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Improvisation with no parachute

Lucerne based saxophonist Christoph Erb is also founder and head of the label veto-records. After a six-month stay in Chicago, he has been exclusively improvising for more than ten years now, combining the greatest possible musical freedom with an intensified focus on the essentials: Sound and expression.

Lucerne based saxophonist and founder of veto-records Christoph Erb. ©Peter Gannushkin

Jaronas Scheurer
Christoph Erb and I meet for lunch at Lucerne’s Neubad. Full of energy, almost effervescent, yet highly focused. This is also true of his music, which combines the intensity and expressive will of free jazz with the focus of free improvisation and precise sound research at the edges of the instrumental sound of contemporary music. His saxophone rattles, chirps and squeaks, rustling, clattering and hissing. However, this variety of sound seems highly controlled: No wild sound escapades or chaotic blow-outs. The sound is given space to expand, develop and change and when playing with other musicians, another of Erb’s qualities becomes audible: his open ears for interaction and for the other person.

 


Christoph Erb (saxophone) and Frantz Loriot (viola): Iki, Record: Wabi Sabi, veto-records 2023.

Amsterdam, Lucerne, Chicago

Christoph Erb grew up in Zurich. After attending music school, he founded a rock band with friends and then went on to the Lucerne Jazz School, where he studied with Nat Su and John Voirol. After two years in Lucerne, he then moved to the jazz school in Amsterdam for a gap year experience: “But after three weeks it was too much for me,” says Erb. “Everyone was with the same lecturer and they all sounded like him.” He dropped out of jazz school and went to every possible jam session in town. “The Amsterdam jazz scene turned out to be my real jazz school.” He actually enjoyed an extremely traditional education there: Listening, jamming, playing along.

Back in Lucerne, he founded his first bands in the 00s: erb_gut with Peter Schärli as guest on trumpet, Lila with Hans-Peter Pfammatter on keys, Flo Stoffner on guitar and Julian Sartorius on drums, Veto and BigVeto. “I wanted to combine composed music with improvisation,” recalls Erb. “At some point, we were so well-rehearsed with Lila that we didn’t have to do anything. We went on stage, played freely and just let the themes flow. That was great.” And then came Chicago…

Lucerne and Chicago are “Sister Cities”, which means that the city of Lucerne runs a studio space in Chicago. Christoph Erb applied for it and spent six months there in 2011: “It was an initial spark,” says Erb. “But it was tough at first. The mentality is completely different, as is the way of making music. I went to an incredible number of concerts. I was fascinated by how strong the expression of the musicians was and with much less technique. This realisation was hugely important for my own playing. I got very close to ‘jazz’ in Chicago. I actually asked myself for the first time: What is this thing called jazz?”


Christoph Erb (saxophone) und Jim Baker (piano): Motyl, Record: Bottervagl, veto-records/exchange 2012.

DIY at all levels

Despite some initial difficulties, Erb managed to gain a foothold and made connections that extended beyond his six-month stay. Several collaborations with musicians from Chicago were released on his label veto-records and shortly before the coronavirus lockdown, he organised a large Chicago-Lucerne festival, for which he was able to invite some of his friends from the windy city to Lucerne. “Amsterdam and Chicago were central for me. That’s where I found my voice.” But most important, in Chicago, Erb got to know a do-it-yourself mentality that has stayed with him to this day.

The tours were also organised differently: “No money, sleeping on the floor, but at the end of the tour all the CDs were sold: Either you put your heart and soul into it or you left it alone. Little to no funding, no financing options.” So you don’t have much choice but to do everything yourself.

veto-records

This do-it-yourself mentality is also reflected in his label veto-records: “I spent a long time looking for a label for my first record with erb_gut, checking out everything until I didn’t feel like it anymore and decided: I’d rather do it myself, in order to have everything in my own hands.” Christoph Erb not only distributes his own music on veto-records, but also a whole range of other artists: The album Close Up by Julius Amber, consisting of Elio Amberg on saxophone and Julian Sartorius on drums, was recently released, and Christoph Erb is enthusiastic: “I pick people who I think are great and who have a kick. Elio Amberg is one of them. I’ve known him since I was a child, as I was his saxophone teacher. And now he makes very interesting music and we play together.”


Christoph Erb (saxophone), Magda Mayas (piano), Gerry Hemingway (drums): Under Water Falling, Record: Bathing Music, veto-records 2023.

Current projects

He plays with Elio Amberg and Niklaus Mäder in the bass clarinet trio Erbt Mäder am Berg?, the only formation with which he actually rehearses. “The line-up is very challenging because we all play the same instrument.” He also plays in another trio with drummer Gerry Hemingway and pianist Magda Mayas, in duo with violist Frantz Loriot and in yet another trio with Emmanuel Künzi on drums and Christian Weber on bass.

