| David
Bowie: Life in Los Angeles had left me with an overwhelming sense
of foreboding. I had approached the brink of drug induced calamity one too
many times and it was essential to take some kind of positive action. For
many years Berlin had appealed to me as a sort of sanctuary like situation.
It was one of the few cities where I could move around in virtual anonymity.
I was going broke, it was cheap to live. For some reason, berliners just
didn't care. Well, not about an english rock singer anyway. Since my teenage
years I had obsessed on the "angst" ridden, emotional work of
the expressionists, both artists and film makers, and Berlin had been their
spiritual home. This was the nub of Die Brucke movement, Max Rheinhardt,
Brecht and where "Metropolis" and "Caligari" had originated.
It was an art form that mirrored life not by event but by mood. This was
where I felt my work was going. My attention had been swung back to Europe
with the release of Kraftwerk's Autobahn in 1974. The preponderance of electronic
instruments convinced me that this was an area that I had to investigate
a little further. Much has been made of Kraftwerk's influence on our Berlin
albums. Most of it lazy analyses I believe. Kraftwerk's approach to music
had in itself little place in my scheme. Theirs was a controlled, robotic,
extremely measured series of compositions, almost a parody of minimalism.
One had the feeling that Florian and Ralf were completely in charge of their
environment, and that their compositions were well prepared and honed before
entering the studio. My work tended to expressionist mood pieces, the protagonist
(myself) abandoning himself to the "zeitgeist", with little or
no control over his life. The music was spontaneous for the most part and
created in the studio. In substance too, we were poles apart. Kraftwerk's
percussion sound was produced electronically, rigid in tempo, unmoving.
Ours was the mangled treatment of a powerfully emotive drummer, Dennis Davis.
The tempo not only "moved" but also was expressed in more than
"human" fashion. Kraftwerk supported that unyielding machinelike
beat with all synthetic sound generating sources. We used an rhythm'n'blues
band. Since "Station To Station" the hybridization of rhythm'n'blues
and electronics had been a goal of mine. Indeed according to a 70s interview
with Brian Eno, this is what had drawn him to working with me. One other
lazy observation I would like to point up is the assumption that "Station
To Station" was an homage to Kraftwerk's "Trans-Europe Express".
In reality "Station to Station" preceded "Trans Europe Express"'
by quite some time, 76 and 77 respectively. Btw, the title drives from the
Stations of the Cross and not the railway system. What I was passionate
about in relation to Kraftwerk was their singular determination to stand
apart from stereotypical american chord sequences and their wholehearted
embrace of an european sensibility displayed through their music. This was
their very important influence on me. Interesting sidebar. My original top
of my wish list for guitar player on "Low" was Michael Dinger,
from Neu!. Neu" being passionate, even diametrically opposite to Kraftwerk.
I phoned Dinger from France in the first few days of recording but in the
most polite and diplomatic fashion he said "No". |
| Uncut:
Some
biographers speculate the Berlin era was an instinctive reaction to the
mid seventies ethos of punk rock - dressed down, blunt, serious, doom-laden,
emotionally raw. A plausible theory? |
| David
Bowie: Whether it was my befuddled brain or because of the lack
of impact of the English variety of punk in the USA, the whole movement
was virtually over by the time it lodged itself in my awareness. Completely
passed me by. The few punk bands that I saw in Berlin struck me as being
sort of post 1969 Iggy and it seemed like he'd already done that. Though
I do regret not being around for the whole Pistols circus as that kind of
entertainment would have done more for my depressed disposition than just
about anything else that I could think of. Of course, I had met them fairly
early on when I was touring with Iggy, at least Johnny and Sid. John was
obviously quite in awe of Jim but on the occasion of meeting Sid, Sid was
near catatonic and I felt very bad for him. He was so young and in such
need of help. As far as the music goes, "Low" and its siblings
were a direct follow-on from the title track "Station". It's often
struck me that there will usually be one track on any given album of mine,
which will be a fair indicator of the intent of the following album. |
| Uncut:
Was
there ever a serious plan to record with Kraftwerk, as some biographers
claim? |
| David
Bowie: No, not at any time. We met a few times socially but that
was as far as it went. |
| Uncut:
Did
you cruise the autobahns listening to "Autobahn" non-stop, as
Ralf Hütter once insisted? |
| David
Bowie: Certainly on the streets of Los Angeles in 1975, yes.
But by Berlin autobahn was rather last years news. So, in short , no... |
| Uncut:
Were
there any meetings or planned collaborations with other 'Krautrock' bands
like Cluster, Neu! or Tangerine Dream? |
| David
Bowie: Not at all. I knew Edgar Froesse and his wife socially
but I never met the others as I had no real inclination to go to Düsseldorf
as I was very single minded about what I needed to do in the studio in Berlin.
I took it upon myself to introduce Eno to the Düsseldorf sound with
which he was very taken, Connie Plank et al (also to Devo btw, who in turn
had been introduced to me by Iggy) and Brian eventually made it up there
to record with some of them. |
| Uncut:
"V2
Schneider" (from "Heroes" album) is a tribute to Florian?
|
| David
Bowie: Of course. |
|
| This
interview was edited, showing only the questions related to Kraftwerk.
If you want to read the entire interview, visit the site where the
original text is published:
www.bowiewonderworld.com
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