Irmin Schmidt on Lou Reed

Lou Reed died on 27 October, 2013. Can’s Irmin Schmidt on the sudden awakening brought on by The Velvet Underground.

1967. May, if I remember it right. I came home from a rehearsal conducting the Bochumer Sinfoniker: Debussy, Schönberg, Cage. [CAN manager] Hildegard sat there with Jon Hassell and Serge Tcherepnin listening to a brand new record they had just bought. Something strange happened. It was as if I had been waiting for this sound: “I’m Waiting For My Man” – there he was, destructive, encouraging, revealing. “The Black Angel’s Death Song” was like a sudden awakening: I should change my life. And I did. I formed CAN. Thank you Lou!