• Name: Michael Boden
• Plays: (E-)guitar, vocals, hurdy gurdy; writes most lyrics
• Born: 06.11.1969 in Potsdam

My name is Micheal Boden. I was born at 12:03 pm on a Saturday in November 1965 in Potsdam. Until my parents got divorced I lived near a beautiful lake in Potsdam, where nowadays the rich people of Germany have their mansions. I was five when my mother and I moved to a district of Potsdam which is called Bornstedt and has a rather pastoral flavor. We lived in an official apartment at the school where she worked as a teacher. So when I started going to school in 1972, I had the shortest way of all students. I stayed in the Karl-Foerster-School up until 8th grade. During these eight years I had swim training twice a week as a swimmer for DTSB (Deutscher Turn- und Sportbund -> sports institution of the DDR). After 8th grade I was delegated to the "Erweiterte Oberschule 1" (advanced high school 1). About this time I started playing the guitar. My father, who was a drummer in an amateur band, gave me my first instrument.

I founded my first band with a class mate, with whom I still make music. Our first unnamed band didn't last for long though. We played too poorly back then. I took guitar lessons with several different teachers and in 1985 passed the exam for guitar at the music school in Potsdam.

I got the Abitur (diploma from German secondary school qualifying for university admission or matriculation) in 1984. I was particularly bad in Russian. I didn't have a place at a university yet I went to the DEFA (the biggest film studio in Potsdam) and worked there as a production manager for two years. My first movie was "Der Haifischfütterer" (the shark feeder) - a rightfully forgotten work of east German movie history! I also worked on "Ernst Thälmann" (a communist politician), "Der Schwur von Rabenhorst" (the oath of Rabenhorst) and "Altes Herz geht auf die Reise" (old heart goes travelling). Except for the last mentioned movie, I had a small role in all of these. That way I could get some extra money on top of my meager salary. Unfortunately my hope of being delegated to study film making at a university did not get fulfilled. This chapter of my life ended when I was enlisted to join the NVA (Nationale Volksarmee -> national army of the DDR).

From autumn 1986 until spring 1988 I was stationed near Potsdam and spent a lot of time in a singer corps, which sang battle songs for the soldiers during the day and in the evenings played dance music for the officers.

After that time I started working as a cultural political worker, today that would be called event manager. I had admission for a university and should begin studying in 1990, but with the German reunification that university degree vanished. My work was now a public service job for the city of Potsdam.

End of 1991 I gathered my papers and applied at the newly founded university in Potsdam. Until 1996 I studied German language and literature studies and sociology.

What was more important to my life was the fact that I was still making music with friends I met back at school. 1990 we started working on a project called Subway to Sally. From 1992 we regularly toured with said band. We recorded the first record in 1993. We had more and more gigs and in 1996 our third album was released by a major label. We turned our passion to our profession. We had numerous performances in the years following 1996. Until now the band has released eight studio albums. I've been writing German lyrics for Subway to Sally starting in 1995.

In 2000 and 2001 I composed music for the Hans-Otto-Theater in Potsdam. I made appearances on stage in "Clockwork Orange" and "Disco Pigs", directed by Alexander Hawemann.

In spring 2004 I was one of ten lyricists who were chosen out of hundreds of applicants to take part in a sponsored workshop of the GEMA in Celle.

In 2005 I founded the Michael Boden Verlag (Verlag -> publishing company) to publish my first book of poems.
Last Updated ( Thursday, 12 April 2007 )