Faust (band)

Faust

Faust (German: fist) is a German krautrock band, originally comprising Werner "Zappi" Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Arnulf Meifert, Jean-Hervé Péron, Rudolf Sosna and Gunther Wüsthoff, working with record producer Uwe Nettelbeck and engineer Kurt Graupner.

History

The group formed in 1971 in the rural setting of Wümme. They secured a recording contract with Polydor and soon began recording their debut, Faust, which sold poorly but received critical acclaim for its innovative approach and established a devoted fanbase. Faust became one of the premier bands in the international appreciation of the genre that would eventually be known as krautrock.

Faust became one of the first acts to sign to Richard Branson's Virgin Records, who embarked on a marketing campaign somewhat daring for its time, aimed at introducing Faust to UK record-buyers. The Faust Tapes was a cut-and-paste album which spliced together a large number of bits and pieces from their extensive collection of private recordings, not originally intended for release, but widely regarded today as their finest work. Virgin issued it at the then price of a single, 48 UK pence. The Faust Tapes reportedly sold over 100,000 copies but its low price tag rendered it ineligible for a chart placing.

Faust broke up in 1975 after Virgin had rejected their fifth album (some of the recordings later appeared on the "Munich and Elsewhere" album), but reissues of their recordings and various additional material through Chris Cutler's Recommended Records maintained a level of interest.

Faust experimented with the presentation of some of their records. Their first album was originally on clear vinyl in a clear sleeve with an X-ray of a human fist silkscreened on the outer sleeve ("faust" is German for "fist"). The second album, So Far made extensive use of black, though inside the sleeve were sheets with one illustration for each song. The Faust Tapes had a visually disturbing op art cover design by Bridget Riley, while that for Faust IV consisted of a series of blank music staves. The impact of these designs is largely lost in CD reissues.

After Faust's breakup, the group's whereabouts were unknown; the Recommended Records catalogues talked about the group's "disappearance". The official website lists three concerts during the 1980s, and the "Patchwork" album, a compilation of outtakes, feature three snippets that were recorded in the 1980s, but apart from that, the group's activities between 1975 and 1990 remain shrouded in mystery.

In 1992, members Irmler, Diermaier and Péron reunited for performances. In 1994, Faust toured the United States for the first time, with Péron and Diermaier assisted by Steven Wray Lobdell and with members of Sonic Youth as an opening act. They have continued to perform in various combinations and with various additional musicians ever since.

In the booklet for The Wumme Years box set, Péron announced that Sosna had died on November the 10th 1996. Gunter Wüsthoff has not taken part in any of the reunions. Diermaier has always been behind the drum kit. Irmler was present, but contributed little to the reunited groups' first concerts, and did not participate in the 1994 US tour, but took a more active role after that, producing the groups' records and releasing them on his Klangbad label. He also compiled and edited the "Patchwork" album.

The original lineup of Faust in the early 1970s.

In 1996, Diermaier and Péron meet Olivier Manchion and Amaury Cambuzat (Ulan Bator). They performed for the first time together as "Collectif Met(z)" in November 1996 (this quartet is the basis of an actual Faust line-up and this concert is part of a 2005 release). A few days after, Faust performed at the Garage in London and at the Transmusicales de Rennes, featuring Chris Cutler.

Péron left the group in June 1997. From mid-1997 to 2004, Faust tours as Zappi W. Diermaier, Hans Joachim Irmler, Steven Wray Lobdell, Lars Paukstat, Michael Stoll.

Diermaier and "art-errorist" Péron rejoined in 2004 by immediately recording Trial and Error, a DVD released in 2007 by Fuenfundvierzig Label. Zappi proposed to Péron to start a "new" Faust together with Olivier Manchion and Amaury Cambuzat from Ulan Bator. Diermaier/Péron's new Faust made their debut at the Art-Errorist Avant Garde festival in Schiphorst, Germany, where they also presented a new release entitled Collectif Met(z), a collection of live, new and unreleased songs. This incarnation of the group has been extremely active, releasing several CD-Rs and DVD-Rs and touring extensively, including a very successful autumn 2005 UK tour, released in 2007 as ... In Autumn by Dirter. This release also features ex Henry Cow saxophonist/flautist Geoff Leigh, vocalist Lucianne Lassalle, poet Zoë Skoulding and the members of the Welsh group Ectogram. In April 2007 the trio of Diermaier, Péron and Cambuzat performed at a Rock in Opposition festival in France in April 2007. The trio also recorded a new album entitled disconnected which was mixed by Steven Stapleton and Colin Potter of Nurse With Wound. It was released to tie in with the 2007 Schiphorst Avant Garde festival in July 2007. C'est com... com... compliqué, the second album of this trio lineup was released in February 2009 on the Bureau B label.

Faust now exists in two completely different incarnations, both active and each reflecting different aspects of the original group.

Nettelbeck died on 17 January 2007.

