Member Since: 8/19/2005
Band Website: pnfa.net
Band Members: Wolfram Gruss
Influences:
PNFA is the creative audio output of Wolfram Gruss's mind. He was born on July 07.07.1980 in Wasserlos, Bavaria, Germany which is an insignificant 3000 inhabitants village near Frankfurt - the financial centre of Europe and also the place where a person called Andreas Tomalla invented in 1982 the word techno to describe a couple of electronic music styles while working and sorting vinyls in a record store. Right when techno slowly developed into the type of independent music, that it still is these days, Wolfram became incredibly obsessed by the thought of creating his own compositions, after hearing the first releases on the radio. At the age of nine he started taping every bit of electronic music and created his own remixes just with a double cassette recorder. Meanwhile Andreas Tomalla became Talla 2XLC and together with Tillmann Uhrmacher he lead through the Mainz based radio show "Maximal" which was a pioneer project in Germany and the only source for him to listen to this new, exciting underground music. Wolfram spent uncountable hours of listening and taping and labelling the tapes and anxiously waiting for the following Friday evening when the next volume was aired. The only way he could do his own music was by playing on the piano in the house as well as on a half finished organ his dad constructed himself. He loved the sound of it because it just had saw tooth waves and some filter switches which made it almost sound like the rhythmic noises that were aired so rarely at that time. This way he also taught himself how to play the keys. The popularity of techno increased dramatically soon and it became a fashion to split it up into sub categories like trance or ridiculous sub sub categories like piano trance which is when in 1992 he bought a used Commodore Amiga 500 from a friend for 400 Deutschmarks and on one of the hundreds of 3,5 software inch disks labelled "Amiga Apetizers" a simple composing software was stored. This finally opened up a real possibility for Wolfram to let out the so long collected ideas. His first attempts disappointed him massively though. On the one hand it was of course the fault of 8 bit sound quality and only two stereo channels which he used as 4 mono channels, the limited choice of sounds and the dullness of the software, but on the other hand he would have never expected that it is so much work and so difficult to produce music. Instead of giving it up he became even more crazy about it and bought himself a tiny sound cartridge for his Amiga that allowed him to record his own samples and switched to a tracker software called "Pro Tracker". That was a highly complicated thing because it was only numbers and hexadecimal codes, since these kind of tools were originally created for programmers to add music to computer games. His strong will helped him with ideas of how to get really the best possible sound out of the still little possibilities and soon the first tracks that did not have to hide behind professional productions were recorded on cassettes and spread among his friends as well as given to the DJ of the only disco in the area.
Still being kind of isolated by living in the country, he was 14 when he first learned about affordable real studio equipment. He started working as a paperboy for a whole year saving every penny until he was able to afford his first synthesizer, a Yamaha CS1x - a machine made for techno. Again the limited polyphony and especially the fact that it did not sound like a Roland TB 303 - it was the acid wave at that time - were not quite satisfying. This for he kept going and tweaking and combined it with the beats of his Amiga software creating a huge amount of trance tracks that still do not have to hide. At the same time techno became too popular and this for nothing special anymore and bored him. Since all of a sudden there was Prodigy and the Chemical Brothers he began experimenting with break- and hiphop beats. After having worked as an assistant gardener in the local hospital during school holidays he also was able to afford a professional Sampler - the Yamaha A3000. It did not have a hard drive so he worked with 3,5 HD disks which was a lot of pain. In these days he read the novel "Virtual Light" by William Gibson. In some chapter of the book a form of future art is mentioned which is called "Popular Nightmare Folk Art". It depicts all kind of corny sculptures and accessories, that were made of old human corpses. Wolfram suffered at that time from a severe depression of finding his identity and was fascinated by dark stuff anyway. So he adapted this name as his artist name because he thought it totally reflects the darkness and at the same time beauty of his music. He started painting like a madman at that time, too, which was a way to let out his frustration about feeling misunderstood by friends, who were mostly into Heavy Metal and played in cover bands giving Wolfram the feeling they were superior, because they made music by playing real instruments. So he taught all himself guitar, drums, bass and flutes just to prove a point and continued producing his tracks until the first PNFA album "The Urban Music Box" was born.
