FFor Michael Hirsch, this road leads directly from the stage to the car dealership.A 45-year-old man from Bergisch Gladbach braided his long hair, behind his glasses, he was looking at a small, dark person Fiat 500 electric version. “They have left nothing now,” he said in a broad Rhine dialect, which is not obvious in a humble industrial area on the outskirts of Jülich in North Rhine-Westphalia.
In the music world of Cologne, the singer of a well-known band at the carnival is only called “Micha”. For customers at the Milz & Lindemann car dealership, he is “Mr. Hirsch”. A point of contact for business customers who wish to update their fleet. When his colleagues were away, he made suggestions for private clients, and his frank attitude quickly broke the silence in the exhibition hall. “I have to have a feeling that I’m doing the right thing,” said a well-trained communications electronics technician, which is currently between all the cramped Fiats and the bulky Jeep.
Activity industry idle
This is his first job in a car dealership and his first long-term job in a long time. In the past few years, Hirsch made a living as a professional singer-until the pandemic shattered his personal business ideas and shattered other musical dreams, at least for now. “I just don’t know if I can make a living from it again,” he said with a shrug. “I am an artist with a soul.”
The corona crisis hit these free artists particularly severely. For 13 years, Hirsch has been the lead singer of the Cologne band Hanak. His “Haifischzahn” is the national anthem of the ice hockey club Cologne Shark Write. A local music master also brought a sense of movement to the long dusty carnival music. But the carnival is idle, as is currently the case for almost the entire event industry. It was that drop that caused the bucket to overflow. As he said, this “financially and emotionally exhausted” band was put on hold.
Abdominal pain caused by the second corona wave
In addition, Hirsch has lived as a wedding singer for about 16 years, interpreting Backstreet Boys or Guns and Roses according to the preferences of the bride and groom. He also served as the wedding spokesperson for five years; the cost of his participation in the ceremony was 1,150 euros, including the initial meeting. He said that he is a relaxed speaker, “articulate”, depending on whether he is currently booking in Bergheim or Ruhr, depending on whether he speaks Kölsch or High German.in front Corona He is scheduled for about 40 weekends a year, plus band performances. Hirsch said that he did not become rich because of this, but he lived a good life, just like in a “completely normal job.” The pressure of the lone soldier affected his health, and he had to recover from meningitis. Artificial hip joints are also unusual at his age. But he was very happy, Hirsch said. Until his order collapsed in the Corona Year.
In the fall of 2020, the second wave of corona swept across the country after a relaxing, perhaps too relaxing summer, when Hirsch realized that the pandemic was not over yet. “My stomach hurts,” he recalled. A few months ago, his third child was born. The cost of living is slowly depleting his savings, and the loan he lent for the band must be paid off. To make matters worse, due to the fine-tuning of the figures, the government assistance in November did not reach his account, which only happened in May 2021. “This is crazy,” he said. At first he felt that “believe in God and believe in yourself”, but then he suddenly understood: “This situation can make you leave your life.”
