Anyone who composes music

is always influenced – whether consciously or unconsciously –

by what they themselves like to listen to.

Hard Rock and Glam Rock

With our first band experiences in the first half of the 1970s, it would be disingenuous to deny the influence of Glam Rock. If we had deliberately resisted it, that too would have been an influence. But we didn't do that, just as we didn't openly admit to many other influences. We started by playing Rhythm And Blues, twelve-bar scheme over and over again. We picked up themes from The Shadows. The amps were cranked up so loud it was roaring – and sometimes even smoking... We were thrilled with every electronic effect that added even more distortion.

This included singing, consisting of only a few spontaneously invented verses. For parties and gigs, we teased our long hair, put on makeup, wore platform boots painted with silver or gold bronze from the paint store, and crazy, sometimes even feminine-looking clothes.

We listened to music by chart-topping bands like T.Rex, Slade, The Sparks, Nazareth, and Alice Cooper. Often, these bands and musicians were considered part of the underground music scene before their first big hits. This greatly enhanced their reputation. Stars and bands produced by Chinnichap, such as Suzi Quatro and Mud, were considered less prestigious. The Sweet, also produced by Mike Chapman and Nicky Chinn, were soon branded a teenybopper band among us aspiring musicians. However, they often released genuinely good hard rock tracks, some of which they had composed themselves, on the B-sides of their singles. Then there were also Ufo, Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Uriah Heep, Roxy Music, David Bowie, and Rory Gallagher. You were taken more seriously if you cited them as influences.

We absorbed everything we heard and saw, tending to exaggerate. Although completely unknown in Germany at the time, what emerged was probably already something akin to Punk. Performing at the school festival, we felt like stars, displaying every imaginable affectation. To the audience's shock, just as they were dancing to our music, we ended our set with an argument about it. But we enjoyed the show. We continued it in our daily lives, disrupting many a school lesson.

Without using the term back then, we initially wanted to play the Glam Rock of our idols. It probably came across more as a parody, though. Initially referencing Gary Glitter, we soon began intentionally parodying other idols as well. We searched for new role models and found them in the realms of Krautrock, Progressive Rock, and Space-Rock. Nevertheless, you can never completely shake off your early influences, even if you wanted to. At some point, you always find yourself returning, to some extent, "back to the roots."

Electronic Rock and Krautrock

As our music gained independence in the mid-1970s, and we stopped orienting ourselves towards chart music, our interest in lesser-known bands began. Many of these were from Germany and are now considered part of the Krautrock scene. However, nobody used that term back then. Furthermore, the music from band to band was often as diverse as music itself can be. It's practically impossible to categorize it into a single genre. The term, likely coined by music magazines from the English-speaking world, is all the more widespread today.

Grobschnitt left a lasting impression by consistently integrating the performers, who presented themselves more as artistic characters, and the equipment they used into their artistic concept. Even helpers like roadies were considered members of the band. On the one hand, they delivered a captivating live show with stunning effects; on the other, the performers had a genuine connection with the audience; and on top of that, they used equipment, much of which they had built themselves. While the majority of German bands at the time sang only in English, others, like Novalis, began to sing exclusively in German. Grobschnitt, however, remained as flexible linguistically as they were musically. Alongside extended improvisations, they performed thoughtfully composed and arranged pieces. And, above all, they always made their listeners clearly feel their immense joy in making music!

Psychedelic synthesizer sounds combined with rock elements, one could find from Eloy. Spheric sounds merged with intuitively played yet thoughtfully composed and arranged music. Despite the extensive use of technology, the lyrics from Eloy maintained a critical distance from the achievements of technological civilization. Influences on Sanaphantastron in this context exist alongside those related to melody. The latter also applies to seemingly less profound rock music from Jane, with its beautiful guitar parts and melodic keyboard sounds.

Although now mostly classified as Electropop and therefore more accurately categorized under EDM in this classification, Kraftwerk is found here under 'Electronic and Krautrock'. On Kraftwerk's early albums, consistent rhythms and danceability were rather the exception. The very first album, released under the name Organisation as a precursor to Kraftwerk, was strongly reminiscent of Pink Floyd's 'Ummagumma' in many places. Kraftwerk's subsequent musical development is extremely interesting. Experimental approaches from the early albums were revisited in later compositions and cleverly incorporated into superficially more commercial-sounding compositions with consistently danceable rhythms. Unfortunately, from a certain point onward, everything just became more polished. Since 'Computer World', for example, Kraftwerk has offered little that is truly new musically. Consequently, the greater influences on 'Sanaphantastron' come primarily from their earlier albums.