To his surprise the track "Past Perfect" became kind of cult in the abandoned contractor's shed that was converted into a meeting point by him and his friends. Naively Wolfram sent out tape demos with handwritten letters to his favourite labels, but never got an answer. In 1997 Grooverider came to Germany and played a drum'n'bass set on the radio that included almost the whole album colours by Adam F. This was as new and exciting to him as techno was back in the early nineties and it just sounded right as the kind of music that should be stamped with PNFA. He began experimenting and producing and the two albums Popular Nightmare Folk Art and Blaustich were born, including custom self made cover artworks which he sold in local second hand record stores and among his friends. He continued using a Commodore Amiga - meanwhile an A1200 equipped with another tracker- software called Octamed 5.4 Professional which had 64 midi tracks - until the year 2001 when he did his year of civil service in Bonn, Germany. The quality he got out of his still simple setup was surprising to everyone since the producers he learned to know in that time all switched to IBM's and "real" production software and machines. So finally he bought himself a PC, too and together with it a copy of Fruity Loops 3. That blew him away. Suddenly there was no more limitation in track numbers, no more latency, no more limitation in sound quality. He was also heavily influenced by Kruder and Dorfmeister as well as Portishead, which is why he tried himself as triphop artist. "Le Temps Perdu" was born and with it the diversity of styles that can be found on the later album "Meter Fusion". Suddenly he also had internet and there was mp3.com. Without thinking he would gain any recognition, he just published a couple of tracks. A year later he found himself with almost 100.000 downloads/plays, several first and second prizes for remix contests and on two world wide sold compilations next to artists like Sofa Surfers and Badmarsh and Shri. He published his tracks on more and more portals and sold CDs over them as well as continuing in the local music stores.
In 2001 Wolfram also began his three year apprenticeship for photography in Aschaffenburg, Germany where he met DJ Organi, Flashbaxx and T.Patton among which he also played his first real live gigs in the local youth center Jukuz. After several years of making people move on festivals and in clubs they founded in 2005 the "Sonic Soul Divison" which became a very popular live act always featuring guest instrumentalists, and singers as well as often pairing up with the percussion duo Royal Opposition. Even though Wolfram meanwhile tried almost every professional studio software, such as Cubase or Emagic Logic he always found his way back to Fruity Loops. Probably that is because it was a tracker itself in the beginning of its development. He taught himself everything about dynamics beginning 2003 which gave him lots of new ideas and lead to the album Popular Abandoned Correspondency, which was a collaboration with the bass player S|C of Konstrux.de. He became obsessed by tangible frequencies and by creating his own virtual instruments and sounds, always in search for the richest but still clear arrangements. In 2004 he started studying Media Production in Darmstadt and since he was always a very visual person, too he now focuses a lot on design and film making, but still continues publishing tracks on mp3 portals, compilations and works for labels like Fiberlineaudio.com, MYX Records, Merging Records and D'lectable. He already made tons of remixes and worked out soundtracks for theater plays as well as for the fashion company René Lezard since a couple of years. Page hits and song plays reached 7 digit numbers already and PNFA can be found almost everywhere in the internet. Meanwhile there is no limitation in the genre of electronic music, even though it is mainly aimed for the clubs with a focus on house, nu jazz, breakbeats, triphop and drum'n'bass. Still the PNFA trademark is a deep, brilliant and very often dark sound. To be continued...
