Christoph Gallio – Sunday Interview

© Beat Streuli, Zürich 2013

1. What is your greatest joy in improvised music?
   
   The greatest joy is that you can move freely musically - without taboos and restrictions that could come from outside. The freedom also becomes greater and greater - it grows with experience.
   
   
2. What quality do you most admire in the musicians you perform with?
   
   That's her ability, her musicality - her flexibility but also her humanity...we have to understand each other - I don't mean that we think the same or something - but a basic trust has to be there for me...I have to be an accomplice in certain moments...
   
   
3. Which historical musician/composer do you admire the most?
   
   That's a difficult question...it's less about admiration - more about recognition of an artistic achievement or position...there are many musicians and composers who I think are very good and who definitely have the potential to inspire me...;-)...
   
   
4. If you could resurrect a musician to perform with, who would it be?
   
   Urs Voerkel
   
   
5. What would you still like to achieve musically in your life?
   
   More freedom!
   
   
6. Are you interested in popular music and - if yes - what music/artist do you particularly like
   
   Yes, I've always been interested in pop music! I like a lot of it! I have CDs and LPs lying around from the following artists: Patty Davis, Jimi Hendrix, The Meters, Wetleg, Geese, Black Midi, Brian Eno, Nadine Shah, Joan as a police woman, St. Vincent, Yoko Ono, Joni Mitchell, The Slits, Unknown Mix, Fela Kuti, Talking Heads....
   
   
7. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?
   
   My impatience
   
   
8. Which of your albums are you most proud of?
   
   Well, there's no album that I couldn't stand more...I think everything is pretty good, quite immodestly. I recently listened to one of my first releases. I wanted to check the validity, see if this position and aesthetic was still right for me. I was pleasantly surprised! It's Christoph Gallio // certainty sympathy (1988)...
   
   
9. Once an album of yours is released, do you still listen to it? And how often?
   
   No, very rarely. I'm not one of those people who first introduce a guest to their latest record...;-)...I often have trouble listening to myself. In retrospect. Sure, when I'm editing I'm forced to listen to myself and everyone else .... until I can't hear it anymore.
   
   
10. Which album (from any musician) have you listened to the most in your life?
    
    It sounds cheesy, but I think it's Coltrane Love Supreme - a masterpiece in itself!
    
    
11. What are you listening to at the moment?
    
    The above pop productions and new music from the late 60s: Cardew, Berio, Kagel, Ferrari, Alois Zimmermann, Lutoslawski, Schnebel, Holliger, Brown, Cage, Stockhausen...also a lot of jazz too…
    
    
12. What artist outside music inspires you?
    
    Art! The whole Fluxus scene, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, Vallotton, Silvia Bächli, Dieter Roth, Fischli/Weiss, Thomas Schütte, Alex Katz, Friedrich Kuhn, Muz Zeier, woodcuts (Japanese from the Edo period, but also from turn-of-the-century Europe)...and many more!
    
    But also poetry: Gertrude Stein, Friederike Mayröcker, Paul Celan, Robert Filliou etc.
    
    

Recordings by Christoph Gallio reviewed on the Free Jazz Blog:

• Christoph Gallio, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders – Live at Café Oto London (ezz-thetics, 2023)
• Markus Eichenberger and Christoph Gallio – Unison Polyphony (ezz-thetics, 2022)
• Day & Taxi – Run, the Darkness Will Come! (Pergaso, 2021)
• Christoph Gallio – Soziale Musik (Vexer Verlag, 2010)