[Rudolf Wagner]

Hi Tim,

That was a cute clock indeed and it makes sense that it came from a place as charming as the Black Forest. Personally, we’ve never been there but we’ve had our fair share of Black Forest cake so maybe that counts a little? 😉

We have no plans to tour in the foreseeable future but a gig in Bavaria would be great one day!

We never owned a cuckoo clock but a family member used to have one, and as kids we were obsessed with it and the little bird that would greet us every hour.

The fact that it’s been around for hundreds of years is a testament of the playful side of humanity, isn’t it? 🙂

[Rudolf Wagner]

Thanks, Jerry! She appreciates the birthday love 🙂
We booked her and dad a short trip to Scotland to enjoy the outdoors there and also got her some surprises and gifts for the journey. I think they really got to relax and recharge a bit which was long overdue! Thanks for thinking of her!

[Rudolf Wagner]

Hi Jeff,

Unfortunately, we sold the van quite a few years before we got our licence so we never had a chance to drive it. It didn’t have power steering so it would have probably taken us quite some time to get used to driving it!

“Magic Bus” would have been a great nickname for it but we always just used the german pronunciation of “Camping Bus”. It makes me feel all warm and nostalgic just thinking about it – so many childhood memories are connected to that van.

I just looked on Google Maps Street View to see if it was still parked in front of the new owner’s store but it seems like they moved. That’s a shame!

[Rudolf Wagner]

Hi Tim!

It’s a bit like the differences between the US and the UK. Or between the UK and Ireland or Scotland. We speak the same language (German) and have similar cultures but our accents are quite different and we have our own little quirks.

95% of our vocabulary is the same but occasionally we use different words for the same things and have our own sayings, dialects, etc.

There might be a good amount of good-hearted rivalry between the two countries but at the end of the day we’re more alike than not 😉

[Rudolf Wagner]

Hi Walt!

The wooden board on the floor is called a stomp box, mine is a “Wazinator Classic” one. They are great for adding a little bit of percussive bass to a song and basically just amplify my foot tapping. 🙂 I find myself using it for most Duo Sessions!

The guitar and bass in “Sound Of Silence” are just mic’d up, no amps. The Vox amps in the background might be misleading but we didn’t use them for this particular recording. 🙂

Thanks for the Q!

[Rudolf Wagner]

Hi Bill, hi Maddie!

We took some tennis lessons for a very short time when we were in primary school but quickly stopped that in order to pick up horseback riding instead which we pursued for many years up until our early teens.

Other than that we never officially joined any sports team in school but we’ve been skiing since we were 3 years old and are alright at ice skating. We also loved playing football (soccer) in primary school with our classmates but haven’t played much since.

Our dad also taught us to roller skate as kids and we spent a good chunk of every summer holiday on bikes.

Our parents made sure we had the chance to try a bit of everything growing up and to this day we are very thankful for that.

In the end, our interest for music stuck around while sports came and went but in more recent years we’ve started to pick up tennis again (we’re still pretty bad), tried bouldering, do some yoga, and of course (trail) running and strength training. It’s a nice balance to recording and songwriting!

We think it’s great that Maddie picked up softball and it’s likely beneficial for every child to do some sports (and music 🙂 ) growing up! Best of luck to her, we hope she’ll continue to enjoy it 🙂

[Rudolf Wagner]

Aw, thanks, Dale!

Our birthday was wonderful – filled with lots of food, presents and quality time.
We love that quote and try to live by it as best as we can. I feel like with each passing year we are more aware of how quick a day can go by and with it the opportunities for new experiences. Time is precious.

We don’t really have many traditions when it comes to birthdays, other than that we get to choose exactly what kind of food we’re having haha. We went for sushi this year and ever since moving to the UK our “birthday cake” has turned into sticky toffee pudding 🙂

Thanks again for the kind message!

[Rudolf Wagner]

Haha, I’ve never thought about that! That was definitely more of an instinctive decision, nothing we ever consciously discussed or “decided”.

It’s there in the original recording as well but it’s buried in the mix quite deeply.

We think it fits the Latin touch of the song and just seemed like a fun addition 🙂

[Rudolf Wagner]

Hi Rick!

There are some great female musicians out there! Viola Smith is the first female drummer that comes to mind! Especially for the times it was so cool to see a lady like her behind the kit. If you’ve never heard of her, check her out, she’s quite something.

Besides her I’d say Karen Carpenter (The Carpenters) and Moe Tucker (Velvet Underground) are both very interesting to look up and study. If perhaps not a direct inspiration for our own music they are definitely inspiring and I always love seeing other women on the drums.

✌

[Rudolf Wagner]

Hi Bill,

“Haven’t Got Time For The Pain” is a lovely song but we haven’t really considered covering any of her music before. We have to admit, we are not overly familiar with much of her music besides the obvious hits so it just never crossed our mind.

Our list of potential cover songs is a mile long at this point but we appreciate the suggestion 🙂

Have a great day!

[Rudolf Wagner]

Hi John,

Thanks for the birthday wishes!

You’re probably right that the “performer” these days gets much more credit and attention in popular music than the writers. In fact, I feel like music itself has almost become a secondary thing altogether and it’s much more about everything else surrounding many of today’s “stars” rather than the music itself. Maybe I’m being cynical but I think you’re very right when you said that the craft of songwriting was much more appreciated and focused on a few decades ago.

But to get to your question – personally, I think that the “talent” that has come in most handy for me throughout the years has been the willingness (ability?) to learn new things, adapt and grow with different challenges. Much of the “talent” part you see in videos and on record is grinding work and came over time and through determination, but the initial interest has always come very natural to me which I think would classify as a natural talent.

I guess creativity comes along with that naturally. We’ve found a way to channel our enthusiastic scatterbrains into a coherent project called MonaLisa Twins, not without the help of an incredibly supportive, hardworking and equally “talented” family 🙂

I hope that answers the question in a somewhat satisfactory way!

Have a great week!
Mona

[Rudolf Wagner]

Haha, thank you so much! We promise we’ll take your advice to heart, except maybe the sabbatical part … that next album won’t finish itself 😉

Honestly, we appreciate it and send all the best back across the pond!

[Rudolf Wagner]

Thanks, Doug and sorry that we didn’t reply sooner. We had a delightful birthday 🙂

[Rudolf Wagner]

Hi David,

That’s something we would consider on a case to case basis. It would totally depend on how it’s set up, with whom, where, when, for how long etc. so we can’t give a general answer. ✌️

[Rudolf Wagner]

Haha! Normally we’d say it’s a bit early for us to start thinking about our Christmas video already but since we’re having some pretty nice weather here, maybe we’ll bring our camera and Santa hats to next week’s grill party. ????