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| Interview with Klaus Schulze |  |
Q: I've heard your new album, Moonlake. It is very powerful and
colorful. Whenever I listen to your music, I always feel that it is
something I somehow feel that I've heard yet I can never find. It sounds
as if it were a celestial music, and I love it. First let me ask about
your new album. After releasing big albums like Contemporary Works
vol. 1-2 and Live at Klangart, the new album is straightforward, and the
title is very visual. What is your message in this new album?
KS: Thanks for asking so kindly, ...but sorry, there is no special
"message" in this new album. Rarely (if ever) I put a "message" into my
music. If I would have a message for the people, I would probably write
a story, a book, an article, a manifest. But I'm a musician, and the
music that I record for albums and that I play in concerts is mostly
even without any lyrics. No text. Even the titles for the tracks and
albums I have to find AFTER the whole music is played, recorded, mixed,
and ready for release. See, I'm just a full-blooded musician :-) The
title for MOONLAKE comes from nice memories that I have of short
holidays at Austria's "Mondsee" (= Moon Lake) near Salzburg. I liked
the beautiful view.
Q: You used the Mini Moog in this album, and the tracks included are live
performances in Poland in 2003 and latest studio live performance. Can
we understand that it is a live album?
KS: It is not a true "Live Album". Yes, two of the four tracks from
MOONLAKE are recordings from a concert that I gave in November 2003 in
Poland. A concert is a unique event, a happening with various
ingredients, mainly: an audience. A disc will never capture the same
atmosphere, that's impossible. Of course it's a nice souvenir for those
who were present, but actually it's (just) a disc, another CD, and
people listen to it in a complete different surrounding, place, time,
and atmosphere, and mostly they do it alone. People listen to it who
were not even at the concert. Therefore, to correct any technical
imperfection of a "live" recording, I edit my (concert) recordings for
release. I delete the noise, the audience sounds, ...and often the
recordings are too long for a release, anyway :-) I also did it with
these two Poland tracks. So, these two titles are a mix between the true
concert recording and a bit of studio work. The other two tracks (the
first two on the album) are genuine studio recordings from early 2005.
Q: In recent years, you have used a large scale set of equipment by
Polymorph and Rave-O-Lution. Please introduce us to your main machine,
software, computer and other equipment you're currently using.
KS: Sorry, this is too complicated, and in fact: just boring technical
stuff. People who have an interest in technical details can check the
leaflets of the various companies, they can buy special magazines, or
have a look in the Internet. There are certainly many websites from
technical fans who discuss all possibilities of these wonderful tools.
And, how a computer and software work, I suppose that many (if not most)
people know this meanwhile and they don't need my helpless explanations
:-) Yes, I can rave for a long time about a (new) instrument, but I
cannot explain, within everybody's grasp, the technical side. I'm
neither an engineer nor a teacher. Sometimes, better: often, I also
don't know why and how it works, the main thing for me is THAT it works
:-)
Q: You are a pioneer of electronic music, but you've never excluded
acoustic instruments. From my personal opinion, you are more like a
pioneer of acoustics. Please give us your comments on plug-in music.
KS: I am "more a pioneer of acoustics"? A strange point of view indeed.
But thanks.
Q: In the new album, you worked again with Mr. Thomas Kagermann. You've
been with him since Contemporary Works vol. 1. He is known for his violin
and flute performances in the field of ethnic music, but we don't know
much about him. Please introduce him to us. What is attractive for you
to play with him?
KS: He is a friendly guy. And he plays instruments that I cannot play,
which adds a new sound to my music. This is daily usage in studios. As
if Van Morrison uses Georgie Fame with his special Hammond organ sound,
or a special jazz bass player, for a certain recording. Of course, a
good personal relationship is always necessary and very helpful.
Q: In the latest album, ethnic factors that were found in Miditerranean Pads
and Dresden Performance in the late eighties made comeback again.
What is your view about/interest in ethnic music?
KS: The world is large, and there is many many many various different
music. Some people may call some of it "ethnic" because for them it's
from far-away, and not so often played on their local radio. What is
"ethnic" for a German, is probably the daily music for a Japanese ...
and vice versa :-)
Q: You have been working with Wolfgang Tiepold since "X" and recently in the
making of Contemporary Works vols.1 and 2 and Live at Klangart. What
does he mean to you as a musician?
