Johannes Delmere is telling the whole truth: The Tranquil Club left its marks in the late 80ies/early 90ies in the Ruhrgebiet, a large conglomerate of towns right in the middle of (former) West-Germany. The members of The Tranquil Club only had one quest: to play music to as few people as possible as silently as possible. It started with an idea by Brian Eno, who fancied to have a house or a club with a few circles of rooms, adding more and more quietness and silence when entering the next circle. The Tranquil Club did not have a house, but tried to put this idea on stage. The first event of The Tranquil Club took place in Bochum, in a room very well suited for the occasion. It had the shape of a cocoon, lots of soft and colourful lights and the floor was laid out with soft material. You could walk around without being heard. Events of The Tranquil Club did not last for one evening, they lasted for 5 nights. Music was created, the stage was lightened by TV-Sets that were put up on their sides or on their top, switched to near invisibility or just a mess of colours. The sound system had 6 channels with different sounds coming out of each channel, there were films and tapes. Even the main evening news from Germany’s leading TV station were an integral part of the show, slightly distorted by very low-level sounds. Words were spoken, films were accompanied, stories were told, pictures were taken, sounds came from everywhere. It was very strange, sometimes entertaining, sometimes not. The Tranquil Club even made it onto nationwide radio in Germany when it took hold of the airwaves for one whole hour.
The Tranquil Club was:
Michael Engelbrecht: concept, installation, spoken words and piano (who left before the end, due to „musical differences“)
Olaf Guenther: concept, installation, electronic devices, mix, piano, voice, fluegelhorn and didgeridoo (who went all the way)
Dr. Johannes Delmere: electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards & sequenzers, synthesizers, recording and effects (who liked the idea and joined)
Frank Westerdorff: bassoon and contrabassoon, english horn, piano, flutes and voices (who wasn’t sure at first, but got going)
and sometimes
Merle Hettersheim: cello (who had a short stay in Castrop-Rauxel)
Claudia Roellecke: drums (who came to join in Dortmund and Cologne)