JOCHEN RUECKERT

by John Ferris Jochen Rueckert was born in 1975 near Koln, German and started playing drums at age 6. In 1995 he moved to Brookyn, NY where he lives now. He does not own Kid A and has many moods to choose from.

Jochen plays with jazz bands like Kurt Rosenwinkel Quintet, Marc Copland Trio, Nils Wogram, Root 70, etc., with Nublu favorite I Led 3 Lives, Germany’s electro band ìpluramonî and burnt friedman and ìflanger.î Jochen also plays bass for indie rock band ìworldclass.î He programs electronic music as ìwolff-parkinson-whiteî and has done various remixes of Nublu artists.

JOHN FARRIS: So, Jochen.

JOCHEN RUECKERT: Yes.

JF: You’re playing Nublu. How did you meet Ilhan?

JR: We met playing jazz at Sweet Basil about 8 years ago.

JF: Oh yeah?

JR: Or something like that.

JF: So now you are in how many of his bands?

JR: Well, two I guess. Or three. That would be Love Trio. I Led 3 Lives and Wax Poetic.

JF: And what band were you playing with when you met?

JR: He had this jazz gig at Sweet Basil. Brunch on Sundays.

JF: How did you meet him?

JR: He was playing that brunch gig and I used to swing by there and sit in. And then he started calling me. I had friends there like the bass player, Joe Martin.

JF: How long had you been here in the States?

JR: About 10 years?

JF: Oh, you had been here. Who were you playing with when you came?

JR: Nobody really. I just sat around for a while. I used to do these really small gigs. The first really bigger gig was with the Marc Copland Trio -- that piano player. He used to play there on Monday nights.

JF: How did you make the transition from jazz to what you are playing now? What compelled you to do that?

JR: It was really just Nublu. People were here and people want to dance. It really just happened because we were at this club. It wasn’t intentional. It was here and people were dancing and we said what should we play? So we decided to play something people could dance to. I got a computer and I was like what can I do with this, I guess dance music.

JF: Who is this band comprised of?

JR: This right now is just me and this guy Brian who usually just plays organ and synthesizer and stuff, for now. This is our second or third gig. We are throwing things together.

JF: What do you like about that?

JR: I like playing with two people because it makes the music kind of sparse. The more sparse it is, the more punchy it gets. It gets a certain punch. With two people just looking at each other, it’s easy to switch from one type of section to another. Because we’re just improvising. There are no tunes or anything. So, two people make it more easy to change things on the spot.

JF: What keeps you playing this?

JR: Because NuBlu is here and I am in town and because people want to dance. I want to play for them. It’s really a NuBlu specific type of thing. I wouldn’t want to do this in concert.

JF: Who is this playing with you there?

JR: His name is Brian Carrette. He’s like an old school organ player. He does a lot of sort of groovy, kind of soul jazz/bluesy gigs. He’s really into that kind of stuff, so I’m working with that stuff with him.

JF: So how long have you been doing the backbeat thing?

JR: You mean this type of music? I’ve been playing with Wax Poetic forever. But the stuff with the computer, that unfortunately didn’t happen until my computer was broken.

JF: So if your computer is not working that really inhibits you?

JR: For this particular gig, yes. I’m kind of like a DJ who also plays drums. Not a DJ, but like I mix things together until I have something established and then I play drums and then I go back and forth between playing the computer and playing drums. Then it’s good because then you just play drums. Because working with the computer at the same time you are playing drums does inhibit you.

JF: So you’re probably going to say you like playing with all of your bands if I say which bands do you like playing with the most.

JR: There is very little that I do that I don’t like. Virtually nothing.

JF: What do you play most?

JR: Most of times I play straight-ahead jazz. Fifty-percent of the time I play straight-ahead jazz -- what would be considered acoustic jazz.

JF: What other bands do you play with besides Ilhan’s?

JR: I still play in Marc Copland’s Trio. I play with this guy from Zurich named Nils Wogram, he plays trombone. I play with Kurt Rosenwinkel.

JF: How old are you?

JR: I’m 30 now.

JF: When did you start playing? And what were you doing in Germany?

JR: I started playing when I was around 6.

JF: Who did you listen to?

JR: I didn’t listen to jazz until I was around 15 or 16.

JF: And who did you listen to then?

JR: Well, the shittiest -- I was into the funkiest music. Like ‘80s shitty, funky fusion music. Stuff that really disgusts me these days. That kind of stuff.

JF: And then who did you start listening to?

JR: Like ‘60s jazz. Whatever my family was playing.

JF: So your family played music?

JR: My Dad is quite a music collector and my brother is a jazz pianist.

JF: So, yeah what’s his name?

JR: Thomas.

JF: So is he in Germany?

JR: Yes, he’s still there.

JF: So what you brought to America?

JR: I came to visit a friend and stayed. I was, like, fuck Germany.

JF: Are you legal? (laughter)

JR: Absolutely, 100%. I guess I was lucky, I got legal before 9/11.

JF: So who informed your style?

JR: On the jazz side Tony Williams, I guess. I’m really, really into Tony.

JF: From his Lifetime days? From Miles?

JR: Miles up to about ‘69, I guess.

JF: Do you like Lifetime?

JR: I do like Lifetime, it’s like a really different kind of thing. It took me a while to kind of get into it.

JF: Did you ever play with any of your heroes?

JR: I play with the younger guys. I play with Josh Redman. Pat Metheny. I play with Brecker. You know, it’s not like I play with Coltrane. Those people I love like that are mostly all dead.

JF: So I heard you playing with I Led 3 Lives. Do you like that?

JR: Yes, very much. I like it because there’s nothing to lay back on. There are no tunes or nothing. You just go.