THE STILL VERY YOUNG STORY OF
CMF – CALL ME FROG
The initial project started by sheer chance. Guitarist Manuel Egger did his civil service time at the same time as I did (interestingly enough at a second hand store for fundraising for the BLUE CROSS, an alcoholic aid group). We got to know each other during the months we worked there together. And I eventually found out about each other that Manu is a guitar teacher occasionally playing for various bands and working at a recording studio too. Likewise he found out that I am into writing lyrics and prose. And since I do a fair bit of my writing in English we thought that fitted perfectly for the project Manu had been developing in his mind for the past few years. Two months after I had finished my time at the store I called him asking about the project and so we started. I sent him lyrics I had written for a previous project and he obviously found himself able to work with them. The band project was born. After a few phone calls we agreed on a strict schedule composing at least twelve songs which would enable us to record an album by the end of June. I just kept on writing lyrics and Manu did the musical part and stared inviting singers, bass players and drummers for auditions. By the end of May we had the band together including a manager and a designer. We saw that the schedule would prove to be a little too tight and set a new date for the release of our album: mid July. Soon after that we also chose twelve songs our of the about 16 songs we had composed and started recording which proved to be a little more complicated than anticipated and so we applied the second change to our schedule this time being a little more generous. By mid July we had four Demo-Versions to put online but we were nowhere near releasing an album. This will probably take until October.
THE TECHNICAL PERFECTIONIST
(MANUEL EGGER: GUITAR)
Guitarist Manuel Egger is a freak concerning technics. What struck us at his place when we held our first meeting with all the people working on the CALL ME FROG project was his massive old school hi-fi system consisting of immense designer speakers, an old amplifier unit and a huge video projector with a 4.5 square meter screen. And that is the way he works at the studio. Luckily it is partly his studio because if it was not we could not financially afford the time we spent there during the past months. Manu is our true recording GURU which is fantastic but made as change our schedule several times. Starting with a schedule that included the release of our first album by the end of July Manu forgot all about his perfectionist mind. We ended up barely recording the first four Demo-Versions. But the hard work and critical attitude towards our own project has immensely improved the result. And so we are hoping that the album will turn out even better.
Be assured we are working hard on it. Continuous hard work will eventually get us there and so for now we can only apologize: Sorry, the album is not out yet.
But altogether Manu is a great guy to work with; a fantastic guitarist and I tremendously enjoy writing our songs with him.
CAREER CHANGER
(FRANZISKA KELLER: LEAD VOCALS)
Initially Fränzi never thought of music or at least not in the sense of ever joining a rock band. In fact she started off taking up an apprenticeship at an office. But I can well understand that such a job must have bored her after a while. So she decided to take up singing with the eventual goal of becoming a singing teacher. But fate had different plans. She was the third person to get on board of the band project which at that stage was still nameless. Manu and I were thrilled by her low voice right from the word go. Working with her has been great fun and she will be a great front woman even if she never intended that. And maybe if we turn out to be successful with our band she won’t even have to finish her singing school.
Soon we found there was more to her than just a great voice. At a warm evening in spring each of us (Manu, his girlfriend, Fränzi and I) a glass of shimmering white wine in hand we decided the band needed to have a name. And Fränzi played a crucial role in helping the band CMF – CALL ME FROG coming alive.
ROCKER-TWINS
(THE SCHEPPERLE-BROTHERS,
CLEMENS: BASS GUITAR CHRISTOPH: DRUMS)
To round off the band we needed some true blue rockers. At that time we still lacked a drummer and a bassist. Desperately trying to fill the vacant places in the band Manu remembered working with the Schepperle-Brothers in previous projects. And when he told me about those twins I knew we had to take them on board. Fortunately they loved the project right from the start and did not hesitate to join.
Working with the Schepperle-Twins turned out to be a great enrichment for the project. Not only are they spot on musicians getting the hang of the songs Manu and I had already written in no time adding their personal touch but they are also great fun outside the studio. We now have to real rockers in our band, looks and style are just as they should be for rockers and the fact that the Scheperle-Brothers are twins makes the whole thing even funnier. To see them handling their instruments is fantastic: Two energetic, full blooded rock professionals. I am desperately looking forward to seeing them perform on stage.
LETTER-JUGGLER
(FABIAN SCHWITTER: LYRICS)
Unfortunately I have the ignoble task of introducing myself but I will try to do my best. I was the second person on the project which actually makes me a co-founder. Because before I started bombarding Manu with my lyrics the project only existed in his head. But soon after I had sent him the first draft of lyrics we had our first songs. Despite the great amount of time Manu has put and still puts in for the band he gave me the easier part in composing the songs. I only had to send him my lyrics and he then composed a melody and almost the entire arrangement. Only two songs developed the other way around. Certainly I am grateful for that because as one of the few non-professionals on the project it enabled me to still concentrate on my studies and on my other writing projects.
It is fantastic to work on the CMF project even if it costs me days and days, a great among of sweat and sleepless nights occasionally trying to serve the band’s request for something else than melancholic and questioning lyrics.
MAN IN THE BACKGROUND
(ADRIAN BISCHOF: MANAGER)
Good fortune must have helped us finding our man in the background. He gave our project the necessary touch of professionalism. The idea of hiring a manager had crossed our minds right from the start. But where were we to take the money from?
That problem suddenly vanished when Manu mentioned our project to one of his guitar pupils. Adrian was thrilled by the stuff Manu showed him and at once decided to take up the management of our band. Managing a soft-ware company he was the man we needed. Adrian has the necessary know how concerning the drafting of contracts and public relations.
VISUAL ARTIST
(MARTIN: GRAPHICS)
The last man to join the project was Martin. We had everything but suddenly realized that we needed a funny yet fresh and cheeky logo for our band name. Where were we to get that from?
Once again Manu dug in his vast treasure of contacts. And he came up with Martin who instantly sent us his first suggestions. At once we saw that we were heading in the right direction. And at the first meeting we had altogether we found that Martin fits in perfectly as if the rock world had waited for him. He is a great creative mind never afraid to have another drink.