The bands Harmonia and Tangerine Dream, often mentioned in connection with Krautrock or German Electronic Rock, were characterized by a particularly high degree of experimentation. Although typical rock instruments, especially electric guitars, could also be heard, experiments with electronic musical instruments and effects units made up the larger share.

While operating on a slightly different level, Neu! and Can were no less experimental. They did things that others hadn't dared to attempt before. For example, Neu! deliberately added noise to their music and presented their tracks for the first time in the style of 'remixes' at different speeds. The unusual way guitarist Michael Rother of Neu! and Harmonia used electric guitars had a lasting impact on Sanaphantastron's Che Guitare.

Sanaphantastron and its predecessor projects have never considered themselves a Krautrock band or project. However, due to our geographical origins, our mostly experimental approach, and the fact that our music often arises from improvisation, Sanaphantastron could certainly be classified as Krautrock and, in any case, as Electronic Rock.

Progressive Rock and Space Rock

Roughly in parallel with the shift away from Hard Rock and Glam Rock of the early seventies and the embrace of electronic and Krautrock by German bands, our interest also developed in international musicians and bands operating in a similarly experimental field. With a closer affinity to Hard Rock, Hawkwind initially stood out with their "spacey" lead guitar parts, their extremely electronically distorted rock guitar riffs, and their synthesizer sounds, often used only as accompanying effects. These eccentric freaks seemed to genuinely enjoy immersing their audience in other worlds through effects, showmanship, and, not least, their sound.

Upon arriving here, one couldn't ignore Pink Floyd. Almost from the very beginning, they made extensive use of echo effects for their then-unheard futuristic sound, as heard, for example, in 'Astronomy Domini'. These devices, borrowed from tape recording technology, still operated with a tape loop. Initially somewhat uncontrolled, the echo effects were increasingly used in a rhythmically synchronized manner. Furthermore, as a precursor to samples, one could hear early pre-produced playback sections with sound effects. Pink Floyd's rock-infused lead guitar parts broke away early on from the almost dogmatic blues scales otherwise prevalent in rock music and, as with Mike Oldfield, were replaced by melodic influences from folk music, classical music, and music from other cultures. Mike Oldfield also used multi-track recording as a stylistic device early on. On his debut album 'Tubular Bells', he presented music in which he demonstrated, as part of the work, that he was playing several instruments simultaneously. Unfortunately, with Pink Floyd, at a certain point, perfection replaced musical inventiveness, which is why the influences of earlier recordings on Sanaphantastron are likely to be more pronounced.

Until Peter Gabriel's departure, or at the latest Steve Hackett's, Genesis's largely hand-played music was far removed from pop. Lacking much technology and electronics, their compositions and arrangements displayed a remarkable spirit of experimentation. On first hearing their songs, one never knew what to expect next. Genesis maintained a clear distance from the mainstream and refused to be confined to existing genres. The music of early Genesis has a clear influence on Sanaphantastron in this respect. A musical connection can be found in the fact that repetition is sometimes avoided. Within a piece, the music develops through variations in composition, harmony, and arrangement. As with Progressive Rock, the typical pop song structure of verses and repeating choruses is abandoned. Musical pieces unfold, progressing towards something potentially completely unexpected.

In contrast, Sanaphantastron also frequently features repetitive patterns with guitar riffs and lead parts with electronically distorted sounds or riffs, as well as synthesizer sounds, similar to those found in space rock. Like Space Rock, the lyrics repeatedly touch upon themes of time, space, and fiction. The musically inventive work of Gong, bursting with ideas, also has an impact on Sanaphantastron. Within the sphere of Progressive Rock, the influences of Jan Hammer and his collaboration with Jan Hammer on Sanaphantastron should also not go unmentioned.

