Markus Reuter

Markus Reuter (born Lippstadt, Germany, 1972 ) is a German multi-instrumentalist, composer, record producer and instrument designer.

Reuter's work as recording artist, solo performer and collaborator spans (and frequently fuses) electrophonic loop music, contemporary classical music, progressive and art rock, industrial music, world jazz, jazz fusion, pop songs and pure improvisation. Over the course of a two-decade career, he has been a member of multiple bands, ensembles and projects (including centrozoon, Stick Men, Tuner, The Crimson ProjeKct and Europa String Choir) as well as a solo artist. Since 2011 Reuter has begun to establish himself as a contemporary classical composer, starting with the performance and recording of his large-scale orchestral piece Todmorden 513.

A specialist in touch guitar playing, Reuter became known as a leading player of the Warr Guitar and Chapman Stick during the 1990s and 2000s before developing, adopting and marketing his own U8 and U10 Touch Guitar instruments. In collaboration with former King Crimson member Trey Gunn, he runs the Touch Guitar Circle, a teaching and support network for touch guitar players.

As well as further collaborations with artists including Tim Bowness, Lee Fletcher, Ian Boddy and Robert Rich, Reuter has produced records by numerous musicians and released several solo recordings as both performer and composer. He is also part of an artist-owned production consortium which encompasses Iapetus Media, Unsung Productions and Unsung Records.

Musical style

Most of Reuter's performance work to date has evolved from exploring electric touch-style instruments and sound processing. Between 1993 and 1996, he predominantly played Chapman Stick, switching to 8-string Warr Guitar circa 1997. He has also worked with generative music, which informs both the harmonic designs of some of his classical compositions (such as Todmorden 513) and his work with the band Tuner and follows various improvisational approaches. Recently, he has been referring to his overall musical approach as "Modus Novus". At around the same time, he began to develop a serious interest in textural loop music and started to experiment with a form of "instant composition" using a system of out-of-synch looping devices. In 1996 (while still part-way through his degree course and his Guitar Craft studies) Reuter performed his first complete concert of entirely self-written compositions, and embarked on a career as a professional musician.

Solo work

The majority of Reuter's solo releases under his own name have consisted of ambient textured music (with hidden processes) recorded using heavily effected touch guitar, Warr Guitar or Chapman Stick, plus laptop. Reuter began recording and releasing this type of music in 1998 - beginning with the Taster album - and has released nine such albums to the present day (including three live recordings from the Crimson ProjeKCt Tour of 2014) .

In 2017, Reuter released a very different album - Falling for Ascension, a twelve-tone pointillist suite reworked from several of his teenage compositions (blending his contemporary classical work with his art-rock work, while also exploring post-rock). Credited to "Markus Reuter featuring SONAR & Tobias Reber", it's effectively a Reuter solo album performed by him with a post-minimal Swiss electric guitar ensemble and added electronics. Falling for Ascension was described as "exceptional music for endlessly rewarding drift and ecstatic momentum... ensemble intricacy at its most musically stimulating" in Gapplegate Guitar and Bass Blog.

Work as classical composer

Although he'd previously composed contemporary classical instrumental pieces as early as 1988 (compositions written for guitar orchestra when he was fifteen), Reuter's formal work as a classical composer began with Todmorden 513. For this work, he applied his ambient process music approach to chamber music in what he intends to be an increasing number of large-scale contemporary classical works for orchestras and chamber ensembles.

In 2011 Reuter released a recording of the small-ensemble version of the piece (featuring his own processed and overdubbed touch guitar plus string quartet, recorder, electric organ, synthesizer, glockenspiel and electronics. In 2013, the work was expanded to a full orchestral arrangement in collaboration with American conductor and composer Thomas A. Blomster. This version (performed by the Colorado Chamber Orchestra) was premiered in Denver, Colorado in April 2013 and has been released on record twice – first as a studio recording in 2014, then as a live recording in 2016. Reviewing the studio recording in Gapplegate Classical-Modern Music Review, Grego Applegate Edwards hailed Todmorden 513 as "sound(ing) like what Morton Feldman might have written had he advanced to a new stage... This, I am confident, is one of the most important orchestral works of our era.... a breakthrough in form and sound."

