Klaus Beyer

Klaus Beyer is a German poet, composer, musician, singer, actor, filmmaker, translator and candlemaker.born on July 8th, 1952 in Berlin. He's most famous for his Beatles covers and films and for his appearances in productions by Christoph Schlingensief (1960-2010). He's sometimes seen as an outsider artist, being compared to Daniel Johnston. He currently lives in the Lichtenberg area of Berlin but grew up in Kreuzberg. He started filming on Super-8 in 1978. As a huge fan of [a82730] he began to translate the lyrics into German in 1980, so that his mother could understand what they were on about. He also starts to use two reel tape machines to cut non-vocal loops out of the music of the band to use as backing tapes for his German versions. In 1984 he is discovered by a neighbour who arranged his first screening in the legendary local off-cinema Frontkino in Berlin. He recieves some recognition as part of the Geniale Dilletanten conglomerate (with Die Tödliche Doris, [a38794], Frieder Butzmann etc.) as well. In 1985 he performs live for the first time with his home made playback loops and live vocals of German language Beatles songs. He is discovered by Georg Maas who employs him as an actor in his short film Ein Normales Leben which also features Frank Behnke, who befriends Beyer and will become his manager and release him on his non-profit label Amsel Records, whilst also founding a Klaus Beyer fan club. In 1986 some of Beyer's films are shown in the film section of the Documenta art festival in Kassel. 1987 sees the first feature length film of Klaus Beyer, totally shot on Super-8 and transfering a whole Beatles album (Sgt. Pepper's) into German and into the film Hauptmann Pfeffers Einsamer Herzenklub. His second Beatles-record-to-film project is Die Zaubervoll Rätselhafte Reise (after Magical Mystery Tour). Other albums follow. In 1994 he performs his songs with a live band consisting of members of Mutter in Berlin. Beyer & Behnke also start to release some cassettes of his strange and compelling cover-versions. Later on, Amsel will release his recordings on CD and CD-r, mostly selling them at concerts. The first is called Die Fanklubplatte (1995), a compilation of various sketches, own home recordings, Beatles-loop-covers and live clips. In that same year a book is published as well: "Das Große Klaus Beyer-Beatles-Buch - Der Narr Auf Den Höhen" (the title referring to The Fool On The Hill). More Super-8 films follow, and VHS-releases of his shorts and more recently DVD-r releases. 2003 heralds a second Beyer book: Das System Klaus Beyer, once again published by Martin Schmitz Verlag. After the death of Christoph Schlingensief in 2010, there is a pause in Beyer's acting career but in 2020, Beyer appears with a role in the SOKO Kitzbühel tv series.