Conrad Schnitzler

Conrad Schnitzler
Schnitzler in 1989
Schnitzler in 1989
Background information
Born17 March 1937
Düsseldorf, Germany
Died4 August 2011(2011-08-04) (aged 74)
Berlin, Germany
Genres
Occupations
Instruments
Years active1960–2011
LabelSchnitzler Private Pressing
Websitefancymoon.com/con_s

Conrad "Conny" Schnitzler (17 March 1937 – 4 August 2011) was a prolific German experimental musician associated with West Germany's 1970s krautrock movement. A co-founder of West Berlin's Zodiak Free Arts Lab, he was an early member of Tangerine Dream (1969–1970) and a founder of the band Kluster. He left Kluster in 1971, first working with his group Eruption and then focusing on solo works. Schnitzler participated in several collaborations with other electronic musicians.

Biography

Schnitzler was born in Düsseldorf, Germany. His father was German, his mother was Italian. He and his wife had three children; his son Gregor Schnitzler, born in Berlin in 1964, is a film director.

Schnitzler, Dieter Moebius, and Hans-Joachim Roedelius formed Kluster in 1969 after the three had met at the Zodiak Free Arts Lab. This trio released three albums: Klopfzeichen (1970), Zwei-Osterei (1971) and Eruption (1971). When Schnitzler left the group, Roedelius and Moebius became Cluster. Around this time, Schnitzler also joined Tangerine Dream for their debut album Electronic Meditation (1970).

Schnitzler provided the introductory music for Norwegian black metal band Mayhem's debut EP Deathcrush in 1987, following a meeting with teenage guitarist Euronymous in the mid-1980s. The instrumental track, entitled "Silvester Anfang", was randomly selected from Schnitzler's archive of works in progress. The piece is still played at most of the band's live shows. For many years Schnitzler appeared in the comics of Matt Howarth (particularly Savage Henry) as a member of the band The Bulldaggers. His 2006 work Moon Mummy is a collaboration with Matt Howarth based on an included PDF comic.

Schnitzler died from stomach cancer on 4 August 2011 in Berlin.

Discography

1970

1971

1973

1974

1978

1980

1981

1982

1983

1984

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1997

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

2015

2016

2018

2021

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Conrad Schnitzler Songs, Albums, Reviews, Bio ..." AllMusic. Retrieved 17 March 2025.
  2. 1 2 Conrad Schnitzler (1937–2011) Archived 23 January 2012 at the Wayback Machine by Geeta Dayal (20 August 2011)
  3. ↑ Deathcrush at AllMusic. Retrieved 25 January 2010.
  4. ↑ Gregor Schnitzler at IMDb
  5. ↑ Curry, Russ (May 1996). "A Curious History of Cluster". Curious Music. Retrieved 29 October 2007.
  6. ↑ "Mayhem – Deathcrush". leastworstoption.com. Retrieved 30 April 2020.
  7. ↑ "Song statistics- Silvester Anfang by Mayhem". setlist.fm. Retrieved 29 April 2020.
  8. ↑ "Conrad Schnitzler in the comics". Fancymoon.com.
  9. ↑ ""R.I.P. Conrad Schnitzler"". Archived from the original on 7 October 2011.