I was lucky enough to be introduced to Hauschka a.k.a. Volker Bertelmann thanks to my friend Dana Wachs who was a pod guest on EP71.
He’s had quite the wonderful and interesting adventure in music. It’s quite rare that you find someone who plays prepared Piano so deftly and was also once known as a rapper. Clearly, this was not going to be your average chat.
If we place ourselves in the present (which I’m told is always a good place to be !)
Our ears might find the dancing frequencies from his newest album philanthropy which was released in the 2023. It’s a tremendous listen. Dare I say a real headphone listen as there are wonderful, textual details to catch in amongst the kind of more zoomed out satisfaction of the rather accomplished arrangements. Perhaps this ability to both evoke emotion, and to coax huge tonal intrigue placed him in good stead as a composer for film
He is most certainly made his mark in that area with a wide ranging set of scores and notably an Academy award for his work on all quiet on the Western front in 2022. Badass!
He’s collaborated with another podcast guest Dustin O’Halloran (EP 92) on several works, including their highly acclaimed score for the film Lion. In fact, looking at the credits for his releases over the years it’s quite mind-boggling. Often he will deliver multiple film soundtracks a year alongside his own solo albums. He's like Prince!
Happy listening :)
