Long Felt Need
Long Felt Need ....... an attribute and characteristic of something which has been desired for a long time - and the creation and the operation of the band LFN (as we abbreviate the band name, of course) is all about exactly that.
Interestingly, the term "long felt need" is often used in the patent business - giving an indication that an invention has merits because it helps to satisfy a need which has been long felt but not met. This link to the patent world brings us right up to the history of LFN the band - it originated at the European Patent Office (EPO) in Munich......
Within the framework of the Music Club at the EPO, Friedrich was very active contributing bass in a number of projects ranging in style from Rock and Pop in the "Whizzkeys" to Modern Jazz with Davide Roberts. Similarly active, Tilmann played guitar player for various bands, among them "ConFusion", a fusion project operating within the EPO Music Club in which drummer extraordinaire Dieter worked the skins. At some point in 1997, Friedrich and Tilmann joined musical forces for the first time in the Latin Project "Los Beamtos". Since they got along great musically and personally, Friedrich gave Tilmann a call when in 1999 - as a new colleague - Thomas materialized and suddenly brought a new level of excellence in terms of vocals and piano-playing to the Music Club. Of course Thomas was (and still is) very active musically outside of the EPO framework, most notably with the "Thunderbirds" in Munich. Since Friedrich had had an eye on playing with Dieter (not an employee of the EPO) for quite some time, it was only logical that Tilmann brought Dieter to a session with Friedrich and Thomas. The experience at this session was more than just memorable - things clicked in a way the guys had not experienced it before! "Long Felt Need" was born ......
While all involved were also musically working in other projects, LFN was the real fun project because the playing and cooperation was most easy-going and gave the wonderful gratification of getting all expectations in the bandmates easily fulfilled (or in fact often exceeded!).
At one memorable gig at an EPO party in 2002, Tilmann was unexpectedly approached by two very similar looking beautiful Swedish ladies: "aren't you looking for some backing singers for your band?" Hanna and Maja (twins with Hanna being the older by 17 minutes) had entered the scene. And while it did take a long time to get this aspect of the cooperation going, the girls were ready, able and willing to contribute when LFN decided to document their music on a CD which was recorded at Tilmann's Lupoturm Studios in 2003.
After the recordings had been completed, LFN experienced some down-time: too much going on elsewhere ..... However, at the occasion of Tilmann's 50th birthday party in 2005, LFN resurfaced with a vengeance - and with an additional member: Tilmann's old pal Matthias contributed organ and synthesizers which liberated Thomas to enjoy the frontman chores to a greater extent. Unfortunately Dieter was not available anymore and the band appreciated much that (after Mick Dörle had saved the day at the birthday party) Vartan Tekneyan - an acquaintance of Friedrich's from one of his many musical projects - could take over the drum chair. In 2006 the band experienced again some quiet phases and - given a temporary unavailability of Vartan - was lucky to be able to motivate Martin (a friend of Tilmann's from waaaaayyyy back) to take up drumming again. Martin proved to be an excellent addition and entering 2007 we had the perspective to work with two drummers/percussionists which would have opened some entirely new musical avenues for us. While this scenario did not materialize in the end and LFN carried on with Martin as the man on drums, the development with the most impact was Hanna and Maja coming finally into their own handling most of the lead vocals on top of all the brilliant harmonising which is the privilege of genetically close.
Of course, having two lead vocalists whose voices also blended perfectly for harmony singing opened the door to many new songs. While working on them, the band also started the recording process again and continued this into 2008. During this phase, we also had our friends and EPO colleagues Kurt Theurer on guitar and Jerrold Johnson on vocals jamming with us from time to time and adding to the multi-faceted LFN experience.
Despite the extraordinary potential of this line-up, not all aspects worked out satisfactorily in the long run. In early summer 2008, LFN effectively shut down. The already started recordings were continued, though, even after the band re-emerged in a more compact format with Michael (whom Matthias had found) replacing Hanna and Maja on lead vocals and also contributing acoustic and electric guitar. Although only concluded in June 2009, the recording luckily leaves us with the version of LFN including Hanna and Maja very well documented on the second LFN CD. It is appropriately titled "Sunflowers".
In 2009, LFN is a much consolidated unit again ready for performing live. Further changes are on the horizon, however: Martin has indicated that he will leave the LFN drum chair (and in fact the country) behind in 2010.
It also needs to be noted that LFN has the privilege to call Valerie McCleary a dear friend - Valerie comes in whenever she can to contribute another superb dimension in terms of lead vocals and charisma. Another close friend is Peter Kunert who - when available - supports the band with his great keyboard chops.