In 2010, Faust with members Jochen Irmler, Lars Paukstat, Steven W. Lobdell, Michael Stoll and Jan Fride released a new studio album, Faust Is Last.

Collaborations

During the Wümme years, Diermaier, Péron and Wüsthoff played on Slapp Happy's first two albums, Sort Of (1972) and Acnalbasac Noom (1973) which were also produced by Uwe Nettelbeck. Slapp Happy's Peter Blegvad had played with Faust in Wümme and subsequently toured with them in the UK. That tour also featured Uli Trepte, who had performed with Guru Guru and Neu!.

In contrast with Slapp Happy's song-based music, in 1972 Péron, Sosna and Diermaier also collaborated with the violinist Tony Conrad on Outside the Dream Syndicate; the record was released in 1973 at a low price in the UK and was, at the time, one of the few available examples of drone-based minimalism. A live recording from 1995 of a later concert, entitled Outside the Dream Syndicate Alive featuring Tony Conrad, Zappi & Jean-Hervé of Faust and Jim O'Rourke was released in autumn 2005.

Faust also collaborated with New Jersey avant-garde hip-hop crew Dälek for the album Derbe Respect, Alder with surprising success in 2004.

Gallery

Faust at a RIO festival in France, April 2007

Jean-Hervé Péron (© Michael S. Eisenberg)	Werner "Zappi" Diermaier (© Michael S. Eisenberg)	Amaury Cambuzat (© Michael S. Eisenberg)

Discography

Studio albums

• Faust (1971)
• Faust So Far (1972)
• The Faust Tapes (1973)
• Outside the Dream Syndicate (1973) – collaboration with Tony Conrad
• Faust IV (1973)
• Faust 5 (1975) – Virgin Records promotional cassette
• Rien (1995)
• You Know FaUSt (1996)
• Faust Wakes Nosferatu (1998) – the CD and vinyl editions contain completely different music
• Ravvivando (1999)
• Derbe Respect, Alder (2004) – collaboration with Dälek
• Outside the Dream Syndicate Alive (2005) – 1995 collaboration with Tony Conrad
• Disconnected (2007) – studio album with Nurse with Wound
• C'est Com...Com...Complique (2009)
• Faust is Last (2010)

Singles

• So far / it's a bit of pain (1972) (re-issue in 2010)
• Chemical Imbalance (1990)
• Überschall 1996 (1996) – split single with Stereolab and Foetus
• Trafics (1997) – split single with La Kuizine
• Wir Brauchen Dich (2001)

Compilations

• Munich and Elsewhere (1986)
• The Last LP: Faust Party No. 3, 1971-1972 (1988)
• 71 Minutes of Faust (1996) Compilation of material from the above two
• Faust/Faust So Far (2000)
• The Wumme Years: 1970-1973 (2000)
• BBC Sessions + (2001)
• Patchwork 1971-2002 (2002)
• Silver Monk Time (2006) – tribute album by various artists; Faust contribute one track

Live albums, and other releases

• Faust Concerts, Volume 1: Live in Hamburg, 1990 (1994)
• Faust Concerts, Volume 2: Live in London, 1992 (1994)
• BBC Sessions/Kisses for Pythagoras LP Lmt. Ed. (1996)
• Untitled (1996) – compilation of live and studio material
• Edinburgh 1997 [live] (1997)
• Land of Ukko & Rauni [live] (2000)
• Freispiel (2002) – remixes of Ravviviando
• Patchwork (2002) – compilation of unreleased material
• Collectif Met(z) (2005) – 3 CDs box + video CD
• Impressions (2006) – DVD
• Nobody Knows if it Ever Happened (2007) – DVD
• ... In Autumn (2007) – 3 CDs box + 1 DVD
• Trial and Error (2007) – DVD
• Od Serca Do Duszy (2007) – 2xCD
• Hamburg Studio Sessions 2009 (2009) - CDR
• Live in Oslo (2009) - CDR

Films

• Faust: Nobody Knows If It Ever Happened (2007) - DVD on Ankst Records (live at The Garage, London, 1996)
• Klangbad: Avant-garde in the Meadows (2010) - DVD on Play Loud! Productions
• Faust: Live at Klangbad Festival (2010) - DVD on Play Loud! Productions

Further reading

• Faust: Stretch Out Time 1970-1975. Andy Wilson. Mute / The Faust-Pages, 2006. ISBN 0-9550664-5-X.
• Krautrocksampler. Julian Cope. Head Heritage 1997
• The Wumme Years: 1970-1973 - accompanying booklet 2000

External links

• The Faust Pages
• jean-hervé péron
• zappi diermaier
• hans-joachim irmler
• Video Report on OC-TV.net
• Gunther Wüsthoff
• Faust at AllMusic
• Faust at Piero Scaruffi's "The History of Rock Music"
• Faust at enotes.com
• Complete and Detailed Discography