 

Magda Mayas (piano), Christoph Erb (saxophone) and Gerry Hemingway (drums) as a trio. Zvg. von Christoph Erb.

As different as these formations might be, Erb’s style is always recognisable: the will to express himself, the intensity, the focus on the edges of the conventional saxophone sound. “I’m still finding new sounds and ways of expressing myself on the saxophone, it’s probably never fully explored. For me, playing concerts is the greatest thing. And when something new happens at a concert – for me, with the band and in the overall sound – then I’m really happy afterwards. Improvisation should always be new. The main thing is no parachute.”
Jaronas Scheurer

Christoph Erb, veto-records, veto-records/exchange, Magda Mayas, Gerry Hemingway, Julian Sartorius, Frantz Loriot, Christian Weber, Flo Stoffner, Elio Amberg

New records on veto-records:
Two new LPs with Christoph Erb are on veto-records: Wabi Sabi of the Duo Erb-Loriot and Spazio Elle of the trio Erb Weber Künzi.

There ist also a digital release of the solo record ACCIAIo DOLCE FUSO. Study on Extended Sax of the Italian saxophonist Mario Gabola on veto-records.

Neo profiles:
Christoph Erb, Julian Sartorius

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Kunstraum Walcheturm – an impossible musical space in the centre of Zurich

Summer series for Swiss Music Prize No. 3: A special prize goes to Kunstraum Walcheturm, as – according to the jury – the concert venue “occupies an outstanding position for the further development of experimental music and art in Switzerland”.
Jaronas Scheurer spoke to its artistic director Patrick Huber.

 

The Kunstraum Walcheturm in the Zeughaushof Zürich ©Lorenzo Pusterla

 

Jaronas Scheurer
I meet Patrick Huber while he is supervising the set-up of a party to take place that same evening. The party has rented the room and there is a lot to explain and negotiate. Huber is also about to go on holiday: Between discussions with the sound engineers, briefings for the bar staff and final holiday preparations, he still finds time for an interview. Being in-between things, i.e. different projects, parties, experimental music, contemporary art and experimental film, in-between-ness seems to be a modus operandi for Patrick Huber and the Kunstraum Walcheturm: “This place shouldn’t really exist,” he says during the interview.

This venue – the Kunstraum Walcheturm in the old Zeughaus courtyard, about 10 minutes’ walk from Zurich main station – is the city’s most important venue for contemporary and experimental music and it received one of this year’s special music prizes from the Federal Office of Culture (BAK).

Walcheturm Gallery

How is it, that Walcheturm came to be known primarily for exciting concerts and less for exciting art? After all, it was founded in the 1950s as an association to promote young Swiss art and artists. And in the 1980s, the now internationally renowned art dealers Eva Presenhuber and Iwan Wirth moulded it into one of the most important places on the Zurich art scene, named after its first location on Walchestrasse. “At some point it became clear, that an association was not the right vehicle for an internationally active gallery with such commercial endeavour”, says Huber. A spin-off took place in the mid-1990s, from which the Eva Presenhuber and Hauser&Wirth galleries emerged. The Walcheturm association then went through a difficult phase before the association’s management was handed over to Patrick Huber in 1999. Huber applied with the vision of turning the gallery into an art space: “A rupture – not a gallery, nor an art market anymore – but an art space,” as Huber outlined his idea at the time.

 

Marc Zeier: ‘Daphnia Heart Beat’, Flügel, Bassboxe and Daphnia magna Modell, Kunstraum Walcheturm 2017 ©Lorenzo Pusterla

 


Luigi Archetti: LAVA – Part 01, Label Karluk 2021

 

From gallery to art space

Patrick Huber already had a lot of experience in organising exhibitions, parties and festivals. He had been organising parties since the 1980s: techno, hip hop, drum’n’bass, curating exhibitions in off-spaces and, since 1998, the experimental film festival VideoEx.

“When I took over, there were no members, so to speak, and there wasn’t even a hammer at hand, to hammer in nails for the artworks.” However, this also had its advantages, as it allowed him to create something from scratch. He was able to build on a large network of friends on one hand and his experience as a party organiser on the other. “For the first few years, parties, often techno parties, financed the art space.” The income generated from the big evening parties was channelled into the art space and the exhibitions during the day. “I didn’t even realise back then that one could apply for financial support,” Huber says with a laugh. But the Walcheturm art space soon had to move. Fortunately, they were accepted for the current location in the old armoury. “We got the key in January 2002. The key opened a dusty room. It was 5 degrees outside and the same temperature inside. Gravel on the floor, not much else. There wasn’t much money, but there was a big deal of help, a whole group of people: Someone was able to drive an excavator and dredged out a few cubic metres of gravel. Others were able to install electricity, someone installed heaters, etc.” says Huber, describing the move. “Then, in May, the floor was installed and the experimental film festival VideoEx was held for the first time. In August, there was an official opening with a project featuring 12 drummers. A performance, categorised as art, with twelve drummers playing.”

