Peter Frohmader

Peter Frohmader was an innovator of the second generation of German electronic music. Different from most electronic music artists, he was only marginally influenced by the cosmic sound of Tangerine Dream or Klaus Schulze. His music led to the underworld and created a sinister and nightmarish atmosphere. Frohmader released numerous albums, but most of them came out on little labels, so they did not gain the attention they deserved. Already a pupil, Peter Frohmader started to record tapes with alienated sounds in the early '70s and later formed amateur bands like Kanaan and Alpha Centauri. In 1981, he released his first LP, Musik Aus dem Schattenreich. Frohmader got his inspiration from movies like Nosferatu, books of H.P. Lovecraft and Edgar Allan Poe, and the paintings of Hieronymus Bosch. So it is not surprising that especially the early works were very dark and disturbing. The excessive use of bass guitars beside the electronics was striking. Peter Frohmader was also a talented painter and studied art and graphic design. His mystic airbrush paintings often were used for record covers. The famous Swiss artist H.R. Giger, creator of the Alien monster in the movie of the same name, became attentive to him and they co-operated on his film Second Celebration of the Four. Music for TV movies and documentaries followed. Besides his solo albums, Peter Frohmader worked with members of Amon Düül, Embryo, and Emtidi. In the early '90s, two albums were released in the United States and focused the attention of a wider public to his music. Later works withdrew from the ghostly music of the early days and integrate elements of ambient, neo-classical, and new age music. Peter Frohmader collaborated with guitarist Richard Pinhas of French band Heldon and Russian composer Artemiy Artemiev and had various exhibitions of his graphic art and releases several albums of his own music. Peter Frohmader died on May 2, 2022 at the age of 63. ~ Klaus Kehrle