Kraus (musician)
| Kraus | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Pat Kraus |
| Born | New Zealand |
| Genres | Pop, experimental, instrumental |
| Occupation(s) | Musician, composer |
| Instruments | Organ, guitar, drums, synth |
| Years active | 1998–present |
| Associated acts | The Futurians, The Aesthetics, Pouffe, The Maltese Falcons, Olympus |
| Website |
www |
Kraus (also known as Pat Kraus, formerly known as Prince Kraus[1]) is a New Zealand experimental musician and composer. The New Zealand Listener called him "a national treasure" and "one of the most quietly important and interesting people making music in New Zealand".[2] His music crosses the boundaries of electronic music, post-rock,[3] no wave,[4] space folk,[5] noise pop, punk rock and martian stomp.[6]
Work
Kraus has stated that he makes music for freaks, outsiders, losers and weirdos.[7] Most of his music is released under a Creative Commons license[8] with a non-commercial clause,[9] consistent with his communist ideology.[10]
He is influenced by medieval music, renaissance music, traditional Japanese music, psychedelic music and electronic music.[11]
Kraus's work has been compared to Raymond Scott, Norman Mclaren,[12] Moondog, Doctor Who,[13] Sun Ra,[14] Amps for Christ, Joe Meek, the Shaggs,[15] John Frusciante,[16] Pumice,[17] Bruce Haack, Tangerine Dream, Flower Travellin' Band, Can, Kraftwerk, Goblin, Throbbing Gristle, Brian Eno, The Residents,[18] Randy Holden,[19] Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix,[20] Jean Michel Jarre,[2] Peaking Lights,[21] Emily Dickinson,[22] Tod Dockstader, Marvin the Martian,[23] Maureen Tucker, Men's Recovery Project,[24] Captain Beefheart and Royal Trux.[25]
Kraus started performing live in late 2013 with a revolving cast of supporting musicians, including Stefan Neville (of Pumice and the Five Satans), Angeline Chirnside (of Currer Bells and It Hurts), Claire Mahoney, Nell Thomas, Dan Beban, artist Bek Coogan, Reuben Derrick, Sean Norling, Alex Brown, Gary War, Marijn Verbiesen, composer and pianist Hermione Johnson, and the writer Maryann Savage.[26][27][28][29]
In 2014 Kraus was awarded the Audio Foundation Winter Residency.[30]
The name Kraus was partly inspired by Dagmar Krause and Inga Swenson's character on Benson.[31]
Other activities
Kraus was a founding member of the Futurians and has played in the Aesthetics and the Murdering Monsters. He currently records and performs in Pouffe (with Matt Plunkett of Poison Arrow), the Maltese Falcons (with Ducklingmonster Futurian of It Hurts, Stefan Neville of Pumice, and Sean O'Reilly of SF), Olympus (with Stefan Neville), Magic Mountain, The Gaze, and various ad-hoc improvised ensembles.[10]
He hosts a fortnightly radio show,[32] and builds his own synthesisers and guitar pedals [33][34] which are used by many New Zealand bands including It Hurts.[35] He has been instrumental in setting up and curating the Musical Electronics Library and has been running synth-building workshops around New Zealand.[36][37][38]
Recordings
Solo albums
- I Could Destroy You with a Single Thought CD (2004)[39]
- Lamentations of an Ape CD / cassette (2005)
- Red, Green and Blue CD (2006)
- The Facts cassette (2007)
- Harmony of the Squares Volume 1 CD (2007)
- Faster than the Speed of Time LP (2010)
- Blank Mountain CD (2010)
- Golden Treasury CD (2010)
- Supreme Commander LP / cassette (2011) - released on "outer space wax" (vinyl with white specks)[40]
- 14/10/12 (2014) - recorded live in Kingsland for a WFMU broadcast. Featuring Maryann Savage and Stefan Neville.[41]
- Interior Castle (2014)
- Workers in Kontrol (2014)
Solo singles
- Luxury and Mystery 7" (2010)
- A Journey Through the First Dimension with Kraus 7" EP (2011)[42]
- 141492 7" (2011)
- Telstar 7"EP (2011) - features covers of "Telstar" by the Tornados, "Space Truckin'" by Deep Purple, and "I Go to Sleep" by Ray Davies.[43]
Compilation appearances
- Arc Death cassette / CD (2001)
- Animals 2CD (2004)
- Sink or Swim cassette (2009)
- Menhir double 7"EP (2009)
- La Bamba LP (2009)
- Dirt Beneath the Daydream CD (2009) - free with White Fungus and The Wire magazines.
