Frank-Martin Strauß, better known as F.M. Einheit and also known as

Mufti A Mufti (; ar, مفتي) is an Islamic jurist qualified to issue a nonbinding opinion ('' fatwa'') on a point of Islamic law (''sharia''). The act of issuing fatwas is called ''iftāʾ''. Muftis and their ''fatwas'' played an important rol ...

, (born 18 December 1958, in

Dortmund Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...

) is an

industrial Industrial may refer to: Industry * Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry * Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems * Industrial city, a city dominate ...

and

electronic Electronic may refer to: *Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor * ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal *Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device *Electronic co ...

musician and actor from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. While primarily known for his

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

work with the influential group

Einstürzende Neubauten (, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimental music group, formed in West Berlin in 1980. The group is currently composed of founding members Blixa Bargeld (lead vocals; guitar; keyboard) and N.U. Unruh (custom-made instruments; perc ...

, he has also collaborated with

KMFDM KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art project. ...

Goethes Erben Goethes Erben (Goethe's Heirs) is a musical group from Germany started in 1989 by Oswald Henke and Peter Seipt. History The founding idea for Goethes Erben was to combine German spoken words with musical theater. They are one of the first Neue ...

and recorded several albums in collaboration with other musicians (such as

Diamanda Galás Diamanda Galás (born August 29, 1955) is an American musician, singer-songwriter, visual artist, and soprano. She has campaigned for AIDS education and the rights of the infected. Galás's commitment to addressing social issues and her involve ...

Mona Mur Mona Mur (born 29.07.1960 in Hamburg) is a German vocalist, composer and audio designer. Early years Mona Mur was born Sabine Bredy in Hamburg to Poles, Polish parents. In 1982 she collaborated with FM Einheit, Mark Chung (musician), Marc Chung ...

, Andreas Ammer,

Ulrike Haage Ulrike Haage (born in Kassel, lives and works in Berlin) is a German pianist and composer, producer for radio plays and a sound artist. Biography The jazz years Ulrike Haage spent her childhood in Ruhr. She grew up listening to the big jazz r ...

) and solo. Einheit was also involved in the projects

Stein Stein is a German, Yiddish and Norwegian word meaning "stone" and "pip" or "kernel". It stems from the same Germanic root as the English word stone. It may refer to: Places In Austria * Stein, a neighbourhood of Krems an der Donau, Lower Austr ...

and Gry.

Early years

In the late 1970s and early 1980s he was also a member of the punk bands

Abwärts Abwärts ("Downwards") is a German post-punk band from Hamburg. Members FM Einheit and Mark Chung would leave the group in the early 1980s to join West Berlin band Einstürzende Neubauten (, 'Collapsing New Buildings') is a German experimen ...

from

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

and

Palais Schaumburg Palais Schaumburg is a neoclassical-style building in Bonn, Germany, which served as the primary official seat of the German Federal Chancellery and the primary official residence of the Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany from 1 ...

In the early 1980s he joined

as a percussionist and became a long-time band member. Most of the percussions which FM Einheit played on were custom-made metal instruments or such tools as a

hammer drill A hammer drill, also known as a percussion drill or impact drill, is a power tool used chiefly for drilling in hard materials. It is a type of rotary drill with an impact mechanism that generates a hammering motion. The percussive mechanism prov ...

. FM Einheit was instrumental to the development of the sound of the group. Live performances of

with FM Einheit included much metal banging, destruction on the stage and even fire. These shows became legendary and influenced the band image. He played the lead role in the 1984 feature film

Klaus Maeck Klaus Maeck (born in Hamburg 28 July 1954) is a German film producer. He is perhaps best remembered for his West German cyberpunk cult classic Decoder. His films have often played at the Berlin Film Festival. Prior to creating Decoder, he was a mu ...

's ''

Decoder Decoder may refer to: Technology * Audio decoder converts digital audio to analog form * Binary decoder, digital circuits such as 1-of-N and seven-segment decoders * Decompress (compression decoder), converts compressed data (e.g., audio/video/im ...

'', a

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyber ...

critique of

muzak Muzak is an American brand of background music played in retail stores and other public establishments. The name has been in use since 1934, and has been owned by a division or subsidiary of one or another company ever since. In 1981, Westingho ...

. In 1988–9 he was part of

Alfred 23 Harth Alfred Harth, now known as Alfred 23 Harth or A23H, is a German multimedia artist, band leader, multi-instrumentalist musician, and composer who creatively mixes genres. Career Harth founded a free improvisation band, Just Music (1967 to 1972 ...

's group

Vladimir Estragon Vladimir Estragon were an avant-rock group founded in West Germany in 1988 by German composer and reed player Alfred Harth with FM Einheit, Ulrike Haage, and Phil Minton ( UK). In 1980 Harth produced the LP ''Es herrscht Uhu im Land'' on JAPO/E ...

1990s–2000s

In the 1990s he was also a member of a band

, also featuring

and

Katharina Franck Katharina Franck (born July 28, 1963) is a German singer, songwriter, and musician. She first achieved fame as singer, songwriter, and guitarist of pop rock band the Rainbirds in the late 1980s. Besides her work with Rainbirds, she was also a mem ...

from the band

Rainbirds The Rainbirds are a German pop rock band established in 1986 around singer Katharina Franck. Their greatest hit is the song "Blueprint". History The band formed in 1986 and named themselves after an instrumental track by Tom Waits. When they wo ...

