Dream Turin: 21-year-old Eros Atomus would like to represent Germany with his song “Alive” at the ESC final in Italy. the star visited him and his team in the studio.
The passion for music came with a delay, Eros Atomus remembers: “I got my first guitar for Christmas when I was eight years old. I told my father to send it back”. The 21-year-old laughs. “Everyone in my family played the guitar, so I thought: No, I’m not up for it too”. A few years later, at the age of twelve or 13, he suddenly got interested and grabbed his brother’s guitar. “I taught myself that at the beginning and started writing my own songs right away,” remembers Eros Atomus, whose full name is Eros Atomus Isler.
After the late start, the Flensburg musician quickly lined up his musical steps one after the other. At the age of 18 he was in the final of “The Voice of Germany” in 2018, convincing coaches and audiences with his special voice and his lapstyle playing technique, in which the guitar lies on his lap and is also used as a percussion instrument. After the end of “The Voice” came the hard break. “During the show it felt like a hundred people took care of me, after that I was completely on my own again from one day to the next”. Despite this, Eros Atomus continued to work on his music and is now dreaming of the next big step: to represent Germany in the final of the Eurovision Song Contest in Turin on May 14th.
Eros Atomus: with “Alive” in the final selection for the ESC final participation
944 contributions were submitted for the pre-selection, with his song “Alive” the young musician made it into the final selection of the last six. Now it depends on the audience voting on Germany’s act for Turin this year. On March 4th it will be clear who is going to Italy.
A few days before the first big date, the official announcement of the competition entries, Eros Atomus is sitting with Eike Freese and Marcel Zürcher in a control room at the venerable Chameleon Studios in Hamburg. The two co-wrote “Alive” with Eros Atomus. Freese produced the song and also played the guitar, Zürcher took over the drums and bass in the studio. Final arrangements have to be made. Since it became clear that the song was in the preselection, the three “can’t shut the door anymore”, as Zürcher explains with a smile: “Alive” had to be finished and recorded. They also made a video. Everything in no time. Now the track can start the race. A precision landing.
Listen to “Alive” here:
With the duo Freese / Zürcher, Eros Atomus has two experienced musicians at his side. Musically both come from the harder corner. Among other things, Zürcher is the lead guitarist for the successful industrial metal band Die Krupps. Producer and sound engineer Freese worked on productions by Deep Purple, Simple Minds and various other rock and metal bands. Both have been involved in a large number of productions and have been in the music business for decades.
Eros Atomus, Eike Freese and Marcel Zürcher were brought together by publisher Eric Burton in December 2021 to write songs for Eros Atomus. The spark jumped over immediately, as everyone remembers. There would not have been an imbalance, for example because of the age difference. “On the contrary: we all mutually benefit from our very different experiences,” says Freese. It was also Burton who suggested applying for a play for the ESC. Eros Atomus jumped right at it. “The ESC hasn’t always had the best image in recent years, but I still remember well when Lena won back then. I was a child and thought she was great and really wanted to marry her,” he says and laughs.
The chemistry of Marcel Zürcher, Eike Freese and Eros Atomus (from left) was right from the start. They wrote the ESC contribution “Alive” together
© Rösing / star
So they went for it and in the end it said: “Alive”. “I had the idea for the melody one morning in the shower,” recalls Freese. He played the hook line to the other two, Eros Atomus already had a text in mind. Together they worked on the piece one day until it was more or less finished in the can by the end of the day.
“I turned on the track the next day and still thought: awesome”
The Hamburg Chameleon Studios, in which Freese has fixed rooms, offered them the perfect atmosphere for this. The spirit of the 1970s can still be felt in the underground corridors, recording and control rooms. Vinyl records, guitars and one or the other souvenir hang on the walls. Udo Lindenberg recorded albums here, as did Drafi Deutscher and countless other greats. There is no daylight. But this is not a disadvantage, says Zürcher, on the contrary: “The outside world stays outside. Here you can dig into the music without any feeling for space and time until the result is right”.
The decisive aha moment, however, came a day later, says Eros Atomus. “It’s often the case that I write a song that I think is really great one day and the next day I’m like: what the hell is that?”. With “Alive” it was different. “I turned on the track the next day and I still thought: awesome,” he says.
At the age of 21 on one of the biggest stages in Europe?
The song itself is a life-affirming, upbeat, and catchy singer-songwriter anthem. However, Eros Atomus came up with the idea for the text when he was in a rather dark phase: “But then I didn’t want to write any depri songs, but rather something positive that says: Hey, it’s great in this world and alive too be. Now more than ever”. “It’s great to be alive” is the refrain of “Alive”. It turned out that the song with this message also fits into the time of the corona pandemic. What is special about the piece is its authenticity. Unlike in the ESC past, it was not tailor-made for a young singer, but written and composed by the artist himself.
For the production of “Alive”, Eros Atomus commuted back and forth between Flensburg and Hamburg, now he has looked for an apartment in the Hanseatic city for the time being. Because the work is not yet complete: A complete album is to be created. Initially, however, he has his sights firmly set on Turin, together with Eike Freese and Marcel Zürcher.
If he achieves it, he will be on one of the biggest stages in Europe at the age of 21 – not even ten years after picking up the guitar. Not bad for a late starter.
Note: Online voting starts on February 28th. Information about the voting is available below Eurovision.de