H.N.A.S.

Biography

H.N.A.S., the German group closely associated with spliced cut-up masters like Nurse with Wound and Coil, pursued a similar object from their inception in the early '80s. The duo of Christoph Heemann and Achim P. Li Khan (aka Achim Flaan) formed the group, named it hirsche nicht aus sofa (the German is roughly translated as Moose Without a Sofa), and began issuing scads of cassette-only releases on their own Dom Records.

Their first major album, 1985's Abwassermusik reflected an interest in collages of samples, tape loops and found sounds, often repeated ad infinitum. For 1986's Melchior, an expanded H.N.A.S. lineup worked with the very sympathetic Steven Stapleton (of Nurse with Wound) and issued the album on Stapleton's United Dairies labels. The group released two more LPs during 1986-87, Im Schatten Der Möhre and Küttel im Frost (both on Dom).

Meanwhile, Heemann had begun working farther afield, with an assortment of figures in the noise underground. He recorded a remix-by-mail project with Merzbow (Sleeper Awake on the Edge of the Abyss), appeared with Illusion of Safety, recorded with H.N.A.S.'s own Andreas Martin, and released work as Mimir with Legendary Pink Dots mainman Edward Ka-Spel. Heemann's first solo work, the 1992 EP Über Den Umgang Mit Umgebung und Andere Versuche (released on Robot Records), effectively ended H.N.A.S. as a recording entity (though Achim P. Li Khan continued with two projects, Damenbart and Brigitte). ~ John Bush, All Music Guide