Daniel Vahnke
Encyclopedia
Daniel Vahnke is a Canadian composer
and lyricist
. He is best known as a co-founding member of Vampire Rodents
, a band that integrated elements of classical
, ambient
, and industrial
music into its work. Daniel is fluent in German
, Latin
and Chinese
, all of which are used in his compositions.
in Toronto
while working on piano pieces based on Chinese character stroke analysis. After the purchase of his first Roland S-50, Daniel became fascinated with Sample Based Composition, considering it a cleaner, safer, and more efficient method of creating music. In 1988 he created Vampire Rodents with his friend Victor Wulf, who had been writing experimental pop music, as a form of entertainment. However, the band soon developed into a creative outlet for Daniel's darkly humorous lyrics as well as his somewhat Anti-human ideals.
His last commercially available project, Papa Woody
, was released in 1996 under the name Ether Bunny, although it was basically a solo effort. Serving as his personal tribute to the cartoon and jazz music, Vahnke claims to have been more satisfied with his work on Papa Woody than on any Vampire Rodents album, calling Clockseed
and Gravity's Rim
as commercial as U2
. A collaboration with Athan Maroulis
called Alchemia, later re-named Obsidian, was planned for release in 1997 but never came into fruition. The overall project was described as a SBC and LTG approach to The Blue Nile
with string orchestra. Also, a completely instrumental Vampire Rodent album was completed the same year, but like the Alcemia/Obsidian project was shelved indefinitely.
Although he rarely watches movies or television, Daniel remains an admirer of cartoons. His favorite films are Life of Brian, RocketMan
, The Incredible Mr. Limpet
, Shaun of the Dead
, and Incredible Shrinking Man. However, Daniel has claimed that "Most films are best enjoyed played in reverse with several CD players playing random damaged CD's as an augmented soundtrack."
, Daniel uses a Roland S-50 and a Commodore 64
to create his music. Unlike other artists who use a similar technique, he has been noted for "tweaking and twisting originals to create something new instead of simply relying on a familiar hook for instant recognition." Although occasionally being listed as Industrial
, Daniel has stated that it does not define his work, noting that he has paid very little attention to the scene.
Daniel's musical influences range from cartoon music (Milt Franklyn
, Carl Stalling
), impressionist music
(Claude Debussy
, Maurice Ravel
), avant-garde
(György Ligeti
, Luigi Nono
, Edgard Varèse
), electronic
(Luciano Berio
, Tod Dockstader
, İlhan Mimaroğlu
, Karlheinz Stockhausen
), classical
(Johann Sebastian Bach
, Igor Stravinsky
), ambient
(Steve Roach
), as well as big band music (Benny Goodman
). Vahnke has also admitted to admiring modern rock artists such as The Young Gods
, Einstürzende Neubauten
, Tom Waits
, Sigur Rós
, and The Blue Nile
.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
and lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
. He is best known as a co-founding member of Vampire Rodents
Vampire Rodents
Vampire Rodents was the name of an industrial music and experimental rock band formed in Phoenix, Arizona, although it's core members originally came from Canada. The band was formed by singer, guitarist and composer Daniel Vahnke and keyboardest Victor Wulf. Andrea Akastia joined after the...
, a band that integrated elements of classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
, ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
, and industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
music into its work. Daniel is fluent in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
, Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
, all of which are used in his compositions.
History
Before forming the band, Daniel Vahnke studied anthropologyAnthropology
Anthropology is the study of humanity. It has origins in the humanities, the natural sciences, and the social sciences. The term "anthropology" is from the Greek anthrōpos , "man", understood to mean mankind or humanity, and -logia , "discourse" or "study", and was first used in 1501 by German...
in Toronto
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
while working on piano pieces based on Chinese character stroke analysis. After the purchase of his first Roland S-50, Daniel became fascinated with Sample Based Composition, considering it a cleaner, safer, and more efficient method of creating music. In 1988 he created Vampire Rodents with his friend Victor Wulf, who had been writing experimental pop music, as a form of entertainment. However, the band soon developed into a creative outlet for Daniel's darkly humorous lyrics as well as his somewhat Anti-human ideals.
His last commercially available project, Papa Woody
Papa Woody
Papa Woody is the first and only studio album by Ether Bunny, released on April 18, 1996 through Fifth Colvmn Records. It is the project of Daniel Vahnke, who is primarily known for his work in Vampire Rodents.-Recording:...
