When Edgar Froese died on 20 January 2015, the end of the electronics pioneers Tangerine Dream, who were celebrated worldwide in the seventies, seemed to have come. But the father of the Berlin school had taken precautions. It was his express wish that Tangerine Dream should complete the "Quantum Years" with the current cast Thorsten Quaeschning/Ulrich Schnauss/Hoshiko Yamane. After two live recordings there is now also a new studio album. Quaeschning, Schnauss (with them since 2005 and 2014 respectively) and Froese's widow Bianca Froese-Acquaye provide information on "Quantum Gate" and the future of the electronics institution.
eclipsed: The decisive question right at the beginning: Will you only fulfill Froese's last wish or will Tangerine Dream continue to exist?
Thorsten Quaeschning: With "Quantum Gate" we have realized sketches of Edgar. We still have a lot of material from them that is worthwhile. So there is enough, and it is also Edgar's direct order to continue TD. Of course it depends a little bit on how the album is received, but from us it goes on.
eclipsed: Who's got the last word on this?
Quaeschning: It is a joint democratic decision of Bianca and the band. At a joint meeting with Peter Baumann, he said that he could imagine that TD was more an idea than a band and could therefore exist for a hundred years. Maybe he's right.
eclipsed: At one point the ideas of you and the former band member Baumann must have diverged. He was talking about being the producer of the new album.
Quaeschning: We could not agree on a common orientation. I'm interested in pursuing Edgar's visions. And the three of us, who are now TD, didn't want to let other people get involved.
eclipsed: In the line-up Quaeschning/Schnauss/Yamane and at the beginning still Froese you had started the "Quantum Years". How did this even happen?
Quaeschning: Edgar wanted to realign TD after the "Phaedra Farewell Tour" and return to the roots. Very electronic and sequencer based with actual sound, what we have now realized on "Quantum Gate".
eclipsed: Your first releases after Froese's death were the live recording "Poland 2016" and the live/studio EP "Particles". With the "Particles" reinterpretation of "Rubycon" and the half-hour jam "4.00PM Session" you're closer to the Tangerine Dream of the late sixties and early seventies than the band has been throughout the past three decades.
Quaeschning: These real-time compositions, as I call them, at the end of the concerts work very well in the TD context and show us as improvising musicians. Two of these recordings are now available as "The Sessions I".
eclipsed: Does this concept also originate from the will of Froese?
Quaeschning: On the one hand, it was Edgar's idea. In Melbourne in 2014 we played the "Sorcerer" soundtrack twice in a row parallel to the movie. The last fifteen minutes were purely improvised with Edgar, because the film wasn't over yet and we had to keep playing. (laughs) That's where we developed it from.
