Update March 10, 2023: The 2nd part of the interview is now also available. Another 86 minutes of interview. Thank you John Diliberto (visit his website here).
John writes: “In this Podcast, the second part of our two-part 1982 interview with Klaus Schulze. He’s an Icon of Echoes, an Icon of Electronic Music and an icon period. All three are German electronic composer Klaus Schulze. He left the planet last year on April 26, but from 1969 until that date, he released hundreds of albums and shaped a generation of electronic artists including Steve Roach, Jean-Michel Jarre, Hans Zimmer, and many more. I have an interview with Schulze recorded in 1982 at his home in what was then West Germany. I talked with him for about three hours, and today, we’ll hear part two of that interview.”
Albums like Moondawn, Timewind, X, and more, provided the soundtrack for many an imaginary movie during those years. There was something about the pulsing sequencers, free form, note-bending Moog solos, and spiraling, Escher-like architecture that spoke of a world outside of conventional rock or classical music. For artists like Steve Roach, Klaus Schulze was life-changing.
“The first time I heard Timewind, it was the classical mystical experience, like a drug experience or near death experience. He had and continues to have a very significant influence on the music.” -Steve Roach
Just imagine being ensconced in plush couches, dim lighting, and the blinking lights of a giant Moog Modular, racks of keyboards and the haze of Klaus’s ever-present cigarettes. Then settle in for this 86 minute interview.
Thanks to John Diliberto who shared this unique interview from 1982 with Klaus Schulze. “The Complete Totally Wired Klaus Schulze interview from 1982 Part 1. We talk about all things electronic, Tangerine Dream, Stomu Yamash’ta ‘s Go. Quote: Sequencers, I just can’t hear them anymore. Hear it in the Echoes Podcast.”
Make sure to isolate yourself for one and a half hour, sit down and listen to this interview part I. (Click on the image below to get to the Echoes page).
This is the accompanying text by John Diliberto, taken from the Echoes website.
In this Podcast, an Icon of Echoes, an Icon of Electronic Music and an icon period. All three are German electronic composer Klaus Schulze. He left the planet last year on April 26, but from 1969 until that date, he released hundreds of albums and shaped a generation of electronic artists including Steve Roach, Jean-Michel Jarre, Hans Zimmer, and many more. I have an interview with Schulze recorded in 1982 at his home in what was then West Germany. I talked with him for about three hours, and today, we’ll hear part one of that interview.
Klaus Schulze was part of the original genesis of Echoes and was voted as one of the 30 Icons of Echoes. The albums he recorded in the 1970s and early 80s reside at the core of music experiences for myself and the central Echoes staff. Albums like Moondawn, Timewind, X, and more, provided the soundtrack for many an imaginary movie during those years. There was something about the pulsing sequencers, free form, note-bending Moog solos, and spiraling, Escher-like architecture that spoke of a world outside of conventional rock or classical music. I remember synthesist Mark Shreeve of Redshift describing the 1977 album, Mirage as if it had “formed out of thin air, untouched by human hands.” Klaus’s music had that transcendental power, as if it came from somewhere beyond this plane of existence.
Klaus had recorded 16 albums at the time of our first interview, his latest being Trancefer. His only release in America at that point was his 1977 album, Body Love. Instead they were only available as expensive imports which we were happy to search out and pay for.
This interview features Klaus Schulze at the height of his powers as an artist.