Remembering Holger Czukay and U-She

We were extremely sad to hear about the passing of Holger Czukay earlier this week and, according to an announcement from CAN – Spoon Records, that U-She, his wife, had passed away only weeks before. We came in contact with Holger in the late 90s proposing a collaboration. It was a long shot, obviously, but he responded positively, suggesting he would cross the Atlantic on an Icelandic pony. While collaboration never came to fruition, we corresponded sporadically over the years. Holger was always warm and generous and we learnt, among other things, how he had loved Icelandic children’s author Jon Sveinsson, or Nonni, when he was little. He also mentioned a certain Sveinsson he had met while they studied with Stockhausen in 1964. This can’t have been anyone other than Icelandic composer Atli Heimir Sveinsson. When Reptilicus played in Bonn in early 1998, Holger and U-She invited us over for tea in nearby Cologne. We ended up spending the whole night together, going out for dinner and back to their home-studio, listening to stories and talking music and, generally, just being inspired. In the early hours of the morning, they drove us back to Bonn in an old Mercedes. A night we will never forget.