Marcus Schmickler
Encyclopedia
Marcus Schmickler is a German composer, musician and producer. He is also known under the pseudonym
Pluramon.
In 1968 he was born as the son of an industrial salesman and a baker's daughter in Cologne. Soon his parents moved to Kuerten where he met the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen. In 1991, after spending a year in London
, he started studying music in Cologne and became a member of the seminal collective Kontakta. 1992 his first solo release appeared with the French label Odd Size. In 1995, he was co-initiator of the A-Musik
record store and the DJ collective Brüsseler-Platz-10a-Musik, together with Georg Odijk and Jan St. Werner (Mouse on Mars
).
Since 1995 he works as a composer, for film theater and radioplay. In 1996 he released one of the first fully digitally produced post-rock albums under the pseudonym Pluramon on the German label Mille Plateaux
. After a concert in Cologne, in 1998, he became a member of the 12-piece electro-acoustic ensemble MIMEO (Music in Movement Electronic Orchestra). In 1999, he completed his studies in electronic music with Hans Ulrich Humpert and the composition with Johannes Fritsch
with a thesis on Gottfried Michael Koenig.
In 2000 he published jointly with Thomas Lehn
the CD Bart, which enjoys a reputation to be one of the most impressive synth-improv performances ever made. With Lehn thereupon follows a long musical collaboration. In September 2001 he recorded the Pluramon album Dreams Top Rock with American singer Julee Cruise
, and went on an extended tour through South America (Argentina
, Bolivia
, Brazil
, Colombia
, Peru
, Venezuela
) on the initiative of the Goethe-Institut
in 2003 . Since 2004 he has been working on various theater projects, with among others, Felix Ensslin . He created numerous works of electronic music, and compositions for choir, chamber-ensemble and orchestra. In 2009 he composed Bonn Patternizationon on behalf of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 and the German Music Council, an electronic music
with projections based on astrophysical data, which attempts an epistemological exchange between the arts and sciences.
Marcus Schmickler has received prizes and scholarships, including the Ars Electronica
, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia
and curated festival programs in the Berliner Akademie der Künste
and the ZKM. He was a longtime member of the jury of the Deutscher Musikrat (German Music Council, a member of the International Music Council
). As an author, he wrote articles on various topics of electronic music.
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
Pluramon.
In 1968 he was born as the son of an industrial salesman and a baker's daughter in Cologne. Soon his parents moved to Kuerten where he met the music of Karlheinz Stockhausen. In 1991, after spending a year in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, he started studying music in Cologne and became a member of the seminal collective Kontakta. 1992 his first solo release appeared with the French label Odd Size. In 1995, he was co-initiator of the A-Musik
A-Musik
A-Musik is a record label for experimental music, a record distributor and a music store. A-Musik is based in Cologne and was founded by Georg Odijk in 1995. The A-Musik record label also runs sub-labels Fuji Rekodsu and Sieben....
record store and the DJ collective Brüsseler-Platz-10a-Musik, together with Georg Odijk and Jan St. Werner (Mouse on Mars
Mouse on Mars
Mouse on Mars is a duo from Germany who have been making electronic music since 1993. Their music is a sometimes quirky blend of IDM, krautrock, disco, and ambient with a heavy dollop of analog synth sounds and cross-frequency modulation...
).
Since 1995 he works as a composer, for film theater and radioplay. In 1996 he released one of the first fully digitally produced post-rock albums under the pseudonym Pluramon on the German label Mille Plateaux
Mille Plateaux
Mille Plateaux is an influential electronica record label founded 1993 by Achim Szepanski in Frankfurt, Germany. It is known for mostly releasing minimal techno, glitch music and other experimental electronic music.-History:...
. After a concert in Cologne, in 1998, he became a member of the 12-piece electro-acoustic ensemble MIMEO (Music in Movement Electronic Orchestra). In 1999, he completed his studies in electronic music with Hans Ulrich Humpert and the composition with Johannes Fritsch
Johannes Fritsch
Johannes G. Fritsch was a German composer.At the age of seven, Fritsch found a violin in the attic of his uncle's house in Bensheim-Auerbach, Germany, and began lessons with a village music teacher named Knapp...
with a thesis on Gottfried Michael Koenig.
