Heiko Schramm (born 8 June 1971 in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

, Germany) is a German musician, singer/songwriter (bass

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

, double bass, and guitar) and writer.

Career

Heiko Schramm started his musical career as the bassist for the Dresden-based band Freunde der italienischen Oper (FDIO) in 1988. Engaged for the stage production of

Goethe's Faust ''Faust'' is a tragic play in two parts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, usually known in English as '' Faust, Part One'' and ''Faust, Part Two''. Nearly all of Part One and the majority of Part Two are written in rhymed verse. Although rarely s ...

at Staatsschauspiel Dresden in 1989, FDIO gained renown as the first rock band in the history of the state theater in 1991. Schramm collaborated on the FDIO albums ''Um Thron und Liebe'' as well as ''Edle Einfalt Stille Größe'' and left the band in 1992. Together with the original lineup, Schramm recorded a song for the German

opera singer Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libretti ...

René Pape René Pape (born 4 September 1964) is a German operatic bass. Pape has received two Grammys, was named "Vocalist of the Year" by Musical America in 2002, "Artist of the Year" by the German opera critics in 2006, and won an ECHO award (the German ...

in 2005 which was featured in a documentary on Pape produced by the TV network

Arte Arte (; (), sometimes stylized in lowercase or uppercase in its logo) is a European public service channel dedicated to culture. It is made up of three separate companies: the Strasbourg-based European Economic Interest Grouping ARTE, plus ...

. In 1990, Schramm, singer and guitarist Jens Berger and drummer Tom Wolf formed the band Need A New Drug. They recorded the albums ''Greedy Moon'' (1990) and ''Santa Cruz'' (1992, produced by Jorge Cousineau). The cooperation with Berger was formative for Schramm's forceful yet melodic guitar-like bass sound that evolved from a close collaboration on arrangements, as well as from the reduced form of a trio in which the bass functioned in more complex compositions as a transmitter between the rhythm section on the one hand, and as a second melodic option on the other. Schramm moved to Berlin in 1993 and, together with Stephan Hachtmann and Ulrik Spiess, he formed the trio X.I.D., with which he recorded the albums ''X.I.D.'' (1994) and ''Stralsund'' (1995). After his return to Dresden in 1996, Schramm and Berger started to work again and formed the band Gaffa. Although inspired both by

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

musicians that were issued on

Fat Possum Records Fat Possum Records is an American independent record label based in Water Valley and Oxford, Mississippi. At first Fat Possum focused almost entirely on recording previously unknown Mississippi blues artists (typically from Oxford or Holly Sprin ...

and, e.g.,

Bukka White Booker T. Washington "Bukka" White (November 12, 1906 February 26, 1977) was an American Delta blues guitarist and singer. Biography White was born south of Houston, Mississippi. He was a first cousin of B.B. King's mother (White's mother and ...

Skip James Nehemiah Curtis "Skip" James (June 9, 1902October 3, 1969) was an American Delta blues singer, guitarist, pianist and songwriter. AllMusic stated: "This emotional, lyrical performer was a talented blues guitarist and arranger with an impressive ...

Jesse Fuller Jesse Fuller (March 12, 1896 – January 29, 1976) was an American one-man band musician, best known for his song "San Francisco Bay Blues". Early life Fuller was born in Jonesboro, Georgia, near Atlanta. He was sent by his mother to live with ...

, the band's sound however reflected the tristesse of their

East German East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

suburban background with which they had been coming of age. With Gaffa, Schramm recorded the albums ''Wilful Things'' (2000, production by Edgar M. Roethig) and ''Amusement Park'' (2004), and left the band in 2004. Parallelly, Schramm began teaming up with Rüdiger Pässler, drummer Matthias Macht and Matthias Petzold under the name of Thermoking in 1999. In the following year, they recorded the album ''Fuego'' produced by Jorge Cousineau and Matthias Petzold, and recorded by Edgar M. Roethig. The same production team monitored the subsequent album of the band which bore the new band name Goldoni after Pässler left in 2001. Following an offer to set new music to the film

Matrix Matrix most commonly refers to: * ''The Matrix'' (franchise), an American media franchise ** ''The Matrix'', a 1999 science-fiction action film ** "The Matrix", a fictional setting, a virtual reality environment, within ''The Matrix'' (franchis ...

