KARL MOHR ::: BIOGRAPHY
Canadian electronic music producer Karl Mohr composes and performs evocative, moody, electronic songs with heavy beats, powerful vocal performances and dramatic, provocative lyrics. RECORDING ARTIST Since 1987, Karl Mohr has been composing and recording music, the vast bulk of which has been experimental and electronic. During his BMus degree at Queen's, Kingston, Mohr specialized in electroacoustic composition and piano performance, where he took the boundaries of musical genre to task, merging styles and periods to the extremes of an entire sci-fi techno reconstruction of Vivaldi's Four Seasons (1994). Having released 30 cassettes of his own material, Mohr released his first compact disc in 1997, "The Heck", which rounded up his industrial-techno work, rich with sampling and fast, heavy, electronic beats. A far more experimental and cinematic compact disc release in 2000, entitled "The End of The Line" featured some dark rock and electronic works, as well as ambient-oriented songs. After the long wait of eight years, 2002 saw the release of Mohr's earlier Vivaldi tribute, "The Four Seasons 2117" on the Interdimensional Industries imprint. In the same year, while living in Vienna, Austria, Mohr released the mutant "Magic Christmas" holiday album, as well as the introspective lo-fi quirk electro record "Vereinsgasse". Relocating to Toronto, he began to formulate his live presence, and brought to light the decidedly political and heavy duty retro-wave release "Tools For The Analog Revolution". Mohr is currently working on a significant album of dark rock and techno tracks which is tending towards the 70s glam sound and exploring new/old pop production techniques. PERFORMANCE ARTIST Though his past was peppered with rave appearances and odd shows at various bizarre venues, it was in 2003, Mohr enlisted keyboardist St. Benjamin (Benjamin Mueller-Heaslip) and rock guitarist Revolution (Ian Revell) to form the trio now operating as Mohr's band, The Fallen Angels. This live incarnation allows darkwave, art song, poetry, techno and rock to coexist on a single setlist. Mohr continues to explore both high and low art, simultaneously, with fanatical rigour, in both his recordings and on-stage performances. RECENT DISCOGRAPHY Tools For The Analog Revolution BAND BIOS: KARL MOHR Since 1987, Mohr has been experimenting with the darker sides of electronic music and releasing compilations of his ground-breaking work on cassette, CD, vinyl and via the internet. File his music most often under: darkwave, electronic, tech-house, ambient, electroacoustic. He runs his own label, Multibeat Records. His performance history is varied, intermittent and strange: live music for rock-climbing modern dancers, clarinet dueling with Istvan Kantor, punk rock appearances at raves, industrial appearances at ambient evenings, backing up Louise Bak as she fed her pubic hair to audience members on toast, turntabling at folk clubs, goats' toenail shakers and diatribes on the serious concert stage. With the release of his live CD, Vampires In Clubland, Mohr re-invented his set as a legitimate electronic show of song-based material. The core of the show is Mohr's voice against a computer-generated track, with additional sounds from an over-driven Yamaha strap-on synth, the delightful piano work of Saint Benjamin and guitar work of Revolution. BAND BIOS: SAINT BENJAMIN Benjamin Mueller-Heaslip has been a composer of new music since 1998, with a focus on small chamber ensembles and voice. A former church organist and a trained pianist and composer, Heaslip recently received broadcast of his music with an interview on Two New Hours. He is the acting president of the Earshot concert series in Toronto. He composes and arranges for, and conducts his own group, the Parkdale Revolutionary Orchestra, an acoustic neo-classical group restaging their concerts in bars and grottos, toward their own rebellious ends. BAND BIOS: REVOLUTION Revolution, aka Ian Revell, studied composition at Queen's University and has been a solid bass player for many Kingston-area bands. His particular rock guitar fury fuels and grounds the Karl Mohr live experience. The technical requirements for a live show. |