60 Seconds with Double Singer Kurt Maloo

Interview by Karen Beishuizen

My next guest on 60 seconds for RSR is Kurt Maloo. He is one half of the Swiss duo Double who had a massive hit in 1986 with the beautiful song “The Captain of her heart “: It was an international success, not only across Europe, but also in Amerika reaching number 16 on the Billboard Top 100. Double became the first Swiss act to do so.

KB: We know you and Double of course from the song ” The Captain of her heart ” which was a huge hit all over Europe in 1986: How did you write such a big hit and what gave you the inspiration?

When Felix came up with this catchy melody, I asked him what made him repeat the two notes (E and G) in the beginning, like he was unsure how to continue. He told me the story, that later became the official version. I don ‘t know whether it’s true or not, but I like it. One day in Spring he sat at his piano, the windows wide open. On the tree next to his house there was a blackbird singing these two very notes over and over again. He joined the bird ‘s song and started to improvise over these two notes. End of story. Later in the studio I wrote the lyrics literally in no time. The words seemed to fall in place automatically and it took me some time to realize what I had written.

KB: You worked on your third album but then the band split in 1989: What was the reason?

At the time we started to record our third album I was already living in Paris, while Felix remained in Zurich. We didn’t communicate regularly like we did in the early 80s. No cell phone, no WhatsApp at the time. In the studio we noticed our ideas of what to create next differed a lot. He wanted to produce cinematic soundscapes, while I tended to return to the jazzy pop songs of the album Blue. As we didn‘t want to set our friendship on stake because of musical differences, we decided to rather disband Double.

KB: You went solo and released 5 albums and then Double came back together for new songs but unfortunately Felix Haug died in 2004. The songs you both worked on were released on your 2006 album ” Loopy Avenue “: How did this make you feel knowing you worked on it together?

After Felix passed away, I knew I had to take these songs out of the drawer, but they weren’t finished properly yet. I didn’t want to touch them though, so I asked Pit Baumgartner of DePhazz to retouch the material. We were a bit short of songs for an album, so he came up with two more for which I wrote the lyrics. (Scarheart, Soultime)

KB: What are you doing now? Is there anything new in the making?

I was sort of paralyzed artistically in the pandemic. Not creative at all, regarding music, a strange phenomenon, indeed.

KB: If you were not a musician or songwriter, what would you like to do? What kind of work?

I could have imagined myself as a movie director, although I’m aware of the fact that it became extremely difficult to finance an art film these days. In fact, my songs are short films anyway. They don’t need the big screen; they’re flickering in your head.

KB: We had several lock downs during the pandemic: What did you do in lock down to pass the time? Did you write new songs or something else?

I ‘m reading a lot of literature from the past and I also write some short stories. The writing is more of an exercise, though. I ‘m lucky, I don’t depend on playing concerts for a living, but my thoughts are with those who do. These were two tough years for musicians.

Check out Kurt Maloo’s Website.

You can also find him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.