Bergheim 34

Bergheim 34 comprises Anne Vortisch (keyboards, bass, guitar, flute, computers, African thumb piano, vocals), Andrew Pekler (keyboards, bass, guitar), Steffen Neuert (drums, beats, loops) and Kyros Khoschlessan (keyboards, loops, guitar). The quartet abbreviate their name from an address in Heidelberg, Germany that they formerly shared (making music in the living room). They now apparently collaborate from four different cities, rejecting rehearsals in favour of music making from a distance. Ideas are transmitted, sounds edited and tracks remixed via a process of file sharing, with music circulated to the member’s individual hard disks. From this process, they produce trans-genre electronica that is charming and understated. Following the release of three EPs for the Klang Elektronik label, the quartet made their album debut in 2003 with It’s Not For You, As It Is For Us. On ‘Nasty Girl’, they drew on garage influences while ‘Frogs On Grills’ suggested the band is equally adept at creating micro house. The track, ‘Coding Stains’, was a remix of Two Lone Swordsmen’s ‘Cotton Stains’. On ‘Random Access Memory’ the quartet partially derived their lyrics from other iconic artists, including Grandmaster Flash and Laid Back, a process repeated on the aforementioned ‘Nasty Girl’. The by-product of Bergheim 34’s curious approach to music making was one of the most intriguing German records to be released in the first half of 2003. Pekler also records under his own name and as Sad Rockets (a project which also draws on the talents of other Bergheim 34 members), Khoschlessan records as Tulla Sound System, Vortisch performs in Kammerflimmer Kollektief, while Neuert records as Casio Casino and plays in Mason Mesud Stevenson.