Tag: John Foxx (Page 9 of 18)

HANNAH PEEL Live at St Leonard’s Church

It was at “a meeting of minds on memory / art / music / literature / film” curated by Kirsteen McNish of Vine Collective in association with Alzheimer’s Research UK that Hannah Peel launched her acclaimed second album ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ with an emotional live presentation in the heart of London.

Only a stone’s throw from her basement studio where most of the album was recorded, St Leonard’s Church in Shoreditch was the setting for an event to raise awareness of the effects of memory loss and dementia.

It is said that one-in-three people will develop dementia. The charity Alzheimer’s Research UK aims to defeat dementia through studies in prevention, treatment and cure. The experiences of Hannah Peel with her own grandmother’s gradual decline into dementia inspired ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ and the event featured a number of artists from different fields, each with their own story to tell on the issue.

wrangler-shoreditch-church-01

First up was poet, writer and filmmaker Lavinia Greenlaw and her short film ‘The Sea Is An Edge And An Ending’. At times deeply upsetting, it was indeed a moving “study of the impact of dementia on our sense of time and place”. To continue the theme, director and choreographer Shelly Love introduced her more surreal short film ‘Scratch’ where “A lone character inhabits a subterranean world. Stuck between worlds, she fails to move on…”

In between, music was provided by WRANGLER’s Stephen Mallinder and Phil Winter with a DJ set described by Mallinder on Twitter as “all kinda ‘tings with @disco_rdance visual magics”. Beginning sedately, as the evening progressed, the soundtrack got louder and more distorted. But whether this was a creative aspect to proceedings or the electrics at the church struggling to cope, it was difficult to tell.

A special guest took to the stage in the shape of one-time ‘Doctor Who’ Christopher Eccleston; the actor lost his own father to the dementia and has become a supporter of Alzheimer’s Research UK. He read two poems ‘Apart’ by Robin Robertson and ‘Straw Weight’ by Will Burns with his passionate charisma clearly projecting through and holding the attention of all present. Alzheimer’s Research UK’s Christmas campaign advert ‘Santa Forgot’ was also shown.

Produced by Aardman Animations and featuring a voice over by Stephen Fry with music composed by Hannah Peel, it imagines a world without Santa Claus; it touchingly ends with the little girl Freya whispering to Santa “I believe in you”.

Electronic pioneer John Foxx could be considered Hannah Peel’s mentor having brought her to wider attention via JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS, so it was highly fitting that he eloquently introduced her to the stage.

A short piano only intro of ‘All That Matters’ acted as an overture before the thrust of driving synth bass and sparkling arpeggios of the fully synthesized version filled the church hall. Meanwhile second song in, ‘Silk Road’ from her interim ‘Fabricstate’ EP was a surprise but welcome inclusion in a set based around the album ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’.

The poignant ‘Don’t Take It Out On Me’ highlighted the main theme of the evening before the spacey cocoon of the ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ title song showcased Peel’s progression as an artist, with its looming, hallucinogenic squeals. It was augmented by the complimentary percussive colours of Daisy Palmer, a fabulously intuitive drummer who only played what was required and avoided the excesses found with some better known electronic based combos.

The set was enhanced with films produced by Daniel Conway and By Emmaalouise Smith comprising of mind maps and Super 8 home footage to visualise the fracturing of memory and this was particularly striking on the haunting moods of ‘Tenderly’.

‘Standing On The Roof Of The World’ and ‘Hope Lasts’ added a few noisier textures as Miss Peel made effective use of her two Dave Smith Mopho x4 synths, one now specially customised with a new keyboard to suit her soloing technique.

But the crowd were in total silence for an impressively forlorn performance of Paul Buchanan’s ‘Cars In The Garden’ on music box. Joined by Erland Cooper, her producer and bandmate from THE MAGNETIC NORTH, on harmonies, the on-stage banter between the pair revealed a closeness that can only come from being locked in a studio together as Cooper joked about Peel’s white stage outfit resembling a lab coat.

The beautiful vocal melodies on ‘Invisible City’ continued the mood before the main segment of the show closed with the two-movement ‘Foreverest’. Mutating into a heavy Glam laden stomp with screeching violin, it provided a fitting off-kilter soundtrack to the futility of the rat race while forgetting the importance of loving relationships.

Returning for an encore, the heartfelt and very personal ‘Conversations’ provided an emotive focal point as to the evening’s aims. But not wanting to finish things on a downer, Peel’s encouraged the crowd to sing along to a ‘Rebox’ rendition of ‘Tainted Love’. Despite forgetting the words to the third verse and the dark lyrics, it provided the hopeful lift that was needed to ensure the evening’s message rang home.

While it was full of drama and tears, there was the optimism and hope that only art and music can provide. With Hannah Peel’s own story of how her grandmother was able to singalong to Christmas carols despite having suffered from memory loss for several years, it is said that “Researchers have found that playing music from someone’s young adult years, from around 18 to 25, is likely to provoke the strongest response. As patients enter late-stage dementia, music from their childhood may prove more powerful”.

With this information to hand, ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK is all for harking back and celebrating the past if it goes any way towards improving an individual’s quality of life.


‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ is released by My Own Pleasure in CD, vinyl and download formats and available direct from https://hannahpeel.tmstor.es/

http://www.hannahpeel.com

https://www.facebook.com/HannahPeelMusic

https://twitter.com/Hanpeel

https://www.instagram.com/hannahpeelmusic/

For information on the work of Alzheimer’s Research UK and how to donate, visit http://www.alzheimersresearchuk.org/

Laura Barton’s article for The Guardian ‘Awakenings: Hannah Peel on how she harnessed music’s power to cut through dementia’ can be read at: https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/nov/23/awakenings-hannah-peel-on-how-she-harnessed-musics-power-to-cut-through-dementia


Text and Photos by Chi Ming Lai
28th November 2016

ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE 2016


The ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE held its second event at Düsseldorf’s CCD following the success of the inaugural gathering.

