Exclusive Christian Prommer – Abba influenced my music for sure Pt1

There are not many electronic artists with the quality musical pedigree of Christian Prommer who would unashamedly admit that Abba was their first live show and their influence on their music. But then Christian Prommer isn’t your typical electronic artist.

His career has encompassed downtempo, drum and bass, jazz and drums. Lots of drums. And if you think you’ve not heard of him before. You have. He’s been in Fauna Flash, Truby Trio, Voom:Voom (with Peter Kruder), Drumlesson and he worked with DJ Hell on Teufelswerk.

In this first, of a two-part, interview we discuss influences. Tomorrow, we talk about his new solo album ÜberMood, out in March.

1. How the devil are you? What’s it like in Munich? In the UK, we’ve been having dreadful weather, with unseasonal amounts of wind and rain.

I am great, thanks. All good here. Happy to have my new record ready to be released soon. We had a very mild winter here in Munich. Until yesterday, now it is this wet and cold something. Its a great topic for the people of Munich, where I am from, we love to talk about the weather.

4. You’ve talked in interviews about the influence of your school teacher, who introduced you to jazz and fusion music and artists like Weather Report, Earth Wind & Fire and Prince. What was the teacher like and why did he make such an impact on you?

He was an interesting and funny guy. He was a piano player and a drummer. He taught me the drums. I learned from him, that it’s all about the music and not just your instrument. As a musician you tend to listen to your own voice a lot, especially when learning the craft. But all has to be music at the end, not only impressive technique. And all drummers tend to overplay when they start out, and later. We listened to a lot of records and talked about how the drummer helped the song and how the rhythms worked. That’s when I discovered the love and science behind record collecting.

5. You’ve said that “My very first record was an ABBA record, the blue one, the “Super Trooper”.” Have they influenced your music?

Oh, yes. I also saw them play live in Munich. I went with my dad to my first live show. Abba. It was an amazing experience. It influenced my music for sure. The songwriting and the way the Abba records are mixed has left a stamp on the way I listen to music.

3. Your first release was on Compost in 1995 and this album ÜberMood is being released on Compost. Was there any doubt that you wanted it to be released on Compost?

No, not at all. Compost is part of my musical DNA for almost 20 years. When I saw that all this music lead into a whole album, Michael from Compost was the first person who came to mind. We share a very similar vision and love for music.

Tomorrow, we talk about ÜberMood and what went into it. In the meantime, here’s a selection of earlier work

Fauna Flash – Mother Nature