Trouvaille

RUCKSACK

I recently started noticing I was having serious back pain. Trying to figure out the source I realized it was from lugging my computer and clothes around in a backpack I’ve had since the mid-90s when I go on tour. So for my birthday I spent 200 Euros on a new Deuter backpack with all sorts of really advanced technology and pockets. Once it’s on my back it feels like nothing’s there. 

STICKER

When I moved to Berlin eight years ago I was homeless for a month while the apartment I was living in was being renovated. I met an artist, Hanayo, the first week I arrived and moved into her living room. Her then-10-year-old daughter Tenko found me curious and followed me around and watched me whatever I did. Over the years I’ve watched her grow up. Now 18, Tenko recently visited from her home in Tokyo and brought me this sticker she made of herself holding a poster of Putin holding a dog. I keep it in my wallet. 

SSAMJANG

I like to cook but when I’m not in the mood and just want to snack I always prefer raw vegetables. Ssamjang is a spiced Korean soybean paste that goes great with all good veggies. I’ve started investing in economy size tubs. It’s good for a mid afternoon picnic or a morning-after hang­over. Best served with barley tea. 

NECKLACE

My best friend Arielle de Pinto is a jewellery designer speciali­-zing in intricately hand-crocheted chains of gold and silver. Her pieces feel like urban armour and whenever you wear one you feel powerful and protected. She gave me one of them years ago. On a trip to Japan two years back I made the mistake of removing it in a bathhouse and lost it. This year she gave me a replacement – a more advanced model. I won’t lose this one.