S.Y.P.H. once upon a time

S.P.Y.H. were and are always good for stories with a beginning:

S.P.Y.H. were and are always good for stories with a beginning:

Once upon a time. And like all stories, they all contain a spark of truth, but also harbour wishful thinking and visions. This is also the case with S.Y.P.H. . There may be plenty of fabulation and ranting about this elsewhere. I will now describe my perceptions here and how I experienced it. A story full of inspiration, devotion and pain and great suffering, despair and personal entanglements with sometimes devastating consequences. Just the kind of band story that seems to be so common:

Well, that's how I want to start :

Once upon a time there was Ulli, who worked as a carpenter for his father and one day was given a new apprentice to look after. This was Uwe Jahnke, who was parked with us due to the influence of his egocentric father. Basically, Uwe didn't really feel like it. Well, there he was and we became friends, two brothers in spirit who didn't really get on with their fathers. Then one day, Uwe asked me if I would like to play in his band with two others and if there was a gig in two weeks.... Well, I agreed. So the "FOUR!!! founding members of S.Y.P.H. met for the first time in the kellerbar of Thomas Schwebel, who was a member. Together with Peter Braatz we were now the quartet. Thomas and Peter had previously bragged in the cult pub "Rathinger Hof in Düsseldorf" that they had a band and talked about their first lyrics. Everyone laughed at them and didn't take it seriously. Until the gig at the Carshhaus came up. What a great reception it was when we, as Syph (at that time still without points), were actually seen and heard on stage. The formation of Syph was official (four musicians and a friend of Peter's who played bass as an extra), so Peter Braatz, Thomas Schwebel, Uwe Jahnke and Ulrich Putsch. The others may see it differently. For me, that's my version and it's irrefutable.

The history of S.Y.P.H. has always been characterised by intrigue, intellectual flight, genius, megalomania, break-ups, reunions, clique formations and strategic calculation. We were young and inexperienced, we hurt, loved, tortured and slaughtered each other. Punk, as we probably thought. Some of the gigs were legendary and some were absolute shit. That also had something to do with the fact that Peter had a big mouth off stage, but had neither timing nor confidence with his lyrics. He was basically the personified anti-musician as a singer and wannabe guitarist. I got so fed up with him at the Stollwerk in Cologne that I left abruptly. So 1986 was the end for me. During our time together, however, we were able to produce some really great records. The collaboration with Holger Czukay, who became my godfather of sound and my great role model in terms of sound design, was very successful and highly regarded with two records that we recorded at CAN Studio Weilerswist, Innerspace. PST and the records I affectionately call the Schwarze are for me the best that this band has ever produced. A later production that I mainly directed and produced led to a meeting with Conny Plank (Eurythmics, Nanini, Eno, Grönemeier, Westernhagen, Rodelius, Cluster and many more) the demo tapes appealed to Conny, unfortunately the band then failed completely in his presence at a live act in Luxor Cologne. Beer just doesn't go well with brilliant stage behaviour. Just punk. Then this disc was made as Wieleicht in the Atatak studio by Kurt Dahle and Frank Fenstermacher. The contract was and is still valid today. The shittiest contract I've ever signed as a musician. By the way, I was also removed as the author of all but a few songs. My measure was considerably full. Basically, Uwe, Peter and Jojo took the piss out of me. Just punk. Then came the aforementioned last gig and my departure. Despite everything, I cling to this very exciting band history like a limpet and still can't get rid of it today. The insults and hostility are back, because there is something to distribute. There will be a back catalogue with the most important discs on vinyl and CD. It will be released by Tapete Records from Hamburg. 

Basically the first time in many decades that I will get to see money for this ordeal. Just punk. As already mentioned at the beginning. It's my story, the others can postulate their version. Mine is clear to me and has now been cancelled after the publication of the Reste contract. Over 45 years of struggle is simply too much.