- Zodiak Free Arts Lab
The Zodiak Free Arts Lab, sometimes known as the "Zodiak Club" or "Zodiac Club," was a short-lived but highly influential experimental live music venue, founded in the then
West Berlin in late 1967 by German artists/musiciansConrad Schnitzler (b.Dusseldorf , 1937) andHans-Joachim Roedelius (b.Berlin , 1934), together withBoris Schaak .The Zodiak Free Arts Lab was based in a large rented backroom area within a building in
Halleschen Ufer , along the north bank of theLandwehrkanal in theKreuzberg district of the city, near the corner ofGroßbeerenstraße . The main purpose of this building from 1962 until 1981 was as the first home of theSchaubühne , a politically inspired and motivated theatre company. Hence, the Zodiak could not open until late in the evening after the theatre itself had closed, so that the theatrical performances would not be drowned out by the noise.The Zodiak itself was sub-divided into two main performance areas, one of which was painted completely white and the other completely black, and was filled with all kinds of instruments, amps and speakers which people could more or less do with as they pleased. Here, musicians were allowed to experiment with
free jazz ,psychedelic rock andavant-garde styles. Conventional forms of music were frowned upon: a phrase frequently used to describe the spirit of the times was that "songs were considered bourgeois."Among the many artists and bands who passed through the Zodiak in their early days were
Ash Ra Tempel ,Geräusche (Noises),Plus/Minus ,Curly Curve ,Per Sonore ,Human Being ,The Agitation laterAgitation Free ,Klaus Schulze and, most significantly,Tangerine Dream . While not quite reaching the status of being "house band," Tangerine Dream certainly played there frequently over a 3 month period, sometimes for five or six hours a night and for little or no payment, and the loud, iconoclastic improvised music sometimes climaxed with Who-style destruction of equipment. The club played an important role in the development of a style of music that would later be calledkrautrock .Whether due to the Schaubühne's management calling for things to be toned down, or the restlessness of the West Berlin scene simply seeking other outlets for expression, has not been recorded, but the Zodiak lasted only a few months, closing in early 1968. Nevertheless, it earned a significant place in German rock history and is fondly remembered by all who were associated with it. In 1969 one of its founders, Conrad Schnitzler, joined Tangerine Dream for a while, playing on their first album
Electronic Meditation , released in 1970. After leaving Tangerine Dream, Schnitzler rejoined one of the Zodiak's other founders, Hans-Joachim Roedelius, together withDieter Moebius (b.Switzerland , 1944), and formed his own band,Kluster (name later anglicised toCluster ).As for the building that once housed the Zodiak: in 1981 the Schaubühne relocated to its present home in a former cinema (the "Kino Universum", designed by architect
Erich Mendelsohn in 1926), inLehniner Platz , along theKurfurstendamm . Its old home then became theTheater am Halleschen Ufer . Today it is one of two additional venues complementing theHebbel Theater nearby inStresemannstraße ; specifically it is now known asHebbel am Ufer 2 orHAU 2 .External links
*fr icon [http://neospheres.free.fr/kraut/zodiak.htm Zodiak Club] , overview at Néosphères
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