TENDER GAMES

Tender Games from Berlin is the project of German-Jamaican singer and songwriter Ulrich aka HRRSN.
Although being something of a late bloomer as far as his musical output is concerned and not having had the privilege of being able to attend music school or being born into a family of musicians, he more than made up for this in terms of resourcefulness, creativity and dedication to his art. Young Ulrich developed his passion for music growing up with Soul and Reggae, listening to a lot of Bob Marley and also soaking up a lot of music coming from the UK as well as a fair bit of early US Gangsta Rap. He finally decided he wanted to be a musician rather than just a listener at age 23. Ulrich proceeded to teach himself everything he wanted to learn (which was a lot) mainly via Youtube videos and endless hours of practice, and when he started making his own music two years later he was well on his way to becoming HRRSN, the multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter and producer that he is now at 32.
Apart from the music he likes these days, which includes instrumental Jazz, African Funk, House, Reggae and new Rap by artists such as Mick Jenkins, J. Cole or Isaiah Rashad, the Tender Games mastermind also draws inspiration from visual art, especially paintings. He is an avid gallery-goer and a fan of Dutch Renaissance artists as well as modern art.

The result of merging all of these influences and the unorthodox route into musicianship is a very open DIY approach to making music. Along with HRRSN’s distinctively touching vocals, this might just be the secret to the Tender Games sound. In any case, the songs have found favour with critics and listeners alike by hitting that elusive point where Soul, House and Pop join up in exactly the right way.