I enjoy "Berlin Sound". It always seemed to be a kind of struggle, Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze... I, particularly, always will choose the last one.

When I found out some years ago Jörg Schaaf not only I discovered a great German synthetist (and even best person) but I realized I have stroken up a wonderful friendship with someone who has collaborated with the very Klaus Schulze. At the beginning I couldn't believe it. How anyone in this situation is able to keep his feet on earth? That's what Jörg does and even more, it is a pleasure to talk with him. Seeing how openminded and judicious he is.
His music, that is obviously impregnated with sequences and all the recognizable elements of the School of Berlin, has a personal character under the form of sounds sometimes more experimental. It is a pity he doesn't squander more!

-When and how did you begin with all this about music?

-I was 14 years old when I got infected by synthesizer sounds. I had no money to afford one and started to built little electronic circuits in order to make at least some noise. I obtained my first Synthesizer (Korg MS 20 -everything else was way to expensive) two years later. Then I sold my old "Luxor" organ and bought a crumar multiman for string sounds, one bad stone phaser and a WEM Copycat. Now I was prepared for my first band Dannebroek 1980. We played a kind of progressive space rock with e-guitar, bass, drums and my synth stuff. It was nice to be a member of one of the worst german krautrock bands ever. (Laughs).
After the band split I started to produce my own music. I used to work at a music instrument retailer and had the opportunity to use all the instruments in my synthesizer department. I did some solo concerts by the end of the eighties but in general concentrated more on MIDI sequencing than live gigs.

©1982, with the MS-20 and Multiman

-On your latest album, 'sonar eXperience', you mix tracks of pure "Berlin Sound" (Turningpoint, Sequencia) with other more experimental ones (Fear 1, 2, 3). Do you feel comfortable in both styles?

-During the time I recorded 'sonar eXperience' the war in Yugoslavia started and I felt very bad sitting in my comfortable studio wheras innocent people have been killed as a result of this desaster. So I composed those FEAR interludes to interrupt the sweet music passages with some acoustic terror.
For further punishment I rised up the volume during these passages. It must be a nightmare to be waken up in the middle of the night by bombs, drones, cries and other war fanfares. I thought these interludes are a way to experience a little bit of this terrible mood.
But I also must admit that I love the non tonal aspects of music. I am usually spending more time into the development of some atmospheric sounds than into the music itself.
My favorite track on this album is "Laydown Sonics". I love this track. It was very simple to record that and it is the track, which took me all together not more than about one hour. The way I recorded that -just playing some chords without even listen to a metronome and using these improvised chords as a play along track for some further sound colors is the way, music production should always be- just capturing the flow...

-This CD was released in 1999. Why haven't you released any other album since then?

-The simply reason is that I did not find the time to concentrate on music production. If I would start a new album, I would make sure that I have at least the time to finish the new album as well. At least a block of 3-4 weeks to focus on this work. Just putting together some tracks I recorded during the past 6 years would end up in something different drom a real new album. It would sound more like a sampler.

-What are you working on now?

-I am developing and producing the spectralis -a music machine with a modular synth, a sampler and a bunch of sequencers that are specialized in Life-Usability. The webpage for this project is http://www.spectralis.de. You may want to listen also to some of the demos of this synth I posted there. 'Ambient' is one of my favorites.

Ambient (mp3)

-How is your relationship with Klaus Schulze?

-It's a good partnership. Klaus creates a very relaxed atmosphere in his studio. I always felt more like having some vacation than doing hard studio work.

-You participate on Klaus Schulze's project "Wahnfried" as well, particularly on 1996 album 'Trance Appeal'. What are the differences between Klaus Schulze and Wahnfried?

-Wahnfried is a band project and Klaus Schulze is the solo project. From time to time, Klaus also has collaborators on his solo CD's but then mostly because he want them to play his music. At these Wahnfried project you can play your own music or you can create some music with him together. For that reason, Wahnfried CD's usually differ much more from album to album than Klaus Schulze Solo CD's depending on the co-musicians he is working with.
Just compare 'Trance Appeal' with it's successor or the album he created with Georg and Uwe and you hear what I mean.

-Are you nowadays in touch with Klaus Schulze?

-We are having telephone conversations from time to time and agree to do another Wahnfried sooner or later -but the main problem is just the time factor. I never expected to experience so much work, when I started the spectralis project.

-What are the steps you walk when you compose your music?

-That depends on the ideas I have. I am not using the same step by step scheme for every track I compose. Sometimes I am starting creating a sound, sometimes I start with some drum programming and sometimes I start with a chord or a melody.

-How do you see nowadays the scene of classic electronics, as "Berlin Sound"?

-Hmm... I don't even know, when I have listened to this stuff the last time. I am addicted to progressive bands like Peter Gabriel's Genesis, Pink Floyd or Yes. I don't care so much about this pure Electronic sound anymore. When you are developing synthesizers, a lot of the magic of this kind of "electronic" music gets lost.

-What is Subsonic Affair?

-Just a pseudonym I used for remixes.

-What about the future of Jörg Schaaf?

-Hopefully, I will have some more time to do my next CD soon.

Fernwald, Germany, November 29, 2005

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