Music making trio

Sugar last Wednesday evening at 9pm looks like the typical pre-club round of drinks. The house looked unusually full, and there's more people outside, queued up and waiting to get in. Something was happening. Goethe Institut in collaboration with Barefoot Gallery presents Shaeben, Voss & Schad Privat.

The German duo Thomas Shaeben and Heiko Voss started making music in 1988. Their focus was dance music, with a touch of everything else (on par with their motto "Anything goes as long as it rocks!").

Their approach was very simple, just making music they loved listening to, and friends and 'homies' would constantly be in the studio with the two, contributing towards the music-making process. Among these friends was Oliver Schad who officially joined Thomas and Oliver in 2002 and now composes lyrics and vocals for the trio. The personal nature of his lyrics earned him the nickname 'Privat' which he now goes by.

The 'band' claims to be influenced by George Clinton – the principal architect of P-funk (jazzy electro-funk) and an important innovator of funk music – rap and Detroit Techno (which is reflected in their use of analog synthesizers and the traditional Roland). Voss and Shaeben are also influenced by punk and alternative rock, and Schad by Hip-hop, giving the ultimate sound of the band a mixed-bag flavour. Shaeben, Voss & Schad Privat now enjoy fame mainly thanks to their five releases off the Cologne-based record label KOMPAKT.

The label specialises in microhouse (a marriage of backroom house elements with glitch and the driving, repetitive sound of techno) and minimal techno, and is appreciated for the minimalist approach of most of their signed artists. In 1999 the Shaeben & Voss ventured into independence by starting their own label FIRMRecords.

One of their typical gigs is radically different from most techno and electro gigs at clubs because these guys actually play instruments. The music-making is live, and real. The three interchange roles during the performance, one with the lead guitar, one with the bass and with the crowd on the mic. Intermittently, one of them will tweak something on the laptop. The other big difference from usual club sessions is the break between numbers where the club-goers become an 'audience' and applaud.

The trio's urge to be different is reflected further in their name which Richard Lang, director of the Goethe Institut describes as "something out of the Baroque period." But Thomas explains that "there are these techno do's that come up, and they call themselves random names like 'The Tree.' Maybe that's what they are, but we chose this name because this is who we are."

"We want to give the music a human face," Thomas continues, and Heiko adds that "What we try to do in our performances is transfer the energy within us to the crowd through the music." This they do by watching the crowd and changing their music according to their response. This means the music remains 'fresh' and there is always an improvisatory aspect to their performances.

Yet these are only the theories and the principles. What is the actual product like? Thomas is very relaxed during the whole thing, pumped up by the music and having fun. Heiko too is relaxed and enjoying what he's doing, but in a more aloof way, rather disconnected with the crowd. Oliver is at the disadvantage of being right in the face of the crowd, and seems quite tense throughout.

True to their word though, the boys manage to keep the session from getting boring like the usual loops-on-a-laptop routine does. The influence of Hip-hop is rather prominent in Oliver's delivery of spoken verse. This creates a refreshing change from the monotony of techno vocals, yet is slightly difficult to bear with as his voice is weak at points and tends to waver in pitch. Towards the end of the programme he did pick up strength, regaining our confidence in his voice, yet Heiko seemed to be the more confidant vocalist, delivering with power each (rare) occasion he took the mic.

The rest of the performance was accented with catchy guitar phrases and some infectious rhythm. The rare use of keyboards was cleverly done. A trademark-like trait throughout the session was the insistent thump of the beat, occasionally accompanied by some syncopation, which kept the crowd on their feet.

Despite the rains which forced the event to be moved from the open environment of the Barefoot Café to the confines of Sugar, Thomas Shaeben, Heiko Voss and Oliver Schad managed to make it "rock," even on a Wednesday night.

For more info on the trio log onto www.firmrecords.de or check them out at www.kompakt-mp3.net