In the summer of 1989 I played at the Buttstrasse festival with my short-lived joke-punk band K70. It was an improvised stage in a vacant lot next to the quarters of the band Die Goldenen Lemons and their label Buback at the Port of Hamburg. In the meantime, of course, the gap has been closed. In addition to my dilettante band, I loved Huah! up – and a band I didn’t know before: Kolossale Jugend.
I only understood snippets of the lyrics. Until I realized: The singer actually only sings fragments of sentences. “Rupture in everything uninterrupted / rags on the table / walking, enemies, touches, disfigured / monkey speed, drags on / walking enemies touches / better times sound good”. For the first time I was confronted with Kristof Schreuf’s poetry, which is so completely unique. He was slim, wore a shirt, jacket and shoulder-length hair and let the lyrics flow through his body.
He was funny, warm and above all enthusiastic
Although I was still in a different section in terms of youth culture, I felt: This is really cool and probably much more exciting than everything I was working on at the moment. Kolossale Jugend with Christoph Leich (later drummer with the stars), Klaus Meinhardt and Pascal Fuhlbrügge (co-founder of the L’Age d’Or label) were among the first to make the new music that I would soon discover with bands like Blumfeld and Cpt. Kirk& will delight so much.
Colossal Youth only released two albums: HEILE HEILE BOCHES (1989) and LEOPARD 2 (1990). Then they broke up. In the course of the formation of my band Tocotronic I got to know Kristof personally. He was funny, warm and above all enthusiastic. His eyes alert and a slight smile in the corners of his mouth. You could tell: This person enjoys the thoughts that arise in his head.
Kristof was certainly not uncomplicated, but it was precisely this that shaped his art
His charisma impressed Arne, Dirk and me. And soon the vocabulary was one of many newly created words in our emerging toco cosmos. In 1995 we asked him to open our first own Toco tour. He first agreed and then canceled at short notice. At the time, this created a misunderstanding for us. Kristof was certainly not uncomplicated. But it was precisely this that shaped his art: Just as he was able to efficiently generate enthusiasm in his own mind, overthinking and collapsing again were part of his character.
For this he also accepted long breaks in publication. But what was heard from him was always remarkable; 1997 saw the release of the ballad-like cover of the AC/DC classic You Shook Me All Night Long. I was impressed. That was long before the French band Nouvelle Vague achieved worldwide success with a similar idea. He later spun this thread further and released the big solo album BOURGEOIS WITH GUITAR in 2010. Back then, in 1997, SCHATZITUDE was released first, the debut album of his new band Brüllen, which unfortunately is the only one left. Listening to it again today, I am amazed at the quality and depth of this band.
Kristof always listened with interest
In 1998 I happened to meet Kristof on the platform of the Reeperbahn S-Bahn in the morning. “Jan, have you heard the new Kiss album yet? How do you think that?” (Kiss had released their album PSYCHO CIRCUS after their reunion with the original line-up). I had heard it before. Didn’t really have a right opinion and only stammered a few half-sentences to myself that I found it quite funny that they were suddenly so oriented towards grunge. Kristof listened with interest to what I had to say and what I didn’t have to say. Because Kristof always listened with interest. This also set him apart from many of his contemporaries, who preferred to hear themselves speak. We got on the S-Bahn and he started. “Jan, but don’t you agree: The concept of the circus is always dubious!” He proved his thesis. Brilliant and quirky.
At some point I had to get off. He called something after me through the closing door, which I no longer understood. But the thesis that “the concept of the circus is dubious” has stuck with me to this day. Kristof could be serious without forgetting his wit and he was never cynical. It was not uncomplicated and often awkward. His lyrics were always open and enable the listener to progress in their own thinking. And his singing had a much wider spectrum than the intellectual hitters of the Colossal Youth would have you believe. He was capable of tremendous gentleness. His journalistic texts (Finally, a wonderful review of a Reinhard Mey concert) always opened a lot of doors for me. Kristof passed away unexpectedly on November 9th. We will miss him.
Regarding Jan Müller’s “Reflector” podcast: www.viertausendhertz.de/reflektor
This column also appears in the Musikexpress issue 01/2023, which will be available from December 8th at kiosks everywhere and also can be ordered at home.