Paul Wirkus
Born 1967 in Poland and resident of Cologne. Since the late 90 he has won acclaim for several projects and releases of modern improv and minimal electronica. His works have been reviewed and lauded by magazines such as The Wire, De:Bug, Spex, etc. The Mimikry album is distributed in Western Europe by a-musik of Cologne. The new Album Inteletto d`Amore(Quecksilber/Staubgold) was month`s selected CD in The Wire in march 2004. New release Déformation Professionnelle (Staubgold).
The current solo program of Paul Wirkus is an electronic live set. The set-up consists of tremolo effects, mini disc recorders, small analog synth, laptop and a mixing desk. The sound material is based on samples of string quartets and solo piano, oscillators, mixed with hissing and feedbacking noises of mic amplifiers in overdrive. These elements converge to a contemplative area of sound, charged up by polyrhythmic figures, syncopations of asynchronous rhythmic patterns and sparse melodic tracks. Pulsating loops and tremolos merge to a whirring experimental lo fi aesthetic.
Apart from his solo program, Wirkus is also collaborating with other musicians, e.g. Barbara Morgenstern, Stefan Schneider (To Rococo Rot) , Johannes Frisch (Kammerflimmer Kollektief), Mikolaj Trzaska. Live on festivals: SONAR, Barcelona; Musique Volantes, Paris; c/o pop, Cologne.
