Damo Suzuki

Kenji Suzuki (鈴木健二, Suzuki Kenji, born 16 January 1950), known as Damo Suzuki (ダモ鈴木), is a Japanese musician who has been living in Germany since the early 1970s and is best known as the former lead singer of the German krautrock group Can.

Biography

As a teenager, Suzuki spent the late 1960s wandering around Europe, often busking.

When Malcolm Mooney left Can after recording their first album Monster Movie, Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit encountered Suzuki busking in Munich, Germany, whilst the two were sitting outside at a street café. They invited him to join the group, and he did, performing with them that evening.

Suzuki was with Can from 1970 to 1973, recording a number of well-regarded albums such as Tago Mago, Future Days and Ege Bamyasi. Suzuki's first vocal performance with Can was "Don't Turn the Light On, Leave Me Alone" from Soundtracks. His freeform, often improvised lyrics, were sung in no particular language.

He returned to music in 1983, and currently leads what is known as Damo Suzuki's Network – as he tours, he performs live improvisational music with various local musicians, so-called "Sound Carriers".