Photos by PK_lepa (Click on images to view full size pictures) more pictures

You know how crazy one can be if you are in love with someone/something, you do a lot of things that are not too kind on your savings, but one way or the other there is no alternative (Hi jjustice!). The same way it was with the concert by Atom Heart. Sinisa (remember my friend who bullied me until I was totally overwhelmed and obsessed) and I, drove 220 km to Munich to a live concert by Uwe even though we had no money.

It all started with me trying to convince Sinisa to come, because it said in no newspaper that Atom Heart was gonna come to play in "Ultraschall". Yet, it was sufficient for me to read it in "del haze entertainment News", that Uwe Schmidt was not trying to bullshit us. Still, I am wondering why there was no publicity in ANY German media, not even local . The DJ's I told you about, have nothing to do with Uwe, as B. Yost wrote - DJ Twitch, Jilkes & Roland are a crew altough from Glasgow not San Franciso, but forget them right away - they are chaep techno bullshit. ... DJ Acid Maria is a girl you can forget as well.

So we went to this club (PK_lepa, a very good friend - beautiful girl and fantastic photographer, Yann, great cinematographer who translated this German into English, Sinisa the bully and me). This club is located on an area which would be better descibed as a fucked up arsenal of totally lapidated ruins just before being torn down, for you guys better specified as a movie sight out of Mad Max... with twenty different titty twister show rooms and table dance halls, one worse than the other.

Finally at 11pm sharp (they are German, correct me , -Bavarian (the ones with the lederhosen)), the doors opened. We wanted to be there from the beginning because we did not know when Atom was gonna perform (Sinisa still had doubts - it is in his nature). Inside it was a little less gruesame to our sins than outside, yet there will be no reason to shed any tears when this wholle area will be torn down next year. DJ Maria was starting her lousy performance, something sounds horrible, the stereo, the accustica or both - it sounded kapput (wrong) (not "kapput", but kapput - okay). We inform ourselves when Uwe's performance is gonna start, - and learn that he is already here- doing the soundcheck in a room next door- shortly after that we see him with company going to the bar. I walk up to him to find out if my hopes concerning the bootleg, the interview and photos will be fullfilled....

Photos by PK_lepa (Click on images to view full size pictures)

-Hi Uwe , My name is Samuel- I am from Mother, some members and I have a few questions for
you. He smiles and says: "Shoot!", notices that Acid Mary is too loud for interview to be
held and motions to follow him next door to a place where the concert will be held. I ask
him if PK_lepa can take photos, he gives his okay and we take off.

The space looks like a cozy underground lounge, a cave that is draped by a long-hairy green
carpet (flocati), all the walls, roofs, pillars.. etc , it looks as if it was decorated by
linger decoree. A lot of half-comfotable chairs and sofas to loung in, and a bar. Uwe takes
a seat and I realize how uncomplicated and cooperative he
is. I had imagined it a little different. He declines me wanting to bootleg the concert
though. Yet he answeres: "hmmm, no I was going to record and publish it myself". If this is
true, I haven't any reason to be disappointed and you Gilly and you heatdog should not be
disappointed either: when you get this concert on a real CD (and in your ears) you will be
absolutely sure that this was the better alternative. This concert deserves it but nothing
else to be official published!!!

Pk_lepa starts snapping photos away, she is sneaky and seems not to be inhibited at all.
Uwe does not mind, he is very nice and helpful. Towards her, me and everybody else. He
amazes me somehow... Not that I imagined him unkind, yet... he looks very calm and
centered.

ma_hovina:
Are you a member of the MOTHER list?

Atom Heart:
No, i do not want to influence the other members!

m:
... or is it you who does not want to be influenced?

AH:
Both, I find it healthier if the others do their thing without me interfering.

m:
And what about taking an alias?

AH:
That would be the same.

m:
One thing, that your American fans have talked about alot recently is the Flanger concert
in Canada. As far as I know it has been cancelled because Ninja Tune wanted to much money?

