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Faust | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Faust at Wümme, 1971; back from left: Zappi, Péron, Sosna, Wüsthoff, Irmler, Meifert; front from left: Nettelbeck (producer), Graupner (engineer) | |
| Background information | |
| Origin | Wümme,Bremen, Germany |
| Genres | |
| Years active | 1971–1975; 1990–present |
| Labels |
|
| Members | Werner "Zappi" Diermaier Gunther Wüsthoff |
| Past members | Hans Joachim Irmler Rudolf Sosna Jean-Hervé Péron Arnulf Meifert |
| Website | The Faust Pages |
Faust (German:[faʊ̯st], English: "fist") are a German rock band from Hamburg. Formed in 1971 by producer and formermusic journalistUwe Nettelbeck, the group was originally composed ofWerner "Zappi" Diermaier (b.1949), Hans Joachim Irmler (b.1950),[5] Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron (b.1949),[6] Rudolf Sosna (1946 – 1996) and Gunther Wüsthoff, working withengineer Kurt Graupner.[7] Their work was oriented around dissonance,improvisation, and experimentalelectronic approaches,[2] and would influence subsequentambient andindustrial music.[7] They are considered a central act ofWest Germany's 1970skrautrock movement.[8]
Faust formed in 1971 in the rural setting of Wümme. They secured a recording contract withPolydor and soon began recording their debut,Faust, which sold poorly but received critical acclaim for its innovative approach and established a devoted fan base. Meifert was sacked shortly afterwards because, as Péron wrote in 2004, "he discussed things, because he had flat buttocks and an absolutely beautiful girlfriend, because he practised every day, because he always kept his room neat and woke up every morning to first wet a cloth he'd put in front of his room to keep the dirt out, because he played such a hard 4/4th that we had to travel into the tongue, ready to drop, ding dong is handsome top."[9]
In 1972 the band recorded its second, slightly more accessible albumSo Far. Faust became one of the premier bands in the international appreciation of the genre that would eventually be known askrautrock.[10]
Faust became one of the first acts to sign toRichard Branson'sVirgin Records, who embarked on a marketing campaign somewhat daring for its time, aimed at introducing Faust to British record-buyers.The Faust Tapes was a cut-and-paste album, which spliced together a large number of bits and pieces from their extensive collection of private recordings not originally intended for release. Virgin issued it at the then price of a single, 48 pence.The Faust Tapes reportedly sold over 100,000 copies but its low price tag rendered it ineligible for a chart placing.[10]
After collaborating withTony Conrad on the albumOutside the Dream Syndicate, Faust recordedFaust IV at Virgin's studios in England. The band broke up in 1975 after Virgin rejected its fifth album (some of the recordings later appeared on theMunich and Elsewhere album), but reissues of their recordings and various additional material throughChris Cutler'sRecommended Records maintained a level of interest.
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Faust experimented with the presentation of their early records. Their first album was originally released on clear vinyl, in a clear sleeve with an X-ray of a human fistsilkscreened on the outer sleeve. Their second album,So Far, made extensive use of the color black, though inside the sleeve were sheets with a different illustration for each song.The Faust Tapes had a visually unsettlingop art cover design byBridget Riley, while that forFaust IV consisted of a series of blank musicstaves.
After Faust's breakup, the group's whereabouts were unknown; the Recommended Records catalogues talked about the group's "disappearance". The official Web site lists three concerts during the 1980s, and thePatchwork album, a compilation of outtakes, feature three snippets that were recorded in the 1980s,[11] but apart from that, the group's activities between 1975 and 1990 remain shrouded in mystery.
In 1990 and 1992, members Irmler, Diermaier and Péron reunited for performances.[10] In 1994, Faust toured the United States for the first time, with Péron and Diermaier assisted by Steven Wray Lobdell and with members ofSonic Youth as an opening act. Irmler did not participate in the 1994 US tour, but took a more active role after that, producing the groups' records and releasing them on his Klangbad label. He also compiled and edited thePatchwork remix album in 2002. Sosna's chronic alcoholism ended a brief reunion with Faust "after four or five exhausting days",[12] and he died on 10 November 1996.[13] Gunter Wüsthoff has not taken part in any of the reunions. They have continued to perform in various combinations and with various additional musicians ever since, with Diermaier always behind the drum kit.
In 1996, Diermaier and Péron metOlivier Manchion and Amaury Cambuzat from French groupUlan Bator. They performed for the first time together as "Collectif Met(z)" in November 1996 (this quartet became the basis of a later Faust line-up and this concert was part of a 2005 release). A few days after, Faust performed at the Garage in London and at the Transmusicales de Rennes, featuringChris Cutler. After two studio albums, Péron left the group in June 1997. From mid-1997 to 2004, Faust toured as Zappi W. Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Steven Wray Lobdell, Lars Paukstat and Michael Stoll, releasing many more studio and live albums.