- If you Wanna Rob a Bank, Own One: Credit Card Singles, 2009-2010 CD (2010)
- Realistic Pillow 7"EP (2013)
- Deep & Meaningful Volume 1 postcard album (2014)
Recordings with other bands
- Pretty Picture 7" - Murdering Monsters (2000)
- Bitch 7"EP - CJA (2000)
- 12 Truck Drivin' Classics cassette - Murdering Monsters (2001)
- Crown Sat. Nov. 11 cassette - Murdering Monsters and the Aesthetics (2001)
- Off CD - The Aesthetics (2001)
- Blastov! - The Futurians (2002)[44]
- Untitled CD - Armpit and Kraus (2007)
- Goldair CD - CJA and Kraus (2010)
- Bold Mould LP - Olympus (2010)
- Malll CD - Pouffe (2011)
- The Maltese Falcons LP - The Maltese Falcons (2011)
- Live at the Victoria Theatre 7"EP - Olympus (2011)
- We Live in the Mind CD - Pouffe (2011)
References
- ↑ "Kraus (Musician)". Library of Congress Name Authority File. Library of Congress. Retrieved 12 July 2013.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Dass, Kiran (28 January 2012). "A Journey Through the First Dimension with Kraus by Kraus review". New Zealand Listener (3742). Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ Bird, Travis. "Kraus, "A Journey Through The First Dimension With Kraus" 7″". Foxy Digitalis. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ Bywater, Jon (25 December 2004). "Made for These Times:The best music of 2004.". New Zealand Listener (3372). Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ Dass, Kiran. "Kraus". Music 101. Radio New Zealand National. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
- ↑ Mosurock, Doug (2 February 2012). "Still Single". Dusted 8 (1). Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ Russell, Bruce (editor) (2012). Erewhon Calling: Experimental Sound in New Zealand. Auckland, New Zealand: Audio Foundation. pp. 104–105. ISBN 978-0-473-21766-2.
- ↑ Perron, David. "Kraus". Foxy Digitalis. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ "Creative Commons - An Artist's Perspective". Crop (2): 9. June–July 2011.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 "About Kraus". Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ "Kraus". Free Music Archive. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ Moniker Records. "Kraus - Supreme Commander". Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ "Our Catalogue". Epic Sweep Records. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ Meyer, Bill (Spring 2013). "Supreme Commander". Signal to Noise (65). Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ "[ K ] titles at Aquarius Records". Aquarius Records. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ Gumshoe. "Supreme Commander". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ K, Rich. "WINTER RECORD REVIEWS 2012". Terminal Boredom. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ Markley, Jonathan. "kraus - sumpreme commander". Tiny Grooves. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ "Reviews – December 2012". Yellow Green Red. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ Spicer, J. "Supreme Commander". Tiny Mix Tapes. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ Mosurock, Doug (31 March 2011). "Still Single". Dusted Magazine 7 (3). Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ Dianthus. "Pouffe – "Malll"". KFJC. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ Berge, Bryan. "Tape Hiss #30". Foxy Digitalis. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ Blackshaw, James. "Kraus "I Could Destroy You With a Single Thought"". Foxy Digitalis. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ "KRAUS IN THE PRESSES. ie reviews". Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ Cudby, Chris. "Kraus". Under the Radar. Retrieved 22 November 2013.
- ↑ "Kraus: Workers in Kontrol". Free Music Archive. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
- ↑ "KRAUS (NZ) + FLORIS VANHOOF (BE) + CITY HANDS". OCCII. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ↑ "kraus". Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ↑ "Artist In Residence Winter 2014 – Kraus". Audio Foundation. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
- ↑ "Kraus". The Avant-Guardian (NETWERK centre for contemporary art) (V): 3. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
- ↑ "AFM - Audio Foundation Radio 88.3FM". Audio Foundation. Retrieved 3 July 2013.
- ↑ Smith, Emma (11 October 2014). "Smashingly Good Time". New Zealand Listener 245 (3883): 44–45.
- ↑ Cudby, Chris (September 2009). "KRAUS GOLDEN TREASURY". Real Groove Magazine (184).
- ↑ Chirnside, Angeline. "Everything happened (part II): It Hurts". Clean Teeth Recordings Etcetera. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
- ↑ Silver, Harry. "May Creative Technologists Meetup". Colab. Auckland University of Technology. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
- ↑ Thomas, Melody. "Kraus Synth Workshop". Radio New Zealand National. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
- ↑ "Musical Electronics Library". Sonorous Circle. Retrieved 15 July 2014.
- ↑ "Kraus Albums". Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ Bruyninckx, Joeri. "Kraus, The Man from Uranus". Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ "14/10/12". stabbies etc. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
- ↑ "Kraus - A Journey Through The First Dimension With Kraus". Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ "New Release". Eager Product. Retrieved 29 June 2013.
- ↑ "Blastov!". Retrieved 29 June 2013.
External links
- Official Kraus website
- Kraus in the Free Music Archive
- Olympus "Bold Mould" Album Preview
- 2013 Kraus interview
- 2014 Kraus interview
- The Maltese Falcons in the Free Music Archive
- Pouffe in the Free Music Archive
- Music video for Hurtling Towards Doom
- Music video for Eat, It Is Good
- Promotional video for Supreme Commander
- The Futurians "Blastov!" album
- The Maltese Falcons "Space Thug" music video
- The Maltese Falcons "Distress Signal" music video
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