Living, Loving and Leaving Berlin (2025)

The first time Don and I visited Berlin (in 2007) I was inspired by the city’s openness and culture.  Berlin looked and felt like a city where someone could take a risk and try to live your dream. Every time Berlin would pop into my head I  thought to myself; “You know. I could live there”.   When the opportunity to move to Berlin to work on music presented itself to us in late 2017 we said; “Yes!”.  In January of 2018 we left the comforts of North America to start a new creative life in Berlin, Germany.

Immigrating to Germany as an artist was no easy task.  To qualify for the “Artist-Freelance” VISA was quite a task in its own right but, I got my portfolio together and in June of 2018 I was granted my first “Artist-Freelance” VISA (for one year).  Not only would I have to create and grow as an artist I had to jump a couple of hurdles to be recognised as an artist. For example,I was required to get into the künstlersozialkasse (KSK.  The application process took over six months and I got in!  Don had a huge hurdle jump as well.  He was required to get his B1 in German and pass the “Leben in Deutschland” test and (after 900 hours of classes) he did it!

Over the first two years I was creating and growing as an artist/songwriter/musician.  I would play open stages, I started hosting open stages and I was booking gigs in small Berlin bars/venues.  The work was really starting to pay off and in the summer of 2019 I applied and got accepted to play at the “Live at Heart” festival & conference in Sweden. In September 2019 we rented a car, packed our gear and drove from Berlin to Örebro Sweden. I really enjoyed that festival and conference.  I played at three venues and made some great connections with other artists and booking agents that weekend. Everything was looking good for 2020…..oops.

Since streaming music doesn’t really generate money, playing live is the way to go.  At the end of 2019 I had gigs booked January through to April and I was hoping to get into some of the summer music festivals.  The COVID-19 pandemic really made me take a look at what I would like to accomplish and what I would have to restructure.  Gone were the live gigs and out comes video streaming.  I would play my last gig on the last  eve prior to the German lockdown in a small venue with about 20 people. 

During the first few months of the 1st lockdown my friend and collaborator Matthew Presidente started a weekly Youtube series called “World is Watching”.  His concept was to record and video duets with 10 different artists per episode.  It wasn’t an easy task but, eventually the process of recording, filming and editing the material became easier.  Once a week Don and I would literally tear apart our 60m2 flat (in the heart of Berlin) and make it into a film set for recording & filming each song and the series was 8 weeks in total.  This series encouraged me to evolve my sound from something that was blues/rock oriented to electronic 80’s.  I started re-working my songs to reflect the new sound (a part of me wished I would have done this sooner).

With the new sound I started re-recording my old material and releasing them as singles.  I also recorded and released an EP called “Under the Influence: A Tribute to 40 years of Depeche Mode” (please see my earlier blog posts from 2022).

As the pandemic continued live music in small venues that didn’t have a patio couldn’t do concerts.  I have to once again creatively pivot to make money as a freelance musician.  I was fortunate to get hired by a private Kindergarten as a Music & Performance facilitator for children 3-5 years of age. And, in the months towards the end of  the school year the school would hire me to play outdoor concerts on Friday afternoons.  This gig was the way for me to stay creative, play live (mold creative minds) and make money.   Eventually the private school hired me to facilitate their songwriting, film & theatre and piano clubs.

Towards the end of the pandemic in 2023 things were getting back to normal.  I was back to booking gigs at small Berlin bars and I was also booked to play in several  A&O Hostels Hotels locations around Berlin.  

So why title this blog post “Living, Loving and Leaving Berlin”? Well…at the end of 2024 the decision was made to leave Berlin.  We decided to leave Berlin for personal, family and creative reasons (I have posted about this on my personal & artist facebook pages).   The decision to relocate back to Canada wasn’t easy and came with heavy hearts.  

Last A+O gig with Moved Johnson

In January 2025 we packed our apartment in Berlin into a 20 foot container,  played a couple of farewell gigs and said; “We’ll be back” to all of our friends (to be honest our friends are more like family) and on January 29th we boarded a plane in Frankfurt heading back to Canada.

Where have we relocated to? We have decided to move to Nova Scotia.  

So Long to our fav pub in Berlin

Why Nova Scotia?  We have family here. Plus, I grew up in Winnipeg, lived in Vancouver for 14 years and I have always wanted to live in the Maritimes.  I have always seen Canada’s east coast as a creatively inspirational place and I think this will be a great place to foster a new chapter in this creative story. 

I will always love Berlin.  It will always be a part of me and I will always treasure the life we had there.  I will never say ”auf wiedersehen” to Germany…It’s more like that great quote by Arnold Schwarzenegger;  “I’ll be back.”.

Cheers!

TCT