Irmin Schmidt in an interview: “The people in the audience ducked” – culture
The documentary “Can And Me” gives insights into the life of Irmin Schmidt, keyboardist of the experimental band “Can”. In the SZ interview he talks about soundtracks, digital change and the art of listening.
When the career that was to make him a hero in rock history began, Irmin Schmidt was already over thirty. Born in Berlin, he was successful as a conductor, pianist and lecturer for New Classics when he formed the band in Cologne in 1968 with Holger Czukay, Michael Karoli and Jaki Liebezeit Can founded. With their half-improvised, half-adventurously assembled space rock, Can became one of the most influential German groups of all time. How Schmidt – who is now 85 and lives in southern France – lived and worked as an artist before and after the Can period is shown in the new film documentary “Can And Me” by Michael P. Aust, which is coming to cinemas these days.
