Timo Blunck (born 25 March 1962) is a German composer, lyricist, producer, bassist and vocalist.

Biography

Blunck was raised in

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

. At the age of nine, he began studying flute under

Manfred Trojahn Manfred Trojahn (born 22 October 1949) is a German composer, flautist, conductor and writer. Career Trojahn was born Cremlingen in Lower Saxony and began his musical studies in 1966 in orchestra music at the music school of Braunschweig. After gra ...

. In 1978, Blunck founded The Skafighter with his school friend Detlef Diederichsen. In 1980, The Skafighter were renamed Ede und die Zimmermänner alongside the release of their first single on Alfred Hilsberg's Zick Zack label (they later simply went by Die Zimmermänner). In 1981, Blunck became the bassist for Palais Schaumburg, where he also sang backing vocals for the first two albums. His unusual style of bass playing followed geometric patterns, as opposed to classical musical scales. This style was a fundamental part of Palais Schaumburg's atonal sound. Palais Schaumburg featured such producers as

The Flying Lizards The Flying Lizards were an experimental English new wave band, formed in 1976. They are best known for their eccentric cover version of Barrett Strong's "Money", featuring Deborah Evans-Stickland on lead vocals, which reached the UK and US re ...

' David Cunningham, as well as Andy " Coati Mundi" Hernandez of

Kid Creole & The Coconuts Kid Creole and the Coconuts is an American musical group created by August Darnell with Andy Hernandez and Adriana Kaegi. Its music incorporates a variety of styles and influences, in particular a mix of disco and Latin American, Caribbean, an ...

. In 1981, Palais Schaumburg signed with Daniel Miller's

Mute Records Mute Records is a British independent record label owned and founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller. It has featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Depeche Mode, Erasure, Einstürzende Neubauten, Fad Gadget, Goldfrapp, Grinderm ...

, after which they played support for

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

. Palais Schaumburg played in the Danceteria in New York, as well as performing as one of the first acts in Manchester's The Haçienda. On their European Tour 1982 they played with Kurtis Blow. Photographer and Director

Anton Corbijn Anton Johannes Gerrit Corbijn van Willenswaard (; born 20 May 1955) is a Dutch photographer, film director and music video director. He is the creative director behind the visual output of Depeche Mode and U2,Pitman, Joanna"The silent partner"' ...

, having previously created the album artwork for "Lupa" (1982), also filmed their first music video in 1983 for the single "Hockey". From 1985 to 1990, Timo Blunck performed as the vocalist and songwriter of the Hamburg Pop band Grace Kairos. The Grace Kairos released two albums, produced by

Ray Shulman Raymond Shulman (born 8 December 1949) is a Scottish musician, and the youngest of three brothers in progressive rock band Gentle Giant. Shulman was born in Portsmouth. His father was a trumpet player in a jazz band, and that was the first inst ...

of Gentle Giant. The singles "Carolina" and "I Don't Know What's Going On" charted in the Netherlands and Sweden. In 1990, Grace Kairos toured as the support for

Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet Wet are a Scottish soft rock band formed in 1982. They scored a number of hits in the UK charts and around the world in the 1980s and 1990s. They are best known for their 1994 cover of The Troggs' 1960s hit "Love Is All Around", which w ...

. In 1990, Blunck moved to London, where he opened a studio (Momentum Sounds). There he produced several artists, including Freaky Realistic and

Christie Hennessy Christie Hennessy (born Edward Christopher Ross; 19 November 1945 – 11 December 2007) was an Irish folk singer-songwriter. Although Hennessy was unable to read or write due to severe dyslexia, he still wrote his own songs such as "Roll Back ...

. 1992 saw the release of Blunck's solo album, titled "Timo", with the single "Louisiana Lonely". the music video of which was filmed by German Director

Gregor Schnitzler Gregor Schnitzler (born 1964) is a German film director. He directed more than fifteen films since 1991. His best-known films are ''What to Do in Case of Fire?'' and '' The Cloud'' based on the novel by Gudrun Pausewang. His father, Conrad, was w ...

in Louisiana. Blunck then moved to

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; ) is a city in and the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located the eastern bank of the Mississippi River, it is the parish seat of East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana's most populous parish—the equivalent of counties i ...

, followed by

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. In 1998, Blunck opened the production company BLUWI, which creates music for Film, Television and advertising. BLUWI's clients include directors such as Justus von Dohnanyi and Christian Petzold, as well as brands including Audi, Mercedes, and Nivea. In 2010, BLUWI began working in communication in space, including the Expo 2010 (Saudi-Arabian Pavilion) and the Expo 2012 in Yeosu (

Swiss Pavilion The Swiss pavilion houses Switzerland's national pavilion, national representation during the Venice Biennale arts festivals. Background Organization and building The Swiss pavilion was designed by Swiss architect Bruno Giacometti as ...

