About this item

Nils experienced an unfortunate accident, which saw him fall from his bunk bed located directly above his studio, which resulted in a broken thumb. But through inspiration from his fans and despite the 4 screws that had just been surgically placed inside his thumb, he started recording with 9 fingers, which later resulted in 9 intimate piano recordings. Nils chose his 30th birthday to offer these recordings as a free download to his fans via screws. durtonstudio.com where they have been freely available since.

IN HIS OWN WORDS: “I am sitting in front of a sheet of paper. My right hand is bending over my left thumb. The first day I got out of my cast I could bend it by 15°. Now I am already at 50° and that makes me happy. Things are going uphill… As you can imagine, it is really bad news for a pianist when he gets diagnosed with a broken thumb. That day I was sitting in the emergency room, feeling rather dizzy while thinking of a zillion shows coming up and all the people involved around it. I realised in that moment how busy things have become. It is hard to turn down interesting projects and opportunities, since I surely love my work. It actually never felt like work. Playing piano and playing it for wonderful people is the greatest joy I can imagine. For a couple of days I felt like this could all be over. How pathetic, but hey – also feeling sorry for yourself has its place somewhere. All of a sudden I had so much time, an unexpected holiday. I cancelled most of my schedule and found myself being a little bored. Even though my doctor told me not to touch a piano for a while, I just couldn’t resist. I started playing a silent song with 5 fingers on my right and the remaining 4 on my left hand. I set up one microphone and recorded another tune every other night before falling asleep. The day I got rid of my cast I had recorded 9 little songs. They have helped me feel less annoyed about my accident and reminded me that I can only achieve something good, when I make the most of what I’ve got.” – NILS FRAHM.

TRACK LISTING