Holger Czukay

Holger Czukay (born 24 March 1938) is a German musician, probably best known as a co-founder of the krautrock group Can.

Biography

Czukay was born in the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk). He studied music under Karlheinz Stockhausen from 1963 to 1966 [http://www.spoonrecords.com/holger.html Biography at Spoon Records] ] and then worked for a while as a music teacher. Initially Czukay had little interest in rock music, but this changed when a student played him The Beatles' 1967 song "I Am The Walrus," [ [http://www.czukay.de/can/publications/2.html can - publications ] ] opening his ears to music by rock experimentalists like the Velvet Underground and Frank Zappa.

Czukay co-founded Can in 1968. He played bass guitar and performed most of the recording and engineering for the group. He left Can in 1977 a few years before the group's official breakup, and was replaced by bassist, Rosko Gee, of the British band, Traffic.

After his departure from Can, Czukay recorded some notable early ambient albums. His trademarks became the use of shortwave radio sounds and his early pioneering of sampling, in those days involving the painstaking cutting and splicing of magnetic tapes. He would tape-record various sounds and snippets from shortwave and incorporate them into his compositions. He also used shortwave as a live, interactive musical instrument (such as on 1991's "Radio Wave Surfer"), a method of composition he termed "radio painting".

Czukay has collaborated with a considerable number of musicians, notably a series of albums with Jah Wobble and David Sylvian, two young British musicians who shared his interest in blending pop music with experimental recording and sampling techniques. Other collaborators include Brian Eno, Eurythmics, and the German New Wave band, Trio.

Discography

Solo:

* "Canaxis" (1969)
* "Movies" (1979)
* "Biomutanten / Menetekel" (as "Les Vampyrettes" with Conny Plank) (1981)
* "On the Way to the Peak of Normal" (1981)
* "Der Osten Ist Rot" (1984)
* "Snake Charmer" (1983) with Jah Wobble, The Edge, and Ben Mandelson
* "Full Circle" (1984) with Jah Wobble and Jaki Liebezeit
* "Rome Remains Rome" (1987)
* "Plight and Premonition" (1988) with David Sylvian
* "Flux and Mutability" (1989) with David Sylvian
* "Radio Wave Surfer" (1991)
* "Moving Pictures" (1993)
* "Clash" (1998) with Dr. Walker
* "Good Morning Story" (1999)
* "La Luna" (2000, remastered and expanded 2007)
* "Linear City" (2001) audio collaborations with Susanne Drescher, Per Odderskove, Ray Darr, Darren B. Dunn, Marc Uzan, Ola Norlander, Haki, U-She, Drew Kalapach, Michael Letourneau, Alan Evil from IFPR, Luca Kormentini, Andrew Paine (Boomboy), The Weeds of Eden, Michael Banabila, Dreamfluid, Beatsystem, Noiseman433, Dane Johnson, James Webb, Panoptic, 1605 Munro, Tom Hamlyn
* "The New Millennium" (2003) with U-She
* "Time and Tide" (2007) with U-She
* "21st Century" (2007) with Ursa Major

With Can:

* See Can discography (does not appear on Can's "Out of Reach")

External links

* [http://www.czukay.de Official Site]
* [http://www.myspace.com/holgerczukay Official Myspace Page]
* [http://www.furious.com/perfect/holger.html An interview with Czukay]
* [http://www.dignose.com Dignose Records]

Notes