The late career of a powerful woman

Maggie McInthun of KOZMIC BLUE

Almost 15 years after her first successes as a hard rock shoutress Maggie´s back in public with impressive band and music. There she is, sitting at a table in a Cologne in-pub, polite and even a little shy, and at first sight she doesn´t fit the powerwoman cliche´ at all. But after initial restraint she soon leaves her shell. She laughs a lot and openly talks about her problems in the past. Dainty Maggie does not at all give the impression of a mature 35 year old woman, but rather resembles a teenager - or even a boy. And she knows: "Beeing a young girl I mostly hung around with my brothers and their friends. Any Barbie arrogance has been taken off early." Maggie has a good sense of humour, she doesn´t take herself too serious. And after the heavy setbacks she had to take during her early career, she is obiously proud of her new album and band. Listening to "Diamonds And Glass" you get the idea: Maggie´s brought all the ups and downs to a - musicial- point.

Claudia Schuberth: Since your hopeful start as a rock lady with MOONROSE fifteen years ago we havn´t heard much from except a few festival gigs at the Loreley or the Rock am Ring. What was the reason for that ?
Maggie: I was pregnant, and my record company didn´t see any perspective for our band. Instead, they pushed a well known blonde singer from Duesseldorf who had just gotten a contract. Seems she had convincing arguments apart from her voice to motivate the mainly male stuff of the label.
C.S.: The company justified the separation with rumours of drug excesses.
Maggie: That was only partly true. The band was high most of the time. And my first husband, usually with us, was a heroin addict. Myself, I was totally clean at the time, and not only because my pregnancy. The press blew that up.
C.S.: But afterwards you also slipped into drug hell ?
Maggie: (thinks for a while) Unfortunately, yes. I became depressive after the birth of my first daughter, because I suddenly found myself hanging around in a two room flat with her and her junkie father. I hadn´t known a think like that before. It was incredible chaotic. The whole movie, as it is with drug addicts. Of course, the band split, and the responsibility for the child lay on my shoulders alone. Hanging around with junkies all the time, at some point you think it´s normal. After hearing "try yourself" hundret of times I finally was on the needle myself.
C.S.: How did you make it to get out there again ?
Maggie: Quite a long story. (she pauses with a worried expression). The short version (laughs): I suddenly realized I wasn´t able to sing any more. That´s when I knew: You´re more than a half dead. And that left me, for the sake of my daughter as well, only one chance: I locked myself away and detoxed.
C.S.: Is that possible ?
Maggie: If you really want it, you can make it. Of course, it takes it´s time. And its really awful. I filled myself up with lots of whisky and other drugs to make it. Of course that doesn´t help in the long run. I made it with intensive meditation and yoga techniques.
C.S.: And your husband ?
Maggie: (gets very serious). He did not wanna quit, so I divorsed him. Unfortunately he died of an overdose half a year later. But let´s talk about my new band.
C.S.: of course. That´s why I´m here. After the detox thinks turned better ?
Maggie: At first I took care of my daughter on my own, until she went to school. I didn´t have any money and nobody to play babysitter.
C.S.: How do you manage to make music that way ?
Maggie: You don´t. But I always sang for her while changing her nappies (She laughs out loud). Then I moved to a place with friends, there where more women with children, and everythink became better.
C.S.: What kind of place?
Maggie: A parking place (laughs). No, seriously, a former parking lot. A trailer park in Duesseldorf. I build myself a little fortress from a cart and an old bus. Later my daughter Lucille got a beautiful old wooden circus carriage of her own.
C.S.: Wasn´t that too cold in the winter ?
Maggie: Sure, but after a while we had a contract with the city council, and got electricity and water. Only in heavy frost the water pipes were frozen (she shivers and laughs). There were 30 people living there, musicians and Harley riders, we build a pool, a recording studio, and we had chicken and pigs, gardens and fruit trees.
C.S.: A real village of your own in the middle of Duesseldorf. How long did you live there ?
Maggie: More then ten years. Until I came to Cologne 4 years ago. I had a job as a singer for the WDR radio station, where I met my present husband.
C.S.: The beginning of KOZMIC BLUE ?
Maggie: Almost. My husband was the drummer of our hard rock group then. Unfortunately he suffered from an acute hearing loss and was not able to do his job as a drummer anymore. One summer holiday he grabbed my old guitar and played "Me and Bobby McGee" for fun, and I sang along. Five minutes later some twenty people were sitting around us cheering. And that was the beginning of KOZMIC TWO.
C.S.: The ideal duo?
Maggie: Not entirely. Gerhard plays the guitar like a drum set. So a bass was the obvious complementary instrument. A duo is a duo. Takes a trio to have a band.
C.S.: Clausel Quitschau ?
Maggie: We dug up Clausel as a foundling at our regular, "The Monterey Rock Cafe", nourished him at the motherly tap and finally adopted him. Meanwhile he even drinks from the bottle (she laughs). We rehearsed for three weeks and then right away recorded our fisrt gig live at the Monterey.
C.S.: Isn´t that a little risky?
Maggie: We needed a demo to get gigs, and by chance in the house next to the Monterey our friend Ernst Esser, who by himself is a well known guitar player, had his sixteen track recording studio. We put a lot of wiring through the backyard and off we went. we had no idea then, what these recordings would turn out like. Probably we were just lucky we could use them fo a CD.
C.S.: The CD was, regarding the circumstances, more than an impressive success. Do you think you can go on doing it all by your own means and pick up on this success with "Diamonds And Glass" ? Wouldn´t a major recording deal be attractive ?
Maggie: You know I have no objections against making money. An expensive production, as it´s normal in England or USA, would surely not be bad for us. Our possibilities soundwise are in fact limited. But maybe it is this unprettified quality of truth that´s an appeal of our recordings. People aren´t stupid. And by the way, lots of money´s not must. We sure are able to make a living by our music. I´ve lived through some hard times, financially. Until today we´ve only had offers that would mean too much influence on our music. As it is, we rather cut down on thinks and accept this means a lot of hard work.
C.S.: What other music do you listen to?
Maggie: Anythink that´s good. No matter what style. Even my 15 years old daughter has something good spinning now and then.
C.S.: What about books?
Maggie: (laughs) When you make music, organize everything yourself, and have two kids to care for you don´t have time for that. Once in a While we go out for dinner. Like right now, for instance (the dinner is standing right in front of her - cold in the meantime).
C.S.: Enjoy!