Sounds Like:
PNFA albums:
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PNFA - Vogue_03
(c) 2007 Wolfram Gruss / Giftzwergwerk
GZW-018
Genre: Triphop, Electro, House, Lounge
Vogue_03 is the third compilation album with PNFA tracks that have been originally produced for the fashion companyRené Lezard. The mixture reaches from purely danceable, minimalistic electro club tracks like I'm nota Poet over wonderfully energetic and driving melodic arrangements like Mind No Gap to relaxing, oriental chillout music like A Break in the Clouds. Thisalbum is a quite wild bunch of different styles but it certainly does not lack a homogeneous sound that sticks it together. It is relaxing and energizing atthe same time but also does not lack a sense of humour.
01. Ride | hifi prev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99Eur
02. Star Wire | hifi prev. |lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
03. Mind no Gap | hifi prev.| lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
04. A Break in the Clouds | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
05. Green Eyed | hifi prev.| lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
06. Fight the Feeling | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
07. Soul Fly | hifi prev. |lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
08. Cheeks | hifi prev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
09. I'm not a Poet | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
10. Kitchen Wings | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,50 Eur
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PNFA - Vogue_02
(c) 2006 Wolfram Gruss / Giftzwergwerk
GZW-017
Genre: Triphop, Nu-Jazz, House, Big Beat, Lounge
Vogue_02 is the second compilation album withPNFA tracks that have been originally produced for several promotions by the fashion company RenéLezard. This is at home in the club and in your living room at the same time. Clearly forward going rhythms accompany beautiful melodies and vibes.Sometimes the music shows a relaxing, mellow side in tracks like Underground River or Tumble Weed, sometimes it just kicks your behind with uplifting soundsand wild basslines in tracks like Maria and 111. Also the jazzy numbers Get it on or Close to You play an important role to fullfill a sound picture ofvariety which is yet in a distinctive colour scheme.
01. Maria | hifi prev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99Eur
02. Painted Woof | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
03. 111 | hifi prev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
04. Get it on | hifi prev. |lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
05. Underground River | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
06. Close to you | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
07. Optical Encounter | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
08. Kara | hifi prev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
09. Blue | hifi prev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
10. Tumble Weed | hifi prev.| lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
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PNFA - Vogue_01
(c) 2005 Wolfram Gruss / Giftzwergwerk
GZW-016
Genre: Lounge, Bossa Nova, Latin
Vogue_01 is the first compilation album with PNFAtracks that have been originally produced for several fashion promotions by the company René Lezard.It is probably the lightest album coming out of the house and totally leaves the Nightmare in PNFA behind. Easy, light mellow vibes, all kinds of acousticand amplified instruments among athmospheric percussion and vocals. A lot of jazz elements are embedded, especially in tracks like Jo-Jo Player but also thisis the first time to receive funk from this sender like Fiberfunk or Theme for a Lazy Sunday. Still a bit dark in some sequences this perfectly establishesin any lounge or living room.
01. From Sunrise to Sunrise | hifi prev. | lofiprev . | buy for 0,99 Eur
02. Jo-Jo Player | hifiprev. | lofi prev . | buy for 0,99 Eur
03. Late Night Show | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
04. Salt | hifi prev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
05. Theme for a Lazy Sunday | hifi prev. | lofiprev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
06. Come to Shoretown | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
07. Pleasant Walk to the Grocery Store | hifi prev. | lofiprev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
08. Fiberfunk | hifi prev. |lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
09. I Have a Good Feeling About This | hifi prev. | lofiprev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
10. Second Sunrise | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
11. Going Out | hifi prev. |lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
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PNFA / S|C - Popular Abandoned Correspondency
(c) 2003 Wolfram Gruss / Ingo Schiffner/ Giftzwergwerk/ K|o|n|s|t|r|u|x
GZW-012
Genre: Triphop, Tribal
Popular Abandoned Correspondency is the 6th PNFA studio album. It delivers quite a different style compared to previousworks, what certainly comes from the influence of Ingo Schiffner / S|C of K|O|N|S|T|R|U|X ( http://www.konstrux.de ) who has delivered the basslines for thetracks. It opens up dark but also beautiful places in the listeners mind. It is epic and not without tails and claws. Each track runs deep with subtlemelodies among huge athmospheric rooms, sometimes tribal percussion and haunting voices in unknown languages. You will never really know what comes aroundthe corner. People who listened to the CD often compared it to Massive Attack and Future Sounds of London and there are certainly a lot of similarities inthe way of musical expression, but still it has its own unique and distinctive sound. Tracks like Blinded Glass Breaks Better Ways and Headlights Flashingmade it to the top ten of numerous mp3 download sites despite their huge length and edgeyness.
