Nov
Shine on and keep the faith, were the last words my friend Andreas Hering wrote to me about a month ago. I learned this past week that he passed away a couple of Mondays ago due to a car crash on a country road. I still can’t believe it. I’m so sad and shocked by it that I’ve taken some time to even grasp what this means to me.
About the time I started writing on my blog I wrote about Andreas. I dedicated a post to him called “Andreas von Hamburg“. At that time I didn’t know him that much but made a big impression. His kindness and indiepop knowledge was hard to compare.
During the years I would see him at different music festivals and concerts. Indietracks was definitely a time when we used to hang out the most. I remember him with a glass of wine whereas everyone else had their warm beer.
I would also visit him in Hamburg, where he moved in 1999 I believe, drinking Jever or Astra and always having the best of conversations. And then the last time I saw him in 2014. That year I saw him in two different cities, first in Berlin when we both went to the Throw That Beat in the Garbagecan! reunion gig and later when I visited Hamburg. I tried the labskaus for the first time at a restaurant he picked for me.
And since I know him we’ve emailed. Even in the last 10 years when we didn’t see each other in person we kept in touch, emailing, talking about music and life. He was always interested and curious, asking the questions of someone who cares. Also I must say that in the last couple of years he was the only person I continued talking about indiepop. He was still very much connected to what was going on. I was the opposite, the last few years I have very little time to find new bands, buy new records. I’ve lost a bit of that drive. Andreas kept me updated, with links and his incombustible excitement.
I have lost that. And I have lost a friend. And I feel very sad about not having seen him last time I was in Hamburg in 2023, which was a last minute trip and for a few hours. It was a badly planned trip, all last minute. So didn’t get the chance to organize anything. I always thought I was going to return any day, my mum lives an hour northeast of Hamburg, and see Andreas. I can’t believe I won’t. That this is not happening.
I remember lazy afternoons at his place. Always with friends and drinks. The music that was being played was always exquisite. He had the best records. Records I wish I had like those rare Sea Urchins records on Sarah. He also had a great C86 era cassette compilations collection. He even made one of them, the great “Everlasting Happiness” tape (one that introduced me to the fantastic Shine! who I would later release).
Speaking of releases, he was always suggesting me to do this and that. He had great ideas. How I wish I could have made any of those happen like The James Dean Driving Experience of The Pumpkin Fairies. He supported Cloudberry and always enjoyed very much the retrospective releases.
But yeah, those lazy afternoons at his place, usually the day after a gig. The cases of beer by the entrance door. The bedroom on the 2nd floor where he let me crash. And all the friends, a perfect sense of camaraderie.
He was always a champion for indiepop. I wish he organized more festivals. The one he did, the Hamburg Pop Weekender, I couldn’t attend. But it was a flawless lineup. And from what I learned, it was a success. I still have many posters of that festival and other gigs under the names of Three Cheers for Our Side or Adventure Playground that he organized in his city.
I read on a little piece our friend Marco wrote about him something that rings very true. That if you were to see Andreas at the gig you knew the band was good. He had excellent taste and his mere presence was some sort of thermometer of any band, old or up-and-coming was one to not miss. He had excellent music taste.
He was always kind as I said. He was always sharing his music discoveries, and even the rare music he owned. I have CDRs here and there with amazing tracks by Grab Grab the Haddock and even a live gig of Nine Steps To Ugly. He had friends everywhere, and I’m sure his passing touches so many of us. He was particularly fond of his Glasgow days when he was younger and hanged out with the Belle & Sebastian gang, he would always reminisce about that time. He was also very close to the Liechtenstein/Fraction Discs gang in Gothenburg, who he had booked for gigs and made a fantastic friendship that lasts. And so on, and on. He was a bright light in the scene. Always being able to make us all comfortable and happy.
At Indietracks he would rent a car. That was quite unheard for me. Of course it was mainly to get from London to Alfreton, get snacks and drink at Tescos, maybe have lunch around the area, and get to the hotel. Still having a car for me was rare, all of us traveling on a train. A few years ago he got himself a car, not a brand new one, but a vintage, collectible car. He was so proud of it. I first thought he had rented it too. But no, it was his, and it looked wonderful. Out of a classic movie in technicolor.
I’m sorry if my ideas are all over the place and I jump back and forward. I struggle to understand what’s happened. And I miss Andreas. His last email also offered a longer reply to our last communication. That is not going to happen. He asked me to get in touch with Dave Musker from the TVPs and offer him an interview for the blog. He also did that, I was forgetting, he put me in touch with many of his friends in the indiepop world. He was an avid reader of this blog, and now and then left me a comment. It made me happy.
I have assumed that non of my friends read this blog. For me Andreas was the exception. He made it cleared he cared.
Originally from Worms, a town I told him many times I was to visit someday, Andreas was a lawyer for environmental law, his offices in downtown Hamburg. Before that was even cool. He wanted to help all the time. I remember once he even wanted to figure out with Sarah Records if it was possible releasing The Rosaries, The Golden Dawn or Christine’s Cat. So far only the latter has had a reissue not too long ago.
His emails full of references were always a delight to read. Songs and phrases from songs were intermingled with his messages. Examples? I like this one “Have I mentioned that I can’t stand “Pop Star Prat[s]” (Thrilled Skinny)?” And indiepop erudite for sure. And that translated when we met and chatted. Those long nights at the table at the Travelodge in Alfreton after a full day at Indietracks. Everyone chatting and drinking and always him calm, with the right joke at the right moment.
He became a father 10 years ago, I became one 4 years ago. We chatted about this too. We shared recommendations on how to bring up a kid. We shared photos. It was always good to know the new things his son was learning and liking. I was truly impressed with the music taste, he really seem to enjoy good music! Earlier this year Andreas was telling me his son’s favourite album was “Loveless” by My Bloody Valentine. Can you believe it? I’m sure he was so proud of it.
I am not sure how to go forward with this post. I’m going in circles. The fact is that I can’t understand what has happened and my friend is not around. Our love for music made us know each other, but we shared more stuff through the years than music, even with this big distance that divide two continents. I know a funeral will happen sometime soon and Nannette Römer, my good friend, is the person to get in touch with if you want to find more and how to attend.
I will always remember you my friend.
The rain it raineth on the just
And also on the unjust fella
But more upon the just because
The unjust steals the just’s umbrella
(Charles Baron Bowen)