 

Katharina Rosenberger: Exhibition “quartet”, Kunstraum Walcheturm 2018 ©Lorenzo Pusterla

 


Katharina Rosenberger: REIN, Basel Sinfonietta under the direction of Baldur Brönnimann, premiere 2019 in Basel

 

From contemporary art to experimental music

The transition from exhibition space for contemporary art to a venue for experimental music seemed to be already apparent at the opening. “I was interested in contemporary, experimental music. I found it to be exciting. But there also seemed to be a need for such a space in Zurich. Because there has always been space for contemporary art in Zurich,” says Patrick Huber, explaining the change.

 

Julian Sartorius: Locked Grooves Record Release, Kunstraum Walcheturm 2021 ©Lorenzo Pusterla

 


Julian Sartorius: Locked Groove 093, Label OUS 2021

 

These days, Walcheturm hosts mainly concerts. In addition to several important festivals such as VideoEx, Sonic Matters, Taktlos Zürich and FemaleClassics, musicians and ensembles play somewhere between noise, free improvisation, new music, sound art and free jazz. Patrick Huber receives numerous requests for concerts, but the problem with the programme is funding. The Kunstraum Walcheturm is supported by the canton of Zurich, which barely covers the rental expenses. Beyond that, they have no budget, so to speak. “The amazing thing about Walcheturm is the musical diversity despite the tight financial guidelines,” says Huber. For this to work, a good deal of pragmatism and common sense is required. In concrete terms, the groups that play at Walcheturm, finance the place depending on the level of their own funding. “If the other side has a yacht, then please let our side have some money too, if they’re in a small rowing boat, then we can row around too. We’ve always done that,” says Huber with a laugh. “On paper, our calculations don’t actually work out. But somehow they do.”

And so they carry on – the impossible space in the centre of Zurich: two to four concerts a week, with the help of friends, a healthy dose of pragmatism and, above all, a lot of love and commitment to the music.
Jaronas Scheurer

 

The season 2023/2024 of the Kunstraum Walcheturm startet on the 2nd of September with an anniversary concert of the Collegium Novum Zürich.
Further events: https://www.walcheturm.ch/agenda/

Broadcasts SRF Kultur:
SRF Kultur online, 11.5.23: Trompeter Erik Truffaz erhält den Grand Prix Musik, Redaktion Jodok Hess.
Musikmagazin, 22.7.23, Carlo Balmelli: Ein Leben für die Blasmusik, Redaktion Annelis Berger, Musiktalk mit Carlo Balmelli (ab Min 9:40).
Musikmagazin, 17.6.23, Inspirationen mit offenem Ende: Die Vokalkünstlerin Saadet Türköz, Redaktion Florian Hauser, Musiktalk mit Saadet Türköz (ab Min 8:38).
Musikmagazin, 13.5.23, Schweizer Musikpreise 2023, Redaktion Florian Hauser, Musiktalk mit Katharina Rosenberger (ab Min 4:55)

Neo-profiles:
Kunstraum Walcheturm, Luigi Archetti, Katharina Rosenberger, Julian Sartorius, Collegium Novum Zürich, Martin Lorenz, Sebastian Hofmann, Insub Meta Orchestra, Sonic Matter.

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Heading towards something new

Roman Hošek: Neuerdings – Faszination Sound @ launch srf video series

Neuerdings – a video series in collaboration with SRF 3 Sounds! and SRF 2 Kultur presents experimental music creation up close. In four portraits, it traces the creative paths in the sound labs of Noémi Büchi, Julian Sartorius, Martina Berther and Janiv Oron. Roman Hošek introduces the series and the portrayed artists for the launch at Bad Bonn Kilbi festival on June 2, 2023.

Roman Hošek
Büchi, Sartorius, Berther and Oron are all seasoned musical personalities and some already won important prizes and can regularly be encountered in renowned projects. They all pursue a radically individual creative path – in which success plays a subordinate role. For them, it’s all about doing. The four musicians talk about their uncompromising creative will in a new documentary series.

