Datum intervjua: 16.07.2007
Skupina Faust, koja je sedamdesetih godina prošlog stoljeća bila poznata po eksperimentiranju, “odlijepljenim” nastupima uživo, krajnje nepristupačnim albumima i po tome što je zajedno s još nekim drugim njemačkim sastavima stvorila novi glazbeni pokret (krautrock), nakon dugo vremena vratila se na pozornice i u studio. Nakon nastupa na festivalu Rock in Opposition u Francuskoj i prije avangardnog festivala u Njemačkoj razgovarao sam s basistom i jednim od osnivača skupine – Jean-Hervéom Peronom.
Za početak, kako je došlo do imena krautrock (za naslov skladbe)?
Kad je glazba koja je potekla iz Njemačke postala popularna, Britanci su otkrili način kako da joj se rugaju – “krautrock”. Znali smo se našaliti na vlastiti račun pa smo glavnu skladbu na Faust IV nazvali “Krautrock”. Postala je klasik i sad je Britanci uvijek rado slušaju.
Jeste li smatrali da je Faust “krautrock” sastav u istom smislu kao Can ili Amon Duul, ili su vas tamo strpali samo zbog imena skladbe odnosno činjenice da ste iz Njemačke?
Prije svega naglasimo da taj izraz danas ne znači ništa drugo nego rock koji sviraju njemački sastavi. Prosto je odvratno. “Krautrock” o kojem govorim ja i o kojem govoriš ti nema veze s “krautrockom” o kojem danas govore mediji. Slično se dogodilo s progresivnom glazbom: današnji “prog rock” nema nikakve veze s onom progresivnom glazbom iz 70-ih. Mediji stvaraju riječi (što je dobro), a onda ih zlorabe (što je loše). Sad kad sam to razjasnio, mogu odgovoriti na pitanje. Smatram da smo zajedno s Can, Guru Guru, Amon Duul pravi predstavnici tog “krautrock” pokreta. To što se međusobno dosta razlikujemo bit je tog pokreta. Svaki pravi “kraut” sastav imao je vlastiti prepoznatljiv zvuk. Svi smo tražili vlastitu osobnost i tako smo stvorili mnoštvo raznolikih stilova s jednim zajedničkim ciljem: autentičnošču.
Je li vas ikad smetalo što je toliko sastava bilo “krautrock”, a svaki je bio drugačiji?
Zašto bi, dovraga. Kao što sam već rekao, “krautrock” je upravo to (odnosno bio je). Traženje vlastitog načina izražavanja.
Mislite li da je tadašnja scena u Njemačkoj s toliko velikih sastava (Can, Tangerine Dream, Amon Duul, Faust,…) bila nešto posebno?
Svakako. Svi smo sastavi željeli otkrivati nove stvari, eksperimentirali smo na područjima na kojima nismo mogli očekivati novac, stajali smo goli i izloženi pred publikom koja je poznavala samo “one two three four, rock, oh my baby is gone…” Šokirali smo mnogo ljudi, koji su sada (barem neki) zadovoljni što su se susreli s drugačijim pogledom na svijet i drugačijim načinom izražavanja društvenih nemira.
Kako ste u 70-ima pisali skladbe? Improvizacijama ili je bila riječ o skladanju?
Nije bilo nekog recepta. Sve je ovisilo o dnevnom raspoloženju i inspiraciji. Sve je bilo dopušteno i dobro – matematika, rizik, dadaizam, poezija, droge, skupno pisanje, sve…naravno i kompozicije.
Jeste li iznenađeni što ste sada kultni sastav, možda čak i više od bilo kojeg drugog “krautrock” sastava?
Jako. Čini se da nas neki ljudi jako vole. Neki su stari koliko i ja, drugi su dosta mlađi i to mi je čast. Nema ih puno, ali one koji jesu naša glazba osvoji. Nikad nismo zarađivali novac i nikad ga nećemo, na taj ćemo način sigurno ostati autentični, nikad nećemo biti popularni ni poznati. Nikad nismo sklapali kompromise s izdavačkim kućama kad su nam govorili da budemo “pristupačniji”. Potpuno smo zadovoljni položajem, a na neki sam način ponosan na naš uspjeh (nedostatak uspjeha).
Kako napreduje novi album?
Lijepo, hvala. Gotov je, a prvi će put biti predstavljen na avangardnom festivalu http://www.avantgardefestival.de od 27. do 29. srpnja. Riječ je o suradnji Nurse with Wound i postave Faust. 42 minute plus bonus skladba. Siguran sam da će ti se svidjeti. Opet, bez kompromisa, čista studijska improvizacija, a cijelu su stvar izmiksala ona dva luđaka Stapleton i Potter. Zove se “Disconnected”, a izaći će kod Faustove izdavačke kuće http://www.art-errorist.de Krajem ljeta izaći će i na vinilu kod izdavačke kuće “Dirter”.
