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Ulrich Schnauss

Ulrich Schnauss
Schnauss in 2018
Schnauss in 2018
Background information
Born (1977-09-08) 8 September 1977 (age 47)
OriginKiel, Germany
GenresElectronic, ambient, downtempo, IDM, shoegaze
Occupation(s)Musician, music producer, remixer
LabelsIndependiente/Domino, Rocket Girl[1]
Websiteulrich-schnauss.com

Ulrich Schnauss (born 8 September 1977)[3] is a German electronic musician and producer based in London, England. He was a member of Tangerine Dream from 2014 to 2020.

Biography

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Ulrich Schnauss was born in the northern German seaport of Kiel in 1977.[3] He had piano lessons when he was seven. He became interested in a range of music: My Bloody Valentine, Slowdive, Tangerine Dream, Chapterhouse, and early bleep and breakbeat tracks. There was not much opportunity to see his musical influences in Kiel, so he moved to Berlin in 1996.

Schnauss' musical output began under the pseudonyms of View to the Future and Ethereal 77. These electronica and drum-driven pieces were noticed by Berlin electronica label CCO (City Centre Offices), to which Schnauss sent CDs on a regular basis. Schnauss developed these submissions to CCO into his first album under his own name, Far Away Trains Passing By, released in Europe in 2001 and in the United States in 2005.

Schnauss performing at Bestival (2008)

His next album, 2003's A Strangely Isolated Place, showed the influence of My Bloody Valentine's Kevin Shields and Cocteau Twins' Robin Guthrie. Schnauss has said of this album, "When you've worked with computers and keyboards for a number of years, they become not so fascinating of themselves anymore. I gained confidence after people began to discover Far Away Trains Passing By, and it hasn't really stopped since then. This time I decided not to compromise on what I wanted to do, with what I thought people might want me to do."[4]

Since the release of both albums Schnauss has been asked to work with and remix with artists, including port-royal, Mojave 3, Airiel, A Shoreline Dream, Asobi Seksu, Televise, Longview, Johannes Schmoelling, The Zephyrs, Lunz (Roedelius), and others.

He also plays keyboards for UK indie band Longview, whose singer Rob McVey was featured on Schnauss' next album, Goodbye. In an interview, he said: "I have always loved music that has both elements: melancholy and sadness as a description of the current situation you are in, but at the same time a hopeful, utopian element that reminds you of the possibility of a different life."[5]

His third album, Goodbye, was completed in early 2007. It was released in Europe by Independiente Records on 25 June 2007. The United States release followed on 10 July under Domino Records. Regarding this album, he said: "The overall idea was pretty much the same. I just wanted to merge the indie songwriting elements and electronic instrumentation. After the previous album I still had a feeling like there was more room to take these ideas to an extreme level when it comes to layering and laying down as many tracks as possible."[citation needed]

On 12 June 2007, Schnauss released an EP, Quicksand Memory, which contains two remixes by Robin Guthrie of previous releases, a mix by Rob McVey of a previously unreleased track, and an edit of a track appearing on his latest album.

In the spring of 2008, Schnauss remixed two tracks by the Manchester-based shoegaze band Daniel Land and the Modern Painters. On 27 October 2008, the two tracks, "Within the Boundaries" and "Benjamin's Room", were released as a double A-side 7" single by the independent record label Sonic Cathedral, the label's 11th release.

In July 2008, the Stars EP was released to support his June/July US tour. A co-produced/co-written track with A Shoreline Dream, titled "neverChanger", was released on an EP of the same name. Schnauss traveled out for a short tour with the band in Texas and Colorado to promote this effort and performed this track with A Shoreline Dream during his performances.

In October 2009, Schnauss' record labels, Independiente and Domino, sued Guns N' Roses, alleging that the band had committed copyright infringement by using portions of Schnauss' compositions in the track "Riad 'n the Bedouins" on the album Chinese Democracy.[6]

In 2010, Schnauss was involved in the mixing of Exit Calm's self-titled debut album.

Schnauss also provided keyboards and backing vocals on Engineers' third album, In Praise of More. Schnauss also played as a headlining act for the "Phrase One" festival held in the small Irish town of Carrick-on-Shannon on 19 April 2013.

Schnauss was a member of Tangerine Dream from 2014 to 2020. His first release with the group was the mini-album Mala Kunia (2014) which launched "The Quantum Years"-era of the group influenced by quantum physics.

