ONLINE RELAUNCH
I used a hiatus from writing and producing in 2015 it was time for my studio to be remodelled.
After that was successfully done, it was time to start with new projects and songs!
I created and produced new SUICIDE BOOTH songs with Marc Staub.
I also discovered for myself a "new" kind of music - progressive rock. With Martin Bischof
I worked on progressive rock material via chain tape. It's still a musical experiment.
Throughout the three years I went on doing commercials and musicals for corporations
and events for with my company Infotainment München.
I also experimented with sound design and so I reworked and remixed old material in this new mode.
And I set a new highlight: I launched my BLOG PAGE lennart-music.com! Here you are now.
Nowadays in my opinion it's important to find new ways for releasing and selling music. I decided to stop producing CDs. From now on I'll go the digital way and will release my work on Soundcloud and Spotify.
For some time I've been thinking about how digitalisation already had and will have impact on creating and performing music.
S.E.T.I.
In 2012 LENNART released S.E.T.I. a concept album focusing on the reasons why we are fascinated about the question if extraterrestrial life exists.
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is a collective term for scientific searches for intelligent extraterrestrial life, for example, monitoring electromagnetic radiation for signs of transmissions from civillizations on other planets.I really found it challenging to think about the different aspects of the quest for extraterrestrial life (E.T.): Curiosity is vital to mankind. So our human nature simply explains the fascination with everything extraterrestrial. Space – The Last Frontier.
What would be the reaction of the human race when First Contact (the first time we are actually presented with undeniable physical evidence of extraterrestrial life) was established?
All communication includes, apart from the plain meaning of words, more information – information on how the talker wants to be understood and how he himself sees his relation to the receiver of information.
The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that none of it has tried to contact us.
LENNART VS. PATRICK GANSTER
I left PHASE III in 2009 and began a legal battle with the remaining band members regarding their continued use of the name and material.
Finally I was released from my contractual obligation with the band, and I retained the copyright to my musical contributions.
In 2008 I met PATRICK GANSTER and we immediately started our musical partnership manifesting itself in LENNART VS. PATRICK GANSTER.
While basically a LENNART project (with me doing the conceptual work and most of the songwriting and engineering) both Patrick and I definitely share our production credits with Patrick doing all the Lead Vocals and acts as the de-facto “Front Man”.
We released “The Golden Cage” as the first product of our co-operations in 2009, with another album (“WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD”) followed in 2014.
SUICIDE BOOTH
SUICIDE BOOTH (Spif Anderson & Stefan Fenzel) in late 2008 (above)
SPIF ANDERSON in the LABOR (below)
One year later in 2007 me and DJ Stefan Fenzel founded SUICIDE BOOTH, a retro synth pop band, inspired by campy sci-fi, comics and B movies and bringing back the spirit of the early 80s.
During my work with PHASE III I learned that DJs are really GREAT producers. Actually a DJ is the one who delivers the music to the masses and he (or she) decides which songs work and which not. And mostly they understand more about music than most musicians as there whole life is about LISTENING to music. So in my experience a DJ is like a music encyclopedia, and therefore a reliable partner in every music production process.
We avoided A LOT of mistakes due to Stefans contributions.
In 2008 I stopped producing other artists in due to my increasing inability to share my producers chair with other artists.
But I successfully continued producing jingles, commercials, film scores, soundtracks and musicals for company events.
After the EP "AURA" in late 2007, 2008 saw the release of the first SUICIDE BOOTH album "Terror From The Sky".
It was followed by the critically acclaimed LENNART album “Toni Jo Henry” (2008) a biographical Pop Opera and a statement against death penalty. Patron for this production is AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL who also receives all the income from the sale of the songs.
PHASE III
On stage with PHASE III (above) and in the studios of the BR with IVAN HAJEK (below)
From 1992 until 2004 I worked as producer and songwriter for the meanwhile disbanded gothic-folk band D'ARCADIA.
During this time I got a lot of insight into the german "Wave/Gothic" scene and noticed one remarkable thing:
Musical stagnation like in the jazz scene. Quite everything I heard in those gothic clubs sounded like 1998 (except for the sometimes absurdly "dark" lyrics)
Unlike with jazz music I decided to involve myself just "to make a point" and to prove something:
As a reslult 2006 was the year I founded the gothic band project PHASE III:
EBM and Dark Wave mixed and developed out of Pop music. We did what nobody dared to do:
Music that is compatible with the gothic scene but looks far beyond the contemporary horizon.
By knocking down barriers and investing a lot of enthusiasm, PHASE III was a huge success in the German and worldwide gothic scene.
We also resigned making an CD album (which oddly enough still seems to be the "prima ratio" of most bands) and did something that was very innovative in these days:
We launched our own Download Store and started selling "mp3 Bundles", which was well recieved by our audience and the fans.
