T. Raumschmiere Interview

electric city

Berlin's anti hero T. Raumschmiere (aka Marco Haas) deals in a punk-rock
techno culture clash that's an assault on the senses, and an adrenaline rush
that aims to obliterate our all too often bland pop landscape. But then what
would you expect from a dude who runs a label called ****katapult, has
played in a punk/metal outfit called Crack Whore Society, and whose previous
output has included guests like Ellien Allien? And let's face it, you're not
gonna name yourself after a character in a William S. Burroughs short story
('The Dreamcops') and call your latest opus 'Blitzkrieg Pop', unless you
possess an agitated, opinionated, creative brain. The said long player -
which the man himself has dubbed 'punk-rock-ambient' - careers through
electro punk, Nine Inch Nailsisms, warped techno, grungy electronic driven
pop, blistering layered guitars and more.

This is your fourth album. Creatively speaking, what did you want to achieve
this time around?

"I wanted to do things I hadn't done before, and I definitely wanted to
achieve a bigger audience. Not just techno nerds. I wanted to try to reach a
different audience, and maybe even a more mainstream orientated audience,
and try to bring them my rough sound, and open their ears to other musical
styles.

Why call it 'Blitzkrieg Pop'?

"I've chosen this title as a kind of attack against the mediocre pop **** we
get these days. I'm especially talking about shows like American Idol and
Pop Idol. This record is against these cloned pop stars, these products that
the music companies come up with because they're only looking for a quick
dollar. They don't really want to build an artist with long-term thinking,
they want a quick dollar, and then boom, then the next superstar comes up.
The companies drown us in that ****."

So you want to sneak your way into the mainstream to put a bit of dynamite
there?

"Yeah, totally. That's my aim."

Given that, what do you think of artists who share your outlook, but want to
remain underground?

"Well I respect that, for sure. But for me, since I have the opportunity to
make records with a big company, I have the opportunity to reach a lot of
people, so I want to take that chance. I want people to see and hear that
there is more than just pop star idols."

Are you as angry as you sound on these tracks?

"I think I'm angrier. I have a son - Milan - who is two years and three
months. A lot of people have said 'now that you're a Daddy, aren't you more
calm now?' But I'm totally the other way. I'm angrier than before, because I
know there is somebody that has to live in this world longer than me. That's
where I get my energy."

The lyric on the title track says, "hey hey, there's nothing left to say,
I've blown it all away"... what do you mean by that?

"Because I want to blow it all away and establish a new way of listening."

That track has hints of Nine Inch Nails about it. Do you relate to that kind
of music?

"Yes. I like Nine Inch Nails quite a lot. I just saw them play on Saturday
because we were at the same festival. The first time I saw them play was in
1991. Back then I thought it was a nice combination of electronics and rock.
I was very fascinated by that, and I think that somehow it influenced me.
There were also bands like Big Black too, who used guitars and a drum
computer. That was Steve Albini - he's my hero."

You blend rock and techno elements. Are they of equal importance to you?

"On the production side, yes. In terms of my daily life, no. In my daily
life, rock music is much more important than techno. I don't listen to
techno music at all at home. I listen to either darker ambient music like
Coil, or rock. Or nothing."

Your sound has been described as 'Gnarz'. What exactly is that?

"It's a German expression for example, of the sound that a record makes when
the needle is at the end and there's this endless loop. My first releases
were based almost completely on samples of these sounds, tuned up or down to
get bass or treble. So everybody said my music is gnarz."

You've said that you wanted to produce the loudest pop record in history.
Why are you so fascinated with volume?

"Well volume is very essential for the T. Raumschmiere experience. It's a
physical experience that you should have when you listen to my music,
because it is very important that the bass is in your stomach, and that you
feel that. Volume is essential."

Is it true that you spent a year in the studio studying sounds with no
beats?

"That was about finding special sounds, and finding new ways of creating
sounds. If you listen to the whole album on your headphones, you notice you
could easily take away all the 'in yer face' punk elements, and be left with
an ambient record. So it's actually an ambient punk album. The whole process
of finding these sounds is the most important thing for me when I work on an
album. It's horrible for me to actually finish a track."

You're going to be presenting this with a live band. Why did you feel it was
important to do that?

"This album is much more of a band thing, so it made more sense to present
it as band rather than just me behind a laptop. Also, I wanted to go back to
the band thing, because I come from punk rock. I played in a band and we did
like 400 shows. Then I started doing electronic music and I was on my own.
So I wanted the band thing back. There is a special energy with a band I
think."

Is one man behind a bank of technology now a bit boring live?

"Yeah definitely. It was already a bit boring when it started. Most of the
live laptop acts looked like they were just checking emails on stage. Nobody
needs that."

You've played in rock/indie venues AND dance clubs. Where do you enjoy
playing the most?

"It doesn't matter, because I always break expectations. They don't know
what to expect either way. If I play in a techno venue they expect a techno
act, but get this punk rock thing on stage. And if I play in a rock venue
they see a band set up on stage and expect a certain thing, but then there's
lots of electronics and we even play techno songs."

There's an instrumental on the album called 'Patridiot', which presumably is
the words patriot and idiot blended. Are you referring to any particular
person or group?

"There was, in Germany, about a year ago, a discussion where patriotism
became hip again. People were saying 'hey, the Second World War is over now,
it's okay to be proud to be a German'. In the same discussions they made a
law for radio stations, saying that sixty per cent of their programs had to
be German music. So the title is based on that discussion. I don't say that
patriotism is bad, but I think politicians were trying to force people to be
patriots. Especially with the radio law - to me that is cultural fascism.
Unbelievable actually."

Finally, how has being based in Berlin helped shape your sound?

"When I moved to Berlin (from Heidelberg) I didn't know anybody here. So I
was completely anonymous in the city, and I used this as a chance - for
around two years - to develop my music. I didn't go out, I only went to the
studio. But when I decided to go out to play my music to an audience, there
was so many things going on, and so many people seemed to know everything
that's going on. So when you start playing here you get feedback. It's a
very good test area here. It's very healthy. Lots of artists from around the
world come here and do their thing, then leave again. All this has an impact
on the Berlin scene."

T. Raumschmiere's 'Blitzkrieg Pop' is out on Novamute. T. Raumschmiere
performs (with live band) on Saturday November 19, at Electic Shock, Temple
Bar Music Centre, Dublin 2. Support comes from David Carretta, Dancepig,
thatboytim and Eddie Brennan. Tickets are still available from Selectah
Records & www.tickets.ie

To subscribe to the Electric City members list send a mail with
'subscribe' in the Subject field to electricitypromotions@eircom.net