WudYa

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to write an Oktoberfest song? Here's how WudYa did it

Why did you decide to write an Oktoberfest-themed song?

I'd been a regular Oktoberfest visitor since 1997 (this year will be my 20th year straight) and realised that no one had ever written a song dedicated to the Wiesn, in English at least. In 2010 I started a new job and my colleague was a musician who also had his own studio, so after talking with him he persuaded me to pen a song, so I did and on the back of that we formed WudYa.

What kind of experiences and things from the Wiesn did you want to capture in the songs?
I tried to remember how I felt the first time I entered a tent full with 10000 party goers, all the fun they were having, singing, dancing, flirting with one another. It's the biggest party on the planet so I wanted to write an upbeat song with an easy to remember chorus for non-native English speakers.

Why are you such a fan of of the Oktoberfest that you've been going back so long?
I think ulitmately it is because it just works. There are 6 million people from all over the world who come to enjoy themselves, make new friends, party and have a good time. There's something for everyone and every year is as good as the last!

How did you make the songs? Who played what? Did they take very long to write?
I wrote the lyrics, Marcus did the score and together we worked in his studio to tweak the songs. My part was relatively small, it took me about an hour to write each song and maybe a few more to tweak them. Marcus is meticulous in producing the songs and took days to get the perfect sounds for each song.

What are your other favourite Oktoberfest songs?
Being able to speak German I have a love for the typcial classics - Furstenfeld, Ich war noch niemals in New York and Marmor, Stein und Eisen bricht, Fliegerlied and Skandal in Sperrbezirk are all high on my list, but I love hearing Country Roads, Summer of 69, Angels and Amarillo just as much!

What was the idea behind the song Kiss Me?
I wanted to wrote a sort of duet, like You're the One That I Want, where a guy and a girl sing it together as well as to one another. My aim was to write a song in English (for the guy) and Bavarian (for the girl). to help a guy at the Wiesn talk to and flirt with a girl he liked.
After I'd written the first two verses and chorus of Kiss Me, what I got back from Marcus in terms of the score was so amazing I decided to leave out the Bavarian part. Storybehind the song is that a native english speaker goes to the Wiesn for the first time (in tracht) and is totally blown away by the masses and then across the tent sees the perfect Bavarian Mädel.
He goes to dance next to her, tries to flirt with her, but she rebuffs his advances (even though she likes him) because she thinks he will only be here toady, gone tomorrow. He senses she is attracted to him, so won't give up. Kiss Me Video background: Was filmed in Marcus' back garden with real HB Oktoberfest bier and my real life girlfriend is the one rejecting my advances the whole time! Was a fun day of filming.

Sharing is caring

Tell someone about this page:
Or follow us on Facebook: