In the latest episode in Series 7 of Spotlight On, host and Lyte Chief Commercial Officer Lawrence Peryer welcomes music producer, composer, performer, creative educator, and instrument designer Markus Reuter to the podcast.
Born in Lippstadt, Germany in 1972, Reuter took inspiration from a wide range of artists such as King Crimson (members of which he’d later collaborate with), The Beatles, Bach, and Mike Oldfield during his youth. Having composed from his early teens, his work as a musician has gone on to span numerous music genres such as contemporary classical music, progressive and art rock, industrial music, world jazz, jazz fusion, pop songs, pure improvisation, and electrophonic loop music, with an onus on fusing aspects of the aforementioned.
The German’s technical versatility as a musician has seen him perform with multiple bands, ensembles and projects over the course of his two-decade career. Reuter has been a member of centrozoon, Stick Men, Tuner, The Crimson ProjeKct, and Europa String Choir alongside his work as a solo artist. He then went on to establish himself as a contemporary classic composer, starting with the 2011 performance and recording of his large-scale orchestral piece ‘Todmorden 513’.
Adept at playing a variety of instruments and being a specialist in touch guitar playing, Reuter became known as a leading player of the Warr Guitar and Chapman Stick before developing his own range of Touch Guitar instruments. He now runs the Touch Guitar Circle in collaboration with King Crimson’s former guitarist Trey Gunn, a teaching and support network for touch guitar players.
The Coming Dawn, his latest work, was released in September of 2022. A series of solo concerts recorded during the Stick Men US tour in spring of that year, the soundscapes are considered to be the most American of Reuter’s work to date, absorbing inspiration from American music culture during the tour and even subconsciously nodding to the likes of Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music.
Throughout the episode, Reuter discusses the meeting point between music and psychology, his passion for collaboration, and whether or not artists have a ‘best before’ date.
You can listen to the latest episode of Spotlight On featuring Duncan Chapman below:
Every week in Spotlight On, host Lawrence Peryer takes listeners on a behind-the-scenes exploration of the past, present and future of the modern music and entertainment business, with musicians, thought leaders, tech innovators and more.
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