Craig Wuest
Encyclopedia
Craig Wuest is an American
keyboardist currently based in Atlanta
, Georgia
. He is best known as the founder and leader of the electronic music
group Earthstar
during the 1970s and 1980s. Earthstar was only American band who participated in Germany
's Kosmische Musik/electronic music scene while still at its height.
, New York. According to former Earthstar guitarist Dennis Rea
in the early 1970s Wuest was among the first musicians in Utica who owned a synthesizer
. Wuest was heavily influenced by the German electronic music scene of the 1970s, including Klaus Schulze
, Popol Vuh
, Harmonia
, Tangerine Dream
, and Kraftwerk
. Around the same time Rea had founded what he describes as an "eccentric progressive rock band," Zuir. According to Rea, "...being the only two adventurous music acts in town, collaboration between Craig and the members of Zuir was inevitable." Earthstar was born out of the partnership of Wuest, Rea, and other Utica-area musicians. In 1977 Earthstar was signed by Nashville-based Moontower Records, who released the group's first album, Salterbarty Tales
, the following year.
, the group's second album, While much of French Skyline was recorded at Klaus Schulze studios in Hambühren
, West Germany
, Schulze's label never signed Earthstar. The group was instead signed by Hamburg
-based Sky Records
.
The group recorded four albums primarily in Germany and France
for Sky: French Skyline (1989), Atomkraft? Nein, Danke!
(1981), Humans Only
(1982), and Sleeper, the Nightlifer, which was never released. The New Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock credits Wuest as being the mastermind behind Earthstar's sound and comments on French Skyline and Atomkraft? Nein, Danke!: "Wuest's vision propels these two albums, his desire apparently is to create music that doesn't necessarily suggest a particular instrument, rather creates a new texture." Wuest co-produced French Skyline with Klaus Schulze and served as producer for the other Earthstar albums recorded during this period.
Wuest is also notable for his heavy use of the mellotron
and the Birotron
, a very rare tape loop instrument which could sustain notes beyond eight seconds. Wuest was the only keyboardist at the time other than Rick Wakeman
who recorded albums on which he played the Birotron.
samples of the music were included on the Web site. They revealed a conventional, melodic, controlled electronic music sound. It is likely that by this point Earthstar had become Wuest's solo project. However, no record of the release of Axiom or any other later works can be found.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
keyboardist currently based in Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
, Georgia
Georgia (U.S. state)
Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...
. He is best known as the founder and leader of the electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
group Earthstar
Earthstar (band)
Earthstar was an electronic music group originally from Utica, New York, in the United States. Earthstar was encouraged by Krautrock/Kosmische Musik/electronic music artist, composer, and producer Klaus Schulze to relocate to Germany where they were signed by Sky Records. Schulze produced their...
during the 1970s and 1980s. Earthstar was only American band who participated in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
's Kosmische Musik/electronic music scene while still at its height.
Early career
Wuest is originally from UticaUtica, New York
Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....
, New York. According to former Earthstar guitarist Dennis Rea
Dennis Rea
Dennis Rea is an American guitarist, writer and music event organizer currently living in Seattle. Rea first came to prominence as a member of the electronic music group Earthstar in the late 1970s and early 1980s. He is probably best known in the West as a musician for his work with the quintet...
in the early 1970s Wuest was among the first musicians in Utica who owned a synthesizer
Synthesizer
A synthesizer is an electronic instrument capable of producing sounds by generating electrical signals of different frequencies. These electrical signals are played through a loudspeaker or set of headphones...
. Wuest was heavily influenced by the German electronic music scene of the 1970s, including Klaus Schulze
Klaus Schulze
Klaus Schulze is a German electronic music composer and musician. He also used the alias Richard Wahnfried. He was briefly a member of the electronic bands Tangerine Dream and Ash Ra Tempel before launching a solo career consisting of more than 60 albums released across five decades.-1970s:In...
, Popol Vuh
Popol Vuh (German band)
Popol Vuh was a German electronic avantgarde band, in the mainstream-media so called Krautrock, founded by pianist and keyboardist Florian Fricke in 1969 together with Holger Trülzsch and Frank Fiedler...
, Harmonia
Harmonia (band)
Harmonia is a Krautrock supergroup from Germany. They formed as a collaboration between Michael Rother of Neu! and Hans-Joachim Roedelius and Dieter Möbius of Cluster and later included the British musician Brian Eno.-Musical style:...
, Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream
Tangerine Dream is a German electronic music group founded in 1967 by Edgar Froese. The band has undergone many personnel changes over the years, with Froese being the only continuous member...
, and Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
. Around the same time Rea had founded what he describes as an "eccentric progressive rock band," Zuir. According to Rea, "...being the only two adventurous music acts in town, collaboration between Craig and the members of Zuir was inevitable." Earthstar was born out of the partnership of Wuest, Rea, and other Utica-area musicians. In 1977 Earthstar was signed by Nashville-based Moontower Records, who released the group's first album, Salterbarty Tales
Salterbarty Tales
Salterbarty Tales is the debut album by the American electronic band Earthstar. Salterbarty Tales was recorded in 1977 and 1978 and released by Moontower Records in 1978. The album is the only release to feature significant grand piano sections performed by Craig Wuest with relatively basic...
, the following year.
Earthstar in Germany
Craig Wuest was an admirer of electronic music pioneer Klaus Schulze, with whom he struck up a correspondence. Schulze encouraged Wuest and Earthstar to come to Germany, intending to sign them to his Innovative Communications record label. Wuest sold his grand piano, which had played a prominent part on Salterbarty Tales, to finance the move. Other Earthstar musicians joined Wuest in Germany to work on French SkylineFrench Skyline
French Skyline is the second full-length album by the American electronic band Earthstar. It was their first release for Hamburg, Germany–based Sky Records....
, the group's second album, While much of French Skyline was recorded at Klaus Schulze studios in Hambühren
Hambühren
Hambühren is a municipality in the district of Celle, in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated approx. west of Celle.It is a very pleasant village to live in with many amenities....
, West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, Schulze's label never signed Earthstar. The group was instead signed by Hamburg
Hamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
-based Sky Records
Sky Records
Sky Records was a Hamburg, Germany based independent record label specializing in Krautrock/Kosmische Musik and electronic music. Some of their releases could be classified as progressive rock or art rock, experimental music, industrial, ambient, or New Age...
.
The group recorded four albums primarily in Germany and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
for Sky: French Skyline (1989), Atomkraft? Nein, Danke!
Atomkraft? Nein, Danke!
Atomkraft? Nein, Danke! is the third full-length album by the American electronic band Earthstar. It was their second release for the Hamburg, Germany-based Sky Records on February 1, 1981. Atomkraft? Nein, Danke! was recorded during 1979 and 1980 at Deponté la Rue Studio in Paris, France, and IC...
(1981), Humans Only
Humans Only
Humans Only is the fourth full-length album by the American electronic band Earthstar. It was their third and final release for Hamburg-based Sky Records ....
(1982), and Sleeper, the Nightlifer, which was never released. The New Gibraltar Encyclopedia of Progressive Rock credits Wuest as being the mastermind behind Earthstar's sound and comments on French Skyline and Atomkraft? Nein, Danke!: "Wuest's vision propels these two albums, his desire apparently is to create music that doesn't necessarily suggest a particular instrument, rather creates a new texture." Wuest co-produced French Skyline with Klaus Schulze and served as producer for the other Earthstar albums recorded during this period.
Wuest is also notable for his heavy use of the mellotron
Mellotron
The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical, polyphonic tape replay keyboard originally developed and built in Birmingham, England in the early 1960s. It superseded the Chamberlin Music Master, which was the world's first sample-playback keyboard intended for music...
and the Birotron
Birotron
The Birotron is a tape replay keyboard conceived by Dave Biro of Yalesville, Connecticut, USA, and funded by Rick Wakeman of the progressive-rock group Yes, and Campbell Soup Company-Pepperidge Farm Foods in the mid-late 1970s....
, a very rare tape loop instrument which could sustain notes beyond eight seconds. Wuest was the only keyboardist at the time other than Rick Wakeman
Rick Wakeman
Richard Christopher Wakeman is an English keyboard player, composer and songwriter best known for being the former keyboardist in the progressive rock band Yes...
who recorded albums on which he played the Birotron.
Later works
After returning to the United States Wuest continued to compose, play, and record electronic music. A now defunct earthstarmusic.com Web site listed later releases; one in particular, Axiom, which was listed as following Humans Only, had clearly been recorded and MP3MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
samples of the music were included on the Web site. They revealed a conventional, melodic, controlled electronic music sound. It is likely that by this point Earthstar had become Wuest's solo project. However, no record of the release of Axiom or any other later works can be found.
In Earthstar
- 1978 Salterbarty TalesSalterbarty TalesSalterbarty Tales is the debut album by the American electronic band Earthstar. Salterbarty Tales was recorded in 1977 and 1978 and released by Moontower Records in 1978. The album is the only release to feature significant grand piano sections performed by Craig Wuest with relatively basic...
(studio album) - 1979 French SkylineFrench SkylineFrench Skyline is the second full-length album by the American electronic band Earthstar. It was their first release for Hamburg, Germany–based Sky Records....
(studio album) - 1981 Atomkraft? Nein, Danke!Atomkraft? Nein, Danke!Atomkraft? Nein, Danke! is the third full-length album by the American electronic band Earthstar. It was their second release for the Hamburg, Germany-based Sky Records on February 1, 1981. Atomkraft? Nein, Danke! was recorded during 1979 and 1980 at Deponté la Rue Studio in Paris, France, and IC...
(studio album) - 1982 Humans OnlyHumans OnlyHumans Only is the fourth full-length album by the American electronic band Earthstar. It was their third and final release for Hamburg-based Sky Records ....
(studio album)