Jan Lankisch reached out to me while I was touring Denmark in 2018 and offered to fly me to Cologne, Germany to perform a concert. I was not able to take him up on his offer.
Since then, Jan and I have attempted to set up a tour for the last three years. I was ready to buy airfare when Covid hit and the world shut down canceling our plans. We set a target date for May 1, 2023 and it finely came to be. Jan set up the tour and it happened.
When I flew into London, my luggage and guitar did not show up – a bit of a crisis.
Jan called a musician friend, Kristian Robinson (aka Capitol K). Kristian owned a recording studio, Total Refreshment Centre, and gave me a tour. He garishly lent me his electric guitar and the show went on. – Dave Bibxy
Dave Bixby: Thank you, Jan, for agreeing to this interview.
Where were you born and where do you live today?
Jan Lankisch: I was born in Bremen in the northern part of Germany. My mom left with me shortly afterwards and I grew up in the south of Germany. When I was 19, I left for the city of Cologne where I have lived ever since.
DB: How and when did you start booking shows for artists?
JL: In 2002, I got in touch with the artist Mark Robinson from the Washington DC area whose bands Unrest and Air Miami I was a huge fan of in the mid 1990s. I asked him to record an album for the German record label Tomlab for which I just started working as a graphic designer. This was my first job as an A&R and I asked him to come over on tour in support of our upcoming release. It was one summer week in July 2003 – exactly 20 years ago. Since then, I have been promoting over 700 concerts, I think it is good that I have written down all of them haha.
DB: Tell us about this recent tour and how did it turn out?
JL: First of all, I was very glad that David took this opportunity. I thank him for his trust. We had never met before in person, and I think he could have also been more skeptical about things. But I think I brought him a certain amount of enthusiasm which I took as a chance to give it a go. We spent a week together and I was glad to see so many happy faces at the shows. A lot of people thought they would never get to see him play live for them anymore. I feel that it was a good idea to do this tour and show everybody how far good songwriting can take an artist.
DB: What countries were involved?
JL: We started in London, UK. The next day we flew to Lisbon, Portugal. The day after to my hometown of Cologne where David played after having a night off to relax and gain some new energy. After that we had two more shows in our neighboring country Belgium. In Antwerp and Ghent.
DB: Give us the names of the venues? Tell us the story.
JL: As I had rarely ever booked a tour since 2002, I had to look for places where I had been for shows in recent years while I was travelling or listen to friends’ advice. Café OTO in London is like my favorite venue all around. Their booking is fantastic and if I lived there, I would go there every night. The equivalent in Lisbon is ZdB which is also a fantastic venue in the center of the city. Cologne´s JAKI is the best venue we have here in our city. The sound is fantastic and the people working there are helpful and very nice. For the two Belgian dates I had to ask my friends Dennis Tyfus and Jürgen DeBlonde to find the venues for us. It was an overall great experience for both David and myself.
DB: What are some questions you would like us to ask you?
JL: I would like to hear how it felt for you, David, to come over here and go to places you probably never would have visited if you wouldn’t have come for this tour and how you felt to play these songs to an audience the age of approximately 25 years old or younger?
DB: I have been asked this question before. Fifty years ago, I wrote these songs. I never dreamed I would be touring Europe performing them. It is surreal and a little spooky. I feel grateful, humbled, and honored. It truly is a phenomenon. As I look out over the audience, everyone is my age when I crafted these works. I am compelled to dive into the past and visit the David I used to be. The Ode to Q Lp is not for entertainment but soul searching. These songs are about rites of passage and difficult transitions in life. I get Emails weekly from young adults struggling with the Void. All have claimed the Quetzalcoatl Lp gives them hope. The EU audiences were attentive, respectful, and brought the best out of me. There were great conversations with people after each show. I would be glad to return and tour again.
DB: Talk about the Ode to Quetzalcoatl auction on eBay and the closing bid.
JL: Oh yes, the night of our last show I noticed there was an original copy of Quetzalcoatl on eBay in the US. I think it went for $1200 or more as I remember. I didn`t buy it. I told David about the day of my birthday so he knows now if he looks for a nice surprise gift or so… haha.
DB: What are your plans for the future?
JL: I am programing a festival named Week-End Fest which happens annually in the autumn season. So that´s up next and I do have a couple of other great shows coming up. You can see what´s upcoming on the links below.
by Dave Bixby, Harbinger Magazine
Dave Bixby 