Minusheart

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Minusheart
General information
Genre (s) Electro , alternative rock , synth rock , dark rock
founding 2007
Website www.minusheart.com
Founding members
Programming, singing
 Diver (Jörg Sauer)
Programming, guitar
 Benden (Ralf Bender) (until 2011)
Current occupation
Programming, singing
 Diver (Jörg Sauer)
Programming, guitar
 Chriss Rey (Christian Reinelt) (since 2019)
Keyboard
 Mr. Hilter (Thomas Martiné) (since 2020)
E-drums
 Robert Lee (since 2018)
former members
Drums
 Filip Wildhoney (2011-2013)
Keyboard
 Upstream (Jochen Fouqret) (2011-2013)
Programming, guitar
 Vary (Ingo Hannen) (2011-2014)
Programming, guitar
 Ingo Hahn (2016-2019)
Keyboard
 James DIN (Volker Hierse) (2016–2019)

Minusheart [ maɪnəshaːt ] is a German synth-rock - or alternative rock - band , which was founded in 2007 by Diver (Jörg Sauer) and Benden (Ralf Bender).

history

Beginning and Disease

Minusheart was founded in 2007 by Diver and Benden in Aachen . Between winter 2007 and spring 2009 the band worked on their first album "Disease" , which was released on October 16, 2009 by the German label Echozone . As early as December 2008, when Diver and Echozone boss Jörg Tochenhagen met for the first time at the German premiere of the music film “Polyradah” at the Filmforum NRW, the record deal between Minusheart and Echozone was in the making .

Artist and album title play with a double negative in the debut album . In English Studies-speaking means "Minusheart" mutatis mutandis "Without Heart" , the album title "Disease" corresponds to the German word "disease" . By combining both words, the negative utterances are transformed into positive ones. “Minusheart Disease” is the medical term for the diagnosis “without heart disease” .

Thematically, this album reminds music by the used electronic elements to the 1980s and Divers singing employs Punk - attitude contains, with various diseases society without resorting to sarcasm and irony to dispense.

Artists like Monolith, Accessory or Myk Jung , the voice of The Fair Sex , were involved in the production of the first Minusheart album . The first edition of "Disease" contains the results of these collaborations, which were released in the form of remixes on the bonus section of the album.

In July 2009 Minusheart shot their first music video for the song "Feel No Pain" under the direction of Robert Sukrow . In the fall of 2009, “Don't Feed The Cats” Minusheart's first commercial hit was released. In the meantime, many artists from all over the world began remixing Minusheart's songs. Among other things, Alter Der Ruine and the German Destroid gave Minusheart's songs a new look. In the spring of 2010, Echozone finally announced the release of "Healed" , a remix album limited to 1000 copies that includes 17 alternative versions of the songs on "Disease" . At the same time, Minusheart produced their low-budget music video for their song "Lifespan" , which was reinterpreted in the "Breathtaker Club Version" by Mono.Sys and published on "Healed" . This time Diver directed it himself.

Due to Benden's long-term illness, it became very quiet around Minusheart in the summer of 2010. The band canceled the planned live activities. Even the long wacky music video for the song “Future Lies” only appeared with a latency of 15 months in June 2011. This clip was produced by the Mainz-based film production company Infernal Films.

The Big Idea as a quartet

Diver began working on the second studio album “The Big Idea” in the summer of 2009 while traveling through southern Europe . In February 2011, Benden left Minusheart. But the very next day Vary (Ingo Hannen), the former head of the band Cyme In Bloom, joined Minusheart. Already in winter 2010/11 Diver and Vary met for a few jam sessions in the low-noise studios in Aachen. In the spring, Diver and Vary successfully completed their work on the album "The Big Idea" . In May of the same year, Diver and Vary took the Belgian enfant terrible Filip Wildhoney, also drummer of Luc Van Acker's RevCo World Crew , and the Aachen-based electronic musician Upstream (Jochen Fouqret) into the band. Wildhoney and Upstream should support Minusheart especially live and at special performances.

In June 2011, Frédéric Sapart directed Minusheart's third video clip "Drawback" . On August 26, 2011, "Drawback" , with remixes by Accessory, Destroid and Vary, was released as a download single at the same time as the music video . After a two year journey, "The Big Idea" was released on October 7, 2011 by Echozone.

Lyrically, the front man Diver creates a critical , often striking and multi-layered reference to the topics of love and social relationships . Musically, the album is entitled by the use of rhythm guitars and because of the repetitive electronic arrangements (sequencer lines) to the industrial rock - productions in the 1990s.

On May 11, 2012, the second single, "Inglorious Bang" , followed, which, in addition to the album version, contains remixes by Accessory, Disconnected and Mike Silence. The accompanying video clip was released early on November 18, 2011, was filmed by Tim Assmann and edited again by Frédéric Sapart.

On June 1st, 2012 Minusheart released the third music video for the album “The Big Idea” with “Book Of Love ” . This is the band's first music video in which no band member took part as an actor. The German video artist "Schwarzdreher" directed the film .

