Berlin-based artist Hans Gnendinger from Grizzly Bird, on his contribution to our compilation. Hans sings of two gorillas who were ‘experimented on for far too long’.
How does it relate to the animals theme?
This song is a biography about two famous apes: Koko was a gorilla that
could speak via sign language and Kanzi is a Bonobo that understands a
lot of English and can reply with symbols on a keyboard.
What was the songwriting/ writing/ making process?
I learned about these two animals while I studying Philosophy in a class
about animal cognition. I thought their story was both compelling and
tragic, as well as pretty funny. Perfect material for a song! I
approached this song like a scientific paper and spent days reading
every article I could find as well as scrolling through blogs by
caretakers who have worked with the two apes. I may have exaggerated a
little here and there, but I’d say 98% of the lyrics are accurate. Once
I had the lyrics, the music came quickly.
How did you record it?
I recorded the guitar and vocals at home. For these apes that live
between concrete walls, I wanted to have the feeling of a forest at
least in the music. So I went to a Berlin park at night with a
microphone and recorded myself playing around with leaves and hitting
sticks against trees. The percussion loop you hear on the song is made
of these sounds. Originally, I wanted this track to be just guitar and
those wooden sounds, but Nils, our bass player, came up with this
brilliant bass line and it would’ve been a crime not to include it.
How long did it take you to make this?
The recording didn’t take that long. It did take some to get released,
though. I already played this song in 2016 while on tour for my album
“Head in the Air”, and it got released in 2019 on the first Grizzly Bird
album “Empathy”, a concept album about animals and how we relate to them.
Where can we find more of your work?
We recorded a new EP last summer and it’s the first time we pressed
something on vinyl. You can find it on Bandcamp:
https://grizzlybird.bandcamp.com
Castle Cooperative Records 