Electric Fields Johannes Motschmann

• 1 Skywhite 02:48
• 2 Parhelia 05:07
• 3 Echoes and Drones 03:01
• 4 Flow Expansion 03:36
• 5 Rotor 03:58
• 6 Headland 05:10
• 7 Electric Fields 06:27
• 8 Tenebrae 04:38
• 9 Hidden Tracks 09:03
• Total Runtime 43:48

Info for Electric Fields

It’s raw, melancholic and dark, this live electrosound in which analogue synthesizers, an old Wurlitzer piano and the famous Yamaha CP-70 rhythmically intermesh with a huge percussion set and violin sounds only to lose themselves in space. This music reflects the career of Johannes Motschmann, who studied composition, piano and electronic music and has already written works for large orchestra. In his youth he played in various bands, with an equal love of new wave and electronica. His “Electric Fields” album profiles a city: he has followed the two great lines of the German music tradition and rethought them, captured snapshots of a nocturnal journey through Berlin and created his own sound in the space between electronic dance music, avant-garde and orchestral – translated into a classic band line-up as a trio.

There are audible references to Tangerine Dream and other exponents of the Berlin school. Back in the 70s, they were experimenting with synthesizers, leaving deep furrows in music culture from new wave to Brian Eno to techno. Motschmann absorbs all these influences, mixes ambient, industrial and drone sounds with sonic fields, constantly forging associations with classical music. In the process, he naturally connects with the virtuoso tradition of Bach, Satie and Stockhausen, composers whose craft Motschmann has mastered. The rhythms of Electric Fields are painstakingly drafted as written scores and recorded live in the studio by the trio. All the instruments are recorded in the same acoustic space, so the handmade electrosound sounds full and natural. Johannes Motschmann is backed by multipercussionist David Panzl and tonmeister Boris Bolles, who contributes various synthesizer parts and violin melodies.

Johannes Motschmann, piano, synthesizers
David Panzl, Synthesizers, violin
Boris Bolle, multi percussion

Recorded by Boris Bolles at Studio P4, Nalepastraße Berlin
Engineered by Christian Bader
Eastside Mastering Studios, Berlin
Produced by Sven Schuhmann

Johannes Motschmann
(born in 1978) studied composition with Jörg Herchet, piano with Gunther Anger, electronic music with Wilfried Jentzsch, and music theory with Clemens Kühn and Ludwig Holtmeier at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music, Dresden. From 2002 to 2006 he studied with Wolfgang Rihm at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe, where he received his diploma and completed his studies with a graduate recital.

Afterwards he studied with Hanspeter Kyburz at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, where he received his postgraduate degree, and this was followed by a period of intensive study of algorithmic composition. He was awarded a scholarship from the Höpfner Stiftung, and received a postgraduate scholarship from the State of Baden-Württemberg. In 2008 he won the Bremen Composer Prize. He participated in the Fifth International Composition Seminar of Ensemble Modern.

Johannes Motschmann has received commissions for compositions from renowned festivals, such as the Klangspuren Schwaz Festival of Contemporary Music; the Davos Festival; Heidelberger Frühling; the AlpenKLASSIK Festival; and the Biennale für Moderne Musik Frankfurt Rhein Main. His works have been performed at, among other festivals, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival; the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; the Beethovenfest Bonn; and at the Yellow Lounge at Berghain in Berlin.

He has worked with renowned musicians such as Ensemble Modern, Scharoun Ensemble, Minguet Quartett, Jack Quartet, Quartuor Danel, SWR Sinfonieorchester, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Matthias Schorn, François-Frédéric Guy, Johannes Kalitzke, Sean Edwards, Peter Tilling, Alexander Shelley and the band „Spark“.

In april 2016 his album „Electric Fields“ (with multi-percussionist David Panzl and recording engineer Boris Bolles) will be released at berlin classics/Neue Meister. Johannes Motschmann lives in Berlin.

Booklet for Electric Fields