01. Headlights Flashing | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
02. Around the Plate | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
03. Sunset Valley | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
04. Half Emptied | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
05. Blue Light | hifi prev. |lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
06. St. Elm's Fire | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
07. Mind Rewind | hifi prev.| lofi prev. | buy for 0,50 Eur
08. Blinded Glass Breaks Better Ways | hifi prev. | lofiprev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
09. River Grave | hifi prev.| lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
10. Tunnel | hifi prev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
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PNFA - Meter Fusion
(c) 2002 Wolfram Gruss / Giftzwergwerk
GZW-011
Genre: Triphop, Drum'n'Bass, Lounge
Meter Fusion is the logical sequel to Le Temps Perdu as it comes along in a lazy, loungey style, but not without a lot offurther developement. Partly it continues the dark, crawling triphop style, but also tracks like Taxidriving and Urgent Message add an uplifting upspeedjungle experience. 53 Meter nach unten marks a little revolution in PNFA history as it was the first track with pure electro and idm influences amongacoustic guitar melodies. A very complex and beautiful track. Also experiments with a 3/4 step in Little Shoe are perfectly integrated. Huge, athmosphericrooms and haunting voices in Neather Limited build the bridge towards the following longplayer Popular Abandoned Correspondency. With 13 tracks and a runningtime of almost 74 minutes it is the longest PNFA album ever. Meter Fusion can also be found as opener track of Swear Head Vol. 1 (Swearhead UK) among artistslike Sofa Surfers or Ulver.
01. Meter Fusion | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
02. Drop | hifi prev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
03. Taxidriving | hifi prev.| lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
04. 53 Meter nach unten | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
05. Fadeaway | hifi prev. |lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
06. My Parents are not at Home | hifi prev. | lofiprev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
07. Destrict | hifi prev. |lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
08. Little Shoe | hifi prev.| lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
09. Urgent Message | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
10. Lemon Sky | hifi prev. |lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
11. Different Village | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
12. Never Fall | hifi prev.| lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
13. Neather Limited | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
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PNFA - Le Temps Perdu
(c) 2001 Wolfram Gruss / Giftzwergwerk
GZW-008
Genre: Triphop
Le Temps Perdu was a little revolution regarding the work of PNFA. Unlike the first three heavy and fast drum andbass and big beat albums The Urban Music Box, Popular Nightmare Folk Art and Blaustich this longplayer opens up a whole new world of athmospheric downtempoand triphop tracks with a loungey, sometimes dark and melancholic athmosphere. Going down to even 60 bpm and with a lot of nu jazz and dub influences this isa little pleasant and never boring sound adventure. Tracks like Veeb and Mana Madeire already stayed on top of several download charts for months (Veeb was 1for over three months in the dub charts at mp3.com before it went commercial and Mana Madeire was the most downloaded track in the triphop charts atmp3.com.au for over 5 months) while Lanetama got a release on several chillout compilations.
01. Mana Madeire | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
02. Lanetama | hifi prev. |lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
03. Somata | hifi prev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
04. Rue de Moi | hifi prev. |lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
05. Veeb | hifi prev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
06. 2:46 pm | hifi prev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
07. Maya | hifi prev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
08. Terra Negra | hifi prev.| lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
09. Le Temps Perdu | hifiprev. | lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
10. Tihuana | hifi prev. |lofi prev. | buy for 0,99 Eur
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Record Label: Tracks available for licensing, unsigned.
Type of Label: Indie