Biography

Schneider TM is the solo project of German musician Dirk Dresselhaus, who uses a vast array of acoustic and electronic instruments to create warped electro pop as well as free-form improvisations. After making his full-length debut with the beat-driven instrumental release Moist (1998), the underground success of his glitch pop cover of the Smiths' "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" (with Kpt.Michi.Gan, first released in 2000) helped give rise to the indie electronic genre. He continued making quirky avant-pop releases like 2002's Zoomer, then later changed direction with improvisational releases like 2012's Construction Sounds, as well as compositions for films and theater productions. 2021's The 8 of Space marked Schneider TM's return to experimental electronic pop, while 2023's Ereignishorizont was a more expansive set of post-minimalist noise-drone. Dirk Dresselhaus played in several German indie rock bands, including Hip Young Things and Locust Fudge, before he started releasing solo material in the mid-'90s. After debuting the Schneider TM alias with a self-titled 1997 EP, he stepped into the spotlight with Moist, a 1998 album recorded for City Slang and released in America by Mute the next year. He followed it in 2000 with a collaborative EP, Binokular, recorded with Kpt.Michi.Gan and highlighted by a cover of the Smiths' "There Is a Light That Never Goes Out" titled "The Light 3000." Two years later, Dresselhaus returned with his second full-length, the more vocal-based Zoomer, again released by City Slang in conjunction with Mute. Reconfigures, a stopgap compilation released in 2004, was followed in 2006 by Skoda Mluvit. A split single with Lustfaust was released in 2007, along with collaborations with Station 17 the following year. Dresselhaus kept busy with projects such as Angel, his collaboration with former Pan Sonic member Ilpo Väisänen, and work with Jochen Arbeit (of Einstürzende Neubauten), Damo Suzuki, and Japanese dancer Tomoko Nakasato. He also scored films such as 66/67 and Polnische Ostern and composed music for theatrical productions and radio plays. Dresselhaus returned to the Schneider TM name with 2012's Construction Sounds, a blend of field recordings and electronic improvisations inspired by the ongoing construction near his East Berlin apartment. He took a similarly improvisatory approach to the following year's Guitar Sounds, which featured several pieces originally composed for Carsten Ludwig's film In der Überzahl. In 2016, he collaborated with Arbeit and Krautrock legend Günter Schickert on an album titled ASS. He also recorded a volume of Con-Struct, Bureau B's series of albums based on recordings by the late Conrad Schnitzler. His score for the film Remainder was released in 2018. RA, an album of improvisations with Arbeit, was issued in 2019. In 2021, Schneider TM surfaced on Editions Mego with The 8 of Space, the project's first pop-influenced album in 15 years. Ereignishorizont, a more abrasive 80-minute experimental work, was released by Karlrecords in 2023. ~ John Bush & Paul Simpson, Rovi