Meakusma invites Damo Suzuki

Some of the big names of German progressive music will perform at an evening hosted by the Meakusma label, in cooperation with the Goethe Institut, Les Brigittines, and Recyclart. We spoke to the singer Damo Suzuki, who will be along with a band for an improvised session. Suzuki became known – and is indeed still renowned – as the voice of Can, a legendary 1970s Krautrock band whose influence is still felt in pop music today. Kenji “Damo” Suzuki, now 63 but still very lively and enthusiastic, operates with a number of different line-ups these days. So long as he can improvise. Says Suzuki, “I can make music with anyone and I’m happy to do so. No preparation, or hardly any, leads to a successful concert. The less I know the other musicians, the better the session. Doing things that way, I avoid repetition and try to communicate organically every single time.”

In Recyclart Suzuki will sing/use his voice with the electronic musicians Jan Jelinek (dubbing and tight glitch-techno), Andrew Pekler (jazzier electro), and Hanno Leichtmann (electro-acoustic experimentation). “We’ve already played together a few times in Berlin,” says Suzuki with a laugh. “It’s a daring combination. We don’t actually have any plan or concept: we make the concert up on the spot. All we need for that is an open mind. The people in the audience too, by the way! It’s only then that we can share our collective energy with the public.”

The Recyclart programme also includes two DJs and a less well-known techno act, MM/KM. The evening starts off at 8 pm at Les Brigittines, where you can see two pioneers of German electronic music of the early 1990s: the highly influential producer Wolfgang Voigt (together with Jörg Burger in the duo Mohn) and the experimental all-rounder Thomas Köner. Suzuki doesn’t know anything about the programme and is quite happy with that. “Without any information about who else is playing I can only be surprised,” he explains. “If the list of artists turns out to be impressive, that will surely be good for my performance.”

“People sometimes expect to hear Can’s music at my concerts,” observes Suzuki. “But come on: that was forty years ago! Naturally, I’ve developed both musically and as a person. Can was fun. But now the gallons of whisky, fast cars, and parties are all far behind me, I really feel better. I’m not interested any more in working with the industry. I’m not a star: I’m just a human being like everyone else.”

So Suzuki has carried on undaunted for more than forty years: “The older I get, the more understanding I have of life, and the more lucidly I can formulate my opinions. In the Sixties and Seventies I was just an uncritical person who played in a world-famous band. I feel better as an old man. I often make music with guys aged between fifteen and twenty and that gives me a tremendous amount of energy. Music, after all, is still an eye-opener and a weapon against violence of every kind. And we can’t have enough of that in this world.”

Goethe-Institut Brüssel & Meakusma Mini Festival 16/2, 20.00, €12, Les Brigittines + 23.00, €12/15, Recyclart, Station Brussel-Kapellekerk/Gare Bruxelles-Chapelle, Ursulinenstraat 25 rue des Ursulines, Brussel/Bruxelles, info@recyclart.be, 02-502.57.34, www.recyclart.be