. FM Einheit left

in the mid-1990s during work on the album '' Ende Neu'', due to a lack of creative interest. One of his major projects after

was the band Gry with a female singer

Gry Bagøien Gry Bagøien, known as Gry, born in 1975 is a singer from Denmark. Biography Gry was born in Denmark in 1975. Until the age of 10 she was raised in Mozambique without seeing the western world. Gry was a member of now-defunct Æter, along wit ...

from

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. They released two albums: ''The Touch Of E!'' (1998) and ''Public Recording'' (2000, featuring

Pan Sonic Pan Sonic was a Finnish electronic music group founded in Turku in 1993. The group consisted of Mika Vainio, Ilpo Väisänen, and Sami Salo. Salo left in 1996 leaving Pan Sonic a duo. The group was originally named Panasonic until 1998. In Dece ...

and Neubauten's

Alexander Hacke Alexander Hacke (also known as Alexander von Borsig, Alex Hacke, Hacke, born 11 October 1965) is a guitarist, bass guitarist, singer, musician, record producer, writer and filmmaker from Germany. He is primarily known as a longtime member of the ...

). FM Einheit is also involved in

theater Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...

and

radio play Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine t ...

s. On several occasions he reunited on stage with

for an experimental performance.Information about Alexander Hacke's EP "Doomed", in which a concert of Hacke with FM Einheit in 2009 in Berlin is mentione

/ref>

Discography

* 1990 Stein * 1992 Steinzeit (Stein: FM Eineit/

) * 1993 Prometheus/Lear * 1993 Radio Inferno (FM Einheit/ Andreas Ammer) * 1994 Königzucker (Stein) * 1994 '' Merry Christmas (FM Einheit and Caspar Brötzmann album), Merry Christmas'' (FM Einheit/

Caspar Brötzmann Caspar Brötzmann (born 13 December 1962) is a German guitarist, vocalist and bandleader. Brötzmann typically performs with the power trio lineup of Caspar Brötzmann Massaker (his early band), with guitar, bass guitar and drums. He uses rock a ...

) * 1995 Apocalypse Live (FM Einheit/ Andreas Ammer/

) * 1996 Deutsche Krieger (FM Einheit/ Andreas Ammer) * 1996 Sensation Death ( en'seiʃn deθ * 1998 Odysseus 7 (FM Einheit/ Andreas Ammer/

) * 1998 Goto (

Phil Minton Phil Minton (born 2 November 1940) is a British avant-garde jazz/ free-improvising vocalist and trumpeter. Minton is a highly dramatic baritone who tends to specialize in literary texts: he has sung lyrics by William Blake with Mike Westbrook's ...

/FM Einheit) * 2000 Frost 79° 40' (FM Einheit/ Andreas Ammer/ Gry/

, live) * 2001 Brecht Baal * 2002 Crashing Aeroplanes (FM Einheit/ Andreas Ammer) * 2006 Echohce (FM Einheit/

Jamie Lidell Jamie Alexander Lidderdale (born 18 September 1973, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England), known professionally as Jamie Lidell, is an English musician, soul singer and podcast host living in Nashville, Tennessee. Lidell was formerly a part of ...

/ David Link/ Saskia v. Klitzing/ Volker Kamp) * 2008 The Sallie House ( Michael Esposito/FM Einheit) * 2009 No Apologies (FM Einheit/

Hans Joachim Irmler Faust (English: "fist") are a German rock band from Hamburg. Formed in 1971 by producer and former music journalist Uwe Nettelbeck, the group was originally composed of Werner "Zappi" Diermaier (b.1949), Hans Joachim Irmler (b.1950), Arnulf M ...

) * 2010 Evol/Ve (FM Einheit/

Massimo Pupillo Domenico Massimo Pupillo (1922 – 12 December 1999) was an Italian film director. Life and career Puplillo was born in Rodi Garganico, Apulia in 1922. He started his career in film through his acquaintance Fernandel as Marcel Pagnol's assista ...

) * 2011 Spielwiese 3 (

/FM Einheit/ Ute Marie Paul/ Katie Young) * 2013 Terre Haute (

/FM Einheit/

En Esch Nicklaus Schandelmaier, (born 23 March 1968) is a German musician, better known by his stage name En Esch, and has been a member of the bands KMFDM, Pigface, Slick Idiot, and . And more recently with NUKES, a 16 member band that includes Chris C ...

) * 2015 Bestandteil (

/FM Einheit) * 2017 Rosebud ( Eraldo Bernocchi/FM Einheit/Jo Quail) * ''For discography of FM Einheit with Einstürzende Neubauten, see:

's discography (all releases 1982–1995).'' * ''For discography of FM Einheit with Gry, see: Gry's discography (all releases).''

Film soundtracks

* 1984 ''

'', directed by Jürgen Muschalek * 1997 '' Der Platz'', directed by Uli M Schueppel * 1997 '' Im Platz'', directed by Uli M Schueppel * 2008 '' Der Tag'', directed by Uli M Schueppel * 2009 ''Die Narbe, Westberlin (West)'', directed by Burkhard von Harder

References

External links

F.M. Einheit's official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Einheit, F.M. 1958 births Living people Musicians from Dortmund German rock drummers Male drummers German male musicians German industrial musicians German electronic musicians Einstürzende Neubauten members Thirsty Ear Recordings artists Some Bizzare Records artists RareNoiseRecords artists Pigface members