Tilman Ehrhorn: versatile master of sounds
- Is life an inspiration to make music or is music inspiration to live?
>Life an inspiration to make music: Some things, happened in my childhood influence and motivate me while producing music in a very abstract way, as seeing a picture of something or hearing a sound and coming closer to an idea in high spirits. But its not the way like being to a beautiful place and feeling inspired to write a piece of music afterwards. Music an inspiration to live: Making music and probably – even more important – listening to music definitely is one of the most important things in my life.< - What would you do if there wouldn’t be music, starting with tomorrow?
>Hardly imaginable. If there never exist music before I wouldn´t take care because of not missing it. If suddenly music didn´t exist anymore one day, I probably would spend all my energies to find out why this happened and get the music back.< - …and what if you had to produce in a different music genre? What would that be?
>I´m working in different music genres anyway. Originally being a saxophone player I was trained at the college of music to play classical and jazz music in orchestras and bands and I´m still doing this a lot. I´m earning my money most of all by playing some theatre music, recording score music as a reed player as well as producing commissioned music.< - The beauty of silence or the chaos of noises?
>One can´t probably exist without the other, but my taste is generally more on the calm and silent side. (Re)structuring the chaos of noises is one of my principal objects while producing tracks.< - What’s your favourite album ever?
>Hard to tell as it changes from time to time. Some of my all-time favorites are: Beatles -Revolver
Tomorrow – Tomorrow
Pink Floyd – The Piper at the Gates of DawnJan Jelinek – Loop-Finding-Jazz-Records
Frank Bretschneider – Curve
Mokira – AlbumJohn Coltrane – Lush Life
Herbie Hancock – Thrust
Kurt Rosenwinkel – The Enemies of EnergyDepeche Mode – Exciter
The Good, the Bad & the Queen – The Good, the Bad & the Queen
Thom Yorke – The Eraser
Beck – Modern Guilt< - …and your favourite album cover?
>Nothing particular, but I love psychedelic artwork from the sixties.< - Is there some music you like – but ashamed to admit it?
>No, since I´m collaborating with people from totally different genres I´m quite aware of the situation of not really being understood of what I´m doing/listening to. It happens to me, that jazz colleagues are asking me, about what is going on with this “DJ-thing” as well as some electronica friends are really getting crazy about the fact, that I´m playing a real instrument and know how to read music…< - If you could be a rock star, who would you be?
>I AM A ROCK STAR!!!! Didn´t you know?
No, honestly. Sounds quite attractive to me to be a real rock star, but there´s nobody, i wanted to swap places with.< - Do you have a role model?
>Not really. Of course there are favorite musicians and artists, which inspire(d) me a lot. In every day life some people can handle certain situations really well and I´m trying to model myself on them.< - Who would you like to meet the most?
>Maybe some members of my family I didn´t have the chance to meet anymore.< - What are your favourite movies?
>”Welt am Draht” by Rainer Werner Fassbinder/ “Stalker” and “Solaris” by Andrei Tarkovski.< - If you had to direct your own movie, how would it look like?
>Hmm, really never thought about it, can´t tell, sorry….< - What’s your favourite food?
>Italian and Korean Food< - Do you prefer cooking or eating?
>Definitely eating< - Name three things you love the most about women.
>Their strong ability of empathy.
Their power of influencing group dynamic processes just by their presence (if a girl is part of a team, f.e. as a band member, almost every guy is bothering to show some good manners.)
Their most charming attitude – to name but a few.< - …and three things you hate about them.
>Nothing particular to hate about them. I don´t like typical role behavior of men and women, there´s still way too much social disadvantage for women, there are so many professions either made by only women or men (like charwoman or CEO) but sometimes the efforts of adopting a proportion of women are rather well-intentioned than useful.< - Which language would you like to speak most and why?
>Spanish or greek at an incredible speed (important!) like the guys in some restaurants in my neighborhood are doing.< - How would you describe yourself in 5 words?
>philanthropic, relaxed, mistrustful, efficient, hot-tempered (does this makes sense???)< - What are your vices?
>I´d say, I have no real vices.< - What is the most unusual comment anyone has ever made about you?
>Is this still music what you are doing?
or
Do you have this hairdo to look like on your press photo tonight?< - The best moment in your life?
>Of course there are certain moments in my life to be declared as “the best moments in my life”, like the births of my two children or the promise to my first record contract, but I think even more important are some short point of times happening surprisingly, like leaving home in the morning and just feeling great for any reason.< - What does beauty mean to you?
>Beauty – in a deeper matter – is very important to me.< - What’s your favourite picture about yourself?
>I´ve never been comfortable with this situation but this is one of the pics recently made:<
- What’s your most favourite picture you made?
>a glacial lake in iceland:<
- What would you do today if the world would end tomorrow?
>Staying with my family, maybe spending an hour just alone listening to some music and thinking about….errrr…the future.< - Which places you love the most?
>Iceland, South Africa, Berlin, the North Sea, my place of birth (called “Braunschweig”, a midsize town in Germany)< - Who’s your favourite superhero and why?
>Superheroes always have been suspicious to me.< - What’s your favourite flavour?
>Tea, Single Malt< - Three things you could never get rid of?
>computer, bike, books (apart from family & friends)< - Your three favourite websites?
>nothing really exciting – news sites< - What is the question you always would have liked to be asked but nobody ever did?
>thinking of it for hours now, but nothing occurs to me, sorry…<
Tilman Ehrhorn is a producer, composer, saxophone/reed player and sound designer.
Besides teaching, giving jazz clinics and regular work in theater, tv-, radio-, and cd productions he has established himself as a composer as well as a performing artist in clubs, festivals and concert tours all over the world. Before he graduated with a music degree from colleges in The Netherlands and in Germany he also took music lessons with highly reputed jazz artists in New York/USA as well as in Europe and took part in many workshops.
He has collaborated with commissioners like Goethe Institut, Auswärtiges Amt (German Office Of Foreign Affairs), Landesmusikrat Niedersachsen (Council Of Music of the County of Lower Saxony), with Ensembles like NDR Bigband, Hamburger Sinfoniker, L’Atelier d’Orchestre and with musicians like Wayne Shorter, Brian Blade, Nils Wogram, Albert Mangelsdorff etc.
In the last few years he has concentrated his efforts on a solo project in electronic music, as well as continuing to work as a jazz musician. Since samplers and synthesizers are the only source of sound, it evolves in a completely different way to jazz and improvised music, the major focus being the development of the individual elements of sound and their function within the composition.
Among appearing on many jazz records as a sideman, he regularly carries out some remix tasks as well as doing electronic sound-work for cd productions. Within the last two years he has released two critically acclaimed solo albums on Mille Plateaux and Resopal Schallware. In summer 2009 he returns with a new long-player on Neo Ouija.
For more info on Tilman check out his website or his Virb-page, for music samples on his various projects (Werken and jazzy Solid Minute) check out MySpace and last.fm. For videos feel free to check him out on YouTube and for full discography don’t forget about Discogs!
