Holger Hiller (born 26 December 1956) is a German musician who studied art at the Hochschule für bildende Künste in Hamburg, where he met Walter Thielsch and Thomas Fehlmann and recorded first works with them. With Fehlmann he later founded the band Palais Schaumburg in 1980, of which he was the singer. At the same time his solo career began. Hiller was one of the first musicians in Europe to use the sampler as his main or sole instrument.
From 1984 on he lived in London, eventually working as producer for Mute Records. In 1988 he recorded Ohi Ho Bang Bang with video artist Akiko Hada. The video shows Hiller and Karl Bonnie creating different sounds from every item in a room, from those sounds the song is made by means of cutting, whereas every sound is still in sync with the video footage of its creation. This transfer of sampling techniques from music to video might have been pioneering, only 10 years later it got popular with Timber by Coldcut who used custom-made software to create it.
Since 2003 Hiller lives in Berlin, working as an English language teacher.
Links to Peel
Peel was a supporter of the works of Palais Schaumburg, which Hiller was a member of and when the artist decided to pursue a solo career, he continued playing his material, including a session for his programme in 1987. However, after 1991, it seems Peel lost interest in Hiller's work and rarely played any new material from the artist.
Sessions
1. Recorded: 1987-03-08. Broadcast: 25 March 1987. Repeated: 13 April 1987
- Holger Hiller / Tiny Little Cloud / 48 Kissen / Warm Glas
Other Shows Played
- Holger Hiller
- 13 February 1984: Chemische Und Physikalische Entdeckungen
- 07 October 1991 (Ö3): 'Abacus (LP-As Is)' (Mute)
- Träneninvasion (Holger Hiller & Michael Kemner)
- Hát Với Quê Hương (Holger Hiller & Ralf Hertwig & Walter Thielsch