Soul: "At my home it’s handball that rules"

Ole Soul is an established singer and songwriter who rose to fame for his performances in the German talent show "The Voice of Germany". Soul reached the semi-finals of the competition and his career has received a massive boost as a result. He has been touring around Germany since and is well used to performing at large venues like the LANXESS arena. The singer with a family name Feddersen spoke to ehfCL.com about his career, his handball upbringing and his views on music and sport.

ehfCL.com: You have previously said that football is not your sport. Are you a handball fan?

Ole Soul: I am from Hamburg where you are either from a football or a handball family. At my home it’s handball that rules! My father was a handball player and still coaches. I also played back when I was a kid, just like the rest of the family.

ehfCL.com: Which position did you play?

Ole Soul: I’m not too sure anymore. I think I was a line player, I was given a rough time on the court so I must have been a line player.

ehfCL.com: Northern Germany is the home of great handball at a European level. Do you cheer for any team in particular?

Ole Soul: HSV Hamburg, of course. I’ve been following them since they arrived in the Bundesliga. They are my no.1 team. For two entire seasons I went to the arena for every home match.

ehfCL.com: Who is your favourite player?

Ole Soul: My favourite player is Stefan Kretzschmar, even though he had no association with Hamburg. I personally like him a lot. We got to know each other outside of handball and we had a really cool chat. From the HSV players, I found Kyung-Shin Yoon, the goal-scoring king, very impressive, also the Gille brothers.

ehfCL.com: Since talent shows have become popular, singing has become more and more related to competition. You were among the best eight participants in the “Voice of Germany” and reached the semi-finals. Are you a competitive person?

Ole Soul: For me, music is a unifying medium. Going up against each other doesn’t happen in music, or at least not as much as in sport, where you have teams competing against each other. In music it is difficult to comprehend. Whoever wins depends on people’s tastes. There are always people who are better, but the difference is how it is valued by others. My notion of music is something that people create with one another.

ehfCL.com: Since the competition, you have been mixing with the big names in German music and you were touring with German rock-legend Udo Lindenberg. How did that come about?

Ole Soul: Well, my old producer is now Udo’s new producer and my girlfriend (Nathalie Dorra) has been part of Udo’s team for a long time. When they were looking for a male voice, one thing led to another and now I am also part of the team. We had many performances and played the LANXESS arena three times as part of the tour.

ehfCL.com: Saturday, 1 June marks the beginning of the most important club handball event in Europe in the LANXESS arena. You yourself have experience of a semi-final from the “Voice of Germany”. What similarities would you give to singing and sport?

Ole Soul: You can see singing in a sporting context. There are days when things do not go to plan, but you cannot simply throw in the towel right away, these situations apply to athletes too. However, I see the parallels in a different way. A musician very much like every professional athlete does what he loves doing. Despite all of the hard efforts that are necessary, he should keep smiling and with everything he does work on making his dream come true.

ehfCL.com: The VELUX EHF FINAL4 winners’ trophy is the most coveted prize for every European club. Is there something similar in music that you would like to win?

Ole Soul: I find that winning a trophy in sport is somewhat different to being awarded a prize in music. Nevertheless, as a musician, I would like to have a Grammy at home (he says laughing). First and foremost, one should always make music because of a love for it and the same should be said about professional athletes.