With impressive line-up that read like a ‘Who’s Who?’ of electronic music, former NEW ORDER bassist Peter Hook, OMD’s Andy McCluskey, HEAVEN 17, WRANGLER, VILE ELECTRODES, METROLAND and Michael Rotherhithe were among those who took part in 2015.

For the 2016 event, John Foxx, Steve D’Agostino, Rusty Egan, Jimi Tenor, Jori Hulkkonen, Eric Random and MARSHEAUX played live while among the speakers were Daniel Miller, Chris Liebing, Mark Reeder and Chris Payne.

The conference coincided with co-organiser Rudi Esch publishing ‘ELECTRI_CITY – The Düsseldorf School of Electronic Music’, an English language version of his acclaimed book documenting the development of the city’s innovative and inspiring music scene which spawned acts such as KRAFTWERK, DAF, RIECHMANN, NEU! and LA DÜSSELDORF. With Jochen Oberlack of Bellerophon Records acting as the weekend’s Master of Ceremonies, the first of the special international guests was Mark Reeder.

Presenting his acclaimed documentary ‘B-Movie: Lust & Sound In West-Berlin 1979-1989’, the film captured the music, art and chaos of West Berlin before the infamous wall came tumbling down.

But as Reeder explained in his charmingly fluent Mancunian lilted German to Tassilo Dicke in the Q&A afterwards, the enclosed conscription free environment allowed a creative melting pot to emerge where everything and anything seemed possible.

Next up was Chris Payne in an interview hosted by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK. Best known as a member of Gary Numan’s band between 1979-1990 and for co-writing VISAGE’s ‘Fade To Grey’ with Billy Currie and Midge Ure, the Cornishman began by demonstrating his bass Cornamuse, a double reed instrument from the 14th Century.

Revealing that he studied Medieval music, he even treated the audience to a quick burst of ‘Cars’ before reflecting on its limitations and therefore highlighting the expansive possibilities of synthesizers. Now domiciled in Normandy, he happily chatted about his period with Numan, recalling how he had 21 keyboards in his armoury and some of the practical jokes he played on the 1979 support act OMD.

At this time, OMD were a duo comprising of Andy McCluskey and Paul Humphreys plus a third member Winston. Despite some electronic music publications stating Winston was a drum machine, Payne confirmed that Winston was most definitely a tape recorder. And on the final night of the UK leg of ‘The Touring Principle’ at Hammersmith Odeon, Payne thought it would be amusing to put on the lock of the TEAC A344 4-track reel-to-reel to stop it from playing.

The genesis of ‘Fade To Grey’ occurred during soundchecks on ‘The Touring Principle’, but Payne recalled how the song’s cyclic structure had been composed during his time at music college.

With regards the song’s female French voice, while the eventual German No1 featured Rusty Egan’s then-girlfriend Brigitte, the idea had come from Monsieur Payne and featured on the original recording made at Martin Rushent’s Genetic Studios with a different lyric.

Mute Records impresario Daniel Miller and techno guru Chris Liebing followed and while Miller reflected on his love of German music which inspired his own recordings, he highlighted the musical kinship he had with Liebing and even joked that they would probably want to play exactly the same tracks during their DJ sets later that night at the Time Warp club night hosted by Salon des Amateurs.

The ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE was about live music too and Manchester electronic veteran Eric Random had the honour of opening proceedings. Random recently released his new album ‘Words Made Flesh’ on Austrian record label Klanggalerie, but the one-time CABARET VOLTAIRE and Nico collaborator made his return in 2014 with ‘Man Dog’, ‎having last issued a long player using his own name in 1986.

Opening with his set with the groovy ‘Knock Yourself Out’, he captured the ethos of the weekend with his sinister but funky, voice sample laden electro. Occasionally adding vocoder and his own FAD GADGET inspired vocals as on the hard beat driven ‘Let It Go’, the Germanic environment more that suited his stark style of presentation.

MARSHEAUX’s appearance prompted dancing in the aisles and despite monitor issues, the duo delivered a fine performance. The brooding aggression of ‘Burning’ from the new album ‘Ath.Lon’ proved to be a highlight, while other newbies such as ‘Safe Tonight’ sat well next to slightly reworked fan favourites like ‘Breakthrough’, ‘Dream Of A Disco’ and ‘Come On Now’.

A beautiful rendition of DEPECHE MODE’s ‘The Sun & The Rainfall’ won over anyone who wasn’t already convinced, with two new converts being Claudia Schneider-Esleben, sister of KRAFTWERK co-founder Florian and John Foxx who sat absorbed throughout the entire set.

Finishing proceedings on day one was Rusty Egan with a part live-part DJ presentation of his upcoming record ‘Welcome To The Dancefloor’. Augmented by Nikonn and Chris Payne, it began with a marvellous dual overture where the latter performed instrumental piano based renditions of ‘Down In The Park’ and ‘Fade To Grey’.

He even sneaked in snatches of Numan evergreens ‘Are Friends Electric?’ and ‘Cars’ as well.

Seguing into the ‘Nu Cinematic’ ambient version of VISAGE’s German No1 featuring Payne on violin, there was then the surprise inclusion of the beautiful VISAGE instrumental ‘Whispers’; this was not entirely successful as the monitor problems continued, but it was a brave choice and more than welcome for that very reason.

The video playback section featuring the lead vocals of Andy Huntley, Midge Ure, Emily Kavanaugh and Tony Hadley, such was his enthusiasm, Egan couldn’t resist joining in on the mic. But Egan got his turn on lead when he morphed into an MC for ‘Wonderwerke’, adding a “was ist das?” snarl shaped by his inimitable London swagger.

Closing the main set with ‘Thank You’, Egan’s vocodered list of musical heroes over layers of sweeping synths even prompted him to walk into the audience to encourage their additional robotised contributions.

The following day began with artists and journalists being given an informal tour of Düsseldorf by Rudi Esch. The landmarks included Düsseldorf HBF where KRAFTWERK had their iconic monochromatic photo on Gleis 17 taken and the entrance to the former Kling Klang studios.

Among those present were John Foxx and MARSHEAUX, with one particularly memorable moment taking place outside Der Ratinger Hof, when Foxx held court as he chatted about working with Conny Plank on ‘Systems Of Romance’.

Appropriately, formal second day proceedings began with the showing of ‘Keine Atempause – Düsseldorf, Der Ratinger Hof und Die Neue Musik’, a film about the city’s music scene followed by a panel Q&A.

But afterwards, a familiar character from Berlin reappeared. The scheduled speaker Martyn Ware had unfortunately been taken ill, so Mark Reeder kindly stepped in with an interview in English conducted by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK; this chat differed from the day before, focussing on Reeder’s own music career and his long association with NEW ORDER.

Interviewed by German journalist Ecki Stieg, John Foxx gave a marvellously eloquent talk covering his entire career. Working with Brian Eno on the first ULTRAVOX! album, the one-time ROXY MUSIC synthesist told Foxx it was important to keep a space at the end of an album to make a new song out of nothing; that nothing of course became ‘My Sex’. Reflecting on the recording of ‘Systems Of Romance’ to applause from the attentive audience, Foxx also declared Conny Plank as the most important record producer since George Martin.

Despite the innovation of his debut solo album ‘Metamatic’, Foxx moved away from pure electronics due to criticism that his music was cold.

At the time he thought “Maybe I’ve done the wrong thing… it made me afraid of my own music in a way… I’ve never been any good at judging the quality of what I do, I like it but don’t know if it’s any good or not!” – this led to the more band oriented sound of the follow-up ‘The Garden’ which included the actual ‘Systems Of Romance’ song.

Talking about his third solo album ‘The Golden Section’, Foxx said “I wanted to combine electronics with psychedelia… I think I failed because I tried to fit too many favourite things together. It’s always a mistake, it’s like having a meal with all your favourite food, you have fish and pudding and cake and soup and it’s not good! You might love them all, but if you put them on the same plate… but it was out of enthusiasm so I can forgive my younger self for making mistakes like that!”

Premiered in 2014 at London’s South Bank, John Foxx and Steve D’Agostino supported by visual artist Karborn gave an assured performance of ‘Evidence Of Time Travel’, “a unique investigation of the terrors and pleasures of temporal displacement. A sinister sonic architecture of drum-machine-music and analogue synthesizers”.

Karborn’s cut-up images and filmed segments complimented the stark and stoic soundtrack. acontinually evolving audio / visual experience, the finale of ‘Empty Clothing Blows Across A Beach’ saw Katia Isakoff join the trio on a Moog Theremin. Locking into a wonderfully trippy improvisation, disturbing schizophrenic voices also reverberated around the enclosure.

 

The second day concluded with a unique presentation of the silent art movie ‘Nuntius’. Featuring a live improvised soundtrack from Finnish musicians Jimi Tenor and Jori Hulkkonen, the film stars Mr Normall as its central, alien character. Seemingly manufactured in outer space, Mr Normall explores the woods, stares intensely and even rides a motorcycle sidecar combination through a tunnel in Helsinki with a Shetland sheepdog named Louis.

The film’s accompanying music ranged from blippy ambient to frantic motorik, with Tenor occasionally taking to a flute while Hulkkonen brought out his portable Trautonium, an electronic instrument with a pressure sensitive glided board and whose conceptual origins date back to 1929. The whole experience was totally mindbending and when Mr Normall appeared on stage with Tenor and Hulkkonen, things became even more surreal.

It was fabulous weekend that was a reminder of Düsseldorf’s importance as a centre for art, culture and fashion. With the rising profile of the ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE, the 2017 event will be a must-attend date in next year’s diary.


ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Rudi Esch and Carsten Siewert

Live performances can be viewed at
http://concert.arte.tv/de/electricity-conference

www.electricity-conference.com/

www.facebook.com/Electri.city.Esch/

www.jorihulkkonen.com/

www.facebook.com/jimitenor/

www.mrnormall.net/

www.metamatic.com/

www.altersonicsound.com/

www.karborn.com/

http://rustyegan.net/

http://www.electronicmusiclibrary.com/

http://marsheaux.com/

https://twitter.com/theericrandom

http://mute.com/

www.clr.net/

www.facebook.com/markreedermusic/

https://bellerophon-records.com/

www.groenland.com/en/


Text by Chi Ming Lai
Photos by Markus Luigs, Roger Kamp, Lola Li and Chi Ming Lai
23rd October 2016

MARK REEDER vs ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK in Düsseldorf

The 2016 ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE had the bonus of a second Mark Reeder interview conducted by ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK’s Chi Ming Lai.

The scheduled speaker Martyn Ware had unfortunately been taken ill, so Reeder kindly stepped in. The day before, he had already spoken in his charmingly fluent Mancunian lilted German about ‘B-Movie: Lust & Sound In West Berlin 1979 – 1989’.

In this insightful documentary, he narrates about the music, art and chaos of the divided city before its infamous wall came down. Now best known as a remixer, MARK REEDER relocated to Berlin after he left Manchester in 1978 to explore his passion for German electronic music such as KRAFTWERK, NEU! and TANGERINE DREAM.

His enlightening hour long chat covered topics such as his time as Factory Records German representative, living in Berlin, his MFS trance label and working with acts such as JOHN FOXX, PET SHOP BOYS, DEPECHE MODE, MARSHEAUX, BLANK & JONES, QUEEN OF HEARTS and NEW ORDER.

The discussion formed part of the 2016 ELECTRI_CITY_CONFERENCE’s weekend long programme of talks and live music to celebrate Düsseldorf’s electronic music legacy. Also participating were Daniel Miller, Chris Liebing, John Foxx, Steve D’Agostino, Rusty Egan, Chris Payne, Eric Random, Jimi Tenor and Jori Hulkkonen.


Mark Reeder’s remix collections ‘Five Point One’ and ‘Collaborator’ are released by Kennen and Factory Benelux respectively

‘B-Movie: Lust & Sound In West Berlin 1979 – 1989’ is released by Edel as a DVD and Blu-ray; the soundtrack album is also available as a 2CD, double vinyl LP and download

https://www.facebook.com/markreedermusic

http://www.b-movie-der-film.de/

http://www.electricity-conference.com/de/


Text by Monika Izabela Goss
20th October 2016

HANNAH PEEL Interview

Hannah Peel first became widely known as the synth playing violinist with John Foxx

Although a musician nurtured within a more traditional background, synthpop was the root of her 2010 debut EP ‘Rebox’ which featured music box covers of classics such as ‘Electricity’, Tainted Love’ and ‘Blue Monday’. Over the last few years, more electronic elements have blended into the work of Hannah Peel. 2014’s ‘Fabricstate’ EP was a marvellous hybrid of the synthetic and the organic while on her 2015 seasonal single ‘Find Peace’, Peel went the full electronic hog with a dreamy cacophony of analogue bleeps and percussive mantras.

While ‘Rebox 2’ in 2015 provided an enticing stopgap, Hannah Peel’s second full length album ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ is now ready to be unleashed. Produced with long-term collaborator Erland Cooper from THE MAGNETIC NORTH, the record is a concept album of sorts about memory and the tragic effects of dementia, based on events in Peel’s own life.

An impressive body of work that will startle even her new followers who have come on board via her work with JOHN FOXX, ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ sees Peel at her most experimental yet, especially in the long player’s strident second half. However, the album is launched with the accessible yet poignant pop statement of ‘All That Matters’.

In a busy 2016 which has seen Hannah Peel contribute to recordings by THE MAGNETIC NORTH, BEYOND THE WIZARDS SLEEVE and JOHN FOXX & THE MATHS as well as her own album and an instrumental project under the pseudonym of Mary Casio, she kindly took time out to chat from her retreat in County Donegal.

It’s been a few years since your debut album ‘The Broken Wave’, how do you think you’ve developed as an artist in that time?

I think from the experience firstly of collaborating with John Foxx, then doing THE MAGNETIC NORTH, scoring for MARY CASIO and doing ‘Rebox 2’, I’ve really learnt a lot. I found things I really like and adore in the way I want to make music. In terms of learning from John and Benge about analogue synths, being part of MemeTune studio for the last few years has enabled me to discover who I am. It’s been a very nice process.

You’ve also taken over the studio space where MemeTune used to be based with Erland Cooper. Did Benge leave any synths behind for you?

He left quite a few, it took him weeks to move out… a year later, he’s got his palace in Cornwall sorted and there’s only a Hammond organ left! It’s all sadly gone down there.

You gave your profile an additional boost earlier in the year by working with BEYOND THE WIZARDS SLEEVE?

BEYOND THE WIZARDS SLEEVE was a fantastic thing, they really liked ‘All That Matters’ and Richard Norris ended up doing a remix. So in return, he asked me to come to this big house to record some vocals. I turned up and met his musical partner Erol Alkan; I was instructed to sing one thing and it went on… it was about eight hours later that I actually left! I ended up doing about seven tracks, but it all blurred into one!

Was the deep pitch shifted vocal on ‘Diagram Girl’ done in post-production?

No, it was recorded that way… they wanted me to sound like a man! *laughs*

How did you approach the concept of ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’, what’s its thematic core?

I’ve been writing this album for a very long time since the first one and it’s gone through hundreds of stages, but it never felt quite right. Unfortunately, my granny had dementia and I never quite formalised in my head what it could be, like scientifically where does this disease come from?

I’d read about how people had used music to communicate with those who had lost their memory or had dementia. So one Christmas, I mentioned that to my family and suggested we sing a couple of songs. From not knowing us at all or where she was, she sang every single song and smiled… she even said “Happy Christmas”.

She was very old when she passed away this year, so you can imagine after ten years of having that kind of feeling, all of a sudden being woken up by music… as soon as that happened, I realised that’s what the album was about and what I’ve been writing about these last few years, but I hadn’t really thought about it.

So it took a while to jig it around, the running order is quite specific in terms of how it goes into the rabbit hole of the brain and the darker side. The instrumentals and tracks with no lyrics represent how people lose their speech and hallucinate, so with that second side which is more psychedelic and the repeating of lyrics, I made sure certain elements were brought out when we were mixing it.

But I didn’t want to make a record that was depressing. Obviously it’s a very tragic thing, but also the person is still exactly the same person. A lot of the time, you think you’ve lost them but actually, they’re just in a different world. So that’s why I wanted to approach it as if going into their world and their mind, and through that process, finding solitude and peace myself as well.

Did your interim releases like ‘Fabricstate’, ‘Find Peace’ and ‘Rebox 2’ have any bearing on how you made ‘Awake But Always Dreaming’?

That’s a really good question because they really did, mostly because I was obsessed for a long time with this Italo Calvino book ‘Invisible Cities’; it’s fifty-five short prose poems about these imaginary cities and worlds that all delve into emotion. ‘Fabricstate’ came directly from that book and for a long time, I was like “why am I obsessed with this book?” because I just couldn’t figure it out.

But that specific moment with my granny, I got what I’d been trying to do for the last few years. It was building a city inside your mind or going to another place and understanding it, and that world could be so upside-down as if you live in a net or a valley.

The track ‘Octavia’ on the album is a direct reference to one of the cities, like ‘Chloe’ from the ‘Fabricstate’ EP. It was like maps and the mind, where everything is connecting neurons and everything, it all folded into one whole body of work. So all the EPs and everything all came from the same place really, it was just how they actually come together on the album.

‘Chloe’ from ‘Fabricstate’ was the theme song to the dark Channel 4 drama ‘Dates’. Out of interest, what did you think of it?

Somebody heard the demo, really liked the lyrics and thought it would work well with the show. At the time, I didn’t have the EP ready so I was like “Why not? That would be nice!”

We had to adjust every single ending of the song for each different episode and it came very naturally. I’m glad that it’s got a purpose. I really liked the show, mainly because it was like watching a theatre show on TV with a couple in one place and that was it. It was a gorgeous concept and it was a shame it didn’t get commissioned any further.

‘All That Matters’ is possibly your most synthpop song yet, how did that develop from writing to recording because it started on piano?

It goes back to basic songwriting, in that if it works with one instrument which is my core solid grounding like a piano, it can work across all different kinds of forms. It worked beautifully on the piano, but I don’t think it gave the album enough hope, fun and youthfulness that it needed to open up a record. It needed that big sense of life affirming power, the arpeggiator synthline and the blend of the organic strings came together quite naturally.

Talking of this more positive tone despite the darkness, there’s songs with melancholic optimism like ‘Hope Lasts’?

It had the same kind of angle in terms of being supported and that no matter how bad things get, you keep a bright eye on things. I think a lot of what I deal with as an artist is self-doubt and self-deprecating myself to the point that I can’t do something *laughs*

What I saw echoed in a lot of other people, especially with something like this where it’s so tragic, is it doesn’t have to be, there is hope there. There are people trying to find a cure, there is support and music can do that. So there had to be this hopeful “I can see you – I can see the future – I can see its going to be ok – don’t worry” aspect, it’s quite simple really. That’s another song that really works on the piano and I’ve been saying to my manager Steve Malins that it would be really lovely to do a version of some of the songs from the record with just piano and strings.

The second half of the album will surprise some because it’s quite experimental. You mentioned ‘Octavia’ earlier but there are also the title track and ‘Foreverest’ which are both quite long…

Those are the tracks that came from writing things like the instrumentals on ‘Rebox 2’ and ideas that came from using the same instruments like the Roland SH101. It felt that to go into that world, you needed to go into a trance state with something that is long and stepping into something else. ‘Foreverest’ was originally two tracks, they fitted so well together so they were joined with a Claptrap *laughs*

‘Foreverest’ was written from an outside perspective of looking at the world and how particularly in life, we race around and we try our best to succeed or get to the top and people are cut-throat. I goes back to ‘All That Matters’ at the end of the day, regardless of anything, is you have someone around you who cares for you and you love. It was a kind of reflection on how people try to get to the top of Mount Everest and die on the way up and don’t get lifted down!

There’s hundreds of people who go up there and die on the mountain and are left there! When I read that in ‘National Geographic’, I thought at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you don’t get to the top of your career or whatever, because you might lose your mind or memory… what does it matter?

You’ve covered ‘Cars In The Garden’ by Paul Buchanan from THE BLUE NILE, what made you choose this song for the album?

I’ve been playing this song live for a while and for me when I heard it, it triggered something that was very emotional. I’m a massive fan of THE BLUE NILE and a lot of the basis of the album’s production comes from ‘A Walk Across The Rooftops’ and ‘Hats’. It’s the blend of analogue synths, beautiful lush strings and Paul Buchanan’s voice in particular which just resonates.

When I was putting the album together, the very end felt like it needed a music box to bring you back to childhood, which is where everybody seems to go. My granny remembered where she was born when she was aged six and that was right up until she died, but she wouldn’t remember anything past that. The music box for me is obviously very innocent, real and fed with paper, and the song itself talks about folding into the landscape and being overcome by nature. So it felt like the perfect ending to round it off to go back to the beginning.

I tried various different duet vocals and we’ve got a really wonderful version with John Foxx, but the one with Hayden Thorpe from WILD BEASTS made it onto to album because his vocal is so subtle and soft, it just needed that other perspective on it.

What would you say are your favourite songs on the new album?

One in particular is ‘Conversations’, I can’t sing it at the moment without crying, recording that was really difficult. I don’t know if I’ll ever do that one live; if I do, it will be when I’ve got used to the album maybe later down the line.

‘Conversations’ reminds me of Kate Bush…

Oh thank you, that’s really nice. I suppose it’s the vocal that goes up really high, speaking and stuff. I do want all the songs there, but there’s a couple that I find very emotionally connecting, ones that really mark where emotions come from. ‘Foreverest’, ‘All That Matters’ and ‘Don’t Take It Out On Me’ are the main ones that grab me and get me going inside, they’re so direct.

Does having other projects such as THE MAGNETIC NORTH and Mary Casio help with focussing your different interests?

Yes, they do. It’s really important that they have a separate voice so there is a different sound. Mary Casio could have been a Hannah Peel album, but it’s so different in terms of there’s no vocals. It’s very much an instrumental journey, so it helped me to compose it under a different name and gave me the confidence to just go for it. They do blend but I think the key is the style and the blend of soundscapes that hopefully makes it different on each one, but also keeps it together.

Some of your earlier fans don’t appear to have enjoyed your new direction. Who do you think your fanbase is these days?

I’ve moved on so much since ‘The Broken Wave’ so I don’t feel that anybody that was on that first album should have been on that journey with me. I do find that my fanbase is very, very varied and comes from all different angles; there’s THE MAGNETIC NORTH and John Foxx obviously in particular.

The first record wasn’t me, I just did it because it was fun and someone said “I’ll produce and put this out for you”, I just said “Yeah, why not!” – most of it was written while I was recording just in the studio, because I’d never really written songs before. It was an interesting thing when it came out. I actually ended up, not resenting the album because it means a lot, but it just didn’t feel like me. I’ve said to Steve Malins several times, “I want it off iTunes! I don’t want it there anymore” because it doesn’t represent who am I now and he just went “You can’t do that! You can’t just wipe it off and start again!” *laughs*

When I go to see family in Donegal and I go down the pub, people down there ask me to play ‘Song For The Sea’ from ‘A Broken Wave’ because it’s still a favourite of people around there because they know me from childhood. So that’s nice, it makes me feel better.

You’re about to embark on the five date ‘Troika’ tour with KITE BASE and I SPEAK MACHINE. What’s happening here?

I like KITE BASE, they supported me in London last year and we knew Tara Busch was coming over to support Gary Numan as I SPEAK MACHINE. We were all free at this time so someone said “Shall we do something?” and we just pencilled it in. We’re all playing solo, we’re not doing anything joint, it’s just a joint billing tour. Every night, the headliner will be different so we’re just making sure everybody comes down for the first act… what that first act is, you won’t know until you get there! *laughs*

We’re all of a similar age and come from the same background, and although the music from each act is different, it does feel similar in a way. Also, it’s nice to have some kind of support because even just for myself to get on a support tour is really difficult if you’re not on a big label. It’s nice that we have this group mentality of “right, we’re going do something and we’re going to do it” and it’s going to be called THIS and the poster is going to have a Soviet style that we all really like!


ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Hannah Peel

Special thanks also to Josh Cooper at 9PR and Steve Malins at Random Management

‘Awake But Always Dreaming’ is released on 23rd September 2016 by My Own Pleasure on download, vinyl and CD, pre-order at http://hannahpeel.tmstor.es/

troikaHannah Peel joins KITE BASE and I SPEAK MACHINE for the 2016 ‘Troika’ tour which includes:

Cardiff CLWB (7th September), London Shacklewell Arms (9th September), Bristol The Exchange (10th September), Coventry The Tin (13th September), Sheffield Picture House (14th September)

http://www.hannahpeel.com

https://www.facebook.com/HannahPeelMusic

https://twitter.com/hanpeel

https://soundcloud.com/hannahpeel


Text and Interview by Chi Ming Lai
25th August 2016

A Beginner’s Guide To CONNY PLANK

It was at Conny’s Studio near Cologne that a number of landmark recordings were completed, notably KRAFTWERK’s ‘Autobahn’ and ULTRAVOX’s ‘Vienna’. 

The studio was the operational centre of engineer and producer Konrad Plank whose innovative portfolio covered a wide spectrum of music. Using a customised mixing desk, Plank favoured a dynamic production ethos that went against the grain of the compressed rock recording of the times. An advocate in the possibilities of electronics, he said: “I like synthesizers when they sound like synthesizers and not like instruments. Using a drum machine for electronic music is okay, but not if you try to make it sound like a real drummer”.

Conny Plank’s work with pioneering German experimental acts such as KRAFTWERK, CLUSTER and NEU! had a strong influence on David Bowie and Brian Eno, and thus ultimately every act that emerged from Synth Britannia; John Foxx considers Plank to be the most important record producer since George Martin.

His influence was quite evident when ULTRAVOX worked with George Martin on the ‘Quartet’ album in 1982; compared to their Plank produced Cologne Trilogy of ‘Systems Of Romance’, ‘Vienna’ and ‘Rage In Eden’, ‘Quartet’ sounded thin and lacked density. But as history has shown, a producer can only achieve so much when the artists themselves are not delivering and even Plank’s involvement in ULTRAVOX’s lamentable ‘U-Vox’ album could not save it.

Plank’s key to getting the best out of his work was to enjoy the company of the acts he worked with. This was a particularly important requisite when trapped inside a countryside complex away from the social distractions of a city.

When Plank was booked by Daniel Miller for a four day session to record DAF’s first full-length album ‘Die Kleinen Und Die Bösen’, only the final day involved any actual recording as he had spent the first three days getting to know them; the relationship with DAF continued for a further three albums.

However, legend has it that after being introduced to U2 by Brian Eno with the view to producing ‘The Joshua Tree’, Plank turned down the job declaring: “I cannot work with this singer!”

As well as studio work, Plank was also an active musician. It was while touring South America with CLUSTER’s Dieter Moebius that Plank fell ill; he sadly passed away in December 1987 at the age of 46. Conny Plank leaves an important musical legacy, so here is a look back at twenty of his works, with a restriction of one track per album project


ASH RA TEMPEL Traummaschine (1971)

ASH RA TEMPEL were a highly important Kosmiche band; it was the platform from which future electronic exponents Manuel Göttsching and Klaus Schulze emerged; they later found acclaim with their respective progressive opuses ‘E2-E4’ and ‘Mirage’. Plank engineered their very different debut album, seeded from sessions of free-form improvising. With just one track per side, the building eerie atmospheres of ‘Traummaschine’ contrasted with the noisier rock of ‘Amboss’.

Available on the ASH RA TEMPEL album ‘Ash Ra Tempel’ via SMGO Art

http://www.ashra.com/


KRAFTWERK Tanzmusik (1973)

Having engineered KRAFTWERK’s first two albums and the earlier ORGANISATION ‘Tone Float’ long player, Plank helped Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider’s shift towards synthesizers on their third long player. A Minimoog and an EMS AKS appeared, but a Farfisa electric piano and a preset rhythm unit were the dominant textures of ‘Tanzmusik’. Things were more structured and with the abstract use of vocals, ‘Ralf & Florian’ were heading closer to the sound that would change pop music.

Originally on the KRAFTWERK album ‘Ralf & Florian’ via Philips Records, currently unavailable

http://www.electriccafe.info/


NEU! Für Immer (1973)

Plank acted as mediator between the NEU! nucleus of Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger who each had quite different personalities and aspirations. Over a classic Motorik beat, ‘Für Immer’ featured carefully layered mini-cacophonies of sound. Indeed, so much studio time was spent on the track, the duo ran out of budget. In a fit of madness or genius, Dinger came up with the idea to fill the second half of the album with speeded up and slowed down versions of their single ‘Super’!

Available on the NEU! album ‘Neu! 2’ via Grönland Records

http://www.neu2010.com/


KRAFTWERK Autobahn (1974)

Under Plank’s stewardship, ‘Autobahn’ was KRAFTWERK’s breakthrough release as their transition into electronic pop. Ralf Hütter’s octave shifting Minimoog formed the rhythm backbone alongside a futuristic electronic snap, while Florian Schneider’s ARP Odyssey took the melodic lead over a 22 minute car journey. But with Hütter and Schneider growing increasingly confident, the parent album was to be their last recording with Plank. The rest is history…

Available on the KRAFTWERK album ‘Autobahn’ via EMI Music

http://www.kraftwerk.com/


HARMONIA Deluxe (1975)

Unable to recreate NEU! live as a duo, Rother headed to Forst to meet with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius of CLUSTER to discuss the augmenting their sound. While their debut ‘Musik Von Harmonia’ was recorded as a trio, for the follow-up ‘Deluxe’, they added vocals, a drummer in Mani Neumeier of GURU GURU and Plank to assist with production. The wonderful synth work on the title track signalled a melodic sensibility that was equal to that of KRAFTWERK.

Available on the album ‘Deluxe’ via Grönland Records

http://www.harmonia1973.com/


CLUSTER Sowiesoso (1976)

Plank’s long association with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius began in 1969 when he engineered their debut ‘Klopfzeichen’ as KLUSTER. Their fourth album ‘Sowiesoso’ was CLUSTER’s first fully realised exploration into ambient electronics. With gentle melodic phrasing and unimposing rhythmical patterns, the title track was a wonderfully hypnotic adventure that welcomed the listener into the soothing world of the long player’s remaining aural delights.

Available on the CLUSTER album ‘Sowiesoso’ via Bureau B

http://www.bureau-b.com/cluster.php


LA DÜSSELDORF Time (1976)

The third NEU! album saw a frustrated Klaus Dinger looking to seek the limelight. He got what he wanted in LA DÜSSELDORF. With his brother Thomas and Hans Lampe as percussionists, he headed down a more aggressive direction on their debut self-titled LP produced by Plank. There was a lot of Düsseldorf as the frantic tracks ‘Düsseldorf ’and ‘La Düsseldorf’ proved, but ‘Time’ was the epic closer that built to a brooding climax.

Available LA DÜSSELDORF album ‘La Düsseldorf’ via WEA

http://www.la-duesseldorf.de


MICHAEL ROTHER Flammende Herzen (1977)

Rother’s first three solo albums ‘Flammende Herzen’, ‘Sterntaler’ and ‘Katzenmusik’ were produced by Plank and featured CAN’s Jaki Liebezeit on drums. “It would be unfair really to have a favourite album” said Rother when asked if he had a preference, “Of course, I try to highlight Conny Plank’s contribution, he was so valuable… we wouldn’t have been able to record NEU! or the second HARMONIA album or my solo albums without Conny, so he’s all over the place in my music… thank you Conny”.

Available on the MICHAEL ROTHER album ‘Flammende Herzen’ via Random Records

http://www.michaelrother.de/en/


BRIAN ENO By This River (1977)

Originating from his sessions with Dieter Moebius and Hans-Joachim Roedelius in Forst for HARMONIA 76, Eno produced this beautiful piano and synth ballad at Conny’s Studio with Plank at the engineering controls for inclusion on his fourth pop solo album ‘Before & After Science’. The warmth extracted from the Yamaha CS80 used was one of the key stand-out elements of ‘By This River’, which was later covered by Martin Gore for his ‘Counterfeit 2’ solo album.

Available on the BRIAN ENO album ‘Before & After Science’ via Virgin Records

http://brian-eno.net/


ENO MOEBIUS ROEDELIUS Broken Head (1978)

With the success of their earlier ‘Eno & Cluster’ ambient opus, the artful threesome gathered together again, but added voices and more experimentation for its follow-up ‘After The Heat’. With Plank again behind the desk, the textures on the unorthodox ‘Broken Head’ recalled some of Eno’s work with Bowie on ‘Heroes’ in particular, while the deep monotone vocals were a offset by some oddly noted piano accompaniment and an unorthodox rhythmic template.

Available on the ENO MOEBIUS ROEDELIUS album ‘After The Heat’ via Bureau B

http://www.roedelius.com/


ULTRAVOX! Slow Motion (1978)

The first phase of ULTRAVOX! was dominated by the songwriting of John Foxx, but ‘Slow Motion’ was a group effort. Decamping to Conny’s Studio, the intro and theme were composed by bassist Chris Cross on his newly acquired EMS AKS. The quintet locked together as never before, with Billy Currie’s ARP Odyssey playing off Robin Simon’s treated guitars almost as one behind Warren Cann’s powerful, syncopating drums. Sadly, this breakthrough was not to last…

Available on the ULTRAVOX! album ‘Systems Of Romance’ via Island Records

http://www.metamatic.com/


MOEBIUS & PLANK Tollkühn (1981)

Dieter Moebius and Conny Plank released their first collaborative effort, the reggae influenced ‘Rastakraut Pasta’ in 1979. For the second album ‘Material’, a more rigid beat was applied, as well as driving synthesizer rhythms. ‘Tollkühn’ was a mightily pulsing electronic workout that more than suited the title’s English translation of ‘Daredevil’. Full of phasing effects with the odd cymbal interjection, it now stands out as ahead of its time in the context of 1981.

Available on the MOEBIUS & PLANK album ‘Material’ via Bureau B

http://www.bureau-b.com/moebius.php


HOLGER CZUKAY Witches’ Multiplication Table (1981)

By 1981, Holger Czukay was at the zenith of his Dali-inspired surrealist sound painting, having released ‘Movies’ in 1979. Following their LES VAMPYRETTES collaboration, Plank contributed ‘Witches’ Multiplication Table’ to ‘On the Way To The Peak of Normal’, the second album by the CAN bassist. With Czukay providing an oddball monologue over a dub backbone, Plank added cemetry synthesizer violin alongside bursts of French horn; “Craziness is something holy” he later said.

Available on the album ‘On The Way To The Peak of Normal’ via Grönland Records ‎

http://www.czukay.com/


PHEW! Signal (1981)

PHEW! was formally a member of psychedelic rock combo AUNT SALLY and her first solo single ‘Shukyoku’ was produced Ryuichi Sakamoto in 1980. Produced by Plank, Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit, ‘Signal’ was the experimental Japanese singer’s take on Neue Deutsche Welle with distant echoes of Berlin noise merchants MALARIA! looming. Driven by hypnotic bass synths and punky guitar, it was unsurprisingly tense and darkly rhythmic.

Available on the PHEW! album ‘Phew!’ via Pass Records

http://www.japanimprov.com/phew/


EURYTHMICS Never Gonna Cry Again (1981)

With hits like ‘Would I Lie To You?’, ‘Sisters Are Doing It For Themselves’ and ‘Thorn In My Side’, it’s unusual in hindsight to understand that Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart were interested in rhythmic electronic music from Europe, hence their name. When the pair left THE TOURISTS, one of the first to lend support for their new aspirations was Conny Plank. ‘Never Gonna Cry Again’ with its doubled synth and flute solo was the first song released from their production partnership.

Available on the EURYTHMICS album ‘In The Garden’ via Sony BMG

http://eurythmics.com/


ULTRAVOX The Thin Wall (1981)

So happy was Plank with working with Warren Cann, Chris Cross and Billy Currie on ‘Systems On Romance’ that when Midge Ure joined, he offered to finance the recording of a new ULTRAVOX album. The reconfigured quartet signed to Chrysalis and delivered the hit album ‘Vienna’. Produced in Conny’s Studio for the follow-up ‘Rage In Eden’, ‘The Thin Wall’ densely merged synthesizers, guitar, piano, violin and Linn Drum for a formidable yet under rated hit single.

Available on the ULTRAVOX album ‘Rage In Eden’ via EMI Records

http://www.ultravox.org.uk/


DAF Kebab Träume (1982)

Gabi Delgado-López and Robert Görl had worked with Plank since 1979 and with his assistance, DAF had reduced to a minimal electro body core of Görl’s tight drumming and synth programming driven by a Korg SQ-10 analogue sequencer to accompany Delgado-López’s shouty, aggressive vocals. As with a previous Plank production ‘Der Mussolini’, DAF courted controversy on ‘Kebab Träume’ with the provocative line “Deutschland! Deutschland! Alles ist vorbei!”

Available on the DAF album ‘Für Immer’ via Mute Records

http://www.robert-goerl.de


MOEBIUS PLANK NEUMEIER Speed Display (1983)

Mani Neumeier is best known as the percussionist and singer of GURU GURU, the psychedelic jazz combo from Heidelberg who recorded three albums with Plank. Joining him and Moebius for a one-off long player ‘Zero Set’, Neumeier’s presence was felt heavily on ‘Speed Display’, a mad hyperactive collage of drums, bubbling electronics and treated robotic vocals that did what it said on the tin! The drumming was so tight that some have highlighted it as an example of proto-techno!

Available on the MOEBIUS PLANK NEUMEIER album ‘Zero Set’ via Bureau B

http://mani-neumeier.de/guruguru/index.htm


LES RITA MITSOUKO Marcia Baïla (1985)

‘Marcia Baïla’ was LES RITA MITSOUKO’s tribute to their late friend, Argentinian dancer Marcia Moretto. With Plank at the production helm, a squelchy backing track with enough space for Catherine Ringer’s strident theatrics was honed for a wonderful celebration of life. It was subsequently covered by Ricky Martin in 1998. LES RITA MITSOUKO went on to become very popular in France, collaborating with SPARKS in 1990. Fred Chichin, the other half of the duo, sadly passed away in 2007.

Available on the LES RITA MITSOUKO album ‘Rita Mitsouko’ via Sony Music

http://www.ritamitsouko.org/


GIANNA NANNINI Bello E Impossibile (1986)

The Italian singer / songwriter had something in common with NITZER EBB’s Douglas J McCarthy in that she too had a relative who was a F1 driver; in her case it was her brother, one-time Grand Prix winner Alessandro. Plank started working with Nannini in 1982 at a time when he was still regarded as a more artistically minded producer, rather than one who delivered pop hits. ‘Bello E Impossibile’ was a huge hit all over Europe.

Available on the GIANNA NANNINI album ‘Profumo’ via Dischi Ricordi

http://www.giannanannini.com/en/


Dedicated to the memory of Conny Plank 1940 –1987

The 4CD box set ‘Who’s That Man: A Tribute To Conny Plank’ is available via Grönland Records ‎

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100063520122298

http://groenland.com/en/artist/conny-plank-2/


Text by Chi Ming Lai
6th August 2016

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