AH:
That is not true, it is not sure yet if we are going to peform, though momentarily it looks
more as no, but this not because Ninja wanted money, it looks like the jazz festival where
we would have olayed does not want to pay all the transpotation cost for the equipment. It
is normal procedire that the festival pays, they do so for the other bands, but apperently
not for us.

m:
You are not that important to them?

AH:
It sems so :(

m:
Speaking of Flanger - Midnight Sound should have been published on KIFF SM...

AH:
We offered it to Ninja Tune, I mean ntone...

m:
Didn't KIFF SM go bankrupt...

AH:
No, we wanted to go with ntone again...

m:
Okay, but from september 99...

AH:
It was planned to publish it in mai 00, but Ninja Tune had a lot of other records to
publish, so it will be september 99!

m:
Speaking of publishings. I noticed that the number decreases with the label Rather
Interesting. In the
beginning...

AH:
(laughs).. there were 18!

m:
Not exactly! When you started in september 94 there were 3 records in 4 months, next year 9
and so on... and last year only two!?!?

AH:
I had to realize that it is financially and organisational not profitable to produce so
many CDs that are limited to 1000 a piece.

m:
In every record you have to invest the same amount of work and time, never mind if it is
limited to 500 or not at all?

AH:
Exactly!

m:
Nevertheless when can we expect another RI record, I ask as a rather Rather Interesting
fan?

AH:
In the next two months.

m:
Are you working on it?

AH:
No but I plan to do so.

m:
Could you imagine to publish Flanger on Rather Interesting?

AH:
No collaborations on RI anymore!

m:
???

m:
Is LB Lassigue Bendthouse?

AH:
Yes!

m:
Just a short name? I ask because LB sounds differnet to the other Lassigue Bendthouse
things...

AH:
(smiles) Right!

m:
... and there was not any mention of Lassigue Bendthaus on LB cover!?!?

AH:
LB/Lassigue Bendthouse has been cancelled, it doesn't exist any more.

m:
Whaaaaaat?. Oh-oh!!! There are gonna be a lot of MOTHER-crocodile-tears, in Britney
Spears-fan manner. There were so many LB fans. Why?. You were very successful with the
project? Especially with "Pop Artificielle"?

AH:
That's why! I thought it was a good moment to stop with LB.

m:
On the climax?

AH:
Yes!!!

m:
Something that has also been mentiond on the list and i am very curious about: What is it
with the Michael Jackson cover?

AH:
(laughs) It is already talked about? It will be done, but it's only yet in a planning
stage.

m:
As what?

AH:
probably as ATOM, hmmmm... ATOM TM!

m:
There you go! I would have bet as LB!

AH:
I see: As I said...

m:
Something else that caused irritation on the list. Senor Coconut 2 sounds totally different
from the first one

AH:
I see!

m:
....what I want to say is that every time you used to do something different, something
new, a different concept - you created a new name, yet when you published the same name for
the next record most people expect that the second one does not differ so strongly from the
first. The first SC is very glitch and the second sounds very "accoustic". I am a glitch
stuff fan and was a little dissapointed. Los Samplers would rather have been a good
successor of SC 1!

AH:
I do not think that the new SC project differs from the first that much. The essence is the
same, it is thru and thru a southamerican record. It is a logic developpment for SC. I
really wanted to continue working as Senor Coconut, it is a copyrighted name with a great
success in Japan, it was logically to continue working as SC.
Regarding the differnt sounds of SC 2: (laughing cheakiliy) on the cover it says evidently:
SENOR COCONUT Y SU CONJUNTO!!!

m:
???

AH:
.. and his band!

m:

So band is responsible for the further "accousticsizing"?

AH:
(laughing!) exactly!

m:
I have to admit that a lot of Mother members are impressed by your capability to make such
an "accustic" record with only sampled material.

AH:
(nicks)

m:
What I wanted to know is how limiting is it too work and cooperate with other musicians?

AH:
There is no limit, I just work with people where I do not have to limite myself and vice
versa. There is no limitation, we meet at a certain point of our work where we JUST do it.
There are no borders. We improvise. It was this way with Victor Sol, with Bernd Friedman,
with Tetsu Inoue, they are all people who I get along with so there are no limitations for
us.

m:
And the trio with Bill Laswell?

