Biography
Michael Herberger was born on December 25th, 1971 in Mannheim, Germany. He started his musical education and classical piano lessons at the age of 4. During his junior years, he was a member of the school choir, the keyboard player of a Jazz band, and part of the theatre group.
From the late 80's to the mid 90's, he played keyboards for different Jazz, German Rock, and Funk/Soul cover bands. During the other half of the 90's, he was the Musical Director for several shows: “Memories of Broadway”, “Musical Dreams”, “The Musical Project” that he created, and “Jungle Book” who he was also enlisted as co-composer. 1998 and 1999 also saw its first major releases: “Führ mich ans Licht” and “Bis an die Sterne” (Xavier Naidoo/3p).
In 2000, he was deeply involved in the production and co-composition of the Söhne Mannheims (Sons of Mannheim) album “Zion” (Top 5, gold). He also started the “Naidoo-Herberger Production” company the same year. From 2001 and for two years on, he produced and co-composed Xavier Naidoo's double album “Zwischenspiel/Alles für den HERRN” (Interlude/All for the Lord) (number 1, 5 times platinum).
He was nominated in 2003 for the German music award “Echo” as best producer. He won two “Echo” awards: best international single “Ich kenne nichts” in 2004 and best national band “Söhne Mannheims” in 2005. He also won two Komet awards: “Best Album” and “most successful title in the section download (Söhne Mannheims)” in 2005.
The planning and building of the new Naidoo-Herberger studio complex began in 2004. From 2005 and on, he was producer and co-composer on several projects: the second “Zeichen der Zeit” album, some songs on the new Xavier Naidoo album “Telegramm für X (Telegram for X)”, the world cup song “Danke”, Yvonne Betz's album “Wunderbar” as well as the debut album of Daniel Stoyanov.
A Few Words with Michael Herberger
Maybe you could start by telling us a bit about your background, how did you get into making music?
I started at the age of 4 followed by 15 years of classical piano lessons. At 25, I had my first job as a musical director for a local musical group. After I had gained some experience, I started my own musical/gala orchestra/band. It's during this period that I met my production partner, Xavier Naidoo. We started to write songs together and I contributed a track (Führ mich ans Licht) as co-producer on his debut album. Meanwhile, we started the Naidoo-Herberger Produktion company together which now includes 8 studios.
What projects have you been working on recently?
My last big project was the second album of "Söhne Mannheims" (Sons of Mannheim). Because I'm one of the keyboard player and musical director in the band, I was pretty much busy with that project for one and a half year. I've also been working on Xavier's third album, together with two other producers of our studio complex, which has been released at the end of last year.
How do you see your role as a producer?
Since I'm not only acting as a producer but also as a co-writer, every song is like my own child. Therefore, I want to be part of nearly every aspect of the working process. This also includes marketing and promotion, which is usually not very funny for a musician.
Which tools do you use to create your music?
Over the years I collected a considerable amount of keyboards, which I nearly all banned out of my studio. Why should I have a Rhodes in my studio when I have Lounge Lizard? To work with virtual instruments has significant advantages, "total recall" and excellent sound quality for instance. I don't need to leave the digital domain anymore. I used to be too lazy to do MIDI-dumps. Therefore, I had to adjust every keyboard sound myself every time, respectively I had to retrieve saved presets. I'm glad that these days I'm able to open most of the virtual instruments directly in my Cubase song with only the need to start GigaSampler for the Vienna Symphonic Library in addition. Nevertheless, whenever it's possible, I try to replace as many of my digitally outlined instruments for real ones—may it be bass, guitar, or drums—if the style, orchestra, and budget allows it.
Finally, what's coming up next for you?
I'm currently working with a very promising young artist that we just signed. His debut album will probably be released by the end of this year. We are also in the preparation process for the second album of one of our projects called "Zeichen der Zeit" (Sign of our Time). This project brings together several well-known German speaking artists with a clear Christian message.
Thanks Michael!
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