Biography
There are two artists with the name of Michael Hoppe:
(1) Michael Hoppé is a composer, producer and recording artist from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, who was for many years head of A&R for the PolyGram record label. He signed new age acts such as Vangelis and Jean-Michel Jarre to the label. Michael Hoppé's album, Solace, was nominated for a New Age Grammy in 2003.
Read full biography ↓
(2) If you look up Michael Hoppe via a German internet connection, the first three hits are a hypnosis
therapist, an astro photographer and a grammy nominated New Age composer. But the Michael Hoppe
in question is not concerned with relaxation and space escapism.
Over the course of three years he visited about fifty friends and colleagues -spanning from an amateur
choir to a kora player to various jazz drummers - to record them individually for his debut album. While
editing each track hour after hour he continuously adjusted his ideas with a view to the next recording
session.
Having played a lot of free jazz and having written some contemporary chamber music, Michael Hoppe
adopted ideas on how to handle rhythm by creating an energy flow without a regular pulse. Yet there
is system to the album's tracks: one recording is always the point of reference around which all other
sounds are meticulously arranged. The result is an album that feels electronic - sometimes a reminder
of instrumental hip hop, sometimes of kraut rock. But its irregularity and maximalist approach makes
it feel organic, with an almost uncanny effect. Like a sampler gone A.I.. There is not one copy-pasted
sound, not one loop to be found on "put a filter through your ears and just smile through it", only
constant flux.
Asked how he came up with the name for his debut, Michael Hoppe says: "One day I found myself
googling '10 steps to happiness' and one result that was 'put a filter through your ears and just smile
through it'. I couldn't think of a better phrase to sum up the climate right now."
His name really is the only thing generic about him.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.