New Wave and Post Punk

Initially used as a term encompassing more or less anything remotely related to Punk, New Wave in the 1980s increasingly referred to bands that had less and less in common with the original Punk. These bands adopted other musical styles or used instruments atypical of Punk. For example, they incorporated synthesizers into their music, or even used them exclusively, or turned to highly experimental music, as exemplified by Tuxedomoon. The early Human League (EP "Dignity Of Labour"), in the spirit of No Future, essentially declared that it was inevitable for musicians to become slaves to technological development.

To distinguish itself from the original meaning of New Wave, the term Post-Punk emerged. Bands developed their own socio-critical philosophies that either distanced themselves from Punk's No Future dogma or further developed this line of thought, as with Devo and their theory of de-evolution. Others departed even more decisively from the expressive forms of typical Punk, but embraced the No Future philosophy and expanded upon it, particularly in a musical sense. Joy Division and Siouxie And The Banshees are prime examples. While the excellent guitar sounds on "Join Hands" were conceptually very much in line with Punk, they were musically quite different.

For other bands, the focus was simply on the joy of making music, and in keeping with punk ethos, they clearly distanced themselves from the aspirations of Progressive Rock. For this reason, but perhaps also simply because they became successful during this period and were difficult to categorize elsewhere, bands like the B52's were usually associated with New Wave. With wit and (self-)irony, the "American Way of Life" was central. From this, a lifestyle developed that also influenced the German New Wave, namely the Neue Deutsche Welle (NDW). While Punk can hardly be considered an influence on Sanaphantastron, this is all the more true for many, including the bands listed here, which are considered representatives of the extremely heterogeneous genres of New Wave and Post-Punk.

Goa and Psytrance

Sanaphantastron sees itself as closely related to Goa in that its music sometimes experiments with neurological effects that can also be induced by the use of psychedelic drugs. However, Sanaphantastron strictly rejects the use of chemical drugs, perhaps even intending to be something like a drug itself for both performers and listeners of the music. Its techniques include, for example, unfamiliar scales, modifying sounds, hypnotic soundscapes, and repetitive musical sequences that alternate with dynamically and tonally evolving passages.

Despite all the technology and electronics used, Sanaphantastron also employs traditional instruments like guitars and drums, or samples of them in their recordings, as sound generators. This is sometimes done to present playing styles that wouldn't be possible with live instruments. Sanaphantastron draws inspiration from other musicians and bands in the Goa and Psytrance genres.

Through the frequent use of echo effects and frequency-varying filter effects (VCF), Astral Projection achieves a very pleasing and rhythmically sophisticated 'space sound'. Repetitive sequences are often modified only subtly, creating a hypnotic effect on listeners.

Because conventional instruments have now become dominant, Infected Mushroom have transformed from a Goa / Trance project into a Psychedelic Rock band. They still produce interesting and often very organic-sounding music. Particularly noteworthy are the electronic effects applied to the vocals, sometimes to the point of rendering them unrecognizable. Furthermore, their compositions exhibit great diversity. Unlike many other bands and music projects in the trance scene, Infected Mushroom's tracks don't follow a formula; surprises are always to be expected.

With reworkings of One Of These Days (Pink Floyd) and Being Boiled (Human League), Haldolium offers interesting music alongside various psytrance-typical tracks, which actually originates from other genres.

With its great musical diversity, RMB's music, broadly categorized as Trance, is characterized by its distinctive use of vocals and samples of classical instruments such as violins and pianos. Interspersed with interesting compositions, the music also features repetitive beats and expansive soundscapes.

Electronica und EDM

The many variations of electronic music can be broadly grouped under the contrasting main genres of Electronica and EDM. The former represents styles that are less mainstream or further removed from it. In contrast, the subgenres of EDM (Electronic Dance Music) are characterized by their inherent danceability. While this characteristic can also be found in Electronica, it is not a requirement. Overlaps between the two genres are primarily found in House, Trance, and Techno. Electronic music from the New Age movement, or music that completely dispenses with rhythmic structures, clearly belongs to the Electronica genre. Conversely, Eurodance, for example, is clearly classified as EDM.

