Klaus Schulze. About music.

Any music, except dance, which is intended directly for dancing, seems to me, intended for the spirit of man, and not for the body. There is a lot of music that doesn’t make much sense, it serves mainly for entertainment. However, some music has a higher mood, it is usually called “serious music” and it can also be interesting …
Most of my listeners told me that your music is more music for the soul than music for the body. Do you agree with this? Does she express feelings that you have ever wanted to share?
Any music, except dance, which is intended directly for dancing, seems to me, intended for the spirit of man, and not for the body. There is a lot of music that doesn’t make much sense, it serves mainly for entertainment. However, some music has a higher mood, it is usually called “serious music” and it can also be interesting …
“Use your mind!” (Use your Brain) – such a phrase could be read in the appeals that you used in your earliest creative years. Is this phrase relevant today?
It was not my appeal, it was the appeal used by the record company for their label. Also, this phrase was not used in my “earliest” years, but a few years later, in 1976 and ’77, by the record company Metronome for their label Brain. It was an obvious play on words. So often do in advertising: label Brain and “Use your mind” (“Use your Brain”). As Ohr label made his “Macht das OHR auf” a few years earlier (“Open Your Ears”)
Did it mean anything to you when you created the album “Irrlicht”? Was the album a success?
Whether it meant something to me or not is too general a question to give at least some kind of detailed and honest answer. Please remember, it’s been twenty-six years. What did I think 26 years ago? Do you remember what you thought 26 years ago? I do not remember. The success of such crazy music was not very big. On our site you will find a link to each of my albums, where you can read up-to-date reviews that are printed in the press, including on “Irrlicht”. After so many years, sometimes you can find something interesting there.
Who influenced your music when you decided to work alone? Did you use any aspects of classical music when you composed your compositions? I mean, they were not short compositions, not pop music, but long themes, electronic symphonies …
You ask who influenced me 1971, 1972? For my music, it was not someone alone, someone especially outstanding. I listened to rock music of that time, but as you know and could easily hear, my music of that period had nothing to do with ordinary music of that time. I experimented, searched for something new and continue to do it today. I hardly listen to any other music except my own. At least unconsciously, just like fans and collectors do.
What would you like to tell about Richard Wahnfried?
If I want to say something, I say. But, as you know, I write music. I do not want to “say” anything about my music, or about my solo albums, nor about Vanfjed’s albums. If I spoke, I would write articles, or books, and maybe scripts. I repeat: I write music. And under the pseudonym Richard Vanfried made music with other musicians. I tried to create different music, different from my own solo.
What could you say about your experiences with operatic voices?
The human voice is the first and most natural musical instrument, as well as the most emotional. Like many other people, I love listening to singers, be it Willie Nelson or Maria Callas. Sometimes I like to make music with a singer or singers. It’s all. It all began in 1974 with the album “Blackdance”, in which the opera singer sings Verdi’s collage.
Another question that many people ask again and again: what equipment do you currently use?
It would be too difficult to estimate and say here at once. In order to answer, I would have to make a long printout. Please take a look at our official website.
The tools have improved since you started writing music. Did these changes help or somehow influence your work?
Yes of course. Everything changes all the time. Tools change, people change, actors change, fashion changes, media changes, listeners change, their views and opinions change … even the sound network of distribution and transmission of television programs has changed during this time: from vinyl to digital CD, and from analog tape recording to a computer and hard disk recording.