After obtaining the rights to his entire catalog, Schnauss remastered and mixed all five of his solo studio albums, releasing them in 2019 on the 7CD compilation box set Now is a Timeless Present, along with a bonus disc of unreleased recordings and outtakes. Albums A Long Way to Fall and No Further Ahead than Today were also re-worked and partially re-recorded, and given new artwork and titles of A Long Way to Fall – Rebound and No Further Ahead than Tomorrow. Each remastered album was later released individually in 2020.[7][8][9]

In other media

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Live in London

Pseudonyms and groups

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Discography

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Releases

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Release title Released as Release type Label Year
Broken View to the Future 12" single White Label 1995
Wegwerfgesellschaft Police in Cars with Headphones CD album FSP
Journey to the Other World View to the Future 12" single VTTF 1996
Purity Alphakid Recordings 1997
Music Is Music Airdrops
We Rule the 80s Hair (With Alex Krueger) 12" EP Müller
The 7th Seal View to the Future CD album Alphakid Recordings
Unicorn 12" single Case Invaders 1998
Hair 2 Hair (With Alex Krueger) 12" EP USM
Spring Rmx Ethereal 77 12" single Base Daddy 1999
Landscapes CD album
Ignorance Junkie Sartre Vs Hexaquart 12" EP Force Tracks 2000
Exploitation Hexaquart Lifetime 2001
Far Away Trains Passing By Ulrich Schnauss CD / LP City Centre Offices
Zero Gravity Ethereal 77 12" single Looking Good 2002
A Strangely Isolated Place Ulrich Schnauss CD / 2xLP City Centre Offices (Europe) / Domino (US) 2003
Quicksand Memory EP CD/EP Independiente (Europe) / Domino (US) 2007
Goodbye CD/LP
Stars CD/EP 2008
neverChanger A Shoreline Dream CD/EP Latenight Weeknight 2008
Recollections of Memory CD album 2009
Ulrich Schnauss & Jonas Munk Ulrich Schnauss & Jonas Munk CD album Pedigree Cuts 2011
Underrated Silence Ulrich Schnauss & Mark Peters CD album Bureau B 2012
77 EP Ulrich Schnauss & ASC 12" EP Auxiliary 2012
A Long Way to Fall Ulrich Schnauss CD album PIAS 21 January 2013
Tomorrow Is Another Day Ulrich Schnauss & Mark Peters CD album Bureau B 2013
No Further Ahead Than Tomorrow Ulrich Schnauss CD / 2xLP PIAS 2016
Passage Ulrich Schnauss & Jonas Munk CD / LP Azure Vista Records 2017
Synthwaves Ulrich Schnauss & Thorsten Quaeschning 2017
Snöflingor EP Seba & Ulrich Schnauss 12" EP Blu Mar Ten 2017
Now Is a Timeless Present Ulrich Schnauss Scripted Realities 2019
Eight Fragments of an Illusion Ulrich Schnauss & Jonas Munk CD / LP Azure Vista Records 2021

with Tangerine Dream

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Compilation appearances (exclusive tracks only)

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Remixes

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As Ulrich Schnauss

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As View to the Future

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As Hexaquart

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ Dom, Gourlay (21 January 2011). "Surviving the underground: DiS meets Vinita Joshi of Rocket Girl Records". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  2. ^ "Video Premiere: "Rain on Dry Concrete" by Quaeschning & Schnauss". The Big Takeover. 15 June 2017.
  3. ^ a b "Ulrich Schnauss Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio & ..." AllMusic. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
  4. ^ Ulrich Schnauss, Website biography. Accessed 28 July 2007.
  5. ^ Moayeri, Lily. "Ulrich Schnauss | Under the Radar – Music Magazine". Undertheradarmag.com. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  6. ^ Guns 'N Roses Sued for Copying Songs. Billboard, 6 October 2009.
  7. ^ "A Long Way to Fall – Rebound". boomkat. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  8. ^ "Ulrich Schnauss – Now is a Timeless present". Rough Trade. Retrieved 8 January 2021.[permanent dead link]
  9. ^ "No Further Ahead Than Tomorrow". boomkat. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  10. ^ Nudd, Tim (10 December 2013). "Lance Jensen Talks Cadillac and Where It's Taking American Luxury". Adweek. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
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