Session with Däcker

One week ago I recorded an exciting new project with Peter Dekker (aka Däcker).

After I produced Däcker's debut album "Pareidolia" back in 2020, we were on stage together for the first time later that year, at BYSS (of which the registration was released earlier this year). Hereafter Peter was involved into a couple of concerts with Mäläskä in 2022, and I again did some production for his second solo record "Anthropomorphic Personifcation", which was released last year.

However, this new project had been in my mind for quite a while, which got shape when discussing this with Peter last couple of months, and which finally came to life last Monday, thanks to good friend David Smelik.

David and I go years back, where we made music together in several settings. However, this was the first serious project we did together.

Peter and I had a clear vision of what this project should more or less sound like. Recently, we rehearsed a couple of times and tried out several settings. Only thing was that we had to do play the main instrument with a synthesizer, instead of a real one, but that already worked out very well.

The core of this project had to be a grand piano. And David was able to arrange one.
Despite some minor cosmetic trifles, a wonderful and very characteristic 19th century Steinberg (not to confuse with Steinway) grand piano, at a acquantaince's living room, which we were permitted to play and record for a whole day.
With David's ideas regarding the recording and registration of the piano and environment, we decided to invest into renting some of the best possible recording equipment. Better not having regrets afterwards.

The evening in advance, David, Peter and I moved the grand piano in place, installed all equipment, and set up the microphones and audio and video recording equipment, so we didn't have to lose much time on technical stuff on the recording day.

Initially we were aiming for a piano-based project (which might eventually lead to an album release), 
which should be entirely improvised (just like "Live at BYSS").
But an album full with only piano pieces wasn't the way we wanted it. We also didn't want to have a common electronic approach we are used to, by means of using synthesizers with sequencers or whatsoever.
Where you can cover up any irregularities or mistakes with electronic sounds and effects, playing the piano requires some kind of play-technical skills. Indeed things don't have to be super tight, but any miss-hit will be noticed. Things also have to be built up different instead of 'securely' starting for example a sequencer or pad chords. In the end Peter and I see ourselves skilled enough to establish this.

However, for the variation and dynamics, we did involve some synthesizers and electronica.

We made use of my Korg MS20 and Korg ER1. Both instruments have audio inputs, which we used to process sounds (in this case, the piano parts) in real-time. Then, the  MS20 was also used for effects, while the ER1 also produced some rhythmic elements.
Additionally, Peter's Sequential Prophet 5 was added, to have some analog sounds contrasting the clean piano sounds.

And last but not least, we also experimented with prepared piano, making use of a bow, percussion sticks and brushes, keys and a drinking glass.

Currently I am mixing a selection of the audio recordings.
As it's now, we have selected 1,5 of around 6,5 recorded hours, which might be useable for an album release.
David sorts out the many hours of video recordings and photos. I have only seen some short excerpts so far, which looked awesome! I assume there will definitely be something to share with you on short term, so stay tuned!

Session with Synth.nl

Last weekend I visited Michel van Osenbruggen (aka Synth.nl) to record new music for the first time since our 2013 "PrimiTiveS" collaboration.
Although we have always been in touch, we both simply didn't have the opportunity to be in the studio together much earlier.

In the meanwhile Michel got a new place and new (temporarily) studio, and it was a pleasure and inspiring to have a good time and create new music together again.
We spent largest part of Sunday and Monday to record the structures of at least eight pieces.

As we both have some other projects running too, it will be earliest 2025 that any results should be ready for a possible album release. Indeed I will keep you informed!

Thanks to Michel and Sonja for their hospitality.

Jean Michel Jarre - "Bridge to the Future"

Exactly one week ago I witnessed a concert spectacle which could easily be the very last one of its kind. Frenchman and living legend Jean Michel Jarre was asked to perform the opening concert for the seventh edition of the Starmus Earth Festival (being held from May 12-17th). The announcement only was a little more than one month in advance.

Extremely excited for the first big outdoor concert by the maestro since his large gig in the harbour of Monaco, as part of 2011's wedding of Albert II of Monaco and Charlete Wittstock, and considering Jarre's age (75, so how long will he continue doing these kind of events?), I didn't have to think long about getting my plane tickets and make an appartment reservation.

