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Musical mischief

A brief tour through the wild, wacky world of Uwe Schmidt
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By James Scanlon
For The Prague Post
May 21st, 2008 issue

COURTESY PHOTO
An unusual plan for global musical domination.
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Senor Coconut


When: Wednesday, May 28, at 8
Where: Roxy
Tickets: 440 Kč, available through Ticketpro, Tickestream and at the venue

With an incredibly vivid imagination and a knack for turning what at first seem to be loopy, madcap ideas into reality, Uwe Schmidt (aka Senor Coconut) is in a league of his own — at least where laptop salsa is concerned.
Originally from Frankfurt, where he ran the alternative German electro scene in the early ’90s using crazy guises such as Atom Heart, Das Tracks, Flextone and Superficial Depth, Schmidt finally decided he had had enough. Fearing he would become typecast, he took the extreme step of relocating to Chile in 1996.
“The initial idea was to look for an isolated place,” he recalls, “somewhere I could focus on myself and my work, and not get distracted or influenced. My musical career had started in Frankfurt, but I got very tired of being perceived within the context of a music scene I had never really been a part of. For years I had been looking for a new place to move, and finally ended up in Chile.”
Although it was never Schmidt’s intention to get involved in a new music scene there, he seriously plugged into Latin electronica for El Gran Baile (1997) his first release as Senor Coconut. He even invented enterprising new terms for his music, such as “jive electronica” and “samba virtual.” Still, it wasn’t until the 200 release of El Baile Alemán, an album of Latino-flavored Kraftwerk covers, that things began to really take off.
At first, the idea of injecting elements of Latin merriment into decidedly rigid Kraftwerk tracks seemed nothing short of crazy. But, like many of the band’s devotees, Schmidt knew that the human robots from Düsseldorf often had a catchy song base, which he managed to exploit in a most positive way. Indeed, the danceability factor added to “Showroom Dummies” was pure genius, as was the Latin percussion used to emulate the train in “Trans Europe Express.”
Looking back on it all, Schmidt admits, “I don’t know if there were any reasons at all for that album. The idea was pretty much born out of a comment a friend of mine made. We were talking about what could be done to Kraftwerk’s music and what couldn’t. The idea to make Latin cover versions of songs was a kind of funny comment, not really an idea for an album. Then, a couple of weeks later, I woke up one morning and heard “Neon Lights” as a cha-cha-cha in my head. From that moment on, I realized it was an entertaining idea to pursue, and I began to take it seriously.”
There may not be any logic or reason to a lot of Schmidt’s work, but that’s the last thing on his mind. With a veracity that has to be fed by raising the bar a touch higher with each new release, his unpredictability is one of his greatest strengths.
Schmidt’s bold step in employing a Venezuelan singer, Argenis Brito, and a big Latin band to pay homage to Kraftwerk’s Asian counterparts, The Yellow Magic Orchestra, paid huge dividends with the 2006 Yellow Fever album. By then, Senor Coconut’s reputation was such that all three original YMO members (Harvomi Hosono, Yukihiro Takahashi and Ryuichi Sakamoto) ended up playing on the album.
Having also covered the likes of Michael Jackson, Sade, Jean Michel Jarre and The Doors on 2002’s Fiesta Songs, Senor Coconut seems open to absolutely anything and everything. He comes to the Czech Republic this week for two shows, in Prague on the 28th and Brno on the 29th, with yet another inspiring album, Around The World, in tow.
“We will perform a new set which consists of songs from the last four albums,” he says, “On stage there will be myself and eight musicians playing percussion, upright bass, trumpet, trombone, saxophone, marimba and vibraphone.”
Brito will be along for most of the vocals, but this tour also features newcomer Louie Austen. He’s allegedly Vienna’s answer to Frank Sinatra, so get ready to shuffle your feet when you least expect.

James Scanlon can be reached at features@praguepost.com


Other articles in Night & Day (21/05/2008):

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