, Caltex Pavilion). Starting 2011, Blunck resumed playing with Palais Schaumburg, featuring its original lineup. The band's success in Japan led to concerts in Tokyo and Osaka in 2012. Die Zimmermänner released further albums, the latest of which "Ein Hund Namens Arbeit" was produced by Blunck and released by Tapete Records. In 2014 Blunck mixed the album " Spaces Everywhere" from the London band The Monochrome Set. Timo Blunck has been a member of the Art Director's Club Germany since 2002 Summer 2015, Timo Blunck mixed the album Über... Menschen of the Düsseldorf band

Fehlfarben Fehlfarben is a Neue Deutsche Welle music band from Düsseldorf, Germany, that was formed in 1979. Its founding members were Peter Hein (vocals), former member of the Band ''Mittagspause'' ("lunch break"), Thomas Schwebel (guitar, former Mit ...

. Following 1 June 2015, Blunck, along with BLUWI producer Stephanie Zanatta, founded the company BLUT. Here they are continuing their work after the termination of BLUWI.BLUWI/BLUT Newsletter 07/15

Personal life

Timo Blunck splits his time between Hamburg and

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

. He has three sons with American stylist Sondra Blunck.

Selected discography

Ede & die Zimmermänner * Eva, Jürgen & Max (Single, Zick Zack 1980) Die Zimmermänner * Ein halbes Jahr/Kultur (Single, Zick Zack 1981) * 1001 Wege Sex zu machen ohne daran Spaß zu haben (Album, Zick Zack 1982) * Zurück in der Zirkulation (EP, Zick Zack 1983) * Anja (EP, Cherry Red 1983) * Goethe (Album, AtaTak 1984) * Fortpflanzungssupermarkt (Album, Zick Zack 2007) * Ein Hund namens Arbeit (Album, Tapete 2014) * Die Wäscheleinen waren lang (Boxset Retrospektive 1980–1985, Tapete 2014) Palais Schaumburg * Telefon (Single, Zick Zack 1981) * Palais Schaumburg (Album, Phonogram/Mute 1981) * Lupa (Album, Phonogram 1982) * Hockey (EP, Phonogram 1983) * Palais Schaumburg (Doppelalbum Re-Issue, Bureau B 2012) Grace Kairos * Fall In Love With Frank (Album, RCA 1987) * Emotionspark (Album, RCA 1989) Solo * Timo (Album, RCA 1992)

Selected filmography

* 2004: Außer Kontrolle (Director:

Christian Görlitz Christian Görlitz (1944 – 10 January 2022) was a German film director. Filmography * 1984: Das Ende vom Anfang (TV film) * 1984: Auf einem langen Weg (TV series) * 1985: Laufen, leiden, länger leben (TV- Miniseries) * 1985: Der Fahnder (TV ...

) * 2007: (Director:

Justus von Dohnányi Justus von Dohnányi (born 2 December 1960) is a German actor, best known for portraying Wilhelm Burgdorf in 2004 film ''Der Untergang''. Life and career Born in Lübeck, von Dohnányi is the son of conductor Christoph von Dohnányi and actress ...

) * 2008:

Tatort ''Tatort'' ("Crime scene") is a German language police procedural television series that has been running continuously since 1970 with some 30 feature-length episodes per year, which makes it the longest-running German TV drama. Developed by ...

: Unbestechlich (Director: Nils Willbrandt) * 2012: Blutadler (Director: Nils Willbrandt) * 2013:

: Schwindelfrei (Director: Justus von Dohnányi) * 2014: Junges Deutschland (Director: Jan Hinrik Drevs)

Selected awards

* Goldener Nagel for sound design 'Loewe – Chor', ADC 2009 * Red Dot Award 2010 Saudi-Arabian Pavillon, Expo Shanghai * DDC Award 2010 'Im Reich der Schatten', Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier * Golden Lion for Music 'Monkey/A Peace Of Mind', Cannes Advertising Festival 2010 * Golden Clio for Music 'Monkey/A Peace Of Mind', New York 2010 * Bronze Clio for Music BMW Scooter 'Modern Movement', New York 2012 * Red Dot Award 2014 'The Time Machine – Wu Kingdom Helv Relics Museum Wuxi, China'

References

External links

blut.audio

zimmermaenner.net

palaisschaumburg.com

timoblunck.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blunck, Timo 1962 births German bass guitarists American male bass guitarists German expatriates in the United States German lyricists German male composers German male singers German record producers Living people Musicians from Hamburg Musicians from New Orleans People from Harburg (district) Guitarists from Louisiana 20th-century American bass guitarists 20th-century American male musicians German male guitarists