Što možete reći o novom materijalu? Kako se može usporediti s onim iz 70-ih?
Potpuno je isti jer je potpuno drugačiji.
Jeste li zadovoljni smjerom koji ste odabrali?
Da. U skupini je sve usklađeno. Ničega ne žalim i s veseljem promatram što se događa: turneje su uspješne kad u publici vidim nasmijane ljude koji plešu. Sad smo ostali samo dvojica izvornih članova: Zappi Diermeier na bubnjevima i ja na gitari, puhačkim instrumentima i alatu. Pozovemo goste, obično prijatelje koje smo upoznali na glazbenom putu. Odlično funkcionira.
Očito ponovno uživate u nastupima uživo. Je li to uvijek bio vaš najdraži dio Fausta?
Sam Faust prilično je kompliciran sklop. Bilo je više “Fausta”. Ovaj koji postoji sada uživa u dijeljenju glazbe uživo. U prošlosti je to stvaralo probleme, ali sada više ne.
Možete li mi nešto reći o eksperimentiranju s čudnim zvukovima? To ste radili već u 70-ima, a i danas ste veliki eksperimentatori.
Što da kažem? Za nas “čudni” zvukovi ne postoje. Sve je zvuk, svi su zvukovi zanimljivi. Umjetnost nije ništa, umjetnik nije ništa. Jedina prava glazba je nikakva glazba. Ne znam. Nisam ovdje. Ovo nisam ja.
Kako ste došli na ideju da na nastupima uživo koristite razne aparate? Jeste li to radili već u 70-ima? Čuo sam naime da je Faust u 70-ima koristio bušilice i druge naprave.
Uvijek smo koristili sve moguće stvari. Bojim se da ćemo s tim i nastaviti.
Danas se čini kao da je Faust iznova otkrio svoj identitet. Opet svirate na manjim pozornicama. Je li osjećaj sličan onome s početka karijere?
Ne sjećam se da smo ikad svirali na VELIKIM pozornicama. Doista, nismo iznova otkrili svoj identitet. Mislim da nas ljudi tek upoznaju. Naravno da je situacija drukčija. Kad smo počeli svirati u 70-ima, ljudi uopće nisu bili spremni pa je reakcija bila…hm…suzdržana! Sad se čini da im se sviđamo od samog početka. Tako je puno lakše raditi “našu stvar”. Opušteniji smo, ne moramo se boriti s publikom. Između nas i publike sada je lijepa sloga…osjećaj koji te jako motivira.
Kako ste upoznali Amauryja Cambuzata (gitara, orgulje; član sastava Ulan Bator) i kada ste odlučili da želite surađivati s njim? Jeste li od početka znali da je pravi čovjek za sastav?
Amaury se u Faustu pojavio i nestao poput kometa. Želim mu da pronađe duševni mir. Izniman je glazbenik. Zaslužuje veće priznanje.
Volite li radije svirati na malim pozornicama, gdje je više kontakta s publikom, nego na većima?
Bez sumnje: na manjima. Želimo osjetiti energiju ljudi, njušiti njihovo oduševljenje, gledati njihova nasmijana lica, dodirivati ih, biti s njima. Zato glazbenici, glazba i publika postoje.
Za kraj, hvala vam što ste odvojili vrijeme za odgovore.
Hvala na zanimanju za našu glazbu.
——————————————————–English version——————————————————————
Faust is known as one of the biggest bands to come out of the German krautrock movement. They are perhaps the “craziest” and most experimental of all krautrock bands and this trend seems to be going on even nowadays. Faust is a legend that keeps re-inventing itself and they seem to have found their way back to the musical scene. Rockline talked to their bass playaer Jean-Hervé Peron.
First of all, how did the name krautrock come about? By this I mean the title of one of your songs.
When the music originated in germany became popular , the british found a name to make fun of it “krautrock”… We decided to take the joke with good humor and called our main songs on the new album “faust IV” KRAUTROCK. It became a classic and now the british people love to hear that song…
Did you ever consider Faust to be a krautrock band in the same sense as Can or, Amon Duul, or were you simply classified with them because you came up with the name for the genre?
First of all I must stress the fact that NOW (2007) the term “krautrock” means nothing more than rock music played by a German band. It is DISGUSTING . So, the “krautrock I am talking about and you are talking about has nothing to do with what the media nowodays call krautrock. The same happened to “progressive music” : nowodays “prog rock ” is something that has nothing to do with what was called progressive music in the 70ies….. media create words (good) and abuse them (bad). Ok, now that this is clearly said, i can answer your question. : yes , I consider can/guru/duul etc… as full representants of the krautrock movement of the 70ies. The fact that we are very different from one another is exactly what krautrock is all about: there is “three bars pattern” , every group truly “kraut” had their very specifical sound. We were all looking for our own identity thus creating a huge variety of styles with one common goal: authenticity.
