Mind Over Matter is the multi-instrumentalist and producer Klaus ‘Cosmic Hoffmann’-Hoock and Volker Kuinke, the twice European gas balloon champion and recorder player with ‘Mind Over Matter’ since 1997. The atmospheric moods and impressions are acoustically reproduced, including the natural sounds that can be heard during a balloon flight. All are woven into the music, taking the listener into a fantastic world of quiet gliding in a willow balloon basket. You are taken on a journey to unknown destinations and will be enchanted by hauntingly beautiful landscapes. The music gains a lot of authenticity from the fact that Volker Kuinke has made these journeys in his balloon himself and has also taken Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock as his passenger. Captivating!
Title: Jamuna River
Volker Kuinke has already flown across many different countries with his balloon, criss-crossing the whole of Europe as well as gliding over the deserts and mountain ranges of the United States. But how would it be to experience the beauty of Asia – which Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock has explored extensively for 25 years – from a bird’s eye view? Once Volker’s imagination was fired through many stories and impressive pictures by his friend and musical partner, his desire was awoken to fly across this far and foreign continent which holds so little in common with our Western culture. This song tells the story of an adventurous, shared balloon journey over the breathtaking landscape along the Indian Jamuna River…. a journey which happened only in the writers’ imagination.
Title: Mountain Thunder
The Northern winds during the Gordon-Bennett race in September 1990 led Volker and his co-pilot Jürgen Schubert over the main Alpine range and down to Italy on the Southern side of the Alps. He will never forget the frightening moments they experienced when they had to go through a thunderstorm on the Bernina mountains, at an altitude of 5600 metres. Amongst all the amazement of crossing this unique high mountain landscape the fear of being pulled into the storm still weighed heavily upon them. The sound of echoing thunder in the valleys of the Swiss Alps will always remain in their memories. Finally they both landed safely in the pouring rain in Recoaro Terme near Vicenza (Italy) during the last remnants of daylight and with only a few crumbs of sand left before they were warmly welcome by the local people.
Title: Journey To Brittany
One of his most impressive journeys through the air led Volker from Düsseldorf to Pluvigner/Brittany in 34 hours, travelling more than 800 kilometres in his balloon. He will never forget the amazingly clear, starry sky between Paris and Rouen which shone down on him in the freezing cold at an altitude of 2000 metres. Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock and Volker Kuinke have tried to express the adventure of travelling in a balloon from Germany to the Atlantic, and have musically captured the vivid impressions of a star- filled night in this song. Josef Götz also played a very special role in realising the idea of this title by giving it a lot of colour through his extraordinary and impressive vocal performance, bringing the moods of this significant balloon journey to life for the listener.
Title: Fullmoon Desert
To cross the endless deserts of New Mexico at full moon in a gas balloon is a rare and fortunate opportunity