and to perform it live including a DJ Team at the Dresden Kulturzentrum Scheune in 2000, Matthias Macht, Matthias Petzold, Schramm and DJ Studio 17 founded the band Tijuana Mon Amour Broadcasting Inc. The band existed beyond the instant success of their Scheune performance until 2009 and recorded the four albums, ''Tijuana Mona Amour Broadcasting Inc.'' (2001), ''Songs'' (2003), ''Day After, the Day Before'' (2004), and ''The Jubilee of the Snowqueen'' (2006). In 2001, Schramm met American singer and guitarist

Chris Whitley Christopher Becker Whitley (August 31, 1960 – November 20, 2005) was an American blues/rock singer-songwriter and guitarist. During his 25-year career he released more than a dozen albums, had two songs in the top 50 of the Billboard mainst ...

, who invited him to play bass on the US promotion tour for the album ''

Rocket House ''Rocket House'' is the seventh album by singer-songwriter and guitarist, Chris Whitley. It is his sixth studio album. It was produced by Tony Mangurian and recorded primarily at Soho Music Studios in New York City. It was mixed by Tony Mangur ...

''. The tour lineup included also Tony Mangurian on drums (who also produced Rocket House),

DJ Logic DJ Logic (born 1972 as Jason Kibler) is an American turntablist active primarily in nu-jazz/ acid jazz and with jam bands. Kibler was born and raised in The Bronx, NY. Because of an early interest in hip hop, Kibler started using the turntabl ...

and keyboardist Etienne Lytle. Whitley and Schramm recorded the acoustic album '' Hotel Vast Horizon'' together with Matthias Macht in 2002. The song "Breaking Your Fall" featured on the album won the Independent Music Award in the category "Best Folk/Singer-Songwriter Song" in early 2004. The band promoted the album on an extended tour through the US as well as France and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. During the recording session for the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack o ...

of the film '' Pigs Will Fly'' (direction: Eoin Moore, 2003), Schramm, Whitley and Macht worked with the producers Warner Poland and Kai-Uwe Kohlschmidt. In 2004, the same lineup recorded '' Soft Dangerous Shores'' in Kingston, NY under the production of

Malcolm Burn Malcolm Burn (born October 4, 1960) is a Canadian-born music producer, recording engineer and musician. Emmylou Harris's ''Red Dirt Girl'', produced by Burn, won Best Contemporary Folk Album at the 2001 Grammys. Biography Born in Cornwall, Ontar ...

. In 2005, Schramm played bass as a member of Chris Whitley & the Bastard Club in Catskill, NY during the recording sessions for the album '' Reiter In'', which was recorded by Richard Holbrook and produced by Kenny Siegal. Additional performers on Whitley's last album included also: Brian Geltner, Tim Beattie, Kenny Siegal, Sean Balin, Gwen Snyder und Susann Buerger. In 2008, Schramm and Matthias Macht toured the

American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, N ...

together with Singer/Songwriter Paul Sprawl from

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the county seat and largest city of Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 census, the city population was 62,956. Situated on the northern edge of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz is a pop ...

, and recorded the album ''Great American Opera'' at Studio Sutton Sound in

Atascadero Atascadero (Spanish for "Mire") is a city in San Luis Obispo County, California, about equidistant from Los Angeles and San Francisco on U.S. Route 101. Atascadero is part of the San Luis Obispo-Paso Robles metropolitan statistical area, which ...

, CA. Since 2009, Schramm has worked on his own songs under the name of Blenderman, performing them solo and with different musicians like Matthias Macht, Studio 17 and Fran Dango. Since 2014, the albums created in this period have been published as a series titled ''The 9th-Floor Tapes , 1-6'', including ''Walk Down Memory Lane'' (2014) and ''To All The Locos'' (2014). In March 2016 followed ''God of Bitumen'', the first album marked by the creative collaboration of Schramm and Dango in terms of music and lyrics. Further musicians next to Matthias Macht include e.g., Ralph Qno Kunze. The fourth album, a 4-track EP named ''Blenderman at Daft Audio'' was released in June 2016 followed by ''The Ralph'' in February 2017. The release of the EP ''The Thousand-Yard Stare'' in February 2018 concluded this series, again featuring musicians like Macht, Kunze, Studio 17 and Dango.

