[Lisa Wagner]

Hi Lynn,

For Hotel California, what you hear and what you see has little to do with one another haha! We recorded the music video way before we had finished the recording for it as we didn’t have enough time to get it ready.

If I remember correctly, we mimed to the original recording when we filmed the video and only later matched it with our own recording. Which is why what you see and what you hear (also in terms of the guitars we used) doesn’t always match up. We had to work with what we got! So in the video I play the Nylon string Yamaha we brought on the trip, and in the studio I believe I played my very first Strat “copy” which we bought from the Austrian equivalent of Aldi. I always thought it sounded great given its price 😉

♥

[Lisa Wagner]

Hi Jung,

It depends on the gig. Normally on bigger stages the sound levels are much more controllable. You have the big PA that points towards the audience, away from the stage and smaller monitor boxes in front of, and pointing at, the individual musicians that feed them their custom mix in a volume they want. You have enough distance from the drummer and the guitar & bass amplifier on stage as to not go deaf 😉

In smaller rooms and Clubs however, (like the Cavern club), sometimes you are only a few feet away from the drumkit and the amps behind you. Then in order to hear anything but crashing cymbals, you need the monitor quite loud too (the speaker pointing at you), so you can sing in tune and hear what you and everyone else is playing.

So as you can imagine the volume levels on stage can get pretty loud and it is totally advised to wear ear protection or you will lose some hearing after a while. (We try to be better about this as time goes on.)

Of course, the best thing to do is wear “In-ear monitors” which block out the stage noise and feed you a custom mix, protect your ears and greatly reduce the volume on stage. Here is a good summary of how they work: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3xD0tpaT1Nw

Personally, I have never grown fond of wearing them, despite all their benefits because I simply don’t like the feeling of being somewhat isolated from the audience sounds and the actual noise around me. But were we to go on another tour, I would definitely give them another chance. If you look closely you can see Mona using them during the last Cavern Club show!

Hope that explains things ✌️

[Lisa Wagner]

THANKS, I’m glad you like the new videos (and the old snowflake video … one of my favourites ;-))!!

I had a real fun time figuring out and coming up with that “Stuck In The Middle With You” guitar line. There was so much to play around with!

From memory I didn’t think that the song bears any resemblance to Sheryl Crow’s “All I Wanna Do” but then I had another listen. Haha, I get where they’re coming from. That slide guitar sounds pretty familiar 😉 I wouldn’t have guessed that it was intentional but it’s a great sound.

“You always talk about the team approach to song writing. Can you name a few songs where each of you came up with the original idea?”

It’s sometimes hard to pin-point as there is often not a lot left of the “original idea” once it passes between the 3 of us (Mona, Lisa, Papa Rudi) a few times 😉

But if you take some songs from Orange … “No More Worries Company” was an old song that Papa Rudi wrote back in the 80s, Mona developed the Club 27 lyrics, I had the original idea for “Sweet Lorraine” (music) however the others are to blame (mostly) for the words ;), Mona and me developed the original idea for “That’s Alright” together and the spark of “Waiting For The Waiter” was born out of a conversation Dad and Michaela were having …

We like the Wagner & Wagner & Wagner & Wagner approach 😉

[Lisa Wagner]

Hi Tim,

That was a cute clock indeed and it makes sense that it came from a place as charming as the Black Forest. Personally, we’ve never been there but we’ve had our fair share of Black Forest cake so maybe that counts a little? 😉

We have no plans to tour in the foreseeable future but a gig in Bavaria would be great one day!

We never owned a cuckoo clock but a family member used to have one, and as kids we were obsessed with it and the little bird that would greet us every hour.

The fact that it’s been around for hundreds of years is a testament of the playful side of humanity, isn’t it? 🙂

[Lisa Wagner]

Thanks, Jerry! She appreciates the birthday love 🙂
We booked her and dad a short trip to Scotland to enjoy the outdoors there and also got her some surprises and gifts for the journey. I think they really got to relax and recharge a bit which was long overdue! Thanks for thinking of her!

[Lisa Wagner]

Hi Jeff,

Unfortunately, we sold the van quite a few years before we got our licence so we never had a chance to drive it. It didn’t have power steering so it would have probably taken us quite some time to get used to driving it!

