the dussmann dream

I remember very distinctly the first time I took the M1 Tram to Friedrichstraße.. December, 2003.. dark at 4 pm.. the first time I saw that beautiful softly-lit building with the distinctive 4 storey tall sign jutting out of its side boasting those impressive deep red letters in a font which should be called Beethoven: Dussmann das KulturKaufhaus. This being a good few years before my first iPhone I fished my little green Pons Wörterbuch (Deutsch-Englisch) out of my backpack and a few moments later stared up in bewildered wonder .. ‘This place has a Department Store for .. Culture? .. .. .. Honey, I’m home’

I get the same feeling walking into Dussmann now as I did then.. well.. it’s two feelings at once. Firstly there’s the ‘kid at the amusement park’ feeling.. the excitement in the potential of what I might discover.. the excitement I always feel when I’m close to stationery (Schreibwaren). Secondly there is the relief.. the relief I feel when surrounded by knowledge, creativity, art and understanding.. books, music, movies, paper, pencils, scores.. and even more so the relief in the realisation that all of the other people in there are there for the same reason as I am.. they love to read, they love to listen, they love to learn, explore, understand.. they love beauty, they love knowledge, they love inspiration and they want to take it home with them in a little red bag. Those moments in life in which we share an unspoken connection with a room full of strangers are so beautiful and so important.

Whenever friends of mine from Australia visit Berlin, I always take them to Dussmann and they are always as gobsmacked as I was that first time. That such a place exists.. and flourishes.. says something about Berlin. This is a city which supports, celebrates and upholds culture. I have seen many a red bag with its precious contents tucked into a suitcase on the morning of leaving.

I have a kindle somewhere.. but I love to hold the book in my hands, to feel the weight of it, to smell the paper. I have iTunes but I love to read the CD case and liner notes and I love to listen to it on my little stereo. Most of all I love taking home a new score of piano sonatas by Haydn or Schubert or Beethoven and a new 2B pencil. That’s the best feeling.

I remember going into Dussmann a few weeks after my Montmorensy album came out in 2011.. would it be there? It was! Just tucked in front of Morrissey. I felt quietly proud as I walked back out onto Friedrichstraße .. somehow.. validated.

So.. 7 years later.. on December 8, 2017 my new album “Echoes of a Winter Journey” was released on the beautiful Berlin label Traumton. Two days earlier I had left Berlin to go on a summer journey, playing on a cruise ship along the west coast of South America (but that’s another story). Imagine my surprise when I received an email from Stefi at Traumton informing me that Dussmann love the CD and have requested material for their window display. I felt terrible I wasn’t there to help! Over the next few days I started getting messages from friends who just happened to be in Dussmann doing their Christmas shopping.. letting me know that not only was the CD seemingly everywhere inside, it was also being played in-store.. sending me selfies with the window display!

Then came the news that it was number 1 on the in-store customer charts (Kundencharts). Well I just couldn’t believe it. The whole thing felt like a Weihnachtswunder (Christmas Miracle) .. like a Dussmann Dream. “You know Benny from ABBA?” my father would tell people.. “Well he’s number 5!”

Now I’m back in Berlin.. it’s the end of January.. "Echoes of a Winter Journey" is somehow still number 1. The whole thing has been so unexpected and so much fun and so incredibly helpful and all I can say is Danke Dussmann.. Danke for your kindness and support! Heartfelt thanks to Chiara Fenoglio and her beautiful team for bringing about.. the Dussmann Dream!