Musician
DJ Ötzi – autobiography tells of a stony ascent
Gerry Friedle aka DJ Ötzi. Photo: Matthias Röder / dpa
© dpa-infocom GmbH
In his autobiography and on his new album, DJ Ötzi writes and sings about his difficult career. Sick, lonely, despised as a child – a star today. His heroes: Elvis, Winnetou and Jesus.
He’s partying for thousands of people, but he almost never goes out himself. “I try to keep my energy with myself,” says Gerry Friedle, aka DJ Ötzi. “I also don’t drink alcohol,” said the 50-year-old Austrian in an interview with the German Press Agency in Vienna.
The abstinence is probably also a long-term consequence of his serious illnesses in childhood, when he suffered from frequent epileptic seizures up to the age of twelve. In his autobiography, “Lifestyle”, published on Tuesday, the trained chef describes how the school principal grumbled at him when he had a seizure that he shouldn’t disrupt class and play the break clown. “They avoided me, they avoided me, the madman.”
A childhood in Tyrol, shaped by growing up first with foster parents and then with grandparents. In the case of DJ Ötzi (“Anton aus Tirol”, “A star that bears your name”), the path to Austria’s most successful music export since Falco was indeed rocky.
Love for a woman ended in debt and homelessness. Friedle slept outdoors and literally went begging. To find a new love, he ventured onto a karaoke stage – and discovered his talent to the applause of the audience. He became Austria’s most famous DJ – and finally he made his breakthrough with «Anton».
Music was his salvation, even as a child. “I used my tape recorder to sound out the neighborhood from the balcony in the backyard,” recalls Friedle. The balcony and the role as a DJ were like a kind of retreat in all his hardship as a child.
Then as now, he draws strength from music. “I listen to music day and night and deal with the feelings it triggers,” says Friedle, whom his wife Sonja calls a “living Wurlitzer”, referring to the jukebox. His interpretations of already published songs are much more than just singing and playing. “You will be staged in a completely new way.”
His new album “Be you yourself” is very personal. “It was time to open up,” says Friedle. The songs tell, among other things, of the difficult father-son relationship or the loneliness as a child. “I put the cards on the table with the album and the book.” The reader also learns that Friedle, who previously smoked 90 cigarettes a day, has been a non-smoker for a few months. “I did it thanks to hypnosis and an open attitude towards it.”
Clarity and openness are important to him right now. “I feel lighter than ever” – even if that is not related to weight. “But I don’t really need the belly as armor any more.”
With his mother, who gave him foster parents when she was 17 at the time, he wants to come to terms with his father, who has already died. He himself, who has been in a tunnel because of his daily appearances, has a lot to catch up on. “Not in the sense of amusement, but I want to work on myself.” He is led by an original trio: “Elvis, Winnetou and Jesus are my heroes.”