KS: He is a classical trained musician, which I am not. Therefore, he
can add some things to my music that I cannot. For instance, he did the
scoring for the string players during the "X" recordings. And he
conducted them. He can do these things because he has the experience in
this field. Also, he's a very nice guy. And I like the sound of a
"natural" cello (as most people do). These together are many good
reasons to play with him.
Q: In addition, would you please describe Jörg Schaaf you worked in the
Wahnfried project and other musicians you have recently worked with?
KS: Sometimes I produce or I feature other musicians. Often on my
"Wahnfried" project. Jörg Schaaf was one of them, some years ago. At
that time he was more into the modern dance music of young people, more
than I was, then. No wonder, I think he is twenty years younger than me.
Q: You've collaborated with a great number of musicians, and among them
were musicians who had very different/unexpected musical directions. One
of the most illustrative examples of this was the Stomu Yamashita's Go
project whose albums were recently re-released in Japan. What kind of
event was the Go Project for you? Please tell us about interesting
episodes/fond memories about it.
KS: I would NOT say that I worked with "a great number" of other
musicians. Since 1971 I'm a soloist. Only sometimes I make use of a
studio musician, or I invite a musician to join me as guest on my
concerts. Or I was invited, as in the case of GO. The GO recordings were
hard work, but it was very nice for me to meet people who became
friends, especially Stomu and Michael Shrieve. A few years later,
Michael visited me in Germany, and I learned some things from him about
rhythm that I didn't know before. And that to me, who started as a
drummer :-)
Q: In '74, you produced an album of FAR EAST FAMILY BAND. You also came to
Japan and performed a private concert. Were you interested in Japan at
that time? What made you decide to produce a Japanese band?
KS: I was asked by the German record company to produce the band. "Why
not?" I said to myself. At this time, in 1974/'75, it was a new
experience for me, a challenge. It also meant a free trip to a country I
did not know much about: Japan. Besides, I liked the group's music, and
when I met the boys, I had no problems to become a friend ("Kitaro" was
one of them). But I never "performed a private concert" in your country,
or elsewhere.
Q: Have there ever been any plan for tours in Japan? Is there any
possibility of live performance/concert in Japan in future?
KS: I can plan what I want, but this will not lead to a tour. A concert
tour needs a potent local concert promoter who makes a sigificant offer.
To make it short: Until now there are no offers for a concert tour in
Japan.
Q: The video included in Dig It was quite interesting. I'm looking forward
to seeing the live video to be included in Moondawn. Do you have any
more plan to include visual works in the re-releases in future?
KS: A "live video included in Moondawn"? MOONDAWN was no concert. And
when I recorded it, of course there were no cameras in the studio :-)
Nobody could know at this early time, that 30 years later the people are
crazy for DVDs and are looking at moving pictures of working musicians.
"Moondawn" has no "video included". In general, there are not many
"moving pictures" with me or about me. What I have seen so far is just
amateur stuff which is not useable for professional release. Your
MOONDAWN question still puzzles me. Maybe you mean: MOONLAKE's two
concert pieces from Poland? This concert was indeed professionally
filmed and broadcast on Polish tv. And therefore, some fans have it on
DVD-R in a good quality. The monthly newsletter The KS Circle gave
away some DVD-R copies for the members of this fan publication. Also, a
Norwegian fan and second-hand record dealer gave CD-Rs of this 30 minute
film to his customers, nearly for free (we had asked him, for legal
reasons, not to make a business out of it). There are no plans to
release it professionally, because most of what you can SEE in this film
is an impressive light show, but not so much "Schulze". And the rights
to it, oh my God, who has the rights to publish it commercially? The
light-show company? The Polish TV? The promoter of the show? Probably
all three together.
Q: You have also produced many film works. How do you position
collaborations with films in your whole range of creative works? What is
stimulating/exciting about film works?
