Double bassist and composer Robert Lucaciu defragments his own, (cis)male self-image in his latest project.

"Smash the Patriarchy!" could be written between the lines here. For in Fallen Crooner, double bassist and composer Robert Lucaciu defragments his own cis-male self-image. In an interview with Sophie Emilie Beha, he talks about his latest project. 

Crooning describes a vocal style of the 20s, characterized by intimacy, warmth and velvety in the voice. How did you come to cover that?

Robert Lucaciu: I like to sing to myself. During a sound check, a friend once told me that I was a real crooner. I didn't know what that was at first. But then I realized that I feel very connected to this kind of singing, like bel canto or minnesong. I'm also very into the aesthetics and stage presence, even though that wouldn't come out of me at all. But I still find it a very interesting time.

Your project is called Fallen Crooner - so it plays with the opposites from that time: on one side purring romanticism, on the other toxic patriarchy.

Yes, that manifested itself even more blatantly in the 1950s and 1960s. Especially after the currents of the 1920s and 1930s were crushed by the Second World War. An exciting ambivalence.

How are patriarchal structures negotiated in Fallen Crooner?

I try to make it very personal on the one hand and very abstract on the other. I start from myself, my observations and experiences, but I am not the person who narrates on stage. I deliberately chose to have a female read as the person who sings. This ambivalence creates different layers through which one can view the content. 

Can you give an example of one of these layers? Fallen Crooner works with two songs, three poems and three own texts. 

On the topic of street harassment, Laura [Totenhagen] and I found a text by a New York poetry slam artist that deals with the topic of verbal sexual harassment in a humorous way: Because her harasser says that her butt can certainly tell a lot, she writes him a poem. In it, she pours out varied descriptions of fart noises. Such topics, however, always remain somewhat unspecific and abstract. In the end, we make an aesthetic show. We are not political, activist artists.

What tonality was important to you?

There are only instruments that can still shape the sound after it has already started to sound. And Moritz [Baumgärtner] is an incredibly vocal percussionist, a real bel canto king. I also worked a lot with double stops and extended playing techniques - and there's a lot of room for that in this instrumentation. 

What role does sexuality and gender play in your life? 

That has always played a big role. When I was four years old, I decided for some time that my name was now also Franziska. This binary system - male/female - I just think is completely nonsensical. It doesn't even stop at my profession: jazz music is definitely blatantly patriarchal. I didn't make music for a while before this project. And I thought to myself: If I start again now, then with something really personal.