Mr. Schuetz & the Paradox
Strangers in my Mind
- martin schütz: electric & acoustic cellos, vocals
- andi marti: trombone
- beni 06 weber: drums & farfisa
- tobi schramm: drums
- mats kolb: electric bass
when you purchase the album you'll get a pdf of the full 30-page booklet with paintings by beni06 weber and the graphic work by clarissa herbst; and actually also when you buy just one single track...
- 1) A dark, strange and friendly Place (1:41)
- 2) Shipwrecks of our Understanding (3:30)
- 3) Wild Minute (1:17)
- 4) Étoile-Dub (6:34)
- 5) Strike flat the thick rotundity o‘ th‘ world! (3:34)
- 6) Slow Minute (1:07)
- 7) Haphazardly (Roaming the calm streets) (6:03)
- 8) Dear Franz, we hope you like what you’re hearing (2:51)
- 9) The Basement of my Memories (4:42)
- 10) Can’t stand it any longer (0:53)
- 11) Berceuse Inconfortable (0:56)
- 12) Pourquoi l’Art est-il beau? (3:56)
- 13) Monstre Sacré (2:41)
Some Thoughts about this Album
the songs and music on this album have come a long way: some of them I wrote originally for theatre-productions quite some time ago and they turned now into songs for this incredible group MR. SCHUETZ & THE PARADOX. we recorded all songs and pieces in november 2013 at studio suze in biel/bienne. in the years up to their release, they underwent additional transformations in my studio. for the lyrics I adapted existing words by fernando pessoa, william shakespeare, bertrand cantat and patricia highsmith. some instrumentals turned into songs and one instrumental is an arrangement of parts of schubert’s „the death and the maiden“. to complete the album I started to add some short pieces for prepared accoustic cello solo that i’ve recorded over the last 3 years. I think that „strangers in my mind“ now works also as a whole and represents its title in various ways.
I’m fascinated by the fact that there are almost constantly so many different voices in our minds, all of them „strangers“. these voices manifest through our own voice, telling their thoughts, views and opinions. as they articulate themselves in this way, they often make us believe that they are our own thoughts, views and opinions. maybe we could even say that it is very rare that we are articulating our own thoughts in our own way…
i think the fact that i have been (and still am) working so much in theatre, made me aware of this phenomenon: actors are speaking in the tongues of their characters. they are not speaking their own voices, they lend their own voice to the strangers. the really great actors can make the “strangers in their mind” appear as if those strangers’ thoughts, views and opinions were their own. in that sense we probably all are – to a certain degree – „actors“. for the songs of this album I have lent my own voice to some of the strangers in my mind.
all of this is a great and fascinating paradox. maybe that’s why the band is called MR. SCHUETZ & THE PARADOX and the title of the album is STRANGERS IN MY MIND.
music is not mainly about playing the “right notes”, it’s more about creating atmospheres, emotional landscapes. that’s what it’s all about. and that’s what these fantastic players in THE PARADOX certainly can do more than very well. thank you beni, andi, tobi and mats for your brilliant contributions and your cool attitudes!
we hope that listening to the music and songs on STRANGERS IN MY MIND will take you to the dark, strange and friendly places of your own mind.
so: put on your headphones. turn up your stereo.
and remember: the speakers of your laptop, tablet or phone can’t really reproduce the sound of this – and most other! – albums.
music always needs low-end, mid-range, high-end…
sound is beautiful!
martin schütz, spring 2018