In 2005 I furthermore intensified my collaboration with IVAN HAJEK as well as in the studio as on stage.
POPUMENTARY
Spif Anderson and Thomas Gäbhard (Arcana Obscura) presenting FRIENDLY FIRE Live in 2004 during various performances
After many years of producing music for television, commercials, pop bands and company events, I decided to focus myself on more political and science related themes.
One day in 2003 a report about the upcoming war in Iraq set the idea in my mind to set another course with my work from entertainment to more content based music.
As a result of this "moment of truth" the term POPUMENTARY, a hybrid of pop music and documentary, crossed my mind. To underline this decision I started producing and recording under the name SPIF ANDERSON, disbanding my former artist name.
The second album (after the initial “Irisiana” in 2000), which was released under my band-project name LENNART (which in fact is my middle name), was the double album "FRIENDLY FIRE", a very critical piece of music, that is about 9/11 and the war in Iraq.
Also during this time I turned away from doing jazz because of it's musical stagnation born out of ignorance.
An artist who falsely believes he is knowledgeable will not seek out clarification of his beliefs, but rather rely on his ignorant position.
Therefore I started to look out for constant challenges and found one in IVAN HAJEK an exceptional accordeon artist who constantly is looking for new musical ways as an vehicle for his virtuoso playing.
FRIENDLY FIRE also brought me back on stage due to the need to promote the project and the idea behind it. Together with film maker PETER HIRSCH we made an groundbreaking 60 minute video documentary based on the songs from the album.
This video is still the nucleus of all FRIENDY FIRE stage shows.
As an result of the possibilities digital recording software had to offer in these days I founded the LABOR - A small studio based in my domicile, in which I do all my work (be it commercials or whole album productions, until today)
IT'S THE EAR - NOT THE GEAR!
GETTING THINGS STRAIGHT
May 2001 at the mixing desk in Munich, working on the final mixes for IRISIANA
From 1997 to 2001 Thomas Meyer and I (still acting under my at the time stage name Ian John Hudson) recorded enough songs for a whole CD album. In these times albums were the only "admitted" way to release songs, the golden age of "singles" long gone and the online music market still in it's infancy.
During this time I produced a lot of reputable records for artist like JANA LANKA, ORGANIZED NOISE or D'ARCADIA, but I still avoided stage performances if possible.
In early 2000 I started working as a production director for non-fiction german television shows, something that would basically change my way of approaching music productions.
Summer 2000 - Piano recordings in Vienna
NO MORE PLAYING IN A BAND
1997 - Working in Uli Eisner’s Studio.
After experimenting with German and British pop music (for a short period even as a Lead Vocalist!), one specific idea emerged, which was ahead of it’s time for about 10 years: Internet based networking band projects...
The project name and the supervising producer would be static as the style and the music would change in the same way as the participating musicians.
But one step led to another, and so working as a freelance sound engineer and music arranger for a variety of projects including traditional jazz, epic classic orchestra recordings and pornographic punk rock, I came together in 1997 with Germanys recording producer Uli Eisner and finally found my place in the producer’s chair.
Meanwhile I teamed up with guitar player Thomas M. Mayer, writing songs for our first "networking" recording project. Me and Thomas started producing the emerging songs in varying recording studios with the elite of munichs top musicians. The finished tracks were yet to be realaesed in this period, for both I and Thomas unsure in what format exactly the songs should be packed together and both of us being busy with ongoing production work.
SPIF ANDERSON / LENNART / ROMAN BICHLER / IAN JOHN HUDSON
(Above) 1995 on Stage playing a Yamaha CS1x with SURFACE TENSION (LEFT) and playing a Fender ’51 P-Bass with an AMPEG Bass Amp during a concert with his Brit Pop Project JUDAS back in 1996. (Below)
Roman Lennart Bichler (born 7 December 1972) is a German/Austrian musician, singer, songwriter and composer
He is a multi-talent, whose music has always placed emphasis on content, statement and social criticism. His music isn't just meant to make people hear but also to allow them the chance to open their eyes
Well, so much for that. Anyway, it all started back in the eighties. I was a founding member of the progressive rock band SURFACE TENSION in 1988, serving as bassist and co-lead vocalist. Following the departure of my band mate Stefan Koglek in 1992, I became the band's principal songwriter and conceptual leader, until I discarded the band in 1995.
During this time I used the stage name IAN JOHN (I.J.) HUDSON.
With SURFACE TENSION I produced three albums from 1991 to 1995:
INVAR VIGANDUN (1991) Released as a Vinyl LP in 1991 it was re-released as a CD in 1995
PSYCHOTIC MOVEMENT TO THE HYPERBOLIC LIGHT (1992)
PHOENIX (1995)
After Surface Tension I (still under my stage name I.J. Hudson) joined the brit-pop formation JUDAS (exploring guitar pop music, which was very popular in the 90’s), which dissolved quietly in 1997.
