OFF:letter from CAN

[Albert T Bouchard]

I got this from Mike Watt. I thought it might be interesting to some on
this list.

Al

>from http://pages.ripco.com:8080/~saxmania/Canletter.html
>>
>>  this is a letter from Can's guitarist Michael Karoli to a
>>  Triad listener who later gave me a copy....
>>
>>  Dear Mike:
>>
>>  Olaf Kuebler who is the producer of AM0N DUUL II -there
>>  must have been some wrong information somehow- handed us
>>  your letter which was really good news. Hopefully our
>>  answer is not much too late, please excuse the delay. By
>>  the way we had no idea that anyone had ever heard of us in
>>  the US. It is not certain yet if the album TAGO MAGO will
>>  be released by United Artists US, anyway we will send to
>>  them a photocopy of your letter so they will give you the
>>  date of release and maybe some more information.
>>
>>  You asked for some story information on the group--your
>>  guess about the printed lyrics was right (did you hear that
>>  from the music?) actually the voice is just one of five
>>  instruments and the words part of the music. The singer did
>>  not work as a poet but just sang what he heard or so; even
>>  for him it is sometimes difficult or impossible to
>>  understand what he has been singing when we have to write
>>  it down for the publisher. Maybe we can send you some
>>  sometime just for your own information or fun (or the
>>  magazine).
>>
>>  History:
>>
>>  CAN exists since october 68, the people who founded it came
>>  from very different kinds of music, had never before played
>>  together and hardly knew each other
>>
>>  JAKI LIEBEZEIT had been a free jazz drummer and had then
>>  lived as a hermit in Spain for a year before he joined the
>>  group.
>>
>>  IRMIN SCHMIDT had been a composer and performer of New
>>  Music and been conducting symphonies, plays now organ.
>>
>>  HOLGER CZUKAY had been studying electronic music and
>>  double- bass and been a music teacher. He also knows a lot
>>  about tape recorders, mixers and amplifiers and has
>>  constructed most of the electrunic equipment used by CAN at
>>  INNER SPACE STUDIO in Cologne.
>>
>>  MICHAEL KAROLI had been playing guitar as amateur and broke
>>  off law study to form CAN.
>>
>>  MALCOLM MOONEY was a sculptor from New York and met the
>>  others by chance in Paris on a world hitch hike tour and
>>  sang with the group for 18 months.
>>
>>  During this time the group released their first 1p MONSTER
>>  MOVIE in a private pressing (later released by UA) and
>>  after CAN's most scandalful three months live gig at
>>  ZURICHER SCHAUSPIELHAUS. (ZURICH THEATRE) in Switzerland
>>  Mal left the group to go back to US. After Mooney's
>>  leaving, Japanese DAMO SUZUKI joined the group. He had been
>>  hitch-hiking around the world and met the group by accident
>>  in Munich.
>>
>>
>>  Personnel on TAGO MAGO:
>>                  Jaki Liebezeit........percussion
>>                  Irmin Schmidt .......organ, piano
>>                  Holger Czukay .......bass guitar
>>                  Michael Karoli........guitar
>>                  Damo Suzuki    .......vocal
>>
>>  The music is recorded and produced by CAN at INNER SPACE
>>  STUDIO in Koln (Cologne) which is the studio of the group.
>>  Until now CAN has made 14 motion picture and tv film
>>  soundtracks. You might be able to see in the US
>>
>>                DEADLOCK by Roland Klick
>>                DEEP END by Jerzy Skolimovsky
>>                DEAD PIDGEON ON by Samuel Fuller
>>
>>  All of CAN's music is developed out of playing, nobody
>>  writes the music except for the publisher (CANMUSIC) after
>>  it is on tape already. We know that this kind of making
>>  music is dependent on having much time in the studio, that
>>  is why in the beginning we worked much more on building up
>>  our own studio than on having a live equipment.
>>
>>  The music is based on improvisation, not like head
>>  arrangements and chorusing in Jazz where the tune is the
>>  basis of improvisation. ln a live performance you might
>>  hear something which you remember from 'TAGO MAGO, a song
>>  can appear as a part of the evening or there might be five
>>  songs played in the same moment by five different
>>  instruments, we do never fix a program so every night is
>>  different .The evening makes the program. That much about
>>  live music, it is not so good to describe it. We hope you
>>  will hear it soon or see the film.
>>
>>  We are just finishing a film (7O minutes) about the group.
>>  70 per cent of it was shot at a free concert in Cologne
>>  with 10,000 people audience, the rest in the studio.It will
>>  be on German tv in autumn and we hope at least a part of it
>>  will also be shown in Britain and in the US. Anyway we hope
>>  you will see it (it is a CAN production too).
>>
>>  We have just come back from a British tour which was a
>>  success so we will go back there in November for 20
>>  concerts. We would like to tour the US next year but there
>>  seems to be not enough money to do it on our own.
>>
>>  Thank you again for your letter and interest, we will try
>>  to send more photos (it would take us another month to get
>>  them now)we hope you get along with this German English.
>>
>>  All the best, Michael for CAN
>