Bands

* 1988–1992 Freunde der italienischen Oper * 1990–1996 Need A New Drug * 1993–1995 X.I.D. * 1996–2004 Gaffa * 1997–2000 Thermoking * 2000–2001 Goldoni * 2001–2005 Chris Whitley * 2001–2008 Tijuana Mon Amour Broadcasting Inc. * 2008–2009 Paul Sprawl / Worn Out West

Discography

Freunde der italienischen Oper

* 1990 Tape ''Mutmaßliche Terroristen in Haft.../Gott schütze den Innenminister'' * 1990 Tape ''Live in Munich'' * 1991 Tape ''Il Grande Silenzio'' * 1991 Tape ''Live im Schauspielhaus Dresden'' * 1991 Tape ''Live in Dresden'' * 1991 LP ''Um Thron Und Liebe'' * 1996 CD ''Edle Einfalt Stille Größe'' (Strandard63) * 1997 CD ''Um Thron Und Liebe'' (Strandard63 / What's So Funny About) * 1997 CD-Box Rare, seltene und rätselhafte Aufnahmen mit ''Um Thron und Liebe'' / ''Edle Einfalt, stille Größe'' (Strandard63 / What's So Funny About)

Need a New Drug

* 1990 LP ''Greedy Moon'' (Par Excellence) * 1992 LP/CD ''Santa Cruz'' (Berry Berry )

X.I.D.

* 1993 CD ''XID'' ( Rough Trade) * 1994 CD ''Stralsund'' ( Rough Trade)

Gaffa

* 2000 LP/CD ''Wilful Things'' (DOXA Records) * 2004 LP/CD ''Amusement Park'' (DOXA Records)

Thermoking

* 1999 CD ''Fuego'' (Väter & Söhne)

Goldoni

* 2001 CD ''Goldoni'' (Goo International)

Chris Whitley

* 2003 CD '' Pigs Will Fly'' (ulfTone Records) * 2003 CD '' Hotel Vast Horizon'' (

Messenger Records Messenger Records is an independent record label. Based out of New York City, USA, the label was started by Brandon Kessler during his time in college in 1996. The label has released albums by Anne McCue, Dan Bern, Chris Whitley, Johnny Society ...

/Fargo Records) * 2004 CD '' Soft Dangerous Shores'' (Messenger Records/Fargo Records) * 2005 LP/CD '' Reiter In'' (Down Town Records /Red Parlour Records)

Tijuana Mon Amour Broadcasting Inc.

* 2001 LP/CD ''Tijuana Mon Amour Broadcasting Inc.''(Tijuana Music/Hobby de Luxe) * 2003 CD ''Songs'' (Tijuana Music/Hobby de Luxe) * 2004 CD ''Day After, the Day Before'' (DOXA Records/Remixes) * 2006 LP/CD ''The Jubilee of the Snowqueen'' (BURO/City Center Offices)

Paul Sprawl/ Worn Out West

* 2009 CD ''Great American Opera''

Blenderman/HESH

* 2014: ''To Walk Down Memory Lane'' (Download) * 2014: ''To All The Locos'' (Download) * 2016: ''God of Bitumen'' (Download) * 2016: ''Blenderman at Daft Audio'' (Download) * 2017: ''The Ralph'' (Download) * 2018: ''The Thousand-Yard Stare'' (Download)

FDIO on TV

* ARTE: Der Bass René Pape – Mein Herz brennt, direction: Sibylle Muth

References

External links

Heiko HESH Schramm

Homepage of Tijuana Mon Amour Broadcasting Inc.
* wit
Chris Whitley & DJ Logic
live at

Bowery Ballroom The Bowery Ballroom is a New York City live-music venue located at 6 Delancey Street in the neighborhood of Bowery in Manhattan. The Bowery Ballroom holds something of a cult status among musicians as well as audiences. ''Rolling Stone'' magazi ...

, New York City on YouTube * wit
Worn Out West
live in

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

on YouTube {{DEFAULTSORT:Schramm, Heiko 1971 births German experimental musicians German double-bassists Male double-bassists German bass guitarists German rock guitarists German male bass guitarists German rock singers German male singer-songwriters German singer-songwriters East German musicians Living people 20th-century bass guitarists 21st-century German male singers 21st-century double-bassists 21st-century bass guitarists