Conrad "Conny" Schnitzler (1937 – 4 August 2011) was a prolific German experimental musician associated with West Germany's 1970s krautrock movement. A co-founder of West Berlin's Zodiak Free Arts Lab, he was an early member of Tangerine Dream (1969–1970) and a founder of the band Kluster. He left Kluster in 1971, first working with his group Eruption and then focusing on solo works. Schnitzler participated in several collaborations with other electronic musicians.

Biography

Schnitzler was born in Düsseldorf. His father was German, his mother was Italian. He had a wife and they had three children, one of whom is son Gregor Schnitzler, who was born in 1964 in Berlin and who is a film director. Schnitzler, Dieter Moebius, and Hans-Joachim Roedelius formed Kluster in 1969 after the three had met at the Zodiak Free Arts Lab. This trio released three albums: Klopfzeichen (1970), Zwei-Osterei (1971) and Eruption (1971). When Schnitzler left the group, Roedelius and Moebius became Cluster. Around this time, Schnitzler also joined Tangerine Dream for their debut album Electronic Meditation (1970). Schnitzler provided the introductory music for Norwegian black metal band Mayhem's debut EP Deathcrush in 1987, following a meeting with teenage guitarist Euronymous in the mid-1980s. The instrumental track, entitled "Silvester Anfang", was randomly selected from Schnitzler's archive of works in progress. The piece is still played at most of the band's live shows. For many years Schnitzler appeared in the comics of Matt Howarth (particularly Savage Henry) as a member of the band The Bulldaggers. His 2006 work Moon Mummy is a collaboration with Matt Howarth based on an included PDF comic. Schnitzler died from stomach cancer on 4 August 2011 in Berlin.

Discography

1970 1971 1973 1974 1978 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1997 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2015 2016 2018 2021