Janek Schaefer

by Mark Richardson
Londoner Janek Schaefer began deconstructing music at the tender age of six, when he assembled a sound collage called "Journey." After studying architecture at Manchester Metropolitan University, he continued his sound art experiments with a piece called "Recorded Delivery," which premiered at a London exhibition organized by Brian Eno and Laurie Anderson. The piece consisted of edited sounds culled from a tape recording made by a voice-activated device that traveled in a box through the British postal system. Eventually, a 7" single of "Recorded Delivery" was released. A spate of live gigs and installation pieces followed in the late '90s, concurrent with several cassette releases.
During this period, Schafer continued to design and build his own unique tools for music making, including a three-armed "tri-phonic" turntable and several highly specialized vinyl mastering techniques. Schafer also has a strong interest in field recordings as a compositional tool. His interests converged on his fantastic album debut Above Buildings, which was released on Fat Cat in 2000. With its harsh and beautiful sonics, the record put Schafer on the level of abstract music makers like Fennesz and Oval.