The concert took place on Sunday, May 12th, so I decided (also due to the restricted amount of flight options) to travel to Bratislava, capital of Slovakia, on May 8th, and head back to the Netherlands on May 13th, the day after the concert. Then, Bratislava is a wonderful town which I hadn't visitied before.

Most SNP UFO bridge.

Starting to follow Jean Michel Jarre's career since 1990 (knew his music already before), being present at his Paris La Défense concert (traumatic experience afterwards, as I was on the Eiffel Tower during the concert, assuming people were watching the sunset. Which was not the case at all. Two weeks later a nephew let me hear "Revolutions" and the then newly released "Waiting for Cousteau", followed by the information that the La Défense concert took place while I was literally there), and went to see him play live (consciously) for the first time during the Europe In Concert tour in Brussels, August 24th, 1993.
In the years that followed I went to many of his concerts in Europe. From the big scaled Concert Pour La Tolerance (Paris, 1995), Aero (Aalborg, 2002), Gdansk (2005) and Monaco (2011) to the indoor concerts of the Oxygene 7-13 Tour (Rotterdam and Lille, 1997), Oxygene (Paris, 2007 and Amsterdam, 2008), Indoors Tour (Amsterdam, 2009 and Rotterdam, 2010), and even intimate gigs like Bourges (2002), Teo & Tea showcase (Lint, 2007) and IRCAM (Paris, 2023). Also got the opportunity to interview Jean Michel Jarre back in 2010 and 2011, and organised a meet-and-greet after the 2009 concert in Amsterdam.

Bratislava Castle.

Being in Bratislava for the first time, I spent my first days there to discover the old centre. Traveling together with good friend and fellow Jarre-fan Marco Blom, we did some sight-seeing there and visited the Bratislava castle, looking out over the river Donau and the city.
We also visited some music stores, went to even more terraces and restaurants, and tried out some of the many ice cream shops.
On Thursday I also had time to watch the second semi-finals of the Eurovision Song Contest (the evening there was no controversy yet).
When we arrived in Bratislava, building of the stage had already begun, so we already went to the concert site in between our tourist activities.

We arrived on Wednesday, and nearing the weekend we met more fans and people who came here to attend the concert. Another fan, Milan Csáplar, who also lives in Bratislava, organized a fan-meeting (before the final rehearsal on Saturday and after the concert on Sunday) at the Riva Bar - a boat on the Donau, near the iconic Most SNP UFO bridge, which also was part of the decor of Jarre's concert. The bar was reserved for fans who litterally travelled all over the world to witness this unique event. It was a real pleasure to meet so many people, who have been connected for so many years, and who actually only use to meet during these kind of concerts. Although I met a handful of them at last year's concert at IRCAM in Paris, previous much bigger meeting had already been a while ago, during the Monaco concert, back in 2011; 13 years back in time to be precisely.

Fanmeeting at the Riva Bar, May 11th. Photo by Hogne Bø Pettersen.

Good to see a lot of my friends again, who seem not to have aged with the exception of some grey hairs, and which felt like we saw eachother yesterday, strangely enough. I also got to meet new fans, as well as people who I am connected with on social media, but had never met before in real life. And then thoughts were also with friends who also have been part of the 'clan' for so many years, who couldn't be here because they couldn't arrange their trip because of the short-term announcement, and not in the last place those who left us too early: Gertjan Ronner, Marco Kerkdijk and Karel Krijger.

In the previous days we had the opportunity to visit and explore the concert site (which was situated around a fenced parking place with the stage, and nearby highway), and witness rehearsals and various soundchecks. The final rehearsal was on the Saturday, and free to attend. Although a large part of the roads to the concert site were closed, which was said this was due to the drones. In fact I think they would control the amount of people while the neighboring highway was only partially closed, so a sort of risk.

Jean Michel Jarre and his musicians Claude Samard Polikar and newbie Adiescar Chase were supported by Queen's guitarist Brian May. Brian's appearance as special guest was already announced at the presentation of the concert. The collaboration didn't come out of nowhere, as Brian is initiator of the Starmus Earth Festival (of which the first edition took place in 2011), and in 2016 there was already talked about having a collaboration between the two. Which didn't go on then.

ESET building.