Diermaier and "art-errorist" Péron reunited in 2005, when Zappi proposed that they start a "new" Faust together with Olivier Manchion and Amaury Cambuzat fromUlan Bator. Faust now exists in two completely different incarnations, both active and each reflecting different aspects of the original group. Uwe Nettelbeck died on 17 January 2007.[14]
Diermaier/Péron's new Faust made their debut at the 2005 Art-Errorist Avant Garde festival inSchiphorst, Germany, where they also presented a new release entitledCollectif Met(z), a collection including concerts from 1996 and 2005 and unreleased solo songs. They also recordedTrial and Error, released on DVD in 2007 by the Fuenfundvierzig Label. This incarnation of the group has been extremely active, releasing several CD-Rs and DVD-Rs and touring extensively, including a very successful autumn 2005 UK tour, released in 2007 as... In Autumn by Dirter. This release also features exHenry Cow saxophonist/flautistGeoff Leigh, vocalist Lucianne Lassalle, poetZoë Skoulding and the members of the Welsh groupEctogram. The trio of Diermaier, Péron and Cambuzat performed at aRock in Opposition festival in France in April 2007.[15] This trio lineup also recorded a new album entitledDisconnected which was mixed bySteven Stapleton and Colin Potter ofNurse with Wound. It was released to tie in with the 2007 Schiphorst Avant Garde festival in July 2007.C'est com... com... compliqué, the second album from these sessions was released in February 2009 on the Bureau B label.Krautrock: The Rebirth of Germany (2009), BBC documentary onKrautrock, featured interview segments with Péron and Diermaier. In 2011, in collaboration with the British artistsGeraldine Swayne andJames Johnston, the duo recorded a new Faust studio album,Something Dirty.[16]
In 2010, Faust with members Hans Joachim Irmler, Steven Wray Lobdell, Lars Paukstat, Michael Stoll and Jan Fride released a new studio album,Faust Is Last, which happened to be the last studio album by Irmler's Faust. After the release of the two compilationsMomentaufnahme 1 andMomentaufnahme 2, Jean-Hervé Péron declared the band disbanded, which Diermaier later denied.[citation needed] Having been absent from the band for 49 years, core member Gunther Wüsthoff reunited with Werner "Zappi" Diermaier to play on the new 2022 Faust album,Daumenbruch. Members of Einsturzende Neubauten and Monobeat Original, another musical project of Diermaier, also play on the album.[17][18]
In September 2024, Faust released a new six track album titledBlickwinkel, once again created by the reunited efforts of Diermaier and Wüsthoff, working with a selection of musical friends.[19][20]
During the Wümme years, Diermaier, Péron and Wüsthoff played onSlapp Happy's first two albums,Sort Of (1972) andAcnalbasac Noom (1973) which were also produced by Uwe Nettelbeck. Slapp Happy'sPeter Blegvad had played with Faust in Wümme and subsequently toured with them in the UK. That tour also featuredUli Trepte, who had performed withGuru Guru andNeu!.
In contrast with Slapp Happy's song-based music, in 1972 Diermaier, Péron and Sosna also collaborated with the violinistTony Conrad onOutside the Dream Syndicate; the record was released in 1973 at a low price in the UK and was, at the time, one of the few available examples ofdrone-based minimalism.[citation needed] A live recording from a 1995 concert, entitledOutside the Dream Syndicate Alive featuring Tony Conrad, Zappi Diermaier & Jean-Hervé Péron of Faust andJim O'Rourke was released in Autumn 2005.
Faust collaborated with New Jersey avant-garde hip-hop crewDälek for the albumDerbe Respect, Alder in 2004.
Jean-Hervé Péron collaborated withTHEME andZsolt Sores on a MLP called 'Poison Is (Not) The Word' released on theLumberton Trading Company label in 2012, and in 2013 Faust recorded 'Live at Clouds Hill' withOmar Rodríguez-López.
Faust performed with Slapp Happy again in November 2016 at the Week-End festival inCologne, Germany.[21] The two groups also played together in February 2017 atCafe Oto in London.[22]
In December 2017, Faust recorded a one-off collaboration with erotic-electronic artist Natalie Sharp, akaLone Taxidermist, as part of theBBC Radio 3 programmeLate Junction's "Late Junction Sessions" series.[23]
| Year | Album | Certifications |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | Faust | |
| 1972 | Faust So Far | |
| 1973 | The Faust Tapes | |
| 1973 | Faust IV | |
| 1994 | Rien | |
| 1997 | You Know FaUSt | |
| 1997 | Faust Wakes Nosferatu | |
| 1999 | Ravvivando | |
| 2009 | C'est Com...Com...Complique | |
| 2010 | Faust Is Last (as "Hans Joachim Irmler's Faust") | |
| 2011 | Something Dirty | |
| 2014 | J US t | |
| 2017 | Fresh Air | |
| 2022 | Daumenbruch | |
| 2022 | Punkt. (Unreleased 5th album) | |
| 2024 | Blickwinkel |
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| Other | |
