We played our first show with Husten in Dresden at Beatpol. I’ve been a fan of one of the member’s solo work for a long while — Gispert zu Knyphausen. You should listen to his album Das Licht Dieser Welt — I don’t speak German, but the music still speaks straight to me.

Husten is a sort of indie supergroup project with several other musicians — the bassist is someone our friend Lars describes as the Rick Rubin of German indie and the band is full of musicians with a credit list longer than most movies. They were accommodating and personable as we joined them for the first time at Beatpol.

We found Anna at the merch booth acting as tour manager of sorts for their 6-day run — we have a mutual friend in Fabio from Köln. We played his hostel and venue Waltemfänger a few times in the past, but he’s working as a teacher now. She made us feel at home and shared some stories from the world of big time touring and festival promotion.

When we loaded in the venue, I found myself lost in the walls full of posters from old shows. Then I found two posters from Columbus bands from the 90s — Gaunt and New Bomb Turks. It’s wacky to see evidence of our citiy’s music so far away from home, and it felt humbling to continue following along in a tradition of indie bands from Columbus.

And we played a set! And it was loud and fun! And I bounced on my little chair a bunch! Strange as it seems, after searching for the perfect chair/stool to sit/lean/bounce in during every show, it makes me homesick for my little personal stool way back home in Ohio. It’s strange the pieces of home that we miss when we’re far away.