, was released in 1996 under the name Ether Bunny, although it was basically a solo effort. Serving as his personal tribute to the cartoon and jazz music, Vahnke claims to have been more satisfied with his work on Papa Woody than on any Vampire Rodents album, calling Clockseed
Clockseed
- Accolades :- Personnel :Vampire Rodents* Andrea Akastia – cello, violin* Daniel Vahnke – guitar, vocals * Victor Wulf – piano, synthesizerAdditional musicians and production...
and Gravity's Rim
Gravity's Rim
-Personnel:Vampire Rodents*Andrea Akastia – cello, violin*Daniel Vahnke – vocals, guitar, bass guitar, sampler*Victor Wulf – piano, synthesizer, organAdditional musicians and production...
as commercial as U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
. A collaboration with Athan Maroulis
Athan Maroulis
Athanasios Demetrios Maroulis is an actor, vocalist and record producer born in Brooklyn, New York. He is the older brother of singer Constantine Maroulis....
called Alchemia, later re-named Obsidian, was planned for release in 1997 but never came into fruition. The overall project was described as a SBC and LTG approach to The Blue Nile
The Blue Nile
The Blue Nile is an adult alternative/pop band from Glasgow. The music of The Blue Nile is built heavily on synthesizers and electronic instrumentation and percussion, although later works featured acoustic guitar more prominently.-Early years:...
with string orchestra. Also, a completely instrumental Vampire Rodent album was completed the same year, but like the Alcemia/Obsidian project was shelved indefinitely.
Personal life
To give his vocal "characters" an individual identity, he decided to work under the alias Anton Rathausen.Although he rarely watches movies or television, Daniel remains an admirer of cartoons. His favorite films are Life of Brian, RocketMan
RocketMan
RocketMan is a 1997 science fiction comedy film that was produced by Walt Disney Pictures and Caravan Pictures and released on October 10, 1997. The film was shot on location at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas and in Moab, Utah for the scenes on the surface on Mars.The film was a...
, The Incredible Mr. Limpet
The Incredible Mr. Limpet
The Incredible Mr. Limpet is a 1964 American live-action/animated film from Warner Bros. It is about a man named Henry Limpet who turns into a talking fish resembling a tilefish and helps the U.S. Navy locate and destroy Nazi submarines. Don Knotts plays the title character. The live action was...
, Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead
Shaun of the Dead is a 2004 British zombie comedy directed by Edgar Wright, starring Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, and written by Pegg and Wright. Pegg plays Shaun, a man attempting to get some kind of focus in his life as he deals with his girlfriend, his mother and stepfather...
, and Incredible Shrinking Man. However, Daniel has claimed that "Most films are best enjoyed played in reverse with several CD players playing random damaged CD's as an augmented soundtrack."
Musical style and influences
Working mostly with samplesSampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
, Daniel uses a Roland S-50 and a Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
to create his music. Unlike other artists who use a similar technique, he has been noted for "tweaking and twisting originals to create something new instead of simply relying on a familiar hook for instant recognition." Although occasionally being listed as Industrial
Industrial music
Industrial music is a style of experimental music that draws on transgressive and provocative themes. The term was coined in the mid-1970s with the founding of Industrial Records by the band Throbbing Gristle, and the creation of the slogan "industrial music for industrial people". In general, the...
, Daniel has stated that it does not define his work, noting that he has paid very little attention to the scene.
Daniel's musical influences range from cartoon music (Milt Franklyn
Milt Franklyn
Milton J. Franklyn was a musical composer and arranger who worked on the Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes animated cartoons....
, Carl Stalling
Carl Stalling
Carl W. Stalling was an American composer and arranger for music in animated films. He is most closely associated with the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies shorts produced by Warner Bros., where he averaged one complete score each week, for 22 years.-Biography:Stalling was born to Ernest and...
), impressionist music
Impressionist music
Impressionism in music was a tendency in European classical music, mainly in France, which appeared in the late nineteenth century and continued into the middle of the twentieth century. Similarly to its precursor in the visual arts, musical impressionism focuses on a suggestion and an atmosphere...
(Claude Debussy
Claude Debussy
Claude-Achille Debussy was a French composer. Along with Maurice Ravel, he was one of the most prominent figures working within the field of impressionist music, though he himself intensely disliked the term when applied to his compositions...
, Maurice Ravel
Maurice Ravel
Joseph-Maurice Ravel was a French composer known especially for his melodies, orchestral and instrumental textures and effects...
), avant-garde
Avant-garde music
Avant-garde music is a term used to characterize music which is thought to be ahead of its time, i.e. containing innovative elements or fusing different genres....
(György Ligeti
György Ligeti
György Sándor Ligeti was a composer of contemporary classical music. Born in a Hungarian Jewish family in Transylvania, Romania, he briefly lived in Hungary before becoming an Austrian citizen.-Early life:...
, Luigi Nono
Luigi Nono
Luigi Nono was an Italian avant-garde composer of classical music and remains one of the most prominent composers of the 20th century.- Early years :Born in Venice, he was a member of a wealthy artistic family, and his grandfather was a notable painter...
, Edgard Varèse
Edgard Varèse
Edgard Victor Achille Charles Varèse, , whose name was also spelled Edgar Varèse , was an innovative French-born composer who spent the greater part of his career in the United States....
), electronic
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...
(Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio
Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian composer. He is noted for his experimental work and also for his pioneering work in electronic music.-Biography:Berio was born at Oneglia Luciano Berio, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI (October 24, 1925 – May 27, 2003) was an Italian...