Did it ever bother you that so many German bands were classified as krautrock, when basically every band sounded different?
Hell no! See above, this is what krautrock IS! (Sorry: I must say “was”): a search for your PERSONAL way of expression.
Do you think that the scene in Germany at the time was something special, with so many big names (Can, Tangerine Dream, Amon Duul, Faust,…)?
Definitely: we ( by this i mean all the “kraut” groups) were not afraid of going in a no man’s land, to experiment in areas where we knew there was no money to expect, to stand naked and vulnerable in front of an audience who knew only “one two three four, rock, oooooh my baby is gone etc….”. We have schocked many many people who are now ( some of them anyway) extremly pleased to have been confronted with another way of seeing things and expressing feelings or social turmoils.
How was the writing done in Faust in the 70s? From improvisations or was it mostly composed?
There was no recipe, no formula..it was all according to the day’s feeling and inspiration.. everything was allowed and good.. mathematic, hazard, dada, poetry, drugs, collective writing, everything…also compositions of course…
Are you surprised that you are now considered as sort of a cult band, perhaps even more so than any other krautrock band?
Yes, very much so. It seems that some people do like us very much. Some are my age, some are much younger. and I am happy and honored about this. There are not many but they are sincerely moved by our music. We never made money and we never will. this way we are sure to stay authentic. We will never be popular or famous… We never compromised with the record industry when they tried to tell us to be more “accessible” . We are totally satisfied with the situation I am in a way “proud” of our achievement.
How is the new album coming along?
Fine thank you. It is finished and will be presented premiere at the www.avantgardefestival.de 27/29 juli. Soon now ! It is a collaboration between nurse with wound and faust.. 42 minutes plus a bonus track. I am
sure you will like it. again, no compromise, pure improvisation in studio and the whole thing mixed by those absolutly crazy stapleton/potter! It is called “disconnected” and is released under faust label www.art-errorist.de . It will be available on vinyl too in late summer this year under §dirter” label
What can you say about the new material? How does it compare with your material from the 70s?
It is the exactly the same because it is absolutly different!!!
Are you excited about the direction you have taken in your music?
Yes. I feel the group is in total agreement with itself. I regret nothing and I look with great joy on what is happening now: our tours are successfull when I see all the smiling faces and the dancing people. We play now with only two original members: that is zappi diermaier on drums and myself on guitars/horns and tools. We invite guests musicians , mostly friends we have met in our music life. It works splendidly.
You seem to be enjoying doing live shows again. Is this something that has always been your favourite thing in the music of Faust?
Faust as such is an extremly complicated entity. There have been many “faust”. The one that exist now always enjoyed sharing the music LIVE. It created problems in the past. Now there is no problem anymore.
Could you tell me something about experimenting with strange sounds? You already did that in the 70s and you’re still great experimenters nowadays.
What can i say? For us, there are not any “strange” sounds! Everything is sound, all sounds are interesting. Art is nothing. The artist is nothing. The only true music is no music. I dont know. i am not here. It is not me.
How did the idea of using machinery in your live shows come about? Is this something you already did in the 70s? I heard stories that Faust already used drills and other equipment in the 70s.
See above. And yes, we have been using all kinds of things, always. I am afraid we will continue.
Nowadays Faust seems to have reinvented itself. You’re playing smaller venues again. Does it feel like it felt at the beginning of your career?
I cannot remenmber playing BIG venues. No really, we are not re-inventing ourselves. I think people are just discovering us maybe. Of course the situation is different. When we began to play in the 70s, people were not at all prepared and most of the time the reaction was… errr… reserved! Now, they seem to like us straight from the beginning… so it is much easier to “do our thing” … we are more relaxed, we don’t have to “fight” the audience.. .. there is a beautiful communion between us and our audience now… very very motivating feeling.
How did you meet Amaury Cambuzat and when did you decide you wanted to work with him? Did you know from the start that he was the right person to be in your band?
Amaury appeared and dissapeared in faust like a comet. I wish him to find peace of mind . He is an extraordinary musician. He deserves recognition.
Do you prefer to play smaller venues, where there’s more contact with the public or larger ones?
No doubt :small ! we want to feel the energy of the people, smell their excitment, see their smiles, touch them, be with them. This is what musicians and music and audiences are for.
Finally, let me thank you for taking the time to answer these questions.
Thanks for your interest in our music
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