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Interview
by SashaS
28-8-2001
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| An Anglo-German family business |
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Outta can of confusion
Irmin Schmidt & Kumo expend musical mind in search for The One obscured by populism
Being weaned on the popular recipe of music for a moment, as disposable as yesterday, an album like 'Masters Of Confusion' is bound to cause a chock to the system. It is a creation of a German, based in France for decades, Irmin Schmidt and Kumo, an Englishman whose given name is Jono Podmore. The two met after Schmidt found himself swamped with arranging symphonic and electronic elements to his opera 'Gormenghast', based on Mervyn Peake trilogy of novels.
"I needed a sound engineer, programmer, sound designer," Schmidt explains in his German-precision English, "someone who was comfortable in classical music as well as in anything going in the contemporary pop. I was introduced to Jono and he had the right credentials to deal with it. After the opera was staged (in 1998) I told him about some sonic ideas I had and asked him if he was interested in collaborating."
The collaboration led to the new album that is as much a sonic jewel as is a challenge to casual listener. These are improvisational, abstract pieces that defy any categorisation and classical element rubs grooves with cybertronica, club sounds, rock heritage, and World music...
"I also come from the classical background," Kumo intones upon returning from the hotel's restroom, "by getting a degree in electronic music and violin (as Middlesex University). But I preferred working in modern music and have done a lot of Techno, with Mr C and The Shamen, as well as having my own album. I did a lot of touring but nothing has prepared me for this experience."
Crosspollination
'Masters Of Confusion' is an album that certainly can shatter any well-sheltered musical notions but it is not done in a highbrow, alienating way, it all flows in its mixtures of genres and styles.
"There are no clashes here," Schmidt continues in his studious manner," but a dialogue between different genres, a viewpoint which is impossible if you are only dealing in one musical language. You bring them together in a way that is not patronising but juxtaposing all. When you approach music making with respect then you can move forward, get seemingly desperate elements to work together."
This creative crosspollination (Kumo corrects me by saying it is "Crosspollution") has spilt into their private lives that led to Kumo marrying Schmidt's daughter. Strangely enough they don't let on their new in-law relationship but the mother-in-low. who is also business manager, does.
The new couple will have to part for a while because there is a plan to play this music live, "Major cities only," Schmidt points out, "because this is music for chosen few, the ones who can listen with open mind, who can digest music that is not written in four-four."
The One search
If you ask any musician in the know - that excludes popettes and almost all American bands - about the five most influential bands in the universe one of them is bound to be Can, the legendary German avant-garde rock group. Irmin Schmidt was its founder member, a classically trained musician who studied under the serious/experimental composer Stockhausen, but that band hasn't been in a studio together since 1989's 'Rite Time' although the band members work in different permutations on solo projects. And yet, the Can still casts its very long shadow.
"Well, Can has been very important to a lot of people," Schmidt shrugs his shoulders, "and that's always been the case with bands such as The Beatles, Velvet Underground, Kraftwerk and few more. There is nothing you can do about it and you never try to compete with history. You'll always lose and all you can do is continue to explore what interests you."
"'Masters Of Confusion' has been such a joy to make," Kumo gets distracted for a moment with the noise the automatic doors make, "and we are eager to make some more music. What this record allowed us was to have The One disappear."
Which was a good opportunity for Schmidt to remember Reebop Kwaku Baah (who joined Can from Traffic in 1977) of Ghana.
"He brought all these African rhythms in to Can and I got totally lost one day and said 'I don't know where the bloody hell is The One.' And he replied 'You bloody Europeans; The One is where you start.' That was a great lesson."
'Masters Of Confusion' can help you locate yours.
SashaS
28-8-2001
Irmin Schmidt & Kumo's 'Masters Of Confusion' is released September 03 on Spoon/Mute
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