, I'm a bit of a perfectionist - I don't want to put anything online that I'm not 100% convinced of or dissatisfied with the recording quality, etc.
So, please wait a little longer.
Nailhead Magazine: Do you have contacts with the local Viennese music scene, i.e. are you friends with other artists, bands or labels?
Georg Danzig: Well, I'm friends and acquainted with a few acts. I admire a lot of them too. They are also much better musicians than me. I would now roughly add those from St. Pölten and the surrounding area to the Viennese music scene. For example, I like Salamirecorder very much – I get along really well with Felix and jam with him from time to time. I'm also very connected to SeeSea Jacobs - what connects me to both of them is that we're not just somewhere on the same wave musically. We also share a common fondness for vintage music equipment, which is often more broken than functional - but delivers a certain sound. When we meet, the smack runs immediately and we understand each other very well.
I still really appreciate Tigermike from Vienna – he has a super cool horror punk project going with The Spauldings. Unfortunately I haven't found an opportunity to listen to his band live, even though we share a rehearsal room. He's a great guy who's also a very good guitar technician. I also like to watch football with him when I can.
Also, my girlfriend and I often hang out with the Rumperts. They were even there for my birthday.
And of course I can't forget Steve Cannonball from Reverend Backflash. There are probably many, many more with whom I have already experienced something – which I just can't think of right now.
Nailhead Magazine: You are a solo artist, but you have often performed with a band. Why add the band when you can do it alone?
Georg Danzig: The answer is simple: It just makes the songs more exciting and improves everything. Also, I just like playing with other people.
Nailhead Magazine: How do you think your bandmates would describe you?
Georg Danzig: That's a good question. I think they would say he's an easygoing but also a bit messy guy. Because I'm not the bandleader type.
Nailhead Magazine: Tell me about the best gig you've ever played.
Georg Danzig: That was also my last appearance to date before the third lockdown. That was in September 2020. We played an open-air performance at an election event of the Left Party at the Floridsdorfer Spitz. It was about the 2020 Vienna elections. Although I don't want to politically monopolize Georg Danzig - I thought it was funny and fitting to play a gig for the Left Party. Also involved in this event was this social media satirist JuanSon. It was very chaotic but also super funny. It wasn't just the atmosphere among the audience that was great – the atmosphere among us was great too. It was really easy for me to play that evening - as if I had never done anything else in my life.
Nailhead Magazine: What would you do if the audience reacted negatively during your performance?
Georg Danzig: I've even experienced that before and I just tried to finish the gig properly.
I might tend to use a little more comedy in such situations to distract from the poor performance of the songs. I heard that from Johnny Cash and thought it can round off a performance and make it likable.
Nailhead Magazine: What interests you outside of music?
Georg Danzig: I really enjoy being a DJ. I have quite a huge music collection at home and I spend a lot of time looking for vinyls – I know that would somehow fall under the music category now too – although maybe that's more listening to music and putting it together than making music.
I'm also a big football fan and regularly go to the stadium or the pitch. I have a preference for traditional clubs and a certain amount of football expertise, about village clubs that nobody knows. What else is there?
When I'm not cycling, I also like to follow our bizarre domestic politics in Austria. But I'd rather not say more about Austrian domestic politics at the moment (*laughs*).
Nailhead Magazine: What musical plans do you have for the future?
Georg Danzig: I would like to go into the studio with Georg Danzig and the second set and continue to work on my songs in order to present them in a new guise at the next gig. I also have a lot of side projects from Surf Rock to my DJ activities - I would like to continue pursuing them as well.
I don't think it's a bad thing that the pandemic is forcing us to take a kind of break or stop - I like this calm and the fact that there's just nothing going on. I can concentrate on all sorts of things and pursue various interests. Thank God I had a lot of fun before the pandemic.
Nailhead Magazine: When and where was your last performance and when can we see you on stage next?
Georg Danzig: As mentioned, this was unfortunately already a year ago. Since then I have said goodbye to an involuntary and voluntary Corona break. Well, that means waiting for the further course of the pandemic.
I would like to organize my next gig myself - but then I would like to not have to deal with Corona requirements in order to be able to hold an event.