down&out is a musical project by RENÉ SCHOSTAK and RALF P. LITZKA and based in Berlin (Germany) that has now been in existence for over 20 years. The resulting songs are sometimes realised with other artists.
RENÉ and RALF were guitarist and singer of the Berlin art rock band CON-TACT in the late 80s/early 90s. After having lost track of each other for more than a decade, they realised at a meeting that the song material of the old band was musically very interesting - and so they decided to reinterpret it in a different form.
The arrangements of the songs were changed, new parts added and others removed. Some of the lyrics were also changed or added. With the help of new sounds, the songs were given a new 'look' and feel without losing their basic character.
Phase 1 of the project began around 2003 and the musical results were created with only a few guest musicians. Due to personal circumstances, there was another long break from 2006 onwards, which lasted until 2019. Some songs that had been started remained unfinished.
Phase 2 started in May 2019 and this time not only songs based on old CON-TACT songs were created, but also completely new tracks. With the support of many other artists (including other members of the former band), songs from a wide variety of genres have been created since then, which always have a ‘certain something’ and are often catchy tunes.
Take a look at the other sections of this site to learn more about our work or how to get in touch with us.