Paul Gerlinger

Every day, a new face looks into the ring light, fingers wiping frantically across the glaring screens and confused souls hopefully trying to catch a little bit of confirmation. "And if everything ends tomorrow, it's because the end ends today" (From: Infinity).
At the same time, Paul Gerlinger stumbles out of his ground-floor apartment in an old building in the east of Mannheim on his way to work: "I'm not a projection surface, not an artificial figure, I can't and don't want to be. I'm just a normal guy with a normal life - I just write songs about it." He lights up a roll-up and laughs heartily - a likeable character that is hard to resist. But... Why should you?

Gerlinger only needs a guitar and a jack cable to make his way directly into the chambers and heads of those listening, and yet he is no stranger to the big stages: he has already supported Provinz, Mola or Dermot Kennedy and performed his songs at various festivals across the country, such as Maifeld Derby and Watt En Schlick, just as he is: direct and honest, melancholic to self-deprecating and yet always in the middle of himself. "I think that's where my two grandfathers are hiding in me," explains Paul: "One is level-headed and clear, the other always has a joke in store." But it's not just his character that reflects his formative grandfathers, but also his passion for music and poetry, as they both shared a love of the piano and "also quite reliably topped up their pocket money with memorized poems by Eugen Roth". This dedication to the handmade and the sincere can be felt by anyone with ears and eyes, as Paul grabs the audience from the noise of time and captures thoughts exactly where they flow - until a moment of unfiltered self-awareness arises: Paul Gerlinger lets us be as normal, as sad, as boring and as original as we are. He chases the "real" in word and sound - there is no exception in his discography, which has now been clicked millions of times. Even the cold algorithm can't seem to completely escape the warm melancholy: "Everything I feel, I consistently put into my songs. If I didn't express it, it would just be lurking in the darkness, waiting to catch me at an unprepared moment." Even though the guitar is always at the center of Paul's musical artistry, he is by no means pedantic in this respect. With his upcoming releases, he shows that sometimes the best way to stay true to yourself is to break out: Classic chanson sound combined with chopped samples and a "Nils Frahm-esque", subdued piano (Alles Perfekt), soundscapes floating over a gentle cello (In Meinen Träumen) and rhythmically hypnotizing guitar patterns laid over oldschool drum breaks (Große Nummer). Everything is combined in a charming minimalism that always leaves enough space for this smoky voice that permeates the ether: "And if everything ends tomorrow? Then we'll have wasted ourselves together" (From: Infinity). It is a refreshing essence that is the result of blunt words, unforced profundity and lively music and will inspire anyone standing in front of the abyss with a broad grin. Music that can simply be beautiful and flows into the heart like electricity into a wire. Anyone who wants to feel this energy will get to feel it - at the latest on Gerlinger's first headline tour in the fall.