Boris Seidl

Curling star picks up the mic and guitar

Boris Seidl was the national curling coach in Brazil, today he is a teacher in a classroom and performs as a musician.

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Ashram, Curling Academy)

He has always traveled the world as a street musician - and also as a curling coach. At the moment, sports teacher Boris Seidl from Traun is training the Swiss deaf team for the Deaf Curling World Championships in Minneapolis. On the other hand, as a musician, he is sweeping the stage with completely new songs at concerts.

"Almost everything in my life has turned out differently than I would have thought," admits Boris Seidl. For fans of "stone, ice and brooms" - meaning the sport of curling - the name will say a lot: Seidl spent 20 years in top-level curling and also founded Austria's first curling club.

Today he may not have settled down, but at least he has been in one place for longer. He is a sports teacher in Traun. And he often swaps "stone and broom" for guitar and microphone: Seidl is a passionate musician.

New album on the ship
His current single "Moments" is currently getting a lot of clicks, and the music video was filmed on the Florentine saloon boat in Linz. Now the album of the same name, which combines 13 songs, is also being released. On Friday, March 14, he will be playing a concert with his own band on the salon ship.

Seidl is also part of the Indian-Austrian rock band Ashram, which will be playing at the Spinnerei Traun on April 26. In the "Krone" talk, the jack-of-all-trades reveals how he manages to juggle everything.

"Krone": Are you a teacher, curling coach and musician? How do you fit all this into a 24-hour day?
Boris Seidl: School and my job as a curling coach always take priority, as I have a contractual relationship. Motivating young people for sport is also very important to me.

Yes, but as a musician you also have to keep at it...
That's right, to make music you need the right atmosphere, a suitable mood and the inner drive. At the moment I'm not in "creative mode", I'm mainly busy with the realization of my musical projects.

You have new songs. What is your favorite theme in the lyrics?
With my Indian-Austrian band Ashram, the favorite theme is certainly self-searching. Our album title is "Eternal Thirst". In my solo project, the main themes are freedom, travel and individual experiences that I set to music.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years' time? 
It's very difficult to make a prediction here. A few years ago, I would never have dared to dream that I would ever be working as the Brazilian national curling coach. Now coaching the curling nation of Switzerland at the Deaf Curling World Championships in the USA is a very special honor for me. The sport means a lot to these people and I therefore see it as my duty to do a perfect job here. But I make music all the time - and hopefully it will stay that way.