Kraus (also known as Pat Kraus, formerly known as Prince Kraus[1]) is a New Zealand experimental musician and composer. The New Zealand Listener called him "a national treasure" and "one of the most quietly important and interesting people making music in New Zealand".[2]
His music crosses the boundaries of electronic music, post-rock,[3]no wave,[4] space folk,[5]noise pop, punk rock and martian stomp.[6]
Work
Kraus has stated that he makes music for freaks, outsiders, losers and weirdos.[7] Most of his music is released under a Creative Commons license[8] with a non-commercial clause,[9] consistent with his communist ideology.[10]
Kraus started performing live in late 2013 with a revolving cast of supporting musicians, including Stefan Neville (of Pumice and the Five Satans), Angeline Chirnside (of Currer Bells and It Hurts), Claire Mahoney, Nell Thomas, Dan Beban, artist Bek Coogan, Reuben Derrick, Sean Norling, Alex Brown, Gary War, Marijn Verbiesen, composer and pianist Hermione Johnson, and the writer Maryann Savage.[26][27][28][29]
In 2014 Kraus was awarded the Audio Foundation Winter Residency.[30]
Kraus was a founding member of the Futurians and has played in the Aesthetics and the Murdering Monsters. He currently records and performs in Pouffe (with Matt Plunkett of The Trendees[32]), the Maltese Falcons (with Ducklingmonster Futurian of It Hurts, Stefan Neville of Pumice, and Sean O'Reilly of SF), Olympus (with Stefan Neville), Magic Mountain, The Gaze, and various ad-hoc improvised ensembles.[10]
He hosts a fortnightly radio show,[33] and builds his own synthesisers and guitar pedals[34][35] which are used by many New Zealand bands including It Hurts.[36] He has been instrumental in setting up and curating the Musical Electronics Library and has been running synth-building workshops around New Zealand.[37][38][39]
Discography
Solo albums
Joy cassette (2002)
Prince Krauss CD (2003)
Emily CD (2003)
I Could Destroy You with a Single Thought CD / LP (2004)[40]
Lamentations of an Ape CD / cassette (2005)
Red, Green and Blue CD (2006)
The Facts cassette (2007)
Harmony of the Squares Volume 1 CD (2007)
Faster than the Speed of Time LP (2010)
Blank Mountain CD (2010)
Golden Treasury CD / cassette (2010)
Supreme Commander LP / cassette (2011) – released on "outer space wax" (vinyl with white specks)[41]
14/10/12 (2014) - recorded live in Kingsland for a WFMU broadcast. Featuring Maryann Savage and Stefan Neville.[42]
Interior Castle cassette (2014)
Workers in Kontrol CD (2014)
Here Come the Recorders cassette (2015)
Mountain of the Moon cassette (2016)
Grip the Moon cassette (2017)
Pudding Island cassette (2019)
Valley of the Gourds cassette (2019)
A Golden Brain cassette (2020)
Solo singles
Luxury and Mystery 7-inch (2010)
A Journey Through the First Dimension with Kraus 7-inch EP (2011)[43]
^Dass, Kiran. "Kraus". Music 101. Radio New Zealand National. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
^Mosurock, Doug (2 February 2012). "Still Single". Dusted. 8 (1). Retrieved 29 June 2013.
^Russell, Bruce, ed. (2012). Erewhon Calling: Experimental Sound in New Zealand. Auckland, New Zealand: Audio Foundation. pp. 104–105. ISBN978-0-473-21766-2.
^Perron, David. "Kraus". Foxy Digitalis. Archived from the original on 27 June 2012. Retrieved 29 June 2013.