At the beginning of the 90s I moved from Kiel to Hanover and since then I have been rooted in this city and its music and culture scene. At that time there were a few underground locations in Hanover with a very broad musical scene.
How did you get into music?
The sound that was heard in the clubs of that time made me want to implement my own ideas. Back then I didn't know that industrial/noise was an existing genre. But I had already heard Einstreiche Neuhäusern and similar bands in Kiel.
In any case, I wanted to be loud, tear down the walls and leave my usual musical listening habits. In the local club I played a track of mine to a friend and she immediately said: “You definitely have to get to know my friend. He also makes such noise and you would probably get along well."
So it happened and Nils and I planned to release a few split tapes together. That was the birth of our tape label “Bunkersound-Kollektiv” in the early to mid-nineties. Our way of dealing with sounds at the time complemented each other very well and so most of the releases were created together, even though they were actually separate projects.
Things really started for us when Silvio from Membrum Debile Propaganda (an extremely large mail order for industrial, noise, atonales etc. at the time) called me and asked me if we wanted to publish with him and if he would keep our stuff with him the mail order should list.
At first I thought it was a joke and hung up straight away. Silvio then called again with the words “But don’t hang up straight away, please.” B:S:K grew and we published our stuff and already had sufficient capacity to accommodate some other projects.
When more live performances came up, Nils was no longer able to do that in terms of time and private life and we dissolved the label. We haven't made music together since then. In the mid-2000s things became significantly quieter for me too.
Why this particular sound?
Good question. I can't answer that specifically. Musically, I listen to a lot of different genres. From ska to folk (I also play banjo and cajon) to EBM and of course industrial, noise and whatever else falls into this area.
What/who inspired you musically in the past?
I definitely found the dark atmosphere of The Klinik and later Dive (both projects in which Dirk Ivens was significantly involved) super interesting. Coil's live performances were always very impressive for me and, even though I never really preferred their music, they accompanied and inspired me in my own work.
What are your current projects?
And that's when my past catches up with me again... From the long-term collaboration with Nils and the Bunkersound collective, there are still a few musical construction sites that remain open and ideas that have been floating around in my head for years. In the mid-2010s it happened that someone wanted to sell me their Korg MS-20 and so I was licking blood again. I'm very happy that I found my way back to Industrial.
Oh yes - current project... With Stammheim Klangforschung I took up the old roots again and created a concept project that deals with the Stammheim criminal trial and the RAF. The WDR archive now provides access to some of the tape recordings of the trial that were accidentally not deleted at the time and were gathering dust in some archive. I processed these in a live performance.
Maybe there will also be an album of its own. For now, I'm happy to be leaving this old construction site behind me and being able to devote myself to current musical ideas.
Where should it go?
People used to be young and impetuous, restless and full of plans. I think today I see it much more calmly and for my part I don't have any fixed plans or goals that I really want to achieve. Which doesn't mean that I'm musically inactive now. Many interesting contacts and opportunities arise.
At this point we would like to refer to the NO/NOISEOVER project with Michael of Mesopotam. Industrial meets Berlin Techno. Nice sounds in a constant dialogue with supposed noise.