  |
   |
   |
   |
   |
   |
 |
 |
  |
Biography : IRMIN SCHMIDT & KUMO
| ||
|
The Masters of Confusion project was born out of the studio work around
Irmin Schmidt's fantasy opera Gormenghast when Kumo, a.k.a. producer, programmer
and sound-designer Jono Podmore, was drafted in in 1997 on the recomendation of manager
and impressario Jazz Summers to assist Schmidt with recording the work. The duo, who make
an intense and unique form of music that feeds off their respective musical histories,
first played live on the Can-Solo-Projects tour which marked the 30th anniversary of the group.
Schmidt's work with the seminal and highly repected Can is well documented but between 1957 and 1964, Schmidt studied piano and french horn, composition under Ligeti and Stockhausen alongside conducting with Istvan Kertesz amongst others. As a conductor he won several prestigious awards including the Folkwang Leistungs-Preis in 1963 and the 1st Prize at the Mozarteum Salzburg in 1964.
Between 1962
and 1969 Schmidt conducted numerous orchestras including Wiener Sinfoniker, Bochumer Sinfoniker,
Radio-Sinfonie-Orchester Norddeutscher Rundfunk Hannover and the Dortmunder Ensemble für Neue Musik
which he founded.
Schmidt also gave numerous new music recitals and was amongst the first German
pianists to interpret the work of John CageHis compositions Hexapussy and Ilgom were premiered in
1967 and 1968 by Radio Stuttgart.
He worked as a musical director at the Stadttheater Aachen and
taught Musicals and Chanson at the Bochum stage school.
He also composed music for various film and
theatre productions.
________________________________________
|
 |
Jono Podmore was born in Liverpool in 1965 and began to play violin at the age of 10. He left Liverpool
to study electronic music at Middlesex University in 1983. By 1986 Podmore was composing music for theatre
and TV (Eugene Ionesco´s Journeys Among The Dead and Stanley´s Vision for Channel 4) and together with Peter
Hope released the album Dry Hip Rotation.
In 1987 Podmore joined The Corn Dollies as violinist and string arranger. Following the split-up of the band in 1990, he went to Japan to continue his studies in Karate. On returning to London he began working as an engineer, producer and string arranger with artists such as Jamiroquai, The Shamen, Jhelisa, Ian McCulloch, Robert Owens, D*Note, Republica, Sunship, A.P.E. and Kid Loops whilst continuing to compose and produce music for stage and screen. In 1994, together with Mr. C (of The Shamen), he set up Watershed Studios and began to work with Plink Plonk Records. Podmore also started to compose and record under the name Kumo and founded 2 sister labels to Plink Plonk - Autoi (Drum 'n' Bass) and Psychomat (Abstract Beats/Trip Hop).
After a string of singles and remixes as Kumo, March 1997 saw the
release of his first album Kaminari - to sigificant critical acclaim. A series of live dates and
international DJ commitments followed, including the Essential Music Festival in Brighton, the Sonar
festival in Barcelona, and the Graz Biennale in Austria. 1997 was also the year that Podmore moved
temporarily to France to work with Irmin Schmidt on the Gormenghast project.
In 2001 work began on the first Irmin Schmidt
and Kumo album alongside extensive touring in Europe which included the Sonar festival and the
London Jazz Festival. The album Masters of Confusion was released worldwide in September 2001 on
Spoon/Mute records.
2003 has seen Podmore working on the 5.1 Surround mixes of several Can tracks for inclusion on the Can DVD and on a new album with Irmin Schmidt.
_________________________________________
Irmin & Hildegard have a daughter Sandra and live in Cologne and the South of France, where
Irmin has his studio.
www.spoonrecords.com/masters.html
_________________________________________
2nd. OCT. 2004 PARIS - LA VILLETTE
|
|
 |
| |||||||||
|
|
| |||||||||
| ||||||||||
|
|
|
| contact us or need information, send email to info@spoonrecords.com
| |
 | |
| can-solo projects gormenghast download news history
discography press members photos guestbook mail order catalog links sitemap home | |
|
| © Spoon Records, All rights reserved. Designed & Hosted by Vkool Communications |