For The Work magazine
The musical
performances of 64-year-old Krautrock pioneer Damo Suzuki are, and have always
been, exercises in improvisation, informed by a philosophy that places
spontaneity at the forefront of the creative process. Suzuki views rehearsal as
cosmic pollution, a betrayal of his unspoken vow to the audience that each show
will be a conversation, an experiment between him and his musicians (or Sound
Carriers, as he likes to call them) and the people standing before them.
Suzuki’s best
known as the vocalist for Can, the pioneering Krautrock band that found him
busking on the street in Munich in 1970. They asked him to play with them that
evening, leading to vocal performances
on landmark albums such as Tago
Mago, Future
Days and Ege
Bamyasi. From the start, his hypnotic,
non-specific lyrics in languages he created off the cuff were like Beat poetry
set to music, a never-ending Kerouac-esque scroll of spontaneous ecstatic observations
expressed as melodic growls and mantric repetition.
Suzuki performed
with Can from 1970 to 1973, and his idiosyncratic performance philosophy would
influence countless musicians since. The
Fall famously named a song after him; the Mars Volta’s Omar Rodriguez, members
of Broken Social Scene and Tame Impala have all signed up to be his “Sound
Carriers” at one point or another.
Based in Cologne,
Germany for more than 30 years, he continues to perform regularly in Europe, and
is still committed to his lifelong goal of spreading “energy”--aka good vibes—through
a fascinating musical dialogue that, we’re happy to report, will continue for
many more years to come.
In a recent documentary you talked about
traveling to Italy and France and Mexico, and how you noticed how similar
cities were starting to look. When did you start noticing that?
It’s
globalization. Every big city looks quite the same. Mainly I perform in the big
cities because there is the demand and people are informed about my music. But
everybody looks the same if you are in Berlin or NYC or London. The same
American culture and cafes and hamburger restaurants.
So where can we find contemporary
authenticity? Seems like these days people can find themselves by going online
shopping.
Nowadays it’s
difficult because there is too much information. If you find yourself online
it’s often manipulated, based on a product. Too much of the information out
there is not really spiritual food for you. It’s very difficult time for
everybody.
So how do you find what’s good out there?
If I read an
article and I get a good feeling, that helps me decide. But there is no bible.
Good is about having the freedom to decide for yourself. People should not get too much information
from other sources. It is not your experience, and often it’s manipulated. But
if you are satisfied with yourself, the next step is to share good energy with
human beings. These are sources of energy which we need right now.
If we are bombarded with information and
news and entertainment, how do we get back to ourselves without cutting off and
moving into a cave?
Information can
be a type of junk food especially from big companies and TV stations and big
radio. So instead, go to the internet and find your truth or go to local
stations because they have much more interesting news and truth.
You’ve described performing as a spiritual
experience. When you are on stage, what is it that you are channeling?
Every time, I am
in the now…I’m creating time and space, every time. I have a good opportunity to
do that because I am not working within an industry or in a system, and I am
able to be free. This is how everybody should be, free from any kind of
organization, free from kings and states.
Don’t believe in gurus. I make music like Damo Suzuki and I don’t like
to be categorized as “this is underground,
this is progressive”. I am not so interested in this. I like to be
myself. And I ask that the audience should also have that freedom.
Why is it that you refuse to rehearse? Why
is spontaneity so important to you?
Let me explain it
like this. I eat organic food because I like to harmonize with nature, and
nature does not like rehearsal. Look at a landscape, you can see there is no
rehearsal. So, music is a part of nature’s communication. And I like to connect
with people, but not as a band or artist creating a separate world. Not where
I’m the artist on stage and you’re the people in the audience. Because then the people in the audience are expecting
hit songs, and already there are answers. I don’t like to have any answers. So
If we make this a spontaneous thing, you don’t have answers. You don’t have a
concept and you don’t know how it ends. But I am free. I am free from myself
too. So together we are free to create and we can go every direction and at the
same time the audience can get it, because they don’t have any expectations, and
they can travel with us. That is the most important thing in music.
Communication. Maybe 200/300 in the audience making their own stories.
Interactivities. Interactivity is communication. And communication is how music
started. I feel actually people can understand many things without talking, and
without one person needing to be the star or hero. Everybody is equal under the
sky.
So it’s more like a conversation then; you
are having a conversation through music, responding to your audience in that
moment and it’s a democratic experience in which you don’t believe yourself to
be any more important than anyone else?
I don’t like to
use the word democratic. There is no real democracy in the world. I am not into any kind of ideology. I like
people to find themselves, but without being egotists. We can create many
things together, if we are creative enough we can get much more energy. Energy
is something to do with creativity. This is one thing that we human beings must
reach for. It’s not energy we can get from a philosopher or politician or a
king. They are also just like us. Why should we believe in such people? Why
should we believe in stars or gurus? Everybody must realize everybody is
nobody, but everybody has meaning in society and everybody has a mission just
maybe they didn’t find it yet. You don’t have to believe in me, find yourself
and you can see things much more clearly and you can share your good energy
with other people. These are easy things.
Supposedly we are more connected than ever
before, as humans. With phone, social networking and the such. What do you
think about that?
Yes there are
many communication tools but actually people are losing communication with other
people. You go to parties and they are there with phones in their hands talking
with another friend somewhere else, but they are in the middle of a party. What
is this?
Do you think it’s important to spend time
alone in order to find yourself, or can you find it through other people?
You can find
yourself through friends too. There is always a kind of energy coming out from
other people. We can learning more and things
if there are many people. I don’t think you can make conversation with 100 or
200 people, but I like to take a good conversation with maybe 7 or 8 people.
With music it can be more. Last time
played it was in Sheffield with 40 people on stage, 35 of them singers.
35 singers, like a choir? And everyone
improvising?
Yes. Next day I
was waiting for a train in Sheffield and people came up to me and said it was really
good. I thought so too, I had a really good feeling.
I wish I could have seen it myself. What
other memorable experiences have you had on stage recently?
Two years before
that, in Croydon, just outside London, I performed together with disabled
people, and two music teachers. Together we made music and it was really something
special. With me, seven people.
What kind of disability did they have?
In the brain. I
don’t know what it is called in English. But it was one of the most interesting
concerts. When they found some nice riff, they continued and continued and
continued. Almost like krautrock.
So maybe Krautrock is basically an autistic
expression of music, just looping on and on and on, is that what you’re saying?
Yes. They really
got in a trance.