A Mallorca hit as a sideline

As his day job, he travels around in order to erect and commission Krones’ machines at sites all over the world. This is an exciting remit, with a whole lot of interesting experiences; being a star on Mallorca is not usually one of them. But nonetheless Daniel Keibert is indeed a star, though this has more to do with what he does in his spare time.

He had already been working in the Neutraubling plant for seven years when he first took a closer look at the Varioline in Rosenheim. And it didn’t stop with a closer look, either, because Daniel Keibert was so impressed with the technology that he immediately chose to stay at the facility in Raubling, where since the end of 2014 he has been training as a member of one of the Varioline Teams and is learning everything he needs to know for working with the Varioline out in the field in future. There’ll be some technological changes, sure, but a fitter’s life, which Daniel Keibert is already used to, is not going to alter very much. And that’s a good thing: he himself says how much he appreciates a job where “the work you do is so diverse that it never becomes a daily grind.”

It was out on an erection site, too, that the foundations were laid some years ago for Daniel’s metamorphosis into a Ballermann star. This was about four years ago, on an erection site in England. He got to talking with one of his colleagues, one thing led to another, and at some point an idea took shape: hey, we could write a song. Quite a few people have probably had this same idea, but in most cases nothing came of it. This is what Daniel and his colleague thought too, which is why although they had written the lyrics, they then abandoned the plan again. But fortunately Daniel’s wife took a hand. She thought it was a good idea, and persuaded her husband to actually create a song.

Daniel Kleibert has in any case always been musical, as his parents and his aunt know only too well. They were right there on the spot when the six-year-old Daniel discovered organ-playing, and insisted on having one – seemingly with so much vehemence that many years later he was actually given his first instrument. Not an organ, admittedly, “merely” a small keyboard, but at least it was a beginning. Only he isn’t really a fan of conventional pop music; dance and hip-hop were more his cup of tea.

So he gave it a try: polished the lyrics, composed a tune, and finally did in fact send off the song to a record company. Not really because he expected an answer, but more “so as to at least have given it a try”. And perhaps also a bit because it would really be brilliant to have your own song on CD. So he was all the more surprised when the very first record company responded – and proposed some singers for Daniel to choose from. He prefers to leave the singing to someone else, you see.

So the single was released, and found its way into the charts: Mallorca Megacharts, Ballermann charts, and so on … and stayed there for a good eight weeks! One year later, with his second single, Daniel was already becoming quite an old hand: with the same record company, this time he even made it into the Top 100 of the official German pop charts.

Nevertheless, he doesn’t want to make writing hits his fulltime job; the “shark-infested waters” of the pop industry are too stressful for his taste: “For me, making music means relaxing, taking your time and having fun. This works best when it remains a hobby.”

And after all the Varioline is not going to erect itself, is it?

Between erection sites, making hits and working in Rosenheim, Daniel has no time to be bored – and so it’s all the more important that he can relax at home with his family. And you can’t help noticing how happy he is when he describes what it’s like “when you come home from the other end of the world, and then drive along the little village street again where you set out on your trip. Then you realise much more clearly how really nice it is here. Home is for me a sort of place where time stands still, or at least seems to pass more slowly.”

Beautifully put, isn’t it? Would almost be worth a hit record. 😉