Sven Regener, Musician and Novelist

He made a name for himself as the front man of the Berlin-based band "Element of Crime", before he conquered the charts with his best-seller "Berlin Blues". On Talking Germany, he tells us about his carrier and his new book, where we get a new look at an old friend.

With his latest novel, Sven Regener expands the universe of his "Berlin Blues" trilogy with a fourth novel. But this time it's Mr. Lehmann's best friend, the sculpture artist Karl Schmidt, who takes top billing. After his detox and a stay in a mental institution, Karl Schmidt escorts a group of drugged-out techno-DJs on a club tour of Germany in the mid 90's. Sven Regener describes himself as "a writing Rock musician". He was born in Bremen but moved to West Berlin in 1982 as the city was still divided by the Berlin Wall. Just like today, Berlin in the early 80's was attracting young people from all over Germany and the world; musicians, artists and dropouts all found a home in Berlin's rundown streets. Sven Regener embraced the city's unique subculture. Sven plays both trumpet and guitar but he decided to abandon his degree in music to concentrate on playing. He co-founded the band "Elements of Crime" in 1985 but it took another 6 years for them to break onto the national scene.

His experience in Berlin's bar scene and the Zeitgeist of the era inspired his debut novel "Berlin Blues" which was quickly turned into a successful movie. But despite his literary success, the 53 year old author hasn't forgotten his musical roots and still performs with his band. They've released 14 albums and their last 2 albums went gold. (First broadcast on 13 January 2014)