KS: I did I also produce film music, because producing music for all
kinds of media is also a musician's job. Johann Sebastian Bach or Mozart
were not the first and not the last who composed music for various
occasions and bosses :-) Sadly, I did not so much soundtrack music as
you state and that I could and would have wanted. Because this is a very
lucrative business, there are many musicians who swim in this pool of
soundtrack-making. Old pals like Chris Franke and Michael Hoenig, they
have specialized in doing soundtracks, and they can live from it much
better than just producing CDs for less and lesser buyers of this dying
media. Then there are all those many "unknown" studio musicians who have
specialized in soundtracks. Of course, with producing film music you are
not as "free" as when you do your own music in the studio. But sometimes
this restriction is good, because you have to work in a strictly given
form. For instance, you cannot play a ten-minute intro and then bath in
waves of sound for the next twenty minutes... when the film asks for
just ten seconds here, and another 15 seconds there, and so on. It can
be a healthy experience, sometimes. Especially for me, who normally
likes it boundless and overlong :-)
Q: You have used very German philosophies and literature works such as
Trakl and Nietzsche for a long time. If I remember correctly, you were
also interested in Slavoj Zizek. I think these are, in a sense, thoughts
in very extreme situations. How have they influenced your works?
KS: I like the writing of the Austrian poet Georg Trakl. And I also had
an interest once in the writing of Nietzsche, and his interesting
relationship to Richard Wagner. But I also like other writers and
literature, the Russian classics for instance. I cannot say how much -
and if at all - they have influenced my music. If I think about it: how
should their writing influence my work? Writing and making music are
completely different ways of expression. Sorry, but I never have heard
the name of any "Slavoj Zizek".
Q: On the contrary, you have affection for
Sci-Fi and technologies. How do these thoughts and your interests that
appear contradictory affect each other?
KS: I liked and still like to read sometimes SciFi stories. But sorry, I
don't understand your question. I don't see any contradiction. A
musician can read SciFi stories, read love stories, or Trakl, or Tintin,
or anything else... and can still make his very own music. As said
above, in the former answer, I believe more and more that these things -
reading and making music - do not influence each other. At least not
more than anything else which happens in my life.
Q: Considering your age of 58, your creative power seems to be
overwhelming. I have heard that you became sick, but are you OK now?
Please tell us about your schedule/plan in future.
KS: Yes I am okay. I just have to do some physiotherapy, some light
gymnastics. No travelling at the moment, says my doctor, and my muscles
tell me the same. Therefore, there is no schedule at the moment. No
concerts (which I do very rarely anyway, during the last twenty years).
Q: You have been interested in environmental protections. I am fond of the
atmosphere of Grodek in Totentag, which suggests your respect toward the
mother nature. What is your current interest other than music?
KS: I'm not specially known for being very active in "environmental
protection". Of course I'm interested in many things that happen on this
world, politics, culture, my family, friends, the weather, soccer, ....
:-) Also, I don't see that "the atmosphere of Grodek in Totentag" has
anything to do with "mother nature". This opera is about the life and
death of the Austrian poet Georg Trakl. It was not intended to suggest
anything else.
Q: In Japan, interests in electronic music including classical composers
like Stockhausen have got higher and higher. Would you please give your
comments on electric music in general and modern music scene?
KS: This is a question which asks for a very long answer. Just this:
"Electronic Music" is not exotic anymore, as it was when I started to
play my music alone on electric and electronic tools. Nearly every music
today is produced electronically. Except probably a church choir (but
the recording of it is electronic!). Even street musicians play today
often on an electronic keyboard. Because you mention his name:
Stockhausen's work was and is mostly acoustic, his discography shows it.
His wrong "electronic" image is from of one (!) work in the fifties (!),
the huge catalogue of his other works are for piano, vocals, trumpet,
choir, etc. Maybe someone should tell him that he's a funny man,
because he takes himself so very serious and says so witty things at the
same time :-) I like this. Many years ago I have read his theoretical
work, great books about theories of modern music. He also discovered
"synthesizers" around 1986/'87, when I had done already twenty solo
albums with those "new" instruments...
Q: Your re-releases from SPV have been released in Japan, too. Please give
your message to your devoted fans in Japan.
KS: If you ask so kindly: I love you. And also a necessary message:
Please don't steal my music with illegal downloads or copying. Because a
musician does not live from the music, but from the money he gets for
playing it.
A Musician Does Not Live From the Music But...