In 2000 he published jointly with Thomas Lehn
Thomas Lehn
Thomas Lehn is a German-born piano and synthesizer player active in free improvisation and contemporary music.Lehn has recorded with Marcus Schmickler, Keith Rowe, John Butcher, Phil Minton, Phil Durrant, Radu Malfatti, Axel Dörner, Cor Fuhler, Gerry Hemingway and is a member of the electronic...
the CD Bart, which enjoys a reputation to be one of the most impressive synth-improv performances ever made. With Lehn thereupon follows a long musical collaboration. In September 2001 he recorded the Pluramon album Dreams Top Rock with American singer Julee Cruise
Julee Cruise
Julee Cruise is an American singer, and actress.With a distinctive, airy voice, Cruise has recorded three albums, but is probably best known for the lead vocal on "Falling," the theme song for the cult U.S. television series Twin Peaks...
, and went on an extended tour through South America (Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
, Bolivia
Bolivia
Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Colombia
Colombia
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
) on the initiative of the Goethe-Institut
Goethe-Institut
The Goethe-Institut is a non-profit German cultural institution operational worldwide, promoting the study of the German language abroad and encouraging international cultural exchange and relations. The Goethe-Institut also fosters knowledge about Germany by providing information on German...
in 2003 . Since 2004 he has been working on various theater projects, with among others, Felix Ensslin . He created numerous works of electronic music, and compositions for choir, chamber-ensemble and orchestra. In 2009 he composed Bonn Patternizationon on behalf of the International Year of Astronomy 2009 and the German Music Council, an electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
with projections based on astrophysical data, which attempts an epistemological exchange between the arts and sciences.
Marcus Schmickler has received prizes and scholarships, including the Ars Electronica
Ars Electronica
Ars Electronica is an organization based in Linz, Austria, founded in 1979 around a festival for art, technology and society that was part of the International Bruckner Festival. Herbert W. Franke is one of its founders. It became its own festival and a yearly event in 1986. Its director until 1995...
, the state of North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia
North Rhine-Westphalia is the most populous state of Germany, with four of the country's ten largest cities. The state was formed in 1946 as a merger of the northern Rhineland and Westphalia, both formerly part of Prussia. Its capital is Düsseldorf. The state is currently run by a coalition of the...
and curated festival programs in the Berliner Akademie der Künste
Akademie der Künste
The Akademie der Künste, Berlin is an arts institution in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1696 by Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg as the Prussian Academy of Arts, an academic institution where members could meet and discuss and share ideas...
and the ZKM. He was a longtime member of the jury of the Deutscher Musikrat (German Music Council, a member of the International Music Council
International Music Council
The International Music Council was created in 1949 as UNESCO's advisory body on matters of music. It is based at UNESCO's headquarters in Paris, France, where it functions as an independent international non-governmental organization...
). As an author, he wrote articles on various topics of electronic music.
Partial discography
- Solo
- Palace of Marvels [queered pitch], Editions MegoEditions MegoEditions Mego is a non-funded independent record label, founded 1 January 2006 by Peter RehbergIts aims are to maintain the back catalogue and legacy of the Mego label, as well as releasing new works.- Releases :...
, 2010 - Altars of Science, Editions Mego, 2007
- DEMOS for Choir, a-MusikA-MusikA-Musik is a record label for experimental music, a record distributor and a music store. A-Musik is based in Cologne and was founded by Georg Odijk in 1995. The A-Musik record label also runs sub-labels Fuji Rekodsu and Sieben....
, 2005 - Param, a-Musik, 2001
- Sator Rotas, a-Musik, 1999
- Wabi Sabi, a-Musik, 1996
- Onea Gako, Odd Size, 1993
- Palace of Marvels [queered pitch], Editions Mego
- As Pluramon
- The Monstrous Surplus, Karaoke Kalk, 2007
- Dreams Top Rock, Karaoke Kalk, 2003
- Bitsand Riders, Mille PlateauxMille PlateauxMille Plateaux is an influential electronica record label founded 1993 by Achim Szepanski in Frankfurt, Germany. It is known for mostly releasing minimal techno, glitch music and other experimental electronic music.-History:...
