Christoph Heemann
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Christoph Heemann (born November 2, 1964 in Aachen, West Germany), is a German musician.
Heemann has recorded under his own name, with the tape music group H.N.A.S., and with many collaborators in alternative rock, soundtrack production and visual arts.
[edit] Early years and creation of H.N.A.S.
Heemann's early favorites included Laura Nyro and Van Dyke Parks, and later offbeat experimentalists like American West Coast radicals The Residents, Tuxedomoon, Chrome, MX-80 Sound and Renaldo and the Loaf.
Though his hometown featured some notable experimental rock groups (like Rufus Zuphall and Necronomicon), Heemann was largely unaware of them and of the larger "Krautrock" movement until introduced to it via British or American friends. Largely self-taught in electronic equipment, Heemann started out as a "non-musician" with acquaintance Achim Flaam. The duo's influences at the time included Jac Berrocal (France), Nurse with wound (UK) and Franco Battiato (Italy).
These activities finally led to the creation of the "Faust"-influenced unit "H.N.A.S." (i.e. Hirsche Nicht Aufs Sofa, roughly "No Deer on the Sofa") after meeting up with Steven Stapleton from the like-minded Nurse With Wound. The duo's first step on the record-producing market were two self-produced samplers (released on their own "Dom"-Label) Ohrensausen and Ohrenschrauben. Featured various artists like P16D4, Organum, H.N.A.S., and Nurse with Wound. Though highly experimental, both albums earned mixed reviews in the British music press, and were largely ignored in Germany.
H.N.A.S. also included Heemann's brother Andreas Martin on guitar and Nicole Schmidt on vocals. This quartet cut several full-length albums, the third of which Im Schatten der Möhre (1987) met with critical acclaim and can be regarded as their major work. Other titles include Melchior - Aufmarsch der Schlampen, Küttel im Frost and Abwassermusik and give proof of an extraordinary sense of humour and a profound knowledge of German underground as they are full of references to major Krautrock electronicisms. Another notable H.N.A.S. album was "The book of Dingenskirchen" -- the title being an ironic reference to Deep Purple's album Book of Talieysin and Germans' pseudo-correct pronunciation of English names. It was issued in seven different record jackets, each designed by Heemann himself, as were most of the other Heemann/H.N.A.S. productions.
In 1992, Heemann ended the project due to creative differences. Their final album, "Willkür nach Noten", displayed their growing dissent. This became visible (audible) already on the previous "Ach dieser Bart" album: Flaam and Heemann were each responsible for a side of the LP. As an act of jealous revenge Flaam decided to reissue most of the H.N.A.S back catalogue on his own "Elchklang" label in 2003 on substandard CD editions without Heemann's consent.
[edit] Mimir, Mirror, In Camera and Current 93
After disbanding both went into different directions. Heemann's new projects included numerous collaborations with Edward Ka-Spel (from The Legendary Pink Dots) with whom he produced "Kata-Climici-China-Doll" and later worked together in the band "Mimir", composed half-and-half of H.N.A.S. and Legendary Pink Dots. He also worked with the German musician/performer Limpe Fuchs, and with the U.S.'s Jim O'Rourke.
Mirror, a duo with established English drone musician Andrew Chalk was a very fruitful collaboration with many releases, often initially appearing in limited, hand-made editions before being reissued in more widely available form. This unit ceased to exist around 2005, although a handful of unreleased recordings are still scheduled to be issued. Heemann has also worked with David Tibet from "Current 93" and was a semi-steady member of that group during the late 90's.
In Camera, another duo project with Af Ursin's Timo Van Luyck was started in 2004 and has produced two albums so far, the self titled first album (Some fine legacy) and Open Air (Robot), presenting yet another facet of Heemann's ideas of textural electroacustica, this time with a focus on improvisation.
[edit] Solo Works
After the split-up of H.N.A.S., Heemann also became active as a solo-artist: The number of TV appearances (such as in Nancy, France), live-performances in locations such as Austin, Texas, Chicago, Toronto, and Tokyo became more frequent. Solo works include titles such as Invisible Barrier (1992), Aftersolstice (1994), Days of the Eclipse (1996) and Magnetic Tape Splicing (1997).
Heemann also worked as a producer and engineer on albums by artists such as Keiji Haino, Charlemagne Palestine, Organum and Pantaleimon.
As a visual artist Heemann has created album sleeves for Jim O'Rourke, The Teargarden, The Aeolian String Ensemble, Edward Ka-spel and Limpe Fuchs amongst others