Reuter has gone on to compose and record further classical pieces:

the solo piano piece His Last Decade (premiered by Susanne Kessel at the Klavierhaus Klavins on 25 February 2016, as part of her "250 piano pieces for Beethoven" series) the electro-acoustic chamber piece Daimon Fu for two flutes, violin, viola, cello, double bass, baritone saxophone, bass clarinet, electric organs, vibraphone, electric guitar, electric bass and drums (premiered in Oldenburg, Germany on 30 October 2016 by Oh Ton Ensemble). the electric chamber work Sun Trance for tuned/untuned percussion ensemble, bass clarinet, synthesizer and electric guitar/bass/touch guitar (commissioned by Mannheimer Schlagwerk, premiered on May 23, 2017, in Mannheim, Germany and released as a live recording in October 2017).

Projects and collaborations

centrozoon

centrozoon (an improvised music project initiated by fine artist/synth player Bernhard Wöstheinrich) was the first band which Reuter joined on his professional emergence in 1996. It remains one of his main creative outlets to this day. For most of its career centrozoon has been a duo of Reuter and Wöstheinrich, with current third man and multi-instrumentalist/sound-designer Tobias Reber joining in 2008. (The band also included No-Man singer Tim Bowness for a period between 2002 and 2005). The project's music has touched on ambient electronica, free-form experimentalism, sung art pop, progressive rock and electronic dance music. To date, Reuter has released eight albums with centrozoon, plus a number of live and archive releases.

Europa String Choir

Europa String Choir is an instrumental art rock/contemporary classical chamber ensemble with whom Reuter was active for four years (and for which he remains an associate member) Between 1996 and 2000, Reuter played concerts with the group and recorded two albums, Lemon Crash and Marching Ants.

Reuter resumed jazz work when he joined the spontaneous electro-acoustic improvisation band Syntony in 2009 (in which he worked with saxophonist Florian Bramböck, trumpeter Luca Calabrese, drummer Georg Tausch and bass guitarist/electronics player Yoshi Hampl). The band released the Scavenger album in 2010.

During 2016 Reuter began collaborating with British guitarist Mark Wingfield and Israeli rhythm section Yaron Stavi and Asaf Sirkis: 2017 saw the release of two jazz fusion albums from these sessions - The Stone House (credited to “Wingfield Reuter Stavi Sirkis”) and Lighthouse (credited to “Wingfield Reuter Sirkis”).

In 2020, Reuter founded Markus Reuter OCULUS, an experimental electric jazz fusion sextet featuring five previous collaborators (David Cross, Fabio Trentini, Asaf Sirkis, Mark Wingfield and Robert Rich). The group released the Nothing is Sacred album in 2020.

Further collaborations

Reuter has recorded seven albums as an electrophonic duo with British synthesizer player/soundscaper Ian Boddy (plus one with both Boddy and turntablist Nigel Mullaney), three with American experimental guitarist Tim Motzer, two with American ambient electronic composer Robert Rich and two with Zero Ohms (wind/wind-synth instrumentalist Richard Roberts). He has also worked and recorded with German “doombient” musician Stephen Parsick (of ['ramp]).

Reuter has also released several albums under his own name but defined as a “collaborative” series featuring varied other artists. These include 0000 (with bass clarinettist Stefan “Sha” Haslebacher); Star’s End (with Motzer); and How Things Turned Out (with pianist Angelica Sanchez and fellow Guitar Craft alumnus Tony Geballe).

Reuter was also a member of international art pop band This Fragile Moment - fronted by Toyah Willcox and incorporating Estonian duo Fragile (Arvo Urb and Robert Jürjendal) plus Toyah bassist Chris Wong - who recorded a single eponymous album in 2010.

