Young Berlin composer Johannes Motschmann brings together two great traditions of German music history on his electro‐acoustic trio album: both classical and electronic music.

It’s raw, melancholic and dark, this live electrosound in which analogue synthesizers, an old Wurlitzer piano and the famous Yamaha CP‐70 rhythmically intermesh with a huge percussion set and violin sounds only to lose themselves in space. This music reflects the career of Johannes Motschmann, who studied composition, piano and electronic music and has already written works for large orchestra. In his youth he played in various bands, with an equal love of new wave and electronica. His “Electric Fields” album profiles a city: he has followed the two great lines of the German music tradition and rethought them, captured snapshots of a nocturnal journey through Berlin and created his own sound in the space between electronic dance music, avant‐garde and orchestral – translated into a classic band line‐up as a trio.

There are audible references to Tangerine Dream and other exponents of the Berlin school. Back in the 70s, they were experimenting with synthesizers, leaving deep furrows in music culture from new wave to Brian Eno to techno. Motschmann absorbs all these influences, mixes ambient, industrial and drone sounds with sonic fields, constantly forging associations with classical music. In the process, he naturally connects with the virtuoso tradition of Bach, Satie and Stockhausen, composers whose craft Motschmann has mastered. The rhythms of Electric Fields are painstakingly drafted as written scores and recorded live in the studio by the trio. All the instruments are recorded in the same acoustic space, so the handmade electrosound sounds full and natural. Johannes Motschmann is backed by multipercussionist David Panzl and tonmeister Boris Bolles, who contributes various synthesizer parts and violin melodies.

Johannes Motschmann studied composition with Wolfgang Rihm and Hanspeter Kyburz, along with piano and electronic music. He is a freelance composer and lives in Berlin. Interpreters of his music include Ensemble Modern, the NDR Radio Philharmonic, SWR Symphony Orchestra and classical band Spark. Motschmann’s music is performed at pop and classical festivals alike – from Klangspuren Schwaz to the Beethovenfest in Bonn and the Festival of Mecklenburg‐West‐Pomerania, from La Folle Journée to the Reeperbahn Festival and the Yellow Lounge at the Berghain venue.

Multipercussionist David Panzl was born in Salzburg in 1985. He studied drums at the Vienna Conservatory and marimbaphone at the Toho Gakuen School of Music in Tokyo. He travels the world as a soloist, holds master classes and teaches at the University of Music and Art in Vienna.

Boris Bolles is a tonmeister and qualified engineer. He used to sing baritone in various vocal ensembles. On Electric Fields, he does not limit his hands‐on experience to recording and live mixing; he also picks up the violin.