Einstürzende Neubauten
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Einstürzende Neubauten has been one of the bands that has pushed the limits to what is deemed as industrial, ambient, and electronica. They are one of the few bands that can and have had all three genres on one album. They are a German band that has been around since 1980. They are still around and doing what they do best, experimenting and making music that is heard all over the world. They are one of the elite bands in manipulating noise into their music and making is sound like a part of the music that is needed.
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Roster
The current lineup for Einstürzende Neubauten is as follows: Bliza Bargeld (aka Christian Emmerich), Alexander Hacke (aka Alexander von Borsig), N.U. Unruh (aka Andrew Chudy), Jochen Arbeit, and Rudi Moser. Bliza Bargeld and N.U. Unruh are from the original layout of the band.
Origin of the name
The band name translated into English would come out as "Collapsing New Buildings," this would be as an adjective and not as a noun. This is believed to be in connection to the high rise buildings that are in the area from the Post World War II era. This is due to the mass destruction that the war brought and the need there has been to level the older buildings and to rebuild them. The building that they have the most direct affiliation to is the Berlin Kongresshalle.
In a sense that is what this band has been to music, a factor to destroy the old boundaries of the music and rebuild them into something new.
History: The beginning
In April 1st of 1980, Einstürzende Neubauten made their first official appearance at the Moon Club in Berlin. This date is deemed by the band as its birthday.
They were originally Geniale Dilettanten which played Dadaistic music. Their line-up featured Beate Bartel, Gudrun Gut, Blixa Bargeld, and N.U. Unruh. Bargeld and Unruh would later go under the name Einstürzende Neubauten, and the other two soon left the band and founded the girl band Mania D..
A young sound technician and multi-instrumentalist Alexander von Borsig (alias Alexander Hacke), joined the band at this time at the young age of 15. He would be a long time member.
1981 and 1982
In 1981, F.M. Einheit (formerly from the Hamburg band Abwärts) joined Einstürzende Neubauten, as a percussionist, and they released their first LP, Kollaps. This was a strange and new mixture of rough punk tunes with industrial noises. They used obscure instruments such as metal plates. They also utilized self-made music machines and various electronic sounds. The live performances with FM Einheit during the 1980s included lots of metal banging and mass destruction on stage. This became legendary for the band at the time.
During their German tour, Mark Chung (another member of Abwärts , their former bass player) joined the unorthodox group of musicians. This line-up would last for the next decade.
1983 and 1984
In 1983, Einstürzende Neubauten recorded their second album which was labeled Zeichnungen des Patienten O. T..
During this time Blixa joined up with Nick Cave and Mick Harvey, they created the band The Birthday Party. This band didn’t last long, but was the stepping stone to creating Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. Blixa remained a member of both bands until 2003.
1985 though 1989
In 1985, the band took a major leap forward with Halber Mensch. This was the album that helped define the band in many ways as Bargeld’s singing and expression of the lyrics changed from shouted words and spot phrases to more organized and fluid melodies.
They started their third North American tour in Vancouver in a performance that was sponsored by the German Goethe Institute as a portion of the German contribution to the Expo `86. Also in the musical lineup were Test Dept. and the legendary Skinny Puppy. Regrettably, not everyone was able to play as they were slated to.
The one-hour film Halber Mensch by Sogo Ishii, defines and documents Einstürzende Neubauten's visit to Japan, in 1985. This was followed up with their next two albums, Fünf auf der nach oben offenen Richterskala, in 1987; and Haus der Lüge. Both were huge successes in both the United States and also in Japan.
1990 through 1999
The band performed a number of albums and soundtracks that defined the band in altering ways that reflected on the style of music that the band was creating. Much of this music became mellower and more fluid.
During this time Mark Chung and F.M. Einheit, who had been members of the band left for various reasons.
2000 to present
Since 2001, Einstürzende Neubauten albums and web projects have been in part supported and produced by Erin Zhu, the wife of Blixa Bargeld. She serves to this day as the webmaster to the official band website.
Much of their music has been drawn away from a record label and more into different means of development that has used the fans as a base and has used their involvement in the creation of albums.
In 2005, the band started a new project called Musterhaus. This was a means of experimenting where the fans can subscribe and gain music that is one this project. There is new music every 3 months. It was deemed as a means of granting the band an outlet that the fans may enjoy.
The band is still coming up with newer means of releasing music and what are called by the band as Jewels so that the fans will be able to support the band directly and avoid they hassle of a record label and that area of added expense.