AH:
(heasitating!!!) With Laswell it was the same... the results were not so great though, yet
working with him was unproblematically.

m:
So no more collaborations on Rather Interesting. How about solo records by other musicians?

AH:
Just the same. I am in no position to be a label. Sometimes one has to differentiate
between label and friend...

m:
???

AH:
...a label has to do certain things... an artist expects to be promoted by a label.... it
is not in my nature to be a label.


We thanked him and went back to the other room (PK_lepa took photos all the time). Uwe also
left to talk to some people. A Japanese guy gave him heaps of presents- t shirts and stuff.
It was funny to see Uwe bearing it all with a patience and being as calm as I had only
Ghandi imagined to be. Then I went up to him again to get the Los Sampler's record signed.
(Okay, okay this sounds once more like Britney Spears-fan-hysteria  but i am sure some of
you guys get wet eyes) Hi Gilly!!!

I ask Uwe when his concert is gonna start and he says about around 2am. (which means 1 1/2
more hours we will have to listen this horrible music). Uwe sees that I am not too happy
about this and laughs saying we can enjoy the great music meanwhile. The techno there on
pretty primitive level.

Eventually though, they let us go to the other room. There was another DJ there, it was
better, but not very quiet, yet PK_lepa and Yann managed to sleep on the sofa while sinisa
and I asked us 30 times why Atom Heart did come here in the first place. This club is
horribel and 95% of the people too.

Finally the time had come. Uwe unpacked his stuff and put his  discs in. (PK_lepa asked for
permission to take photos during the gig and did so right away. She took photos from every
side and every angle - you lucky folks!!!). The concert started.

It started with the third piece of "Naturalist", the "birds" twittering for the next two
minutes - we were wondering if this was gonna be a best of, then the sounds turned into
somethin else and WHAAAAAAT a something!!!! It was great. I thought this is what heaven is
gonna be like. The RI heaven. It was a mixture of "Naturalist" + "Los Samplers and club -
pure poison!!! It's hard to describe. It was not southamerican but somehow yes. In every
case you Chris, Ross, Mr.Tangent, jjustice (and from this moment on Gilly - did the Los
Samplers-fever get you?? :) and everyone else who loves the last RI's and the
glitch-latino-pop.. you would all pass out hearing this.

But there weren't many of "us". Most people, about 70(?!?!) who were in this lounge lookes
as if this had happened by accident - I do not get this policy of no publicity?! What do
you get out of this? PK_lepa remarked correctly that this was the wrong city, Frankfurt or
Cologne would have been the right venue. In every case we got back what we came for even
thought the concert lasted only about 40 minutes. Sinisa and I had about 20 brain orgasms ,
PK_lepa about tree tons of photos and Yann did not seem unhappy either... The Japanese guy
had bootleges the show on his mp3 wrist watch and put the plug into Uwe's ears.  When he
finished rapeing him, I asked Uwe on which label this was gonna be published. He didn't
know yet but it will be part of a live box :)))))))))))))))))))

Okay that's it. I hope some good news makes the pain of the LB abolishment less. There will
soon be photos (THANX PK_lepa!!!!).


Ps. you guys sent me only two(!!!) real questions- shame on you- what get sent to me I
printed out an showed to Uwe.


"anything" asked:
i would like to know, given his wide-ranging history, what he thinks remains to be done.

Sorry "anything", neither I nor Uwe understood your question properly, but I hope the
interview answeres your question :)


Chris you were the only one that Uwe recognized, you wrote no question though so there is
no answer, he read your mail though.


phonaut asked:
Please ask Uwe what his advice would be for amateur musicians trying to improve their
skills and be heard.

Uwe said keep working and try to publish your stuff and if it does not immediately work
out, keep trying , but do not force
it! He didn't.


Yann's commentary:
I hope this text will be understood for I am a cinematographer and no music expert, I do
not know any musical terms so hope you will get it.

THANX Yann!!!



Be safe   -:
ma_hovina