In the mid-90s, bands like Talking Heads, Nirvana and the legendary Wu-Tang Clan were all the rage. Punk and grunge ruled, the hip-hop and techno wave really took off and experimental bands such as Portishead, Faithless and The Prodigy broke new musical ground. The band Keimzeit didn't care about any of this and surprised everyone in 1995 with the album "Primeln & Elefanten", which defied the spirit of the times with a more natural instrumental sound from the 70s and 80s. It just happened, without any real intention. The band swam with verve and love against the powerful current of the punk and electronic sound thunderstorm that was currently in vogue.
"Primeln & Elefanten" - Keimzeit's fourth album - was recorded in 1994 and released on April 18, 1995. The band will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the album with an extensive tour in 2025. 16 songs were recorded, 14 of them in the Audioton Studio in Berlin, the songs "Windstill" and "Schone nicht meine Nerven" in another studio in Lütte. The album was produced by Michael Beckmann. "Working on the album was a paradise for us," recalls Norbert Leisegang. "Everything was allowed, nobody talked the band into it." Every creative idea was pursued and acted out. The band perfected their mix of styles into a consistently coherent reflection of affection and partnership. The lyrics are sharply observed, true to life and playful in tone, which is further emphasized by the musical mix of blues and chanson, jazz and folk, as well as waltz and Latin American elements. Many fans of the band still regard this album as a masterpiece for this very reason. Frontman Norbert Leisegang retrospectively and quite whimsically described the group's style from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s as "muesli pop" or "characterized by a hippie feeling". "Primeln & Elefanten" illustrates quite well what he means by this. The songs are catchy and catchy, infectious and fun. Experiments with South American rhythms from the previous album "Bunte Scherben" are continued in the title track "Primeln & Elefanten", but bluesy and rocky sounds also come into their own, for example in songs like "Verlorengegangen". Waltz and klezmer sounds are definitely out of the ordinary, as in "Schone nicht meine Nerven" and the cryptic "Die Achse". With the instrumental piece "Lisa", saxophonist Ralf Benschu contributed a rather rare instrumental piece for Keimzeit. There are a lot of weird stories surrounding the album. Leisegang remembers: "One topic that was certainly the subject of heated discussion for the record company was the video shoot for the song "Windstill" with DORO, which was certainly the most expensive video company at the time. A company that almost guaranteed playlists on VIVA and MTV. Unfortunately, almost the whole band was on vacation at the time of the shoot, so Ralf Benschu and I went to the shoot alone after a long back and forth. The mood at the record company was in the basement and the atmospheric video shot on the Baltic Sea beach didn't win the expected playlists afterwards either." The band, on the other hand, took it all in their stride.
It wasn't important ... This wonderful "easy-living feeling" will now also characterize the live program of the "Primroses & Elephants" tour 2025. Songs such as the enigmatic "Windstill", "Donauangler", "Näher mein Herz", "Primeln & Elefanten", "Mit dem Regen" and "Gott will" - all favorites of Keimzeit fans - will be celebrated in the program. There will also be other well-known songs by the band that match the aforementioned titles in character and style. The result is a concert that will certainly not only have die-hard Keimzeit fans clicking their tongues. "Primeln & Elefanten" is full of diverse and playful songs that were definitely groundbreaking for the band. It contains plenty of songs that have shaped and continue to shape the German rock and singer-songwriter scene.