During the final rehearsal, all concert tracks were played, sometimes with interruptions in between. We found a nice spot on the outside of the fence, somewhere around 150 meters from the stage, as being in the front part, and inside the concert site was prohibited. All in all a perfect to experience the rehearsals. People attending the rehearsals got a bonus, as "Oxygene 8" was played, but very unfortunate skipped during the concert on Sunday. Reason unknown. The rehearsal started at 9 PM. Slightly past 10 PM the sound volume was put down, due to permissions. And 11 PM they finished the last song, after which everyone smoothly left the concert site.

During the last days, step by step, things to happen during the concert became clear more and more, and increased the excitement. Firstly the track "Second Rendez-Vous" was also being played by a brass section and choir. So powerful. Goosebumps.
Then - something that could also have been derived from the AI visualizations when the concert was announced - there were drones, decorating the sky above the stage. On the day of the concert, it was confirmed that fireworks were also present. So before the concert it was certain that actually nothing was lacking for a classic Jean Michel Jarre extravaganza.
Another advantage was that the weather connditions were perfect all these days. Average of 25 degrees during the day, cooling down to something like 15 in the evening.

The day of the concert, we (Marco, Niek (who arrived on Friday) and I) went to the concert site around 2 PM. Not knowing what to expect yet, by means of people already gathered there. When we arrived, there were already sitting people on the slopes below the highway, offering perfect view on the stage. But it was definitely not that crowded yet.
In the afternoon there was an important ice hockey match between Slovakia and Kazakhstan (for those interested: Slovakia won with 6-2). No idea if this was a reason, but only 1,5 hours before the start of the concert, it became really crowded.

Thanks to Jarre's managament - who spread the word to various fans including Claus, Milan and Signe, a selected group of fans (100-150) - including Marco, Niek and me - were allowed to get into the concert area at 5 PM. An hour before the actual entry. As the entire parking lot was still empty, we got the opportunity to find the best spot to experience the concert. In first instance standing right in front of the stage, but already had in mind to get some more to the back. Together with Marco, Niek, Coen, we found our place right behind the fence of the 'golden zone', which was reserved for festival ticket holders (and this space luckily wasn't packed with people). The perfect spot if you ask me, as we were situated in the center of the stage, at something like 100 meters distance from the stage, overlooking the entire scenery, including the castle and the UFO bridge in the background, the stage itself, the lights and fireworks, and the projections on the ESET building on the right side. ESET was was one of the main sponsors of the event.

Despite the fact that it didn't make the wait less enjoyable, there was no "Waiting For Cousteau" to be heard. The 46:53 minutes piece of music, which always marked the waiting for a Jean Michel Jarre concert for the last three-and-a-half decades. Instead there was repeated a rework / variation of the classic 1990 track. After the wait, the countdown started and we lifted off at 9 PM precisely. The concert was also to be enjoyed worldwide via live stream, so everything had to be strictly according to schedule.

The first half of the show was performed by only Jean Michel Jarre and his band.
An atmospheric opening, after which the energy built up very fast. Reworked classics from "Oxygene 4", "Oxygene 2", "Equinoxe 4", "Equinoxe 7" and "Industrial Revolution part 2" were in fact all classic Jarre songs (except for two songs from the 1986 album "Rendez-Vous", which followed later) during this evening, alternated with some newer tracks like "Web Spinner", "Falling Down", "The Architect" and "Zero Gravity".
During the opening track ("Coachella Opening"), firework were introduced cautiously. A wonderful and promising way to start the concert, and to get involved into the magical world of Jean Michel Jarre.

Slightly before halfway of the evening things got more intense with the introduction of the band members, as well as the trombone section of the Slovak Philharmonic Orchestra and members of the Slovak Philharmonic Choir. Time for "Second Rendez-Vous". This was such a blast, especially with the input of the latter two. Halfway the track, which was renamed to "Rendez-Vous Bratislava" for tonight, the iconic laser harp part (which was saved for the finale of the evening) was left from the track. This was the point Brian May came in. Bombastic, powerful, and the realisation this is one of the things I have always loved the music from Jean Michel Jarre for. Concluded with lots of fireworks.

Followed by a welcome slightly calm (at least the start of it) intermezzo performed by Brian May, based on an excerpt of 'The New World", one of my all-time favourite classical music pieces, by Czech composer Antonín Dvořák.

