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Christoph Heemann Biography

christoph-heemann
  • Born:
  • Years Active: 1980s-1990s
  • Member of: H.N.A.S.
  • Genre: Dance & Electronic

Christoph Heeman's recordings with H.N.A.S. and as a solo act reflect his inheritance of a number of rich European legacies: Kraut-rock, the industrial cut-ups of Nurse with Wound and Cabaret Voltaire, and the idea of the invisible soundtrack which has intrigued many independent-minded producers from Brian Eno to Paul Schütze. In 1983, the teenaged Heemann formed H.N.A.S. (hirsche nicht aus sofa, roughly translated as Moose Without a Sofa) with Achim Flaan (aka Achim P. Li Khan). Amidst a parade of obscure cassette-only releases on their own Dom Records, the duo's first major album, 1985's Abwassermusik reflected an interest in collages of samples, tape loops and found sounds, often repeated ad infinitum. For 1986's Melchior, an expanded H.N.A.S. lineup worked with the very sympathetic Steven Stapleton (of Nurse with Wound) and issued the album on Stapleton's United Dairies labels. The group released two more LPs during 1986-87, Im Schatten Der Möhre and Küttel im Frost (both on Dom). Meanwhile, Christoph Heemann had begun working farther afield, with an assortment of figures in the noise underground. He recorded a remix-by-mail project with Merzbow (Sleeper Awake on the Edge of the Abyss), appeared with Chicago guitarist Jim O'Rourke'sIllusion of Safety, recorded with H.N.A.S.'s own Andrea Martin, and released work as Mimir with Legendary Pink Dots mainman Edward Ka-Spel. Heemann's first solo work, the 1992 EP Über Den Umgang Mit Umgebung und Andere Versuche (released on Robot Records), effectively ended H.N.A.S. as a recording entity (though Achim P. Li Khan continued with the Damenbart and Brigitte projects). Christoph Heeman's first album work, Invisible Barrier, appeared on the Australian Extreme Records in 1993. Inspired by filmmakers Alain Resnais and Louis Malle, he recorded Aftersolstice one year later, for the Barooni label. Following his third solo album, 1997's Days of the Eclipse, Heemann again branched out to work on other projects, among them another Mimir release, several dates with Illusion of Safety, and a role in the recording of the Current 93 album In a Foreign Land, In a Foreign Town with David Tibet and Steven Stapleton. ~ John Bush, Rovi

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