[KRAFTWERK] New article with Abrantes

[David Marques]

I can translate it. Here we go:

"A Latin amongst Germanics: three months with Kraftwerk

In 1991, Fernando Abrantes took part of the pioneer electronic band.
"12345678 The Catalogue" arrives today in Portugal.

As a matter of fact, he is also German. But only the half. Enough to have
been invited to play with one of the most influential bands of the
world, the pioneers of the electronic music of Kraftwerk. Fernando Abrantes,
49 years old, has studied Sound and Image Engineering in Düsseldorf. In
1991, back to Portugal and recent father, he's got a calling from a course
colleague which had been already working on the band, Fritz Hilpert. "We
couldn't get someone to replace Karl Bartos. Do you want to join us?",
purposed him. "I thought it was such as a kidness", he reminds.

The keyboard played made an accord with his wife and followed his way
ahead. He arrived at Kraftwerk private studio, the Klingklang, in
Düsseldorf, and the empathy with the founders, Ralf Hütter and Florian
Schneider, was immediate. In the following day he got back to Portugal just
to prepare his luggage and to return to German soil. They've expected for
something in two months of intensive rehearsals.

*Rehearsals* The time make he remembers the same as in a financial
consultancy. And do did the rigor. They had just released "The Mix", one of
the eight albums included in the boxset now available in Portugal. "They had
different ilks and aesthetics concept, but the polemic was always rounding
the project", says the Portuguese. "No wonder the leader has always been
Ralf."

In the weekends they used to make bycicling races. "Those were rides of
about 200 or 300 kilometres, very well organized", he reminds. "They
had such as an excellent equipment. It wasn't any kind of playfulness. It
was always on the base of a competition". Fernando preferred tennis. Every
day he used to play with Fritz, from about eight to nine o'clock of the
morning.

*Concerts* The reserved Hütter and Schneider were inflexble. "It isn't by
the random that their concept keeps working and that made them a myth", he
says. "It's all about their hard discipline, with not changing any note of
what they compose." In their month tour through United Kingdom, they've
called his attention for many times, "in a good way". Neither dancing or
smiling was allowed on stage. The behavior should be cold and distant. "But
I have Latin blood..."

On stage he inovated by letting the audience to play the "pocket calculator"
with what was improvised right in the moment. "The people turned out to be
thrilled." One of the happiest moments was when he had noticed David Bowie
amongst the whole crowd. At the end of the shows, the fans would meet him
and Fritz. And at the discos - where they barely used to go, the DJs used to
change the setlist to include Kraftwerk - he was the first one to get to the
dance hall. Fritz and Hütter also abandoned the pose and also danced.
Drugs and alcohol? No way.

After finishing this period he got back home. "Someone is always creating
expectatives about something, but I was sure that everything would end", he
says. "We're all professionals." Nowadays he keeps a friendchip
with Hilpert, stay in touch with Henning Schmitz who's replaced him, and
dedicates his time to the production of albums, like the latest ones by José
Cid and Rão Kyao. "I like everything of quality. I'm too much of a
chameleon."

*"12345678 The Catalogue", Kraftwerk*
Price: €96
Eight reworked classics in a boxset to celebrate 35 years of the first album
of the Germans, "Autobahn"."


There are some mistakes in the original text, but I tried to translate as it
is.


David

2009/12/17 <paul.wilkinson01 at tesco.net>

> and he left kling klang with his rotots head...nice one
>
>
> ---- Daniel Bartlau <dastbar at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Hi,
> >
> > there is a new portugese interview / article with Fernando Abrantes.
> Through
> > the (bad) automatic translation, it seems to be interesting.
> > Maybe someone could translate it? ;)
> >
> > Greetings
> >
> >
> >
> http://www.ionline.pt/conteudo/33141-um-latino-os-germanicos-tres-meses-com-os-kraftwerk
>
>