Then it was time for a lot of newer "Electronica" era pieces. "Exit", "Azimuth", "Herbalizer", "Oxygene 19" and "Glory". Followed by the infamous "Fourth Rendez-Vous" (but in my opionion it's a great song, which always works live, but Jarre hasn't include it into his shows for quite a while), building up to the grand finale with "Stardust", going all the way with a more than impressive amount of fireworks. Goosebumps and emotions all over the way. I can die happily!
But not before the encore with Jarre using the laser harp the only time this evening, playing "The Time Machine" (renamed to "Bratislava Time" for this ocassion), joined by heavy rock guitar by Brian May.
What a final, what an evening, what a show!

Only remained the big 'thank you' to all people and organizations involved into this huge project.
And an epic slip of the tongue by Brian May proclaiming Jean Michel as Jean Paul. While the concert video has been edited while we speak, this meme will live forever amongst the established Jarre fan. So keep in mind if anyone is starting a conversation about Jean Paul Jarre, you don't need to correct. Before leaving the stage, Jean Michel Jarre took the opportunity to take a selfie with all audience.

The evening's overall musical vibe was rather uptempo and energetic. I think this was a significant different with Jarre's old shows. But this musical direction he chose to go into might appeal a younger audience, and I can completely live with that!

Visuals made specific for this ocassion were simply stunning, and from time to time the intensity of the lasers created the suggestion that the large environment suddenly became a lot more compact and intimate. Overwhelmed by the fireworks. Everyone was litterally part of it all.

11 PM everything was finished, and once again we headed to the Riva Bar for yet another meeting and after-talk at the Riva Bar.

The day after, I had all the time for some breakfast and buy some souvenirs. During the afternoon I headed back to the airport together with Zita. One of the fans I met at the Riva Bar, and by chance had exactly the same flight back to the Netherlands.

The last couple of days have been very energetic, exciting and overwhelming, and I really felt being 20 or 30 years back in time again.
Jean Michel Jarre once again proved he still can do the things he has been good at for 45 years. Although he seemed little tired at the end of his show (which is not that strange), it's unbelieveable he still has so much energy at at his respectable age of 75. But the question is: will Jean Michel Jarre 'just' continue the smaller scaled concerts in which he has been involved since the pandemic, will we get another opportunity again to see anything on this scale, or did somewhere in between 30.000 and 100.000 people (official sources say 100.000, but it's hard to confirm) really witness his last huge outdoor concert ever? However, it was a privilege and blast to be part of this "Bridge to the Future" project. Another experience to never forget, leaving wonderful memories for the rest of my life.

For the completists, here is the setlist:

Opening (Coachella Opening)
Epica Oxygene (Oxygene 4 / Epica)
Oxygene 2
Web Spinner
Equinoxe 4
Equinoxe 7
Falling Down
Industrial Revolution part 2
The Architect
Oxygene 8 (was only played during the rehearsals)
Zero Gravity
Rendez-Vous Bratislava (Second Rendez-Vous)
New World Symphony Bratislava 2024 (classical piece by Antonín Dvořák)
Azimuth
Exit
Herbalizer
Oxygene 19
Glory
Fourth Rendez-Vous
Stardust
Bratislava Time (The Time Machine)

And if you want to see what this fuzz was all about, or just relive this excellent concert, you can still entirely watch the wonderful registration on YouTube. Please note that it was announced that the concert might be taken offline within a couple of days or maybe weeks, so don't wait too long.

In memoriam: Dominique Perrier

My good friend Dominique Perrier passed away on October 4th.

 

It must have been somewhere late 2000s when we first met. I have met Dominique a couple of times after Jean Michel Jarre concerts. Always in the background, but one of the most beloved members of JMJ's band.

He was a sympathetic, friendly, down-to-earth, and charismatic keyboard virtuoso, who already had his own musical successes before joining Jarre's band in 1981, being the first Western musicians to perform in the post-Mao China.

Dominique's house was full of merchandising and memories from this concert tour, because this period has been very valuable to him without any doubt.

Space Art's first album "Onyx" (1977).

Space Art was his pride. The band which he formed together with Roger Rizzitelli, and which sold 3 million copies worldwide of their first three albums.

