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Some dreams of total and utter bliss cannot come true. Others humbly press for contented moment
to be repeated and occasionally this wish or dream acts as a direct reflection of the character
of the dreamer. Yearning of this kind has captivated the Hamburg bass guitarist and composer
Frank Fischer to such an extent that it can be heard in his music. Frank Fischer’s dream of
happiness is “sitting on the edge of the Grand Canyon and thinking of nothing”.
This well-travelled musician has already sat several times on mountain peaks or in valley bottoms,
lost in his thoughts. Frank Fischer likes retreating to out of the way places, into the Australian
outback or the sun baked deserts of the United States. But the spirit of his music focuses
Frank Fischer’s unspectacular dreams of happiness. It is precisely the peace of mind he searches
for in the canyons that gives rise to his ballads of magnificent landscapes and sublime natural
phenomena, wherever they may be. When Frank Fischer is composing and making music in his Hamburg
studio he reflects very little and does not construct a great deal. He says that he gives his
creative energy free rein and it and it develops into swaying rhythms, magical melodies and earthy
arrangements: music that is full of his yearning to be in far off climes and the wistful feeling of
distance. The secret of his work lies in his allowing things to take their natural course.
Frank Fischer considers that which guides him in his work to be inexpressible, to be an unfathomable
creative force of whose presence the Buddhists, too, - known for their close attachment to nature –
have been convinced for thousands of years. “As a composer, you are simply a tool, a channel for a
universal flow of energy.” Frank Fischer explains: a realisation that other artists are only willing
to admit in secret. You don’t necessarily have to have travelled the world to arrive at this courageous
insight. But you can have. Frank Fischer has been to all the continents but his realisation of this
universal creative force only hit him in the studio whilst he was composing. In the studio the bass
guitarist and keyboard player ‘paints’ those landscapes through which he has travelled. Heavy bass,
rich guitar sounds, exotic melodies from bamboo pipes and synthesisers combine to form the characteristic
“Frank Fischer sound”.
It takes the warm colours of steep crevasses, the suffocating summer heat,
the smell of gnarled wood and the shape of majestic mountain plateaux and expresses them in music with a
seemingly never-ending “broad” horizon. This music constitutes a natural challenge to its listeners –
spoilt by their urban surroundings – to lose themselves in impressive emotions and resounding landscapes.
Frank Fischer is not particularly interested in the typical musician’s lifestyle and everyday pop
culture. While other musicians conjure up love with ballads and other romantic songs, Frank Fischer
conjures up the magic of deserts and rock massifs. This completely unsentimental musician amazes his
listeners with his immense felling for atmosphere, a psycho-acoustic energy that is passed onto the
listeners and sets them vibrating. The warm archaic sound of strange instruments and sounds make
them sit up and take notice and before they know it, they find themselves in one of these landscapes.
Frank Fischer himself refers to his music as “native”, adding that “for me ‘native’ means uninhibited,
natural and, primarily, genuine, therefore free from intellectual ballast. Listeners should see images
that please them, they should be able to gain some insight into my emotional world and, in so doing,
notice that every single emotion can be varied as often as they wish thanks to the flurry of nuances
contained within.”
Rhythm is the beat of all musical culture and the elixir of guitarists and bass players. In his studio,
Frank Fischer explains his work with digital music technology. The computer monitor makes it possible
to actually see the rhythmic arrangement. “This eases the pressure on the ears, because your eyes become
part of the process of composition”. He works bass lines and harmonies around this basic rhythm.
If the combination is correct, then the melody usually develops all by itself”.
It seems as though the melodies only occur to Frank Fischer whilst he is busy transforming human and
musical experiences into sounds. “The intensity of the atmosphere of a composition is what I actually
understand to be ‘music’”, Frank Fischer explains. Arranging means simply intensifying this atmosphere,
harnessing energy, diverting it into channels and giving it expression. “I want to place precise,
appropriate images of absolute simplicity in front of the listener’s inner vision”.
For, “music is the form of magic that is easiest for us to access. Invisible, intangible and ultimately
impossible to recreate once the final notes have faded, music can captivate humans emotionally in seconds”.
Oliver Steeger
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