In 2021, Reuter created another new group, Anchor and Burden (named after his 2021 solo album and apparently sharing some conceptual links). With Bernhard Wöstheinrich in the line-up, Reuter acknowledged that Anchor and Burden was in some respects an extension of centrozoon: it also featured Reuter's fellow Touch Guitarist Alexander Dowerk (Zweiton, Van Halo) and drummer Shawn Crowder. The group released four albums during 2021 and 2022 (Weigh Anchor, Clenched Brow, Furrowed Temple, Molten Burden and Feels Like Forever) before Crowder was replaced by Asaf Sirkis for the fifth album, 2023's Kosmonautik Pilgrimage.

Other musical activities

Record producer and label owner

Since 2002, Markus Reuter has developed his work as a record producer for other artists, including Chrysta Bell, Yoshi Hampl, UMA, Tovah, The Season Standard, Skin Diary, Lake Cisco and The Redundant Rocker. He also served as producer for the Toyah Willcox-related project This Fragile Moment, for which he was also one of the main contributing musicians.

In 2006, Reuter set up three interrelated businesses with his centrozoon partner Bernhard Wöstheinrich. One of these was the media company Iapetus Media, the second was the artist-owned production company Unsung Productions, and the third was the affiliated record label Unsung Records (which would release much of Reuter's subsequent work). Collaborators in Unsung/Iapetus work include Fabio Trentini and Lee Fletcher (Adrian Benavides was also involved until 2012). Benjamin Schäfer has been the engineer for Unsung Productions since 2014, co-producing with Reuter.

Teacher

Reuter began his work as a teacher in 1998, conducting touch guitar seminars in Spain, Belgium, and the USA. The AU8 (a semi-acoustic hollow-body version, aimed at reproducing the sound of a tapped acoustic guitar) followed in 2015.

Several of Reuter's students, including Alexander Dowerk and Erik Emil Eskildsen also play Touch Guitars and have released recordings of music made with the instrument.

Discography

Solo recordings

Taster (1998) Containment (1998) Digitalis (2001) The Longest in Terms of Being (2001) Older Than God (2003) Trepanation (2006) Kopfmensch (2011 - free download various project compilation) Sultry Kissing Lounge (Crimson ProjeKCt Tour 2014) (2014) Sultry Kiss Down Under (Crimson ProjeKCt Tour 2014) (2014) Quit Being So Gray (Crimson ProjeKCt Tour 2014) (2014) 6 Reflections (2014) Mundo Nuevo (2015) Fool of Music (2016 - free download various project compilation) Live in Pomona 2016 (2016) Falling for Ascension (featuring SONAR and Tobias Reber) (2017) Containment (Official Bootleg Remastered 2017) (2017) Live in Morelia 2016 (2017) Monde, Vol. 1 (2019) Monde, Vol. 2 (2019) Monde, Vol. 3 (2019) Gratitude, Vol. 1 (2020) Gratitude, Vol. 2 (2021) Anchor and Burden (2021) The Coming Dawn (2022) Stream for Consciousness Vol. 1 (2023) Stream for Consciousness Vol. 2 (2023) Stream for Consciousness Vol. 3 (2023)

Classical recordings

Markus Reuter: Todmorden 513 (2011) Colorado Chamber Orchestra: Todmorden 513 (Concerto for Orchestra by Markus Reuter) (2014) Colorado Chamber Orchestra: Todmorden 513 (World Premiere Performance) (2016) Mannheimer Schlagwerk featuring Markus Reuter: Sun Trance (World-Premiere Performance) (2017) Matangi Quartet: String Quartet No. 1 ‘Heartland’ (2019)

Recordings as group member

with centrozoon

Blast (2000 - remastered version with bonus track issued 2008, reissued again on vinyl in 2017 with two bonus tracks) Sun Lounge Debris (2001) The Divine Beast EP (2001) centrophil EP (2002) The Cult of: Bibbiboo (2002) The Scent of Crash and Burn EP (2003) Never Trust the Way You Are (2005) Angel Liquor (2006) Never Trust the Things They Do (2006) Lovefield (2007) Vacuum Love (5-volume series, 2007) Boner (2012) Fire (live) (2012) The Room of Plenty (live) (2014) 217 (ongoing multi-volume live series, 2017) eisprung (2020)

with Europa String Choir

Lemon Crash (2000) Marching Ants (2004)

with This Fragile Moment

This Fragile Moment (2010)

with Tuner

Totem (2005, remastered 2008) Pole (2007) Müüt (2008) ZWAR (2009) Face (2017)

with Stick Men

Absalom EP (2011) Open (2012) Deep (2013) Power Play (2013) Supercollider, Disc 1: Collider (Best of 2010-2014) (compilation, 2014) Supercollider, Disc 2: Unleashed Live Improvs 2013 (2014) Midori: Live In Tokyo – First Show (featuring David Cross) (2015) Midori: Live In Tokyo – Second Show (featuring David Cross) (2015) Scored Play-Alongs (stripped-down multitrack recordings for student playalongs, 2016) Prog Noir (2016 – version with bonus tracks released 2017. 5.1 and quad mix released 2019) KOLLEKTED (promotional CD, 2017) KONNEKTED (download compilation, 2017) Roppongi - Live in Tokyo 2017, Show 1 (featuring Mel Collins) (2017) Roppongi - Live in Tokyo 2017, Show 2 (featuring Mel Collins) (2017) PANAMERICA (Disc 1): Improvs (Bolivia, Argentina, Brazil) (featuring David Cross) (2019) PANAMERICA (Disc 2): Suites (Argentina, Peru, Uruguay, Chile) (featuring David Cross) (2019) PANAMERICA (Discs 3&4): Full Show (Costa Rica) (featuring David Cross) (2019) PANAMERICA (Disc 5): Soundscapes (Argentina, Mexico, Guatemala) (featuring David Cross) (2019) PANAMERICA Bonus Tracks (featuring David Cross) (2019) OWARI (featuring Gary Husband) (2021) Tentacles EP (2022)

with The Crimson ProjeKCt

The Crimson ProjeKct - Official Bootleg Live 2012 (2012) The Crimson ProjeKct - Live in Tokyo (3-volume series, 2013) The Crimson ProjeKct - Live in Japan (InsideOut Records, 2014)

with Nocturne Blue

Circle Round the Synthetic Sun (2015) The In-Between EP (2015) I Came For the Light and Stayed For the Shadows (2016) Under Covers (just for fun) (ongoing covers album, 2017) Outside the Transcend EP (2017)

with Markus Reuter OCULUS

Nothing is Sacred (2020)

with Anchor and Burden

Weigh Anchor (2021) Clenched Brow (2021) Folded Temple (2021) Molten Burden (2022) Feels Like Forever (2022) Kosmonautik Pilgrimage (2023) Extinction Level (2024) Afterglow (2024)

Collaborative recordings

”Markus Reuter featuring...” series

Markus Reuter featuring Sha: 0000 (2011) Markus Reuter featuring Tim Motzer: Star's End (2011) Markus Reuter featuring Angelica Sanchez and Tony Geballe: How Things Turned Out (2016) Markus Reuter featuring Fabio Trentini and Asaf Sirkis: Truce (2020) Markus Reuter featuring Fabio Trentini and Asaf Sirkis: Truce 2 (2022)

Markus Reuter & Ian Boddy

Distant Rituals (1999 - credited to "Ian Boddy & Markus Reuter") Pure (2003 - credited to "Markus Reuter & Ian Boddy") Dervish (2009 - credited to "Markus Reuter & Ian Boddy") Unwound (2010 - credited to "Ian Boddy & Markus Reuter") Colour Division (2013 - credited to "Ian Boddy & Markus Reuter") Memento (2017 - credited to "Markus Reuter & Ian Boddy") Stay (2017 - credited to "Ian Boddy & Markus Reuter")

Ian Boddy, Markus Reuter, Nigel Mullaney

Triptych (2001)

Markus Reuter & Robert Rich

Eleven Questions (2007) Lift a Feather to the Flood (2017) Flood Expeditions: Farmington CT, 15 May 2018 (2018) Flood Expeditions: Streamside, 17 May 2018 (2018) Flood Expeditions: The Gatherings, 19 May 2018 (2018)

Tim Motzer & Markus Reuter Descending (2010) Space is the Place (2016)

Markus Reuter & Zero Ohms

The Sun is Just the Sun, But the Stars They Call the Heavens (2011) From Worlds Unseen a Light Yet Streams a Sound Replete (2015)

Other collaborations

Dagobert Böhm, Zoltan Lantos, Markus Reuter: String Unit (2000) Markus Reuter & : Ceasing to Exist (2007) Syntony: Scavenger (2010) Stephen Parsick & Markus Reuter: Lament (2012) Wingfield Reuter Stavi Sirkis: The Stone House (2017) Wingfield Reuter Sirkis: Lighthouse (2017) Reuter Motzer Grohowski: Shapeshifters (2020) Thorsten Quaeschning with Markus Reuter: Behind Closed Doors 1 (2020) Thorsten Quaeschning with Markus Reuter and Shawn Crowder: Behind Closed Doors 2 (2020) Gary Husband & Markus Reuter: Music of our Times (2020) Markus Reuter & Stefano Castagna: Sea of Hopeless Angels (2023)

Work with Lee Fletcher

Lee Fletcher (featuring Markus Reuter & Lisa Fletcher): Faith in Worthless Things (2012) Lee Fletcher (featuring Markus Reuter & Lisa Fletcher): The Cracks Within - FiWT Remixes (remix mini-album, 2013) Fletcher|Fletcher|Reuter: Islands single (2013) Lee Fletcher: The Chancer single (2017)

Guest appearances

Dago, Sounds for a Blue Planet (2001 - credited as performer) Tim Bowness, My Hotel Year (2004 - plays touch guitar on and co-wrote "The Me I Knew" and "I Once Loved You") Kuha, Telekineettinen Testilaboratorio (2005 - plays touch guitar) Star of Ash, The Thread (2008 - arranger, plays touch guitar) Stefano Panunzi, "A Rose" (2009 - plays Warr guitar) Scott McGill, Percy Jones, Ritchie DeCarlo (2010 - plays touch guitar) Star of Ash, Lakhesis (2010 - arranger, plays touch guitar) Herd of Instinct, Herd Of Instinct (2011 - plays touch guitar and loops on "Anamnesis" and "Possession") Pat Mastelotto & Tobias Ralph: ToPaRaMa (2014 - plays touch guitar)

Work as producer

Show Of Exaggeration, Show Of Exaggeration (2003) The Redundant Rocker, Collider (2005) UMA, Civitas Soli (2008) Tovah, Escapologist (2008 - producer/arranger) The Season Standard, Squeeze Me Ahead Of Line (2008) This Fragile Moment, This Fragile Moment (2009) The Redundant Rocker, Heart (2009) Yoshi Hampl, Water Dealer (2009) Skin Diary, Skin Diary (2010) Moonbound, Peak Of Eternal Light (2010 - co-producer) Chrysta Bell, Strange Darling (unreleased) Lake Cisco, Permanent Transient (2011) Zweiton, Form (2012) Adrian Benavides, Same Time Next Life (2012) Specimen 13, Echosystem EP (2012) Namgar, Dawn of the Foremothers (2013) Pavlov3, Curvature-Induced Symmetry... Breaking (2015) Stick Men, Prog Noir (2016) Yang, The Failure of Words (2017) Gentle Knife, Clock Unwound (2017) Stephan Thelen, Fractal Guitar (2018) Frank Schätzing, Taxi Galaxi (2019)