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The initial skepticism quickly subsided, however, after Thibaud visited his grandfather in Lugano and he was positively surprised by what he had already learned in his studies. From that point on, in addition to the family alliance, a musical friendship formed: via e-mail and telephone, they exchanged information about new releases in the music industry, discussed Thibaud’s compositions, and Peter recounted formative experiences of the past 80 years. “A phrase that Grandpa said almost every time “Compose every day! That’s the only way you’ll learn and get better.” But for me it was difficult to put this into practice. For my grandpa, music was everything. He built his life with and around music, always developing his ideas and being creative until the end of his life. I have the luxury of being able to do whatever I want. Study in my safe bubble in Lucerne and play my concerts. And if I don’t practice for a day, at most my conscience troubles me. My grandfather played music every day. He didn’t even ask himself whether he wanted to make music today – it was part of his life.”

These different attitudes, he says, were not always easy. Thibaud often felt he was disappointing his grandfather and not living up to his expectations. About three years ago, Thibaud began taking piano lessons in addition to drum lessons, which extremely pleased his grandfather. He sent him pieces to learn and together in Lugano they played piano four-handed. His grandfather always wanted to know exactly what he was working on and encouraged him to do more.
“For a long time I said of myself that I couldn’t really play the piano. I had trouble identifying with the instrument. But the conversations and feedback from my grandpa gave me confidence, and by now I can stand behind my playing and say, ‘I can play the piano,'” he says with a smirk on his face.

Space Patrol is the figurehead of Peter Thomas’ works – if you know the series, you know him. Critics even claim that the theme music of the cult series was one of the reasons for its success. When Peter Thomas passed away in May and people were discussing his abdication, Thibaud quickly realized that he wanted to play for his grandfather. “To play for grandpa one last time. I knew he would hear me.” With his father, he then decided on two pieces: the Space Patrol, as a piano solo variant, and an original composition that he had worked out with his grandfather.