Hellmut Hattler - Kraan
Kraan is a German band based in Ulm that formed in 1970. With several minor hits throughout the 1970s and 1980s, the band infused the early stages of Krautrock and eventually what became fusion in later years. After a near decade break, the group reunited in 2000 and have continued to make music ever sense. I spoke to original member and bassist Hellmut Hattler about growing up in the very devastated Ulm after the Second World War, becoming a musician and eventually forming the legendary Kraan.
Tell me about growing up in Ulm, Germany in the 1950’s. What were those early years like for you during your childhood? Was music something that was relevant around your household? When did you first begin playing music and what was it about the bass that initially fascinated you?
Ulm was heavily bombed during WW2, so I remember lots of ruins/remains in Ulm when I went downtown with my mum. The musical influence in my home was more, or less classical European music, only my older cousin taught me Elvis and Little Richard songs when she accompanied me in Kindergarten. Ulm was situated in the American sector so we could listen to the radio program AFN (“American Forces Network”), which aired all kinds of popular US styles, so this musical mixture might have influenced me and possibly my aversion playing the violin for almost five years until I was 13 years old. After the death of my parents in 1966 I changed to guitar.
Jan Fride & Hellmut Hattler at Freie Waldorfschule, Römerstraße, Ulm -circa: 1964.
The Veith Wolbrandt Group in front of an extravagant stage design in the Old Theater on circa: March 7, 1970: Hartmut Mau on the flute, Peter Wolbrandt (guitar), Jan Wolbrandt (drums), Johannes Pappert (saxophone) and Hellmut Hattler on the bass. Photo: Gerhard Bader/Archive.
Did you participate in any groups prior to Kraan? How did you initially meet your bandmates? What were your first impressions of the other guys and what was it exactly that solidified those friendships in the beginning? How did the name Kraan come about? What was the overall vision for the band when first starting out? Where would you guys jam, or rehearse? When and where did you guys make your live debut performance and what was that experience like for you? What was everyone’s chemistry like on stage?
I took my first steps in Beat Music with changing school mates at my home with acoustic guitars and later, when it came to amplification, I was allowed to use the office of my parent’s engine works co. on weekends. My best friend Jan Fride already played in a beat band and one day he came along with his brother Peter for one of our office jams and from this time on we kept on playing together, to this day, and up from 1971 under the name of “KRAAN”. Our fourth member was playing electrified saxophone which gave us a somewhat unique sound. The band’s name was chosen only of sound reasons as we didn’t make too much sense (though it means different things in different languages). All we wanted was to be was original, which means not to copy, but mixing all musical experiences we had made so far.
Photo by Rose Grass. circa: Spring of ‘71.
The band formed in ‘70 and within just a few years you guys would record your self/titled debut LP. What was the songwriting process like for the group? Tell me about writing as well as recording that record and the particular vision you guys had when going into the studio. When and where did recording take place in ‘72? Tell me about working with engineer Jurgen Koppers. In what ways did he influence this album?
In 1971 we were offered to make a free demo recording sessions in the “Biton” Studio in Frankfurt within some hours. So we recorded more, or less live our whole existing repertoire. When we moved from our hometown Ulm to Wintrup where our later manager and publisher Mr. Walter Holzbaur was already staying, we handed him the demo reel out and just a few weeks later he came across with a record deal contract with a company called Intercord, who had just established the “Spiegelei” label for young German bands like us. So we drove down to Munich to re-record and mix our program within two days at the “Studio 70” in early ’72 with Jürgen Koppers. His influence on the LP production was more, or less limited to the tape phasing that appeared on almost every track of the album.
1 - Kraan during a radio recording session at the "SWF studio" Baden-Baden circa: Spring of ‘71. Photo by Rose Grass
Hattler with his Telecaster bass during one of the very first KRAAN gigs in Illertissen, Germany circa: Summer of 1971.
2 - Kraan during a radio recording session at the "SWF studio" Baden-Baden circa: Spring of ‘71. Photo by Rose Grass
The band is also known for its beautiful album covers. Who did the artwork and what did you guys have in mind when deciding what the music would look like? How did the deal with Spiegelei (Fried Egg) come about? What was the first order of business once the album was released? I imagine you guys set out on a tour to help promote the music? Are there any live performances from that time period that still stand out to you?
Before we decided to quit all studies to focus completey on our music, Peter Wolbrand was studying graphics design in Berlin, so he was the one who created the album covers (after some psychedelic experiences, I guess). For the first months of KRAAN’s existance all band members lived in my house in Ulm and I was the one who booked the first live dates down south (for quite poor fees) which means we had to bring everything with us, not only the backline (amps, speakers, drums, etc.) but also a PA system, as the clubs weren’t equipped at all in these times and didn’t book hotels, either. I remember that all the musicians who played a festival in Cham (south east of Germany) had to sleep on the festival stage! But after moving to Wintrup the band’s concerts were exclusively booked by Walter Holzbaur and things turned out to be more professional, although we mostly drove back home after a gig to arrive home when the sun was already high in the sky.
Kraan playing Kraan Arabia at Wintrup circa: 1972.
Circa: 1972.
The band headed back in the studio the following year in ‘73 to record its follow up album, “Wintrup”. What was the overall vision for this album now that you guys had a record under your belt and some experience on the table? Would you mind going into some of the backstories to some of the songs that are featured on the album?
To live together with 15 people in a big old house was a strong experience for all of us, so when we (Peter and myself) composed the songs for the second album we really where under the spell of the circumstances and the place we lived in. That’s why we called the album “Wintrup”. The lyrics of the title track express the needs and errors we were experiencing in the meanwhile.
Were there any specific methods, or approaches you guys wanted to explore with the theme of this album that maybe you guys didn't have the chance, or opportunity with the previous? With a cover, in my opinion, truly reflecting the atmosphere of this incredible album, what did you want to achieve, or get across in the band now that there was some momentum and establishment?
Sounds more than what we planned to express… Generally the situation that surrounded us when we started off was still post WW2 and all of the creative people I came to know were trying to set limits to the past, so we all wanted to find a way out, which means we were about to cut our cultural traditions while experimenting a lot to find new paths outside our environmental conditioning. Of course everyone of them approached different results, depending on the personality of the individuals. But all in all I call this some kind of “cultural revolution”. Things that didn’t happen in other countries during this time (or ever?).
Riebes Fachblatt circa: January of 1973.
I don’t mean to glaze over the rest of the band’s wonderful body of work that spans the remaining decade of the 1970s as well as the entirety of the 1980s and up until these last few years. When you reflect back on the early history and legacy of Kraan, what are you most proud of? You’ve been with the band from day one and are one of the driving forces to this day. What are your thoughts on all the different generations interacting with the band’s prolific discography and history throughout the listeners? What do you hope people pull from the band?
I’m surely a little bit proud of having been courageous enough to resist all these well-meaning warnings to walk the rebel way as an artist/musician in the seventies and to still be creative. And I’m more than happy to hear from so many different sides in the last years that the music I have created (not only with KRAAN, but also with TAB TWO and HATTLER) delivered the soundtrack that lasts for an entire life.
Is there anything else you would like to further share with the readers?
Let music allow to console, to heal.
http://hellmut-hattler.com/?fbclid=IwAR2Jw2gLXEZc19SJaHnwVuu2RmQ4BlgY83d-D1E-IrnKzstpUur0iVVfeRk