, 2000 - Render Bandits, Mille Plateaux, 1998
- Pickup Canyon, Mille Plateaux, 1996
- With MIMEO
- Wigry, Bolt Records, 2010
- Sight, Cathnor, 2008
- Lifting Concrete Lightly, Serpentine GallerySerpentine GalleryThe Serpentine Gallery is an art gallery in Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park, central London. It focuses on modern and contemporary art. The exhibitions, architecture, education and public programmes attract approximately 750,000 visitors a year...
, 2004 - The Hands of Caravaggio, Erstwhile Records, 2001
- Electric Table & Chair, Grob, 2000
- Collaborations
- Schmickler/Gratkowski/NabatovSimon NabatovSimon Nabatov is a jazz pianist.He began playing at three and his first composition was at six. He began his professional career in Rome in 1979 and later attended the Juilliard School. In 1984 Keyboard Magazine named him Best Pianist. In 1989 he left New York City, where he had settled, for Cologne...
Deployment, Leo RecordsLeo RecordsLeo Records is an English jazz record label, which releases Russian jazz in addition to material from American and British musicians.Leo Records was founded in 1979 by Leo Feigin , a Russian immigrant to Britain...
, 2010 - Marcus Schmickler/Thomas Lehn Navigation im Hypertext, a-Musik, 2008
- Marcus Schmickler/Thomas Lehn Kölner Kranz, a-Musik, 2008
- R/S One(snow mud rain), Erstwhile Records, 2007
- Marcus Schmickler with Hayden ChisholmHayden ChisholmHayden Chisholm is an New Zealand composer, record producer, saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist....
Amazing Daze, HäpnaHäpnaHäpna is a Swedish record label. It has released records by Toshiya Tsunoda, Sagor & Swing, Eric Malmberg, Hans Appelqvist and Tape.-External links:***...
, 2007 - Marc Ushmi Doshhammer Mixes (without Label), 2007
- Claudio Bohorquez, Solo and Accompaniment, AulosAulosAn aulos or tibia was an ancient Greek wind instrument, depicted often in art and also attested by archaeology.An aulete was the musician who performed on an aulos...
, 2006 - Marcus Schmickler/John TilburyJohn TilburyJohn Tilbury is a British pianist. He is considered one of the foremost interpreters of Morton Feldman's music, and since 1980 has been a member of the free improvisation group AMM.- Early life and education :...
Variety, a-Musik, 2005 - Schmickler/Lehn/Rowe/Nakamura Untitled, Erstwhile Records, 2004
- Schmickler/Lehn Amplify Balance 7 CD Box, Erstwhile Records, 2004
- Marcus Schmickler/Thomas Lehn / Keith RoweKeith RoweKeith Rowe is an English free improvisation tabletop guitarist and painter. Rowe is a founding member of both the hugely influential AMM in the mid-1960s and M.I.M.E.O. Having trained as a visual artist, Rowe's paintings have been featured on most of his own albums...
Rabbit Run, Erstwhile Records, 2003 - Marc Ushmi meets Reverend Galloway Mein Kopf verlor ein Dach, Whatness, 2003
- Soundcultures, Suhrkamp, 2003
- Marc Ushmi/Thomas Brinkmann Chevrolet Corvette Max Ernst, 2001
- Marcus Schmickler/Thomas Lehn Bart, Erstwhile Records, 2000
- 2:3 Oswald Wiener zum 65. Geburtstag, Supposé, 2000
- Prix Ars Electronica Cyber Arts 2000 Ars Electronica CenterArs Electronica CenterThe Ars Electronica Center is a center for electronic arts run by Ars Electronica situated in Linz, Austria, at the northern side of the Danube opposite the city hall of Linz. It has been built on the right side of the Nibelungenbrücke....
, 2000 - Brüsseler Platz-10a-Musik Wittener Tage für Neue Kammermusik, WDR, 1998
- Brüsseler Platz-10a-Musik sT, Sieben, 1997
- Brüsseler Platz-10a-Musik / Agentur Bilwet 1000 Fehler, Supposé, 1996
- Pol Baby I Will Make You Sweat Odd Size, 1995
- Pol Transomuba, Odd Size, 1994
- Kontakta s/T, Odd Size, 1992
- Schmickler/Gratkowski/Nabatov