Dominique did a lot of other projects, collaborations and productions, including Stone Age, Didier Marouani & Space, Christophe, Bahamas, Gypsy Kings, and composed a number of movie soundtracks.

After three decades Dominique left Jean Michel Jarre's band in 2010. The year Roger Rizzitelli, and a couple of months later also Dominique's wife Janet Woollacott, died. In 2012 there was the Space Art Tribute, which was the band's first output since 1981. Gathering dear musicians and friends to be part of this so-called Dominique Perrier Project. An European promo tour takes place.

Space Art live at E-Day, Oirschot, NL (29-4-2017).

I managed to arrange some of these 2012 promo concerts for Dominique, and around that time I also started doing part of the sales and distribution of the music of Space Art. We became good friends, met several times in the centre of Paris, and I visited his place just outside of Paris multiple times.

 

In 2017 Space Art headlined the E-Day Festival in Oirschot. Dominique deliberately wanted me to join the band. He didn't want to be in the spotlights that much, and preferred to have give the younger generation more exposure.

We had relatively short rehearsing time, but it definitely was a nice party on stage!

Space Art's latest album "Personal Duty" (2023).

It took another couple of years (until 2020) until the next Space Art album "Entrevues" was released. From now on together with Tommy, son of Dominique's former band mate Roger Rizzitelli, on drums.

Very recently, on July 14th of this year, the latest Space Art album "Personal Duty" saw the light.

It was a real honour Dominique wanted to release these both albums on my Deserted Island Music label. He was fed up with big record companies, and he saw in me a trusted and dedicated partner.

I have always liked the music from Space Art, because it sounds natural, organic, honest, and not over-polished or over-produced. Love the song structures, instrumentations, melodies, and stories they had to tell.

And once you got to know Dominique's way of thinking and his humour, there are a lot of hidden jokes to discover in a lot of his music. Even on his latest album "Personal Duty" where Dominique put himself in the shoes of fictionary bass player Bruce B. Marshall. The output of a normal bass player is a low bass sounds. However, Bruce's range is one or sometimes even two octaves higher. Which sounds quite hilarious if you listen to the music with Bruce in your mind.

Me, Michel Geiss and Dominique, 29-11-2022..

November 2022 I stayed a couple of days at Dominique's place. Combining it with my more or less annual visit to Paris. One of the evenings Michel Geiss also came along, because we wanted to discuss the mastering for the new Space Art album. Which ended into a wonderful evening with a lot of stories and memories from times gone by.

Peter Dekker, me and Dominique, 13-1-2023.

January I visited Dominique together with Peter Dekker. Also to discuss the last bits about the then upcoming new album. We had an entertaining evening, where Peter brought some rare single releases (related to productions by Dominique) from his own collection. A couple of these were totally unknown to Dominique, and he was clearly moved when Peter gave these to him as present.

One week before the July 14th "Personal Duty" album release, I again visited Dominique to hand over the new CD and LP's. Exactly that weekend, he had been admitted to hospital due to ongoing heavy headache.

I planned to visit Dominique in the hospital once more within coming days because of worsened health conditions, but unfortunately he didn't make it that long. Now I am making up for the final farewell, during the funeral, coming Thursday.

I miss you, dear Dominique!

Visiting Paris will never be the same again.

Hopefully you are having a great musical party there where you are!

Au revoir mon ami!

Paris

Since a couple of years I am aiming to visit Paris at least once a year.

When I planned to go in April 2020, the pandemic kept me from going.

So it felt really good to finally be able to return again to one of my favourite cities, to have a great time and met some dear friends.

I stayed at - my good friend - Dominique Perrier's house from Saturday November 26th until Wednesday 30th.

During the days I took the train from his place to Montparnasse train station.

Together with Marie-Laure.

Saturday, the day of my arrival, I met with Marie-Laure Leboucher (C.Zen Prod) at La Défense. She also brought some new stock from Space Art and Francis Rimbert albums with her. After our meeting I travelled to Dominique, which also was a very pleasant reunion.

For the following days I had a small list of adresses (mainly music and retro game stores) which I wanted to visit these days. But in the end I only visited a couple of them, because I spent a lot of time to 'just' wandering around and absorb the atmosphere. In the end I only bought myself one CD and 4 special LP's for a friend.

