A chat with keyboardist Carsten Brocker
 

After the concert in Wroclaw, we had the opportunity to meet Alphaville’s new keyboardist, Carsten Brocker. A laid-back and happy chap, he kindly made time for a chat with us.

Carsten has listened to Alphaville since a young age. Through the years, he has played the keyboards in several different bands, but this is the first time that he is in a band as big as Alphaville. He finds it easy to learn to play new songs quickly, so he had no problem joining the band on stage at short notice.

Carsten first came into contact with Alphaville through Jakob Kiersch in 2009, when they still played in different bands. Jakob later introduced Carsten to Marian Gold during a flight that all three happened to be on. Marian then contacted Carsten in 2012 when Martin Lister was unable to do a gig in Romania, and asked him to stand in for Martin on stage. Carsten has in fact never met Martin and feels that replacing him as a permanent band member might be quite a hard task. He really hopes that he will be accepted by the fans.

His first Alphaville concert as a permanent member was performed in freezing Alta on the 14th of June this year in the far north of Norway. He had never before been north of the Arctc circle and says that he was surprised by the effect of the midnight sun.

Carsten was born on the 8th of August in 1977. He lives in Kassel, Germany. In November this year, he will be a first time father. We asked him about the upcoming South American tour in October, and he replied that he and his girlfriend do not see a problem with it as long as he is back in time for the birth of his child. Carsten has also been working on a PhD about Kraftwerk for some time and hopes to finish it before November. He has never met any Kraftwerk member in person, and fears that he never will, should they happen to read his PhD! Despite being a huge football fan and a supporter of Bayern München, he used to play handball in his youth. Carsten is also interested in the arts, and his girlfriend is involved professionally with art.

Naturally, we have already accepted Carsten as the new band member, and we did our best to make him feel welcome and comfortable within the fan community. In fact, we’re totally grateful for his participation in the Wroclaw gig and all the upcoming ones. Our hopes are that everybody else feels the same way and we wish him all the best for the future.

Andrea Ruby & Andreas

Thanks, Andrea and Andreas, for this nice introduction! [smile]

Right now this must be a really hard job for Carsten, but why shouldn't we accept him? If it wasn't for a new keyboarder the band couldn't play on.
It's not his fault that Martin passed away - as miserable as it still makes us fans. [sad]

I agree with you, Ana.

If the band accept Carsten, it means he is talented. And that's enough for me.

Even if we all miss Martin, Carsten is welcome.

Thanks to Andrea and Andreas!

As Mumu said, if the band accepted him, he is talented.

Welcome Carsten and congratulations to you and your wife.

Great...we all will meet him in Paris.

Like a big family

I am glad AV found someone. This is a huge change for all fans and AV, but in the end, things do work out. Martin will always be missed and I know his spirit will live on. Welcome Carsten!

I'm looking forward to hearing him live in Paris. Welcoming Carsten does not mean in any way that I don't miss Martin. I will always miss Martin at concerts and listening to Alphaville but I'm glad someone new has joined.

Me too. Martin will always be with us and Carsten is welcomed to the family.

See you in Brazil, Carsten !!!!!

Thank you Andrea and Andreas and we will miss Martin of course but thankfully the show can go on Welcome to AV, Carsten�� I hope Alphaville do live Forever ! ❤️❤️❤️