 

Sound is matter

Noémi Büchi takes everyday objects such as paper or screws and extracts sounds from them in order to make music. For example, she tears the paper, records the sound with a microphone and manipulates it with effects and computer software.

In this way, everything becomes an instrument for Noémi Büchi. She used to play classical piano. Today it is keyboards, tone controls and computer pads that the Zurich-based artist operates and with which she controls her self-generated sound sources. The result is a sound collage that invites the audience on a breathtaking journey and encourages them to move.

Because moving something is important for Noémi Büchi. Her symphonic music is not a commentary and carries no message, as what matters to her is making sound visible and tangible. She notices this especially live, when sound waves become physical.

 


Video-Portrait Noémi Büchi: Neuerdings – Faszination Sound, in house-production SRG/SSR

 

Sound is craft

Julian Sartorius likes to move around outdoors or, for example, through factory halls, drumming on objects with his drum sticks. The wide range of sounds he is able to extract from seemingly ordinary objects, such as lids, pipes or wires, and how he manages to produce attractive-sounding beats is amazing.

The Bernese drummer is strongly inspired by electronic music, but creates his sounds exclusively with his hands and on acoustic instruments and objects. What’s appealing to him is to create almost artificial sounds with something natural.

Another facet of Sartorius’ artistic work is the production of beats, and here too he goes his own peculiar way. For example, he likes to work with an old-fashioned cassette player, which – compared to a digital sequencer programme – limits him in terms of technical possibilities, but forces him to make immediate artistic decisions.

 


Video-Portrait Julian Sartorius: Neuerdings – Faszination Sound, in house-production SRG/SSR

 

Sound is quest

Martina Berther gets much more out of her electric bass than just low frequency notes. Violent storms or vast soundscapes open up before the mind’s eye when she gets her instrument vibrating with her effect devices and preparation tools – such as steel wool, sanding block, bottleneck or violin bow.

The solo performer from Graubünden says she makes experimental music because she can thereby surprise herself and has great freedom. At the same time, dealing with this freedom is not always easy. A contradiction? No. It is this tension – between success and failure – that is the main appeal for Martina Berther.

Just like a solo performance, the search for sounds can become a balancing act, as there are many uncertainties and even doubts. For Martina Berther, there must be an intention behind every sound before she includes it in her repertoire. No room for randomness.

 


Video-Portrait Martina Berther: Neuerdings – Faszination Sound, in house-production SRG/SSR

 

Sound is reaction

Janiv Oron is like an inventor in a music laboratory. When the former DJ creates his sounds, the record player is often still central, but he expands it in experimental ways with other sources, such as a rotating loudspeakers or marbles track.

The sound performer from Basel not only directs his sound machines, but also reacts to random impulses that he receives back, seeing this as a “source of uncertainty” and he consciously engages in it to include improvisation into his work. Oron does not turn away from the digital world, but he feels a stronger fascination with analogue and physically functioning sound sources. These may offer less possibilities in comparison, but they are haptic and can be operated by hand instead of on a screen.

 


Video-Portrait Janiv Oron: Neuerdings – Faszination Sound, in house-production SRG/SSR

 

“Neuerdings” – Faszination Sound

“Neuerdings” is a video portrait series about these four Swiss musicians. They are pioneers of tomorrow’s music, whose work is between contemporary electroacoustics, experimental music and pop, and thus also finds international acclaim.

Switzerland is particularly strong in these intermediate areas, not least because of the numerous study degree programmes focusing on transdisciplinary and progressive musical practice. On the other hand, more and more events and growing interest among the public are also slowly but surely emerging.

The portrait series, a collaboration between SRF 3 Sounds! and SRF 2 Kultur, offers a glimpse into to the sound tinkering rooms of the four musicians, who are all breaking new ground with their work and are therefore difficult to place stylistically. In the videos, they talk about their radical approaches and describe the inaccessible and innovative potential of new sounds.
Roman Hošek

The launch took place at the festival: Bad Bonn Kilbi, friday 2.6.2023

broadcasts SRF Kultur:
Musik unserer Zeit, 7.6.2023, 20h: “Neuerdings”: Schweizer Musik mit Pioniergeist, author Roman Hošek
in: MusikMagazin, 3./4.6.2023: Swisscorner, Vier Schweizer Soundartists (ab Min 46:59), author Lea Hagmann
srf online-Text: Sie schrauben am Sound der Zukunft, author: Claudio Landolt

broadcast SRF 3:
Sounds!, 7.6.2023, 20h: Neuerdings: Schweizer Musik mit Pioniergeist, author Claudio Landolt

Neuerdings on playsuisse

Neo-profiles:
Noémi Büchi, Julian Sartorius, Martina Berther, Janiv Oron