Montparnasse view.

While I spent largest part of the time at the Les Halles area, I also visited the Eiffel Tower, Sacre Coeur (looking over Paris by night), and went on top of the Montparnasse Tower for the first time. The 360 / panorama view was very impressive.

Some times I also watched some parts of the World Championship soccer matches on big screen.

 

With Michel and Dominique.

The time I was together with Dominique, we had 

good conversations, watched film, and I had the privilege to hear new Space Art music. Actually it's the music for a new Space Art album, which Dominique again wants to have released on my Deserted Island Music label.

 

Again, Tommy Rizzitelli (who unfortunately didn't have time to meet up these days) took place behind the drums for the new album, and Michel Geiss is going to take care of the mastering. Tuesday evening I finally got to meet with Michel in person, who came along Dominique's home. Besides discussing various (musical) topics, Michel exposed as a real storyteller. Loved it! We had a very joyful evening.

January programme
at IRCAM entrance.

Then, I impulsively decided to go back again to Paris the weekend of Janary 14th, 2023. This time together with some friends. We will visit Jean Michel Jarre's concerts at the IRCAM. Around that time I also expect to have more details about the upcoming Space Art album.

And last, but not least, Dominique gave me a couple of discs from his collaboration with Michel Valy from 2010, "Temps Réel". As well as he autographed some copies of his latest Space Art CD "Entrevues". Both are available from the Deserted Island Music webshop. Don't wait too long, as these titles (and in particular "Temps Réel") might not be added again as soon as they are sold out.

New studio

After September's Grote Kerk event, I started to move my studio. My large room had to be swapped with the smaller sleeping room of my son, who definitely needed more space.

In the meanwhile I moved most of the equipment, but a couple of instruments didn't make it to the new place. Unfortunately, but on the other hand it's good to be forced to make a selection (although there still is too much), because I simply didn't use a lot of the equipment.

 

On one part of the wall ten keyboards are stacked. I custom-made the desk which offers space for 44 HE rack units. And there is another stand for my Korg Kronos (which I am using as master keyboard) and mixing desk, and offering space below for another 6 HE rack units (which I partially have in use for some patchbays).

I also purchased proper stands for my studio monitors.

Considering different and more compact setups, especially keeping in mind the limited space, I decided to keep my large Behringer MX8000 mixer, because of the workflow I have gotten used to.

In the meanwhile the studio is fully operational again. Only having to find some time to work on new projects again.

In memoriam: Klaus Schulze

Musical hero, inspirator and artist who had the biggest impact on my music in every thinkable way, has passed away on Tuesday at the age of 74.

Klaus Schulze in 2022.

Without any doubt Klaus Schulze and his music have been most noticeable influences for my music throughout the years. Although I have always had a fascination for the electronic music genre since I was 8 or 9 years, Klaus Schulze (whose music I actually discovered 5 or 6 years later) in my eyes has always been an exceptional phenomenon who was capable of letting electronic music sound more human and organic than any other synthesist I have ever known could have managed. Whether it was solo, under his pseudonym Richard Wahnfriend, with Ash Ra Tempel, or as collaboration with artists like Manuel Göttsching, Harold Grosskopf, Wolfgang Tiepold, Arthur Brown, Michael Shrieve, Rainer Bloss, Pete Namlook, Jörg Schaaf, Roelof Oostwoud or Lisa Gerrard, to name a few.

Dreams (1986).

"Dreams" and "Miditerrenean Pads" were the first Klaus Schulze albums I got to listen to. While the latter sounded like something I had never heard before at that time, "Dreams" appeared to be an extremely close identification of how I experience my dreams and how I approach my own music. Although with a wink, the album's original working title "Klaustrophony" suggests even more how close this album must also have been to Schulze himself. The record company rejected this title because of commercial reasons, but the album's infamous closing track still retained this title. So from that very first moment I have felt a clear connection with most of Klaus' musical output.

Amongst the so many albums (more than 40 and far over 100 releases) Schulze released since the early 70s, there are a lot of instant classics including "Timewind", "Moondawn", "Mirage", "X" and "Dune". However, for me "Dreams" (specifically the original 5 tracks release on the Brain label) always topped this list. Besides what I have just mentioned, this might also be because Klaus' mid / late 80s were relatively 'less productive', and his music sounded more balanced again at this point after the chaotic early 80s output of his Poland era.

