Serengeti’s Week in Pop
Serengeti released his pop masterpiece made with Berlin’s Sicker Man titled Doctor My Own Patience through Graveface Records & we had the privilege of having the following end of the year chat with Serengeti himself, oka Chicago’s true all-star David Cohn in the following reflective exchange:
Notes on the collaboration dynamic between Serengeti & Berlin’s Sicker Man
Doctor my own Patience
Tobias Sicker Man is great and a great friend. We get on great and [our collaborative process is] real fast. Working on the Saal album was a great time, we did it in an empty theater some years ago in Bonn Germany, loved the experience and really wanted to do it again.
Time lined up when I was doing a few dates in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary with Mary C in 2014. I went to Berlin a week earlier before taking the train to Prague and we got started.
We worked out of a studio that happened to house a “Real World” type show for German tv, there were all types of people milling about outside trying to get a glimpse of the new reality stars on the top floor, it felt cool to
have access to the door.
[Tobias] and I just jammed, we had an idea of what we were going for and jumped in. Doctor My Own Patience was an on the spot free track from the jam time as was a tune called passing shoes, “Rich Man”, “Always Some Hang”, “Top Up”, “Hotelroom” and maybe a few more which made it as is. Just about then the city was packed as it was the anniversay of the [Berlin Wall] coming down, it felt anxious to be in the city, I’d stay in my hotel from 7pm on and really couldn’t sleep, the windows opened out and was on the top floor and couldn’t sleep, geez.
I listened to that Benji album a lot and watched “Arrow” on Netflix.
After the tour was over I met Tobias in Hamburg and he set me up with an apartment and we set up a studio and refined some of the tracks a bit but tried not to lose any feel that we thought we liked. I went home and then went to Cincinnati and started the Yoni and Geti album.
I went back to Berlin in 2015 and we finished the record.
We had goals to make the album driving, less cello for some reason. Personally it was great to do a song like “Hills” about a near death experience and a metaphor song like “boy”.
I wrote a story about an Eddie Munster type kid who fell in love with mother’s house guest that turned into “Impress a Girl”, and “Top Up” was about hangs where you out kicked your coverage, “Beltloop” was some life stuff and generally we wanted it less dramatic than Saal.
We work together easy, speak a little bit and just hop in.
Super times, great to record them.
Future offerings from Serengeti alter ego—Kenny Dennis:
Kenny.
Kenny has come to an end and I have an ending.
I covered his past with Tha Grimm Teachaz present with the “Dennehy” and LPs
covered the album that Ders and Kenny were touring with “Perfecto”, I like it, thorough.
The album to wrap it is called Jueles, it’s set in 88 – 93, its weird and takes a little vision.
Hopes, wishes, plans, projects & desires for 2017:
We have the final [release from] Tha Grimm Teachaz coming out too…
Tobias and I will hopefully play Europe the last two weeks of March.
Maybe come back out in June and might do the Jueles
I’d love to tour with Sicker Man in the states, but its tough to plan. I’d also love to do an all Kenny set in the states, do all the hits in the clothes and bring Tanya, fun its tough as I don’t have the keys.
I have this other project recorded in the south that I hope to get out in ’17 and the Kaleidoscope [album], Cav 2 and maybe that’s it.
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