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It has finally been announced and it is a big surprise. Alexander Veljanov and Ernst Horn, known as Deine Lakaien, will start their first and probably only orchestra tour with the title „20 Jahre electronic avantgarde“ (20 years of electronic avant-garde) in February 2007.
Lots of fans were hoping for this kind of event to happen, the musicians often thought about it, and now, it will be the band’s anniversary and a further musical genre crossing will become reality. Deine Lakaien are reinventing themselves and they are complexly rearranging their known songs in classical symphonies. Both artists decided to work with the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt, an orchestra, which is well known for opera, avant-garde and innovative crossovers of classical and popular music. The young ensemble plays regularly together with (amongst others) Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), and already worked with artists like Bobby McFerrin and Udo Lindenberg, to create dramatic and deep sound effects.
In the next months, Horn and Veljanov will focus on the musical realization and it will clearly be different from the typical concept “Classic meets Pop”. Nobody should expect an ordinary ‘orchestra type’ performance of the songs, Deine Lakaien will rather create an avant-garde program. They will offer an electronic music journey acoustically accompanied by the orchestra. „We will take this great opportunity and do our very best“, says Ernst Horn. „Up to now, this has probably been the most exciting task for us“, mentions the singer Alexander Veljanov. The musical essence of Deine Lakaien should be emphasized; nevertheless it should be very different from what everybody knows so far.
Also the concert locations will be very different. On the one hand, noble and dignified buildings such as the Gewandhaus in Leipzig and the Alte Oper in Frankfurt are on the list, on the other hand modern locations like the Arena in Oberhausen. Special stage design and amphitheatre seating arrangement for great, clear sound and best view from all seats will be available in all locations.
We are looking forward to this very special and extraordinary tour in 2007. With this great event Deine Lakaien are setting new standards again.
Your ears are painful after a concert? There is no happiness and on the way to the parking you are back in reality within seconds? Then it cannot have been a Deine Lakaien performance! Because the motto of their shows (before, during and after) always is: excitement, joy and getting away from the stresses and strains of everyday life. And responsible for that are Ernst Horn and Alexander Veljanov, two outstanding musicians both passionate about their work, eye-catching and charismatic. They are presenting their nicest and best compositions since 20 years.
Creative work accomplished and milestones reached. Their albums are sophisticated and powerful. Electronically they are always generating challenges to the status quo. Like no other band, Deine Lakaien were forming and broadening the musical horizon of the European darkwave music. They always fit into the scene but never went with the crowd. The reward is a faithful fan base, sold out concerts and high placement on the charts where we usually find stereotypes. They prefer creating music differently. Imagine them as an island of freedom. For instance, they deconstruct their own in most cases very complex songs to recreate and perform them in acoustic versions afterwards. With their trend-setting concept they were able to take their music to a much wider audience.
The fascinating thing about their performances is the musical diversity. The instrumentalist and composer Ernst Horn is working with computers, rotary switches and piano in a way that the audience could possibly think that instruments and devices might be ‘alive’. He spends a lot of energy in all this work. The reward is a clear, strong, swinging and grooving sound, which is powerful and filled with tenderness at the same time. The music of Deine Lakaien is always different. At the end of a tour, songs can be rather different than at the beginning – it seems that during all the time on the road they are coming up with new ideas and integrate them in the existing songs. For Lakaien fans the name Ernst Horn represents quality music for many years now. Not surprising, it seems like in his head there is always something going on concerning his music: Switching off is impossible.
Alexander Veljanov, however, is introverted on stage: maybe this is even the highest form of being extroverted facing a concert hall full of people. He exposes his feelings without revealing weakness. In this way he is bewitching the audience. For short announcements between the songs he seems to become a ‘real person’, which is important in the world of art and entertainment. Veljanov is reaching the audience with his sometimes warm and soft, sometimes aggressive and impressive voice. Scientists also call it ‘stimulus-response’.
1985, Mikhail Gorbachev becomes general secretary of the CPSU, the private TV channel Sat 1 is going on air, the RAF terrorists Christian Klar and Brigitte Mohnhaupt are going to be judged – and in Munich Ernst Horn and Alexander Veljanov are starting a band named Deine Lakaien. Horn is a qualified orchestra conductor. He directs the orchestra in the Karlsruhe opera and Veljanov studies theatre history. They get to know each other via newspaper ad. Horn is inspired by dramatic opera, medieval and folk music; Veljanov likes New Wave, Punk and early Gothic. In this way, two basically different people are getting together, but they manage to combine their interests and they start creating a new musical mixture.
Within a short time the debut album “Deine Lakaien “, which they produce themselves, is well known in sub cultural areas. This album already shows the band’s typical vanguard sound, the pleasure to do musical experiments. Still, the two very special musicians are sticking to catchy and traditional structured songs. In 1991 Gymnastic Records releases the album “Dark Star” with a huge success: Deine Lakaien gains enthusiastic fans everywhere in Europe. Up to now this album is very popular and a “must have” for every “wave pop beginner”. With songs like “Reincarnation“, Love me to the end“ or “Dark Star“, Deine Lakaien is defining wave music requirements in a completely new way: It is intelligent and suitable for dancing, at the same time. From now on the band is omnipresent, is reckoned as the musical lodestar of the scene. They are using the reached status to create new musical ideas.
With “Forest Enter Exit“, an industrial inspired album, they enter the German charts for the first time. It is not possible to stop them anymore: Deine Lakaien is creating aesthetically stunning music videos and even that the band does not fit in any category, major labels are interested in working with them. Horn and Veljanov are reacting particularly unusual on the increasing success and pressure. They start deconstructing their own, in most cases, very complex songs to perform them live in acoustic versions: Piano and voice only - the core melody used as guideline. In 1995 this acoustic presentation is a trend-setting concept, and as a result, wave music gains quality reputation. The consequence of this idea: the album “Acoustic“ enters the charts without difficulty, just like “Winter Fish Testosterone“, which was released one year after. Once more, Deine Lakaien proves that the band is continuously progressing. The demand for concerts increases, and Deine Lakaien is able to organize two large concert tours in Germany. In this way, Horn and Veljanov are not just improving the closeness to the fans but also their image as a very special live band.
In 1999, “Kasmodiah“ is the first album released by a major record label. The music is catchy and more popular, but still a success for the fans. Because of the hits “Into my arms“ and “Return“ both musicians are even gaining a lot of new fans. In 2002, with the album “White Lies“ Deine Lakaien returns to the roots of their profession: the traditional way of song writing. Several private issues were the reason for the complex, unique and very calm album, which almost seems to be redundant, and because of that convincing at the same time. It is a first album, a “pearl” of melancholy and sadness but also a passed “final exam”. In 2005, Deine Lakaien is presenting a summary of the band’s whole repertoire with “April Skies“. Club come back celebration with the single release „Over and done“. The frankness of this album indicates the future direction of Deine Lakaien. Everything is possible – and everything could happen: In April 2006, the band is performing in the course of the exhibition „Melancholie. Genie und Wahnsinn in der Kunst“ a sold out acoustic concert in the Neue Nationalgalerie Berlin. More than 1000 people experienced a moving and extraordinary Deine Lakaien performance in the frame of a clear and cut museum style. Because of the success Veljanov and Horn are deciding to venture a further musical genre crossing: They are currently preparing their first orchestra tour together with the symphony orchestra Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt for February 2007.
Text: Jochen Müter / May 2006