For a lot of my solo concerts, the 1997 "Dosburg Online" concert and its structure continues to be a source of inspiration. The tension and variation of this performance is absolutely brilliant from the beginning to the end.

Kontinuum (2007).

Recent years Schulze's musical output became more of a routine and eventually therepeutical rather than it contained artistic highlights. When "Kontinuum" was released in 2007 I was absolutely overwhelmed by its content. Never expected Klaus Schulze to be this intense and emotional again. This masterpiece always felt like it could have been Schulze's final album. Which wasn't the case for the 15 years that followed. 

Still, so many people associate electronic music with computers, DJ's, robots, the universe, or whatsoever. But there are so many acts involving electronics without even having any connections with any of the above. Yes, the equipment is and remains something (that can be) automated, but in the end it's the artist who should make this equipment come to life. And Klaus mastered that like no one else.

Outside the fact if you like his music or not, most of Klaus' logical sounding chord progressions and naturally evolving transitions made largest part of his music sound familiar and approachable.
The combination of detailed, stretched out and layered storylines, progressing themes, and speaking leads let his compositions come to life and breath even more. And there are still not many artists who managed to do the thing what Klaus did during his 50 years career.

Klaus Schulze live at the Loreley (2008).

In the late 60s Klaus Schulze was groundbreaking, experimenting together with artists and bands like Hans-Joachim Roedelius, Tangerine Dream, Amon Düül and Neu!, as part of the Zodiac Free Arts Lab.

What they did was different and opposite from the mainstream. After this short-lived movement, Klaus continued to pioneer and focused on his own musical journey. First with the drums, adding a Farfisa organ and VCS3, even orchestra, and involving more electronica with the years, followed by his famouns wall of synths, always the eye-cather during his live shows.

I was lucky to attend concerts in Cologne (Kickzone, 1999), Osnabrück (KlangArt Festival, 2001), Loreley (Night of the Prog, 2008) and Amsterdam (Melkweg, 2009).
And I already bought a ticket for what was announced as his last concert ever, planned for 2016 in Poland. Due to Klaus' health issues, this concert was cancelled.
Klaus Schulze's appearance on stage always was charismatic and magical. Already before striking the first note, he got the audience's sympathy with his kind and humoristic personality.
Although he had always been surrounded with a lot of keys and knobs during his concerts, it always was the man behind these keys and knobs who let the magic happen.

Together with Klaus Schulze and Ewout Koek (2001).

After the Osnabrück concert in 2001, I got to speak to my musical hero. At that time I just released my first official cd, "The Art of Imagination", which I presented to Klaus.
Despite the fact that Klaus Schulze has always been a solitary musician, who mainly focussed on his own music, he kindly accepted my album.
We had a small talk about my music, and Klaus had to smile when I told him that people mentioned me as his follower-up. Which, indeed, was way too much credit after having just released two albums back then.

A lot of wonderful memories. The train trip to Cologne. Smuggling recording equipment into the concert site of Kickzone. Getting Klaus' first autograph after the performance. Trying to get a fully booked train earlier after the concert because all nearby hotels were also fully booked and we haven't had any sleep for more than 24 hours. The bus trip to Osnabrück. Getting recognised abroad as artists for the first time, at the KlangArt Festival. Smuggling recording equipment into the venue, and finding out that there was no security check at all. The excitement when Klaus started the sequence during the second part of the show in Osnabrück. Klaus sitting on the stage to chat and sign after the concert when there were left only a handful of fans at the venue.

Deus Arrakis (2022)

One of my most memorable concert experiences without doubt was when Klaus Schulze and Dead Can Dance's Lisa Gerrard joined forces, and performed at the Freilichtbühne Loreley, St. Goarshausen, as part of the second Night of the Prog Festival in 2009. It was magical and moving, and at some points highly emotional. Part of these emotions are now coming back again.

Klaus, thank you for being part of my life. Without your music my musical world would definitely have been something completely different.

Sadly Klaus Schulze didn't make it to the release of his new album "Deus Arrakis", which will be released posthumously on June 11th.

Klaus Schulze
4-8-1947 - 26-4-2022.