According to saxophonist Daniel Erdmann, freedom and democracy are the heart of Das Kapital.
What’s Happening Daniel?
Das Kapital is in constant development, looking for new adventures and challenges. We started in 2001 rehearsing in Edward´s basement and now have the chance to play in beautiful small and big venues for lovely audiences, so we are very happy. We are three very different characters in a fully democratic band, where every member is free to play whatever he thinks is right at each moment, and having been able to keep this up for almost twenty years is a miracle, but also the centre of our sound and music. We hope to go on forever, always imagining new projects.
Does revolution belong in music? Can instrumental music be revolutionary? Or are these direct and indirect references used by Das Kapital more like means of creating interest for the music and maybe even making this kind of music more accessible?
Das Kapital was born in the destabilizing post 9/11 atmosphere. we felt like having a name that goes beyond a pure musical or abstract meaning. We started with playing very radical free improvisation, and went more and more into melodies and forms, keeping our skills from the impro world inside this music. So the music itself became more accessible, the band name staying the same. ”Revolution“ in instrumental music is very personal I think, as always in artistic work.
Das Kapital’s new album is titled Vive la France and it is composed of French music. How did you choose the compositions and songs – are these personal favourites or are you trying to tell a story? And why this cover, men on the moon with the French flag?
We all three live in France and felt that it was time to pay tribute to this music. We all proposed compositions that had a special meaning for the one proposing it. And then we rehearsed (we had two residencies in France, one week each) and chose the tunes we wanted to keep. The cover is just to say how much like that french music!
You also have your own “revolutionary” band Velvet Revolution, which has recently released its second album Won’t Put No Flag Out. What is the conceptual and musical connection between Das Kapital and The Velvet Revolution?
Velvet Revolution is a very personal project, the meaning of the band name is musical, trying to express myself through a more ”velvet“ way, softer sounds, but with two wild and brilliant musicians by my side, Théo Ceccaldi and Jim Hart. I really love these musicians, and the connection with Das Kapital is maybe that I want to leave them as much freedom inside my compositions as we have with Das Kapital. We will be touring in Finland with Velvet Revolution in November-December 2020, thanks to Charles Gil. I am very much looking forward to that.
What’s going to happen?
As I said, Das Kapital is always on the lookout for new adventures, but we have not decided if we will do a new project soon. For the moment we are touring with our new programme.
Thank you for the interview Daniel, and see you in Tampere!
Das Kapital at Pakkahuone on Saturday 2 November at 17.30. Read more and buy tickets.
