Hi,
I thought you might be interested in =
the
following
interview, which was given by TD
in 1982 after the concert in
Budapest.
It is funny how that concert came to =
be in the
first
place. The Hungarian State Concert Organizing Agency
decided =
to
organize a so-called CHIP Festival and
they contacted Kraftwerk, OMD =
(!!!)
and Rick Wakeman.
None of these could come so someone suggested =
TD
because
they had a tour going on anyway and (to save
the day) Klaus Schulze =
also
packed his gear and came
with Reiner Bloss (that gig is included in =
his
Jubilee
Edition BTW).
So here is the interview, which =
appeared in
Magyar
Ifjusag (Hungarian Youth Magazine) issue #46 =
1982:
-------------------------------
"Like on stage, the central =
position at the
press
conference was taken by Chris Franke with
metal-rimmed =
glasses and a
strange-looking beard,
which gave him the look of an =
astrologist.
Neither
he nor Johannes Schmoelling on his right was
too talkative though. =
The
answers mainly came from
the tall, fair-haired Edgar Froese, who =
could
use
his appearance very well in a German beer =
commercial.
Q: What was the greatest success in =
your
life?
A: Some years ago I discovered that =
I was
alive.
This was the greatest shock and the greatest success
in my =
life at
the same time.
Q: I meant business =
success...
A: Frankly, we didn't start this =
thing to make
money.
The story is: in 1973 our German record company =
went
bankrupt.
Nobody wanted to contract us in our country
saying our music was too =
odd.
Then we went to England
and Virgin offered a contract. It may be a
coincident
that the album we released that year (Phaedra) was
an
international hit. That gave a boost but we have
never made a record =
with the
intention to be No1 on
the charts.
Q: You have recently said that you =
are working
on
uniting people. Your stage setting and your music
however feel =
cold.
Isn't it a contradiction?
A: What is cold? What is warm? Could =
you
describe
either one without using the other one? It is the
balance =
of
feelings. If you say 'cold', you must be
aware of the characteristics =
of
'warm' and vica versa.
If you say 'technology', your subconscious
immediately
labels it as 'cold'. But could you describe =
the
difference
between a tree and a computer? Tree? Metal?
Leaves? Numbers? All of =
these
come from your subconscious.
No difference: both are part of our =
objective
world.
We just say something is warm because we remember them
this =
way
from our childhood. And things that come later
may cause a conflict =
so we
call them cold and unfitting.
The things that surround you are =
neither cold
nor warm:
they are neutral. You make them feel either =
way.
Q: Doesn't it bother you that the =
audience can
hardly see
you on your concert?
A: No, why should it?
Q: Because no one can see who is =
doing what...
You are
distant.
A: The point is: would you say after =
a violin
concert
that the violinist played well just because you could
see =
how his
or her fingers were moving?
Q: No, but neither one of you can be =
identified
with
the sounds being played. In this respect there is =
no
difference
between listening to a record or a concert.
A: So you feel betrayed because your =
fantasy
could not
follow the process we were making...? People always
want =
to see
how things are going on. And once they can
not see, they are forced =
to 'make'
their own concert.
There were 11 thousand people in the audience
tonight.
That means 11 thousand different concerts. If =
there
weren't such
a great demand for visual effects and if
people didn't insist on =
seeing the
musicians, we would
much prefer playing in total darkness and behind =
the
stage. We don't need to be seen. You say you cannot
identify with =
things
that you cannot see. But why?
Close your eyes. Listen to the music. =
Forget
the
people on the stage. But if you want to see us, well,
we are
there.
Q: Is this the only way to express =
your
feelings? With
all this high-tech gear?
A: We have talked a lot about what =
would happen
if all
the computers disappeared. If we were to blow a comb
or a =
wind
instrument, we could express ourselves.
Technology only helps to do
it..."
------------------------------------------------
That's it folks. I hope you enjoyed =
reading it
as much
as I enjoyed translating it (something like this was
said =
by Cow
in an episode of the 'Cow and Chicken'
cartoon and it fits here...
:-)
Paul