In 1980, at the age of seven, I joined a marching band to become a percussionist and ended up playing the drums for several years. At some point I decided to give up the drums to become a guitarist. I fell in love with this instrument after hearing guitarists play like Mike Oldfield and Mark Knopfler. At the time I remember doing nothing but play guitar. I joined a rockband in 1990 and had my first experiences on stage. At that time I also learned to play keys and got very interested in synthesizers. Somewhere I felt I had to choose between strings and keys and totally commit myself to it. My interest in electronic music led to the choice of synths. I bought my first synthesizer and sequencer in 1993 and my fascination for synths has been growing eversince. Even though I still like to play guitar, I am now fully dedicated to synthesizers and electronic music.
Influences
As a young boy I remember getting enchanted by the music of Mike Oldfield, and his early works still exite me just as much. I think his guitar-playing made me want to play guitar also. I still wish I could play it like he does, though I feel blessed that after all these years I understand his music better. Knowing his synths and composing techniques helps me to make my own music. Therefor I think he is one of my main influences, even though he is one of many.
Electronic Music
The style I was very much into in the 90's was Jungle and Drum 'n' Bass. I spend many days making my own breakbeat patterns. My Drum 'n' Bass adventure lasted till 1999. For this project I chose the alias Roman Picnic which is now a closed project. Today my alias is Luftmeister .
In the late 90's I began to expand my studio and bought some more synths. I remember myself feeling on the top of the world with all my synths (909/808/303/JU60...) At that time I was introduced to other styles like Trance, Techno and Electro. After messing around with hardware sequencers, which I still use today, I chose the computer as my main sequencer. I tried utilities like Cubase and Logic, but eventually chose Propellerheads' REASON to become my main utility. It took some time to learn all about it, but for me it is the coolest application to create and record my music with. My love for synthesized music started with the early works of Mike Oldfield and Jean Michel Jarre. I was a proper child-of-the-80's and at that time I was very much into the synthpop music of Alphaville and Yazoo... and I still am!
Luftmeister is a solo project but i found an ally in fellow musician D-Frax . Our cooperation started many years ago in the early 90's when D-frax was a raver and a dj when I was very much into Drum 'n' Bass. Our styles merged together and evolved into hardtrance and technomusic. At this point both of our styles are shifting more towards Electro and Berlin school. While we both produce our own tracks, we work together on a project called Luftmeister & D-Frax .The style is a bit Acid. We also like to remix eachother's solo works and in every solo release you may find a remake from Luftmeister or D-Frax. The project has its own page on Myspace. Check it out for the latest tunes.
Luftmeister & D-Frax
As you may have guessed, I love to make music. I collected some wonderful old analog synthesizers and drummachines. I love those vintage sounds of the Juno 60, Jupiter 8 or Prophet 5 and drums from the TR-808, Linndrum or CR-78. My music can be very harsh and straightforward but is often combined with lushy elements. My music often has a melancholic feel. I think I am a melancholic man. Not sad...just sentimental ;-)
www.luftmeister.de
www.virb.com/luftmeister
www.myspace.com/romanpicnic
www.youtube.com/synctuary
