The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble

The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble

The Brandt Brauer Frick Ensemble is a Berlin-based electronic group active since 2008. The project centres on Daniel Brandt, Jan Brauer and Paul Frick, and works with a classically informed approach to electronic music, using drums, strings and pianos as its core materials. Its music combines acoustic instrumentation with the precise rhythm and structure associated with club music.

Origins and formation

Daniel Brandt and Jan Brauer first work together in school jazz ensembles, and later form the jazz-influenced dance group Scott. Paul Frick grows up in a classical environment, studies composition with Friedrich Goldmann at the Berlin University of the Arts, and also writes house music that samples orchestral sounds. After the three meet in Berlin in 2008, they form a shared project built around classical forms, techno structures and prepared instruments.

Style and method

The group’s work focuses on the sonic qualities of orchestral instruments rather than on conventional synthesiser-based techno. It often uses prepared piano, percussion made from striking different parts of instruments, and techniques associated with composers such as John Cage and Helmut Lachenmann. Their music is described through its rhythmic precision, polymetric shifts and mechanical feel, while still being performed on acoustic instruments.

Their influences include classical composition, jazz, techno and dance music. The group’s sound is also linked to figures such as Kraftwerk, Steve Reich, Robert Hood and Jeff Mills, reflecting both minimalist composition and Detroit techno.

Releases and labels

The group releases EPs on Tartelet Records and on its own imprints, Doppelschall and The Gym. Its debut LP, You Make Me Real, appears on !K7 and serves as a major statement of the trio’s approach. The album includes tracks such as “Paparazzi”, “Caffeine”, “Heart of Stone”, “R.W. John”, the title track and “Teufelsleiter”. “Heart of Stone” features bass clarinettist Milian Vogel, and “R.W. John” uses John Cage-style piano preparation. “Teufelsleiter” draws on a baroque harmonic model.

Live performance

Brandt Brauer Frick perform their music live with the three core members playing drums, piano and other instrumental parts rather than relying on laptops. Their live setup later expands into a 10-piece ensemble of trained instrumentalists in order to realise the material more fully. The project performs in both club settings and concert or museum spaces.

Video work

The track “Bop” receives a video directed by Daniel Brandt and Julian Schleef. The video shows multiple cloned versions of the trio alongside ballerina dancers.