GERMANY: First German band goes cyberspace in the Internet-based 3-D virtual world Second Life

They have not dressed up for the live interview on TV. "Juli" singer Eva Briegel wears just jeans and a sweatshirt, her band colleagues look equally casual. Their virtual personas however looked quite smart - after all, it is them and not the actual flesh and blood band who will be meeting with fans who are also virtual. Juli are the first German band to enter cyberspace via "Second Life", an Internet platform that has developed into nothing less than a parallel world. Virtual people living in virtual houses playing virtual games of pool in virtual bars -- life in cyberspace has never been more popular, and the ever growing numbers of Second Life members are proof. And now for the German Second Life community: One of Germany's most popular bands, Juli, virtually meet their virtual fans in a virtual TV studio of the virtual Second Life station LIFE-4-U. Juli singer Eva Briegel understands the appeal of a parallel life -- but would not choose to life one, she explains. "I cannot imagine (being in Second Life all the time). I can understand the addictive potential of it, I can see how someone believes to have got a raw deal in real life or is having a hard time," Briegel says. "It is much easier at the computer, one can present oneself the way one sees fit, optically as well as one's character is concerned. You think for hours before giving an answer to someone or say anything. So I can understand it is very seductive. But I don't think it would be for me as I prefer making experiences in person." Juli guitar player Simon Triebel also prefers real life: "I can only speak of myself, but I prefer using my time for my first life instead of Second Life," he says. "But perhaps things will look totally different half an hour from now and I am infected and the band will separate because all we do is hang around in Second Life. I don't know, really," Triebel jokes. To the band, their Second Life appearance is an all new experience. Their avatars only bear a slight resemblance to the real life version, and the band members are trying to learn the basics of Second Life within only an hour. "We all pretty much know our way around computers and also like playing in the Internet", says Triebel. "So we thought, let's do us, let somebody animate us and see how other people might picture us if we were animations of ourselves." For and hour and a half Juli answers fans' questions and also introduce their latest single "Zerissen" ("Torn"). But, as bass player Andreas "Dedi" Herde explains, it's not all just about the promotion: "The whole subject (of life in cyberspace) is getting a lot of attention currently, and I think quite a few people will be in on this. But that was not our main motive." After the live "TV interview" is over, all fans in the virtual studio are invited to a party and drinks -- in cyberspace, of course. Second Life, created by U.S.-based Linden Lab, has millions of registered users and its own economy and currency, known as the Linden dollar, which can be exchanged for U.S. dollars. Several companies are already active in Second Life, including Japanese car maker Toyota, IBM and Reuters Group Plc, which has a virtual news bureau there. Privately owned Second Life is an online virtual world where people create avatars, socialize, own property and conduct business. According to site statistics, it has 5.6 million users, 1.7 million of whom have logged on in the last 60 days.

ITN Source | April 27, 2007

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