Krautrock pioneer Damo Suzuki plays Crawdaddy on Thursday August 12th, collaborating with The Jimmy Cake for a once off performance. Read on if you fancy a chance at winning some free tickets…
Krautrock pioneer Damo Suzuki plays Crawdaddy on Thursday August 12th, collaborating with The Jimmy Cake for a once off performance. Read on if you fancy a chance at winning some free tickets…
The only rule of a Damo Suzuki concert is…there are no rules.
Damo Suzuki first rose to prominence as a member of legendary German group Can, joining the band the day he first met them, busking on a Munich street, and playing on the albums that re-invented rock. A decade ago, he embarked on his most ambitious project: the Never Ending Tour.
The idea is simple. Suzuki gathers musicians – or “Sound Carriers”, as he calls them – from every corner of the globe, selecting only those who have the potential to respond to each other, and the audience, in the moment. He calls this process ‘Instant Composing’. There are no rehearsals – sometimes the musicians only meet for the first time on stage – no artifice or style, and no barriers between the audience and the musicians. This is improvisation in its purest form. For once, to say that each performance is a unique experience is no exaggeration. This music has never been heard before, and will never be heard again.
DAMO SUZUKI BIOG
As a teenager, Suzuki spent the late 1960s wandering around Europe, often busking. When Malcolm Mooney left Can after recording their first album Monster Movie, Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit encountered Suzuki singing on a street in Munich, Germany whilst the two were sitting outside at a street café. They invited him to join the group, and he did, performing with them that evening.
Suzuki was with Can from 1970 to 1973, recording a number of well-regarded albums such as Tago Mago, Future Days and Ege Bamyasi. Suzuki’s first vocal performance with Can was “Don’t Turn the Light On, Leave Me Alone” from Soundtracks. His freeform, often improvised lyrics, sung in no particular language gelled with Can’s rolling, psychedelic sound.Suzuki converted to the Jehovah’s Witness faith when he married his German girlfriend, who was also a Jehovah’s Witness, after the release of the album Future Days, and retired from music in 1974.
He returned to music in 1983, and currently leads what is known as Damo Suzuki’s Network – as he tours, he performs live improvisational music with various local musicians (so-called “Sound Carriers”) from around the world, thus building up a ‘network’ of musicians with whom he collaborates. As far as more recent recorded material is concerned, Damo is featured on electronic/hip-hop producer Sixtoo’s album, “Chewing on Glass and Other Miracle Cures” (Ninja Tune, 2004).
Among the musicians in his live shows have been Michael Karoli and Jaki Liebezeit of Can, Mani Neumeier of Guru Guru, Dustin Donaldson of I Am Spoonbender, Cul De Sac, Passierzettel, The Early Years, The Bees, Do Make Say Think, Broken Social Scene, Airiel, Acid Mothers Temple, The Holy Soul, The Sandells, the Omar Rodriguez-Lopez Quintet (with whom he has recorded the 2007 EP Please Heat This Eventually), The Skull Defekts, AIDS Wolf, Edmondo Ammendola and Dave Williams of Augie March, Gordon J Watson & Simon Doling of Terminal Cheesecake, Stephen Mcbean from black mountain, The Prestidigitators, Gary Jeff of God, Calamalka, Karl Asa of J>A>W>, Hamish Black, tynder and many, many others.Suzuki has been recognised by name by at least three different bands. The Fall’s 1985 album This Nation’s Saving Grace features a song “I Am Damo Suzuki,” inspired by and dedicated to the singer. The rock band The Mooney Suzuki takes its name from Damo Suzuki and Can’s earlier vocalist Malcolm Mooney. And most recently UK based psych/prog rockers Dudes Of Neptune have dedicated an entire album “Jamming For Damo” to Suzuki
So it’s the usual deal for entry – all that’s needed is an email to [email protected] with DamoCakeTickets as the subject and including both your messageboard username & your real name by midnight on Monday 9th August.
Damo Suzuki also plays:
9th August – Roisin Dubh, Galway (with Paul Condon, Vicky Langan, Aonghus McEvoy and Brian O’ Shaughnessy)
11th August – Cyprus Avenue, Cork (with Paul Condon, Vicky Langan, Aonghus McEvoy and Brian O’ Shaughnessy)
12th August – Crawdaddy, Dublin (with The Jimmy Cake)
13th August – Kilkenny Arts Festival
