RIP John Kerr

John was suffering for a long time. But in late years he was very active and was very positive as he could in his difficult health situation. He has done his best to go away like a star on high note. He is awesome! Now he can rest and relax in peace! Sweet dreams, John!

No, he was not.

Stephen

Interestingly, he told me that he had actually wanted to quit making music after Citadel because he thought he had said everything there was to be said, but: he had just had a couple of jam sessions with a young Dutchman named Ron Boots. That had turned out to be more fun than expected, maybe something might develop from that after all, who knows. By late 1990, Offshore Islands was released, and all of a sudden, John found himself right in the focus of attention - after that, I personally wasn't all too fond of his music anymore (which was probably due to the modernised range of sounds that bordered on the kitschy, treading pseudo-orchestral grounds more often than once). I often found myself thinking that he probably should have quit after Citadel, but then again, his success proved him right.

He was also a key figure in my own technical development: In an interview with Winfrid Trenkler in April 1989 (five days before I bought a Minimoog), he revealed which instrument he used for his electronic choir sounds - the Roland VP-330 Vocoder Plus! I had already been bowled over by these sounds on some Kitaro albums, and now I finally knew which instrument that was! It was clear to me that I needed to have a VP-330 (which adorned the number plate on my car for years btw). And not only that one, also a Roland TR-808 and an RE-501 Chorus Echo as well as a Yamaha CS50 - all of these ended up here over the years (and some of them have actually come to stay). The quieter part of my 1992 cassette Polarity was all about John's music – you probably wouldn't believe when listening to the stuff I make nowadays. John himself sold his old junk around 1998 (I could have bought his CS50 back then, but I was broke all the time), and the VP-330 went to a Dutch electronic music performer ... I was always amazed at how much John did with that little equipment, and how highly recognisable his sonic trademark was, thanks to the instruments used.

In the mid-1990s - I think it was 1994/95 - the horror news that John had suffered a serious heart attack went around. Among the many wishes for recovery, there were mine, and eventually, we happened to meet for a chat. There, John told me something very wise: At some point in your life, you will have your car, your sofa, your home stereo, and whatever you might wish for, but you should always ask yourself whether it is worth the price you have to pay for it in terms of workload and lifetime. The price had been too high for him, he quit working as a freelance graphic designer and, from then on, focussed exclusively on making music. Fortunately, his friend and long-time partner Rob was earning enough money to make this step a manageable risk. The success he had in his second life proved him right.

John will not just stay with me as a guilty pleasure - Reflections and Citadel in the CD player alongside all sorts of weird off-the-wall stuff? - but as someone who moved me a lot on a subtle level, not just musically. And I've never felt guilty when I am to listen to good, solid, sincere musicianship at work.