Two weeks later, Diver and Vary announced on episode 14 of the Echozone TV podcast that they were already working on new songs and that they were planning to release their fourth album in 2013.

Calls From Space

On October 18, 2013, Minusheart finally presented their fourth album, "Calls From Space" . The sound carrier was released again by the German music label Echozone and was first distributed by Soulfood . After founding member Benden was still involved in the beginning of the production process for the third album, “Calls From Space” is the first work that the two protagonists Diver and Vary completed. The first ideas for “Calls From Space” developed in the spring of 2011 as part of a few jam sessions in the low-noise studios in Aachen.

For the second time in a row, Minusheart completed an album together with producer Ramon Creutzer, who was previously involved in productions by the new wave bands The Fair Sex , No More and The Legendary Pink Dots . Just in time for the album release , Minusheart presented a music video for the single “Say The Word” , which was directed by Jörg Tochenhagen .

Despite the mostly good reviews , some of which assumed the band was saying goodbye to the underground , Diver announced in a magazine in mid-2014 that there would be no new Minusheart album in the near future. On March 2nd, 2015 Minusheart released another music video for “Calls From Space” for the rather melancholy “Song For The Blind ” . Ivan Komuczki carried out the extensive filming in November 2013.

The comeback album Traps And Treasures

In the summer of 2016, Minusheart announced that work on a new album had started. On September 28, 2018, the German label Timezone Records finally released the album "Traps And Treasures" after a five-year break from Minusheart . The album was produced by the Russian music producer Maxim Dergunov. Almost at the same time as the album release , the band released a new music video for the song "The Warning" , which was realized by Frédéric Sapart, with whom Minusheart had already worked in 2011. Minusheart showed up almost entirely with a new line- up . In addition to founding member Diver, keyboardist James DIN, guitarist Ingo Hahn and drummer Robert Lee completed the quartet .

Although "Traps And Treasures" phased minimalist sound than his previous albums and at times with the electronic body music of the 1980s and 1990s flirts , the newly formed band with their fifth album seems to have reached a new level of maturity to have. Minusheart always manages to create a unique style from the ingredients electro , punk , industrial and rock . In addition, Minusheart's charismatic front man Diver succeeds in giving the sound of his band a completely unique note through his partly morbid stories and his dark shouts , which again inspire with brilliant irony and apt sarcasm .

Discography

Albums

  • 2009: Disease (published by Echozone / Sony Music)
  • 2010: Healed (remix album limited to 1000 copies, Echozone / Intergroove)
  • 2011: The Big Idea (Echozone / Sony Music)
  • 2013: Calls From Space (Echozone / Soulfood)
  • 2018: Traps And Treasures (Timezone)
  • 2020: The Dark Side Of The Sun (Echozone / BOB Media)

Singles

  • 2011: Drawback (only download release, Echozone)
  • 2012: Inglorious Bang (only download release, Echozone)
  • 2014: Say The Word (only download release, Echozone)
  • 2019: The Warning (only download release, Timezone)
  • 2019: On Mercury (only download release, Timezone)
  • 2020: They Shout (only download release, Echozone)

Compilations

  • 2009: Cold Hands Seduction Vol. 100 (Sonic Seducer)
  • 2009: G-Mode 3 (Gothic Lifestyle Magazine)
  • 2010: Correlation (Echozone)
  • 2010: Echozone-Label Special (Zillo)
  • 2011: Electro Pop Vol. 2 (Zyx Music)
  • 2011: (Ae) Quilibrium (Mutant Records)
  • 2011: Gothic-Spirits - EBM-Edition Vol. 3 (Golden Core)
  • 2011: Cold Hands Seduction Vol. 124 (Sonic Seducer)
  • 2014: Elektro EBM Industrial (Echozone)
  • 2014: Club Dance (Echozone)
  • 2014: Dark Dance (Echozone)
  • 2014: Gothic Spirits - EBM Edition Vol. 6 (Golden Core)
  • 2020: Cold Hands Seduction Vol. 219 (Sonic Seducer)

Video compilations

  • 2009: Feel No Pain (published on Gothic Visions, Echozone / Edel)
  • 2010: Lifespan (Breathtaker Club Version) (Gothic Visions II, Echozone / Edel)
  • 2011: Lifespan (Breathtaker Club Version) (Nachtaktiv 04-2011, Echozone)
  • 2011: Drawback (nocturnal 05-2011, Echozone)
  • 2011: Drawback (Gothic Visions III, Echozone / Edel)
  • 2011: Drawback (Dark Visions, Zillo)
  • 2011: Future Lies (nocturnal 06-2011, Echozone)
  • 2012: Book Of Love (Dark Summer 2012, Zillo)
  • 2012: Inglorious Bang (Cold Hands Seduction Vol. 132, Sonic Seducer)
  • 2013: Book Of Love (Gothic Visions IV, Echozone / Edel)
  • 2015: Song For The Blind (Gothic Visions V, Echozone / Edel)

Web links