I am a musician, and I don’t mean this just as a simple job description. Music is what motivates and excites me; it influences every aspect of my life.
Music accompanies me through the best and worst times. For example, when I was just 13 years old my father died. I was obviously shattered. Music gave me something to focus on and overcome this unbearably pain.
It was also my love for American music that drove me away from my home country Germany to find a new home in Chicago (read more about why I moved to Chicago).
Bottom line: Music is such an important aspect of my life that if you asked me, “Who Are You?”, I might very well answer you first with “I am a musician”, before telling you anything else about me.