“Magic Bus” would have been a great nickname for it but we always just used the german pronunciation of “Camping Bus”. It makes me feel all warm and nostalgic just thinking about it – so many childhood memories are connected to that van.

I just looked on Google Maps Street View to see if it was still parked in front of the new owner’s store but it seems like they moved. That’s a shame!

[Lisa Wagner]

Hi Bill, hi Maddie!

We took some tennis lessons for a very short time when we were in primary school but quickly stopped that in order to pick up horseback riding instead which we pursued for many years up until our early teens.

Other than that we never officially joined any sports team in school but we’ve been skiing since we were 3 years old and are alright at ice skating. We also loved playing football (soccer) in primary school with our classmates but haven’t played much since.

Our dad also taught us to roller skate as kids and we spent a good chunk of every summer holiday on bikes.

Our parents made sure we had the chance to try a bit of everything growing up and to this day we are very thankful for that.

In the end, our interest for music stuck around while sports came and went but in more recent years we’ve started to pick up tennis again (we’re still pretty bad), tried bouldering, do some yoga, and of course (trail) running and strength training. It’s a nice balance to recording and songwriting!

We think it’s great that Maddie picked up softball and it’s likely beneficial for every child to do some sports (and music 🙂 ) growing up! Best of luck to her, we hope she’ll continue to enjoy it 🙂

[Lisa Wagner]

Aw, thanks, Dale!

Our birthday was wonderful – filled with lots of food, presents and quality time.
We love that quote and try to live by it as best as we can. I feel like with each passing year we are more aware of how quick a day can go by and with it the opportunities for new experiences. Time is precious.

We don’t really have many traditions when it comes to birthdays, other than that we get to choose exactly what kind of food we’re having haha. We went for sushi this year and ever since moving to the UK our “birthday cake” has turned into sticky toffee pudding 🙂

Thanks again for the kind message!

[Lisa Wagner]

Haha, I’ve never thought about that! That was definitely more of an instinctive decision, nothing we ever consciously discussed or “decided”.

It’s there in the original recording as well but it’s buried in the mix quite deeply.

We think it fits the Latin touch of the song and just seemed like a fun addition 🙂

[Lisa Wagner]

Hi David,

That’s something we would consider on a case to case basis. It would totally depend on how it’s set up, with whom, where, when, for how long etc. so we can’t give a general answer. ✌️

[Lisa Wagner]

Haha! Normally we’d say it’s a bit early for us to start thinking about our Christmas video already but since we’re having some pretty nice weather here, maybe we’ll bring our camera and Santa hats to next week’s grill party. ????

[Lisa Wagner]

Thanks Jeffery! It always feels great when another video reaches that number 🙂 “You Can’t Do That” is one of our favourite Beatles songs to play live so it makes us extra proud ♥

[Lisa Wagner]

That is so sweet!! The package hasn’t arrived yet but there’s still a few days left. We’re counting the minutes 🙂

[Lisa Wagner]

Hi Dale, that sounds like it’s going to be one heck of a show!

The reason we haven’t been touring over the last years is because we were prioritising other projects and right now want to focus on new original music. I think that once we want to make time for touring again, the added logistical challenge of touring with a full band vs as a duo wouldn’t be a reason to keep us from touring altogether.

Both would be an option for us but as a way to promote our original music, we would definitely prefer to play with other musicians to bring these songs alive on stage properly 🙂

Thanks for the venue suggestion though, we will look it up!

[Lisa Wagner]

Hi Rick,

I would say that all songs we have written over the years come from personal experience in one way or another. Sometimes in a more loose sense, sometimes through very personal experiences, sometimes through second hand experiences, sometimes by describing and amplifying a universal feeling or thought by putting it in fictitious storyform etc.

To talk about Sweet Lorraine in particular – sure, we’ve not been involved in a bloody murder love triangle but I think we can all relate to making stupid decisions because of “love” or witnessing others wreaking havoc in the name of it, haha.

The beauty of art and storytelling is that there are no rules. You can say what you want to say in whatever way suits the song. Blunt or poetic, real or fictitious, honest or satirical … to be able to express ourselves and share things we feel are interesting, or beneficial to be shared, is ultimately why we chose to pursue music and songwriting. It’s the most magical form of storytelling 🙂