Karlophone

Karlification! This article has been written, edited, double-checked or approved by Karl Koch, webmaster, historian, archivist and unofficial fifth member of Weezer. Last Karl edit: Mar. 2022

Karlophone
Background information
Birth name	Karl Michael Koch
Born	September 15, 1969 (age 54)
Years active	1991–present
Instrument(s)	Sound collage, guitar, bass, percussion
Website	Official website
Associated acts
Weezer, The Special Goodness, Southern Fried Swing

Karlophone is the main music project of Weezer associate and webmaster Karl Koch. Described by Koch as "mixed media collage in the form of mostly instrumental mellow hip-hop", Karlophone combines samples from existing recordings and original music to create songs. Karlophone is also an online alias often assumed by Koch.

Overview

Though Karlophone wouldn't begin in earnest until 1996, Koch was performing live with turntables as early as November 1992. He featured on the bill of a 10-band show that Weezer hosted at the now-defunct Alligator Lounge in Los Angeles that month. Karlophone formed from music and recording experiments started in 1996 by Karl Koch. Originally inspired by a combo of the sample and sound collage work of early '90s hip-hop and the newfound affordability of samplers and musical gear, an attempt was started to make songs out of a blend of samples and self-recorded music.

Oddly, even with no lyrics in most cases, my songs are about love, lost love, sadness, nostalgia, heavy stuff like that. I just don't realize it till they start to take shape. - Karl Koch, 2007, from an interview with Independent Music Online

The first Karlophone album, Press Any Key to Begin, was released in the fall of 2002. The album was received by a small but appreciative audience, and gained positive reviews; notably, a positive feature in France's Rock Sound magazine, and an A- review from music webzine In Music We Trust.

Karlophone's cereal (firey turnip krantulons)

In 2003, Swiss DJ Kid Chocolat contacted Koch and proposed a mutual remix project. The two collaborated, with Karlophone creating a remix (the "Num Num Mix") of Kid Chocolat's "Dr. Strangelove Sings the Beatles", which eventually saw release on the Kid Chocolat album Hello Children: The Peter Sellers RMX. Kid Chocolat would respond by remixing Karlophone's "Desire", later seeing a release as a b-side of the 7" single released of the original song. Accompanying the remix was "If You Listen", a song co-produced by Patrick Wilson under the moniker of Franklin Mint. The remix was also played on-air on November 4, 2004, as part of the "All Soul Strut" show hosted by the Stanford University radio station KZSU—"Soul Strut" being a record collecting forum frequented by Koch. In 2006, Karlophone contributed the song "How Many Minutes" to the YYY Records compilation Amazon Grace, a compilation dedicated to including exclusively 30-second songs to bypass Amazon's music preview feature. While the compilation was never actually released on Amazon, a CD was produced. Also in 2006, the previously vinyl exclusive "If You Listen" was released on the Lap Records compilation Beetbox 2: Electric Boogaloo.

By the spring of 2006, the second Karlophone album, I Must Find This Karlophone..., had begun to take shape. The process of refining and remixing was completed by November of that year. Originally slated for a Christmas release, delays eventually pushed the album to being released in early 2007. I Must Find This Karlophone... was the first Karlophone album to receive a vinyl release, which was released in a limited edition of 150 copies. Production costs prevented the album from being pressed into two records, causing the song "Indian Summer" to be cut from the release due to length issues. The songs "Tuefel-Hunden" and "The Other End of the Friend" from this album appear on the Warren Miller skiing documentary Children of Winter, alongside two Weezer songs from Weezer (The Red Album). The film was played in theaters and received DVD and Blu-ray releases, and marks the first (and only) Karlophone soundtrack appearance.

In 2009, a remix of the Weezer song "Prettiest Girl in the Whole Wide World" by Karlophone was included as a bonus track to the album Raditude, exclusively through the digital release Weezer Raditude Club: iTunes pass.

A third Karlophone release has been in the works since 2007, with a release date originally being slated for 2014. In 2022, Koch commented on the state of the project:

not scrapped, but no significant work has been accomplished since about 2016. I have a lot of material but it all needs lots of work to be finished. I will finish it and release it in the coming year(s). Going to be moving house this year, so once im set up in the new place, ill be able to get things fired up again. - Karl Koch, 2022

Discography

Albums

• Press Any Key to Begin (2002)
• I Must Find This Karlophone... (2007)

Singles

• "Desire" (2004)

Appearances

• Hello Children: The Peter Sellers RMX (2004) ("Dr. Strangelove Sings the Beatles Pt. 1 (Num Num Mix)")
• Amazon Grace (2006) ("How Many Minutes")
• Beetbox 2: Electric Boogaloo (2006) ("If You Listen")
• Children of Winter (film) (2008) ("Tuefel-Hunden" and "The Other End of the Friend" appear on soundtrack)
• Weezer Raditude Club: iTunes pass (2009) ("The Prettiest Girl in the Whole Wide World (Karlophone Remix)")

See also

• Karl Koch
• List of Karl Koch songs
• Amorphous Records
• Southern Fried Swing

External Links

• Official Site
• Karlophone on YouTube
• Karlophone on Twitter