INTERVIEW : Schneider TM aka Dirk Dresselhaus

At last, my first excellent interview! The interview was arranged via some funny email exchanges. However, I think that Mr. Dirk is quite a cool fellow, and I was really impressed that he actually wrote back. I was also suprised by the pretty old school methods with which his music is produced. No laptops here.

N: so here are some important questions:
Where were your born:
S: i was born in bielefeld, west germany.

N: How old are you:
S: 34

N: WHere do you live now:
S: in berlin.


N: and can you remember what color your duvet cover is?
S: sorry, what is duvet?

N: When dealing with electronic music live, what do you use, analog
equipment or just a laptop?
S: we are 3 persons playing live, michael beckett aka kptmichigan, christian obermaier aka mek obaam & me. we play different kinds of samplers/sequencers, drummachines, effects, midi-drums, guitars, rattles, harmonicas and so on...it looks a bit like on a fleamarket. no laptops.


N: Who directed the reality check video?
S: the director's name is uwe flade & the special effects were done by 2 guys called industriesauger.

N: Why is it so cool?
S: probably because of the humor and the spirit.


N: how do you attempt to construct/present yourself as a character, and what purpose does that serve in your music?
S: i don't construct myself as a character, at least not more than everybody else does...it's just me making music and being there.i just try to take myself not too serious to keep flexible and at the same time being honest....i don't like bullshit.


N: Why did you choose to cover the Morissey song?
S: it's a the smiths – song that meant a lot to kptmichigan & me when we were teenagers...feeling lost and living through hard family-situations...teenage-angst kinda style. we thought it would be good & funny to cover that song in this certain kind of way, cause the electronic music-scene back then was not so open minded like it is today. we wanted to take a piss of the fundamental electronic-world on one side, and the ‘overromanced' indie-pop-scene on the other.

N: Has he heard your cover?
S: i don't know, but johnny marr really likes it from what i heard.


N: What kind of shoes are you wearing?
S: different kind of shoes...summershoes and wintershoes.


N: What is your astrological sign?
S: virgo


N: How do you make that little computer voice featured in many of your hit songs?
S: it is my own voice sent through different effects like voice-transformer and stuff...on my next album there will be more unprocessed vocals.


N: What name does your mother call you?
S: dirk


N: Any pets?
S: i used to live with a cat called misi. we were best friends. she was hunting chickens, fish, rats, rabbits, birds, flys, her tail....


N: What are your influences, musically?
S: oh, there are too many to get a point, but my favourite rock band still is the velvet underground....i learned so much by listening to them. now i'm a lot into dub and old african stuff like from ghana or pygmies music....and, yes, my friends from pan sonic !
sun ra......


N: what goes through your head when you pick out outfits for a show?
S: it has to be functional & good looking. the outfit for our last tour-period was white lapcoats, nurse-or scientists-style. very compfortable to wear and useful as an extension of the vodeo-screen behind us...


N: what was the first cassette tape you bought?
S: trio, live im frühjahr 1982.


N: What is your favorite musical mode, Ionian, Locrian, Aeolian, Dorian, Phrygian, Lydian, or Mixolydian?
S: sorry, i've no idea about those kind of things. what does it mean ?


N: Do you have a girlfriend?
S: maybe...


N: Is there anything inspirational you can share with your fans?
S: the most inspiring thing is to play in front of people who want to see and hear a good live-show.
as a musician you feel very much how the spirit of an audience is and if it's inspiring us, we can give it back even more and that again might be even more inspiring for the audience....in short: communication is the most inspirational thing to share. but it doesn't necessarily have to be words...the vibrations make it clear anyway.


N: Thanks for your time!
S: thank you & good luck,
s.