Characteristics of both approaches include the (almost) exclusive use of electronic sound generation through specially designed devices (e.g., synthesizers, samplers, and rhythm machines) or software-based music generation (native processing) via computer, which has become very prominent in Sanaphantastron's work. This applies not only to recordings but also to live performances (though by no means exclusively). It is not uncommon for all sounds in Sanaphantastron's music to be synthetically generated, sometimes including the drum kit and occasionally even the vocals. However, samples of non-electronic, acoustic, or electric instruments are just as frequently used. Sometimes these are combined with synthetic sounds, sometimes they are used exclusively. With the exception of the rhythm instruments, the samples are always played or generated by the band themselves, especially the extensive guitar samples. Sanaphantastron's non-synthetic drum sounds are often more or less heavily modified or electronically altered samples from well-known drum machines (including the Roland TR909) or any percussive sounds, some of which are sampled by the band themselves. In contrast to Electronica and EDM, live performances also incorporate directly hand-played acoustic rhythm and melody instruments, as well as electric guitar, electric bass, and keyboard.

Sanaphantastron's music is not strictly defined by genre; it can lean more towards Electronica at times and more towards EDM at others. The latter may also incorporate parodic elements. Sound-wise, there are overarching influences, including synthesizer and sequencer sounds influenced by 1990s Eurodance hits. Further inspiration comes from countless musical projects and bands, such as Off, Snap!, Dune, as well as Komputer, Dada Life, and Mikron 64. Paul Van Dyk's music features danceable rhythms, catchy melodies, and pleasing sonic experiments. Music by well-known artists, which in itself offers little of interest, appears in his hands in a new and unmistakable guise. Moby, like Sanaphantastron, is not committed to any one direction and could therefore be considered a very significant influence.

Pop and Disco music

For musicians with broader interests, every piece of music they hear inevitably influences their own. It's therefore pointless to deny that Sanaphantastron is also influenced by Pop and Disco music. After all, one were often practically forced to listen to such music.

When Sanaphantastron consciously incorporates influences from such music, it's often done in a somewhat exaggerated way. Although Sanaphantastron maintains a detached stance due to the commercial nature of this music, it shouldn't be rejected outright. Behind it are musicians with ideas and often considerable skill. While this is rather the exception, there are some very interesting recordings. This seems to be most often the case when the musicians have managed to assert their ideas against the wishes of the record labels. Apparently, however, this only rarely, or for a few, succeeds.

Interestingly, similar mechanisms can be found even outside of major labels. While many musicians already limit their artistic freedom by adopting the style of one or a few bands as a model, specialized labels very often restrict musicians by expecting a sound that is already known and classifiable from other bands or musicians. Sanaphantastron, for example, rejects techno, punk, or heavy metal labels even more strongly than the major labels. Therefore, there is no reason to be embarrassed about rating much of the music produced by Frank Farian as not bad at all, or about enjoying listening to or dancing to 'Pop Music' by M.

Dada and Fluxus

Sanaphantastron makes no definitive statements, not even suggesting any influence from the Dada movement. Any similarities to Dadaist music are therefore purely coincidental and unintentional. To cite a Dadaist influence here would contradict Dadaism itself. Thus, there is an intentional non-influence from a Dadaism that, from the Dadaists' perspective, doesn't even exist.

Essentially, Sanaphantastron rebels against a value system in which music is a commodity measured solely by sales figures. Sanaphantastron's music doesn't have to sound good, it doesn't have to meet any standards, it can even have arisen by chance. It will never be exactly replicated or reproduced and can therefore sound different every time it's performed live. There are also pieces of music that are unique. These will only be performed once. The lyrics don't have to be sophisticated or grammatically flawless. However, this can also be the case. And then, perhaps all the more so.

Music is inextricably linked to the context of its creation. Consequently, the actual work is not merely the listening experience of the music. The work encompasses all the performers and the instruments and equipment they use. Every object can become an instrument, every sound event part of the work. Due to this complexity, it is impossible to define what the actual work is. Strictly speaking, even the performers' Nutrition would have to be considered part of the work.

At the heart of Sanaphantastron's music lies the creative idea. Due to the fluid transition between music and life, or rather the unity of music and life, it is ultimately unpredictable what the listener will perceive. What should be avoided in any case is the separation of music from life. Hence, free in the spirit of Fluxus: Every person is an artist, every person is a musician! And life is music, music is life!