Personal Trainer

Ken Taylor on how music helps to connect people

Ken Taylor: You have the opportunity to travel internationally with your band. How did you get involved in the music business, Manuela?

Manuela Schuette: My mum played the guitar, and there was always positive, joyful music in the Lutheran church we went to.

Taylor: But you didn’t study music after you left school.

Schuette: No. Influenced by my workingclass, Lutheran background, I felt I had to get a “proper” job. So, I trained to be an occupational therapist. But music was really my first love. I studied the guitar and took singing lessons in my spare time.

Taylor: Why did you come to the UK? Schuette: I wanted to broaden my experience, and because I could speak reasonable English, the UK seemed to be the obvious choice. And after working for several years, I came to a crossroads. I gave up my job and started studying classical music at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama before going on to study performance at Goldsmith’s College in London.

Taylor: That must have felt like a risky thing to do. The competition in the music world is incredibly fierce.

Schuette: But I knew I had to take that risk. I didn’t want to continue my life on autopilot. For me, music expresses those feelings I have about life, the things I stand for — freedom, love, bringing people together.

Taylor: Maybe through music, you can express ideas that would be rejected by your listeners if they were spoken by a politician, for example.

Schuette: I think that’s true. Music is a unique shared experience and gives us the sense that, beyond just logic, we are all deeply connected.

Taylor: We are not very good at listening to opinions that differ from our own. Usually, we simply wait for a pause that allows us to say what we think without really listening to what the other person is saying.

Schuette: It’s all to do with empathy and listening for what a person is really about. We constantly listen through a filter, which is actively searching for confirmation of our preconceived ideas and restricts communication to a certain “safe” level. As a performer, you look to build empathy with your audience and create a space for openness.

Taylor: I agree. When you are building any relationship, empathy is key. It requires openness towards and understanding of the other person’s situation. On another topic, do you feel more German or British now that you’ve been here in Britain for so long? Schuette: I’m happy to be both, or either, but perhaps because of history, I think many Germans of my age see themselves as part of a broader European cultural space. The great advantage of being a musician is that you travel. You see other cultures. You meet different people. And you begin to realize that the stereotypes you had in your mind are nonsense, and that we can learn so much from each other.

Taylor: Indeed. I worked outside the UK for about 20 years before returning. It gives you a distance to your own culture. It allows you to see that people everywhere have more things in common than they have things that set them apart. Schuette: Perhaps that’s why most of my British musician friends are very much anti-brexit. They believe in uniting people rather than separating them.

Taylor: As do I. I wish we could have had a more rational discussion of Brexit before the referendum. The Republic of Ireland ran two very divisive referenda — on abortion and gay marriage. Before each of the votes, a “Citizens’ Assembly” was set up. Ninety-nine people were chosen based on class, gender, age, religion and region. They were given factual information on which to base their recommendations about the legislation to be voted on. This broke the deadlock on two very contentious issues.

Schuette: That would have been a better process for Brexit, in my opinion. But the Brexit referendum showed how important emotions and feelings are in decisionmaking — which is why I think music can provide a common language where words fail.

Taylor: Maybe we need a Citizens’ Assembly in the aftermath of Brexit to recommend a conflict resolution process after listening to inputs from experts. It’s about making the conflict resolution the priority rather than proving who is “right”. It’s about being prepared to listen and being prepared to forgive. It’s about building a culture of tolerance.

Schuette: The British culture is a tolerant one. It’s also hugely influential. It has a lot to offer the rest of the world. It’s innovative, creative and exciting. Its impact on youth culture everywhere is enormous.

Taylor: Perhaps we have to look to the next generation to help the UK to view itself once again as being an integral part of the European cultural space. Schuette: I love the writings of Stefan Zweig, who believed in internationalism and Europeanism. In his autobiography,

The World of Yesterday, he says, “I was sure in my heart from the first of my identity as a citizen of the world.” I think many young people would agree with him. I know I do.

“Music can provide a common language where words fail”