, Tod Dockstader
Tod Dockstader
Tod Dockstader is an American composer of electronic music, and particularly musique concrète. He studied painting and film while at the University of Minnesota, before moving to Hollywood in 1955, to become an apprentice film editor...
, İlhan Mimaroğlu
Ilhan Mimaroglu
İlhan Mimaroğlu is a musician and composer. He was born in Istanbul, Turkey on March 11, 1926, the son of the famous architect Mimar Kemaleddin Bey depicted on the Turkish lira banknotes, denomination 20 lira, of the 2009 E-9 emission. He graduated from Galatasaray High School in 1945 and the...
, Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen
Karlheinz Stockhausen was a German composer, widely acknowledged by critics as one of the most important but also controversial composers of the 20th and early 21st centuries. Another critic calls him "one of the great visionaries of 20th-century music"...
), classical
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
(Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach
Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...
, Igor Stravinsky
Igor Stravinsky
Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ; 6 April 1971) was a Russian, later naturalized French, and then naturalized American composer, pianist, and conductor....
), ambient
Ambient music
Ambient music is a musical genre that focuses largely on the timbral characteristics of sounds, often organized or performed to evoke an "atmospheric", "visual" or "unobtrusive" quality.- History :...
(Steve Roach
Steve Roach
-Collaboration albums:-Compilation albums:* The Lost Pieces – rarities collection* Truth & Beauty: The Lost Pieces Volume Two – rarities collection* Dreaming.....
), as well as big band music (Benny Goodman
Benny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
). Vahnke has also admitted to admiring modern rock artists such as The Young Gods
The Young Gods
The Young Gods are a Swiss post-industrial band. The band's lineup has generally consisted of a vocalist, a sampler operator and a drummer. Their instrumentation often includes sampled electric guitars, drums, keyboards, and other samples. The lyrics are depicted in English, French and...
, Einstürzende Neubauten
Einstürzende Neubauten
Einstürzende Neubauten is a German post-industrial band, originally from West Berlin, formed in 1980. The group currently comprises Blixa Bargeld , Alexander Hacke , N.U...
, Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
, Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós
Sigur Rós is an Icelandic post-rock band with classicaland minimalist elements. The band is known for its ethereal sound, and frontman Jónsi Birgisson's falsetto vocals and use of bowed guitar. In January 2010, the band announced that they will be on hiatus. Since then, it has since been announced...
, and The Blue Nile
The Blue Nile
The Blue Nile is an adult alternative/pop band from Glasgow. The music of The Blue Nile is built heavily on synthesizers and electronic instrumentation and percussion, although later works featured acoustic guitar more prominently.-Early years:...
.
Vampire Rodents
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | War Music | Dossier |
| 1992 | Premonition Premonition (Vampire Rodents album) -Personnel:*Andrea Akastia – cello, violin*Daniel Vahnke – vocals, guitar, sampler*Victor Wulf – keyboards-External links:**... |
Vampire Rodents Productions |
| 1993 | Lullaby Land Lullaby Land -Accolades:-Personnel:Vampire Rodents*Andrea Akastia – cello, violin*Daniel Vahnke – vocals, sampler, guitar*Victor Wulf – pianoAdditional musicians and production*Marc C... |
Re-Constriction Re-Constriction Records Re-Constriction Records was a division of Cargo Music basd in California. The label was founded in 1991 and headed by Chase, who was previously the Music Director at KCR, a student radio station on the campus of San Diego State University.-History:... |
| 1995 | Clockseed Clockseed - Accolades :- Personnel :Vampire Rodents* Andrea Akastia – cello, violin* Daniel Vahnke – guitar, vocals * Victor Wulf – piano, synthesizerAdditional musicians and production... |
Re-Constriction Re-Constriction Records Re-Constriction Records was a division of Cargo Music basd in California. The label was founded in 1991 and headed by Chase, who was previously the Music Director at KCR, a student radio station on the campus of San Diego State University.-History:... |
| 1996 | Gravity's Rim Gravity's Rim -Personnel:Vampire Rodents*Andrea Akastia – cello, violin*Daniel Vahnke – vocals, guitar, bass guitar, sampler*Victor Wulf – piano, synthesizer, organAdditional musicians and production... |
Fifth Colvmn Fifth Colvmn Records Fifth Colvmn Records was a record label based in Washington, DC. Formed in 1990 by nightclub owner and entrepreneur Zalman Fishman, the label's first release was Chemlab's debut EP Ten Ton Pressure... |
Ether Bunny
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Papa Woody Papa Woody Papa Woody is the first and only studio album by Ether Bunny, released on April 18, 1996 through Fifth Colvmn Records. It is the project of Daniel Vahnke, who is primarily known for his work in Vampire Rodents.-Recording:... |
Fifth Colvmn Fifth Colvmn Records Fifth Colvmn Records was a record label based in Washington, DC. Formed in 1990 by nightclub owner and entrepreneur Zalman Fishman, the label's first release was Chemlab's debut EP Ten Ton Pressure... |