Hermann Kopp (born 21 August 1954, in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

) is a German

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

and

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

, presently living in

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

Biography

In the early eighties, Kopp released two vinyl records with a sound that can be vaguely classified as electronic

minimalism In visual arts, music and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in post–World War II in Western art, most strongly with American visual arts in the 1960s and early 1970s. Prominent artists associated with minimalism include Don ...

and then became a member of the German electro-industrial band Keine Ahnung with which he played live in Mannheim and Berlin. In 1987 he participated in the soundtrack of the German horror film ''

Nekromantik ''Nekromantik'' (stylized as ''NEKRomantik'') is a 1988 West German horror exploitation film co-written and directed by Jörg Buttgereit. It is known to be frequently controversial, banned in a number of countries, and has become a cult film ove ...

'', followed in 1989 by music to the movie ''

Der Todesking ''Der Todesking'' () is a 1990 German horror film directed by Jörg Buttgereit. This experimental style movie, which does not use central characters, explores the topic of suicide and violent death in the form of seven episodes, each one attribute ...

'' and in 1990 to ''

Nekromantik 2 ''Nekromantik 2: Die Rückkehr der Liebenden Toten (The Return of the Loving Dead)'' (stylized as ''NEKRomantik 2'') is a 1991 German horror film directed by Jörg Buttgereit and a sequel to his 1988 film ''Nekromantik''. The film is about necrop ...

''. Unlike the early song material that tends to be intimist and voluntarily drawing on the

kitsch Kitsch ( ; loanword from German) is a term applied to art and design that is perceived as naïve imitation, overly-eccentric, gratuitous, or of banal taste. The avant-garde opposed kitsch as melodramatic and superficial affiliation with ...

side, his film scores create uneasy and haunting atmospheres, weaving atonal strings, slow motion rhythms,

moog synthesizer The Moog synthesizer is a modular synthesizer developed by the American engineer Robert Moog. Moog debuted it in 1964, and Moog's company R. A. Moog Co. (later known as Moog Music) produced numerous models from 1965 to 1981, and again from 20 ...

s and plain noise into soundtrack form. In 2007, Hermann Kopp released “Psicofonico”, abstract violin soundscapes influenced by a Spanish documentary on the

Electronic Voice Phenomena Within ghost hunting and parapsychology, electronic voice phenomena (EVP) are sounds found on electronic recordings that are interpreted as spirit voices. Parapsychologist Konstantīns Raudive, who popularized the idea in the 1970s, described E ...

. In 2007 he got signed to the German label Galakthorrö, known for its releases of

industrial music Industrial music is a genre of music that draws on harsh, mechanical, transgressive or provocative sounds and themes. AllMusic defines industrial music as the "most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music" that was "initiall ...

, maintaining his own morbid musical language. Cooperations with other musicians comprise the Italian artists Lorenzo Abattoir and Bathory Legion, the British act Am Not, the British doomcore band Fifth Era and the German project Schattenspiel. Hermann Kopp has had releases on the following labels throughout his career: * Passiv * Red Stream *

Vinyl On Demand Vinyl On Demand is a record label that targets vinyl collectors of 1970's and 80's minimal synth, industrial, and avant-garde music. Along with sales to distributors, Vinyl On Demand provides a subscription service. Most releases are limited to ...

* Bataille * Galakthorrö * Aesthetic Records * 4iB Records * Alien Passengers

In Other Media

In the movie ''

'' Hermann Kopp plays a part as a man drowning himself in his bathtub. His name in the film, Barsch, bears similarities with the German politician

Uwe Barschel Uwe Barschel (13 May 1944 – 11 October 1987) was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who served as Minister-President in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. Having assumed office of Minister-President at the age of 38, Ba ...

who was found dead around the same time in the bathtub of a hotel in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, following a political scandal that became popular under the name of “Waterkantgate”.

Soundtracks

* ''Nekromantik'' 1987 * ''Der Todesking'' 1989 * ''Nekromantik 2'' 1990 * ''The Queen Of Hollywood Boulevard'' 2017

Selected discography

*"Aquaplaning in Venedig", Vinyl-EP 1981 *"Pop", Vinyl-LP, 1983 *"Japgirls in Synthesis", Vinyl-LP, 2004 *" Nekronology", CD, 2004, reissued on Vinyl in 2009 *"Kitsch", Vinyl-LP, 2004 *"Mondo Carnale", Vinyl-LP, 2005 *"Psicofonico", CD, 2007 *"Under A Demon's Mask", Vinyl and CD, 2008 *"Cerveau D'Enfant", Vinyl-EP, 2010 * "Zyanidanger", Vinyl and CD, 2013 *"Sinekdoxa", Tape, 2014 *"Cantos Y Llantos", Vinyl-EP, 2017

External links

* http://www.hermannkopp.com * https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0465841 {{DEFAULTSORT:Kopp, Hermann 1954 births Living people German film score composers Male film score composers German male composers