Hauschka

Hauschka
Hauschka live at Nochtspeicher Hamburg
Background information
Birth name	Volker Bertelmann
Origin	Germany
Genres	Electronic music, avant-garde
Occupation(s)	Musician, Composer
Instruments	Piano
Labels	FatCat Records
Associated acts	Music AM, Tonetraeger
Website	www.hauschka-net.de
Notable instruments
Prepared Piano

Volker Bertelmann (born 1966) is a German pianist and composer who mainly performs and records under the name Hauschka. He is best known for his compositions for prepared piano.

Volker Bertelmann was born in Kreuztal. He grew up in the village of Ferndorf in the district of Siegen-Wittgenstein, North Rhine-Westphalia. The fifth of six children, he discovered piano playing at the age of eight at a Christmas church service. He began studying classical piano and continued taking lessons for the next ten years.

Bertelmann formed his first rock band when he was fourteen. During the following years he was commissioned to compose music for television and sang in a number of other bands. After leaving school he moved to Cologne, where he began studying medicine and then switched to a course in business economics, but gave up both in order to concentrate on music. In 1992, he and his cousin formed the hip-hop duo God’s Favorite Dog, who became known above all for their tracks Love and Pain and Sway. They released an album on Sony Music's Epic label and went on to perform nationally and internationally, among others as a support act for Die Fantastischen Vier. The duo split in 1995 to pursue other directions.

After a period of drifting, Bertelmann moved to Düsseldorf and started making music again, drawing on his years of classical piano training. He composed pieces for piano and released them under the alias Hauschka – a reference to the Bohemian composer Vincenz Hauschka as well as to Dr. Hauschka skin care products.

The first Hauschka album Substantial was released in 2004 on the Cologne label Karaoke Kalk, followed in 2005 by The Prepared Piano on the same label. On this second album Bertelmann explored the possibilities of the prepared piano by wedging pieces of leather, felt or rubber between the piano strings, wrapping aluminium foil around the hammers, placing small objects on the strings or joining them together with guitar strings or adhesive tape. In 2007 the remix album Versions Of The Prepared Piano was released, featuring new interpretations of the original tracks by the likes of Eglantine Gouzy, Barbara Morgenstern, Nobukazu Takemura, Wechsel Garland, Frank Bretschneider, Mira Calix and Tarwater.