Audi 2013 Annual Report Download - page 117

Mr. Garrett, you once said your car is pretty
much your home. Is that still true ? More
than ever. Without a car, I wouldn’t be able to get
to some of the places I play. After all, I always
have a lot of luggage with me. But that’s only one
of the reasons. I like traveling by car – it oers the
most comfort. I probably shouldn’t say this, but
I even preheat my car when it’s cold outside.
One advantage is that I am not exposed to such
large temperature swings,
and am
therefore less likely to
catch a cold. But it’s also com-
fortable. Extremely com-
fortable in fact. I also
always have a blanket with me.
Have you ever tried taking
the train or some other form
of transportation ? Train ? No.
Who would drag all my luggage
around ? The only exception was last
summer. Since I was playing some
outdoor concerts, we rented a caravan
and parked it right next to the stage.
That actually wasn’t bad – I had all my
things right there and could slip into the
warmth every now and then.
How was your driving test ? No big deal.
I only studied for four hours before taking
the theory exam. And I passed my
test first time
! I was thrilled with
myself. As I remember, my instruc-
tor’s name was Mr. Saint – perhaps
that had something to do with
it ? (laughs) But I was also under
pressure because I had a
girlfriend in Holland back then
and really wanted to visit her.
Your first car was ... ?
... a VW Golf III. It was a
special edition called the Bon Jovi.
Volks wagen was sponsoring their
tour and the car actually got its name
from the rock band. I gave it to my mother at
some point and she still has it. It just goes and goes and goes.
You use a driver for the most part – do you
even own a car ? Two actually. I have an Audi S5
in Berlin and an Audi R8 in New York. Both
are great cars and I really enjoy driving them.
Unfortunately, I don’t get to see them very often.
Are cars still cool ? Definitely. Why would
that change ? They are still THE symbol of indi-
vidual independence. But everyone has to
decide for themselves which car is cool.
Do you like to drive yourself ? Absolutely !
But my job gets in the way. You need to have the
time to really enjoy driving a car. At least, that’s
what I think.
Is there anything that you dislike
about driving ? Yes. Parking. Particularly in
New York’s narrow streets. The back-and-forth ma-
neuvering isn’t my thing. It is also embarrassing if it
takes too long. Am I glad I have a garage at home that I
can easily drive into. If there was one thing I would
like to have, it would be a technology that
makes it possible for the car to park itself.
That’s already been around for
a long time. Audi developed
a park assist s ystem with ambi-
ent displa y that takes over the
steering when you park. Really ?
I didn’t know that. Then I want to have
that in my car right away ...
How unusual was it for you to
acousticall y translate concepts
from the world of Audi ? It was
certainly something new. Acoustic visualiza-
tion is a real challenge because music has so
many dierent facets. And since it’s not possi-
ble to see sounds, I really had to think about
which pieces would fit. It was fun.
When asked about the future
and how “tomorrow”
feels, you pla yed a short
excerpt from Beethoven’s
Violin Concerto. Is there
a particular reason why ?
Beethoven’s Violin Concerto was
ahead of its time. It wasn’t until
1844 – 17
years after his death –
that it had its breakthrough when it
was performed with orchestra by
13-year-old Joseph Joachim under the
direction of Felix Mendelssohn- Bartholdy.
Since then, it has become one of the most im-
portant compositions for violin.
PL AY UNPLUGGEDUNPLUGGED
115