Kowalski (band)
| Kowalski | |
|---|---|
| General information | |
| Genre (s) | Wave , avant-garde |
| founding | 1980 |
| Founding members | |
| Uwe Fellensiek | |
| Hans Bäär (Maahn) | |
| Rüdiger Braune | |
| Rüdiger Elze (LC) | |
| Current occupation | |
| Uwe Fellensiek | |
| Hans Bäär (Maahn) | |
| Rüdiger Elze (LC) | |
| Dirk Sengotta | |
Kowalski is a German wave / avant-garde band from Wuppertal .
history
The band was made up of four musicians friends from Cologne, Wuppertal and Bochum, who could only celebrate modest successes in their previous formations (Bertha & Friends: Fellensiek; Hölderlin: Bäär; The Ramblers: Braune and Elze). Joint rehearsal sessions in Wuppertal resulted in an industrial and aggressive sound that was unusual for the time, which Rüdiger Braune once described as the "rape of electronics". Keyboard instruments of any kind were avoided; instead, unusual sound generators such as cutting torches and grinding devices were used. In addition, the band used a large electronic database with noises and sound effects that Braune could call up by beating the drum on his drums.
The very unusual guitar playing by Rüdiger Elze was decisive for the Kowalski sound. Through the use of various electronic parts, some of which he developed himself, a sound was created that in no way had anything to do with previously known playing styles. Even guitar sound pioneers like Laurie Anderson could not fall back on such a sophisticated and safe technique. Just listening to the music couldn't tell how it was made.
More than 35 years later, Uwe Fellensiek recalled it as follows: "We deliberately wanted to do something completely different. With Hans Maahn, Rüdiger Elze and Rüdiger Braune we had a very innovative and creative band. We were already using electronic drums back then. And Rüdiger Elze conjured up unbelievable sounds from his guitar. We experimented a lot, for example just swapped instruments with each other to see or hear what was happening. To counter the volume of the instruments, I had to scream, that is what it is Heraldic music emerged. My girlfriend at the time repeatedly cut out weird sayings, which I then processed into song lyrics with quotes from philosophers. All of this together shaped our very own style. "
All recordings were produced by Conny Plank . The album title Schlagende Wetter describes a highly explosive gas mixture that has caused many mine accidents. The band was accordingly photographed naked and smeared with soot in the film set of the television series Rote Erde for the cover.
Although the lyrics were originally in German, the tours led, probably because of the band's idiosyncratic sound, across Europe, from Paradiso in Amsterdam, Olympia in Paris, Lyceum in London to festivals like Roskilde on to Stockholm and Rome, where they provided for much more positive response than in Germany. The album was therefore re-released in English under the title Overman Underground .
However, the music produced against the current zeitgeist of the NDW did not bring the desired success, so the record company withdrew. The band fell apart; the singer Uwe Fellensiek became an actor, the other band members worked as studio musicians on other projects. The three helped Gianna Nannini, among others, to achieve an international breakthrough in 1982 with the studio album Latin Lover - Rüdiger Elze operates here as Rudy Spinello. In 1991 the WDR broadcast a 30-minute documentary about Rüdiger Braune with the title The Drummer .
At the beginning of the 1990s, the quartet attempted a comeback, but without lasting success. With a concert in 1993 in Cologne's Stadtgarten, Kowalski temporarily withdrew from the public.
In addition to the few officially released pieces, the band had other material that was only presented live. The following pieces were broadcast as concert recordings on Dutch radio: Steinharte Knaben; Ride against the Ivan; In the laundromat; Super parasite; Beat me to death. In addition, the title Madonna-Welt by Gianna Nannini (from the album Scandalo, 1990) is based on the also unreleased Kowalski piece Meine Welt.
In November 2010, Uwe Fellensiek surprisingly announced on his website that Kowalski had come together again in the studio with the original line-up to re-record a previously unreleased album, to revise it and then perhaps to publish it after all. In May 2018 the plans finally became reality and presented to the public. Under “The Kowalski Protocols” the band presented previously unpublished material live. In the press release it says: “The typical Kowalski sound is unmistakable, but of course Uwe Fellensiek and band have also evolved. With a lot of space for love, suffering, longing and loneliness ”. All four founding band members were involved in the project, in addition to new material, old works from the time of producer Conny Plank were digitized and remixed.
Discography
- Striking Weather (Virgin)
- Overmann Underground (Virgin)
- Mass hatred / The body I am, 12 "(Virgin)
- The Worker / Indian / Steel Machinery, 12 "(1983; Virgin)
- Workers / Indianer / Steel Machines, 12 "(1983; Virgin)
- Gypsy Baron / Watch Out / Super Dupont, 12 "(1987; SPV)
- The Kowalski Protocols (2018)
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Pandora's Music Box . Festival Booklet 1983
- ↑ TV star Uwe Fellensiek: Comeback with 'Kowalski'. Accessed December 23, 2018 (German).
- ^ Gianna Nannini: Ich - Autobiographie Verlag List, 2006
- ↑ Kowalski | The band. Accessed on December 26, 2018 (German).