Frank Mertens

Frank Mertens (born Frank Sorgatz; 26 October 1961) is a German musician. He is a former member of the German synth-pop group Alphaville.[1]

Frank Mertens
Birth nameFrank Sorgatz
Also known asMaelstrom
Born (1961-10-26) 26 October 1961 (age 63)
Enger, West Germany
Genres
Occupations
  • Composer
  • keyboardist
Instruments
Years active1982–1987, 1996

Mertens is a shy and quiet person who doesn't like to talk.[2] Shortly after the success of their debut album, he left the band in December 1984, because he found public attention stressful.[3]

After he left, he founded the group Lonely Boys with his girlfriend at the time Matine Lille (née Richter) and Felix Lille (né Schulte). Mertens disbanded the group in 1987 to study economics.[4]

In 1991, Mertens moved to Paris to study art. In 1996 he moved back to Cologne, to work as a plastic artist.[5]

During the same year, he started but never completed a musical project called Maelstrom, which was a combination of ambient-style music, impressionistic and colorful art in the form of paintings, sculptures, and etheric poetry.[6]

  1. ^ Frank Mertens, Discogs
  2. ^ "Cosmic Meadows: Interview with Frank Mertens".
  3. ^ "Alphaville". apple.com. Retrieved 25 November 2013.
  4. ^ Riese, Adam. "Was macht eigentlich...?" (in German). Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  5. ^ Riese, Adam. "Was macht eigentlich...? Adam Riese informiert" (in German). Retrieved 3 November 2016.
  6. ^ "Maelstrom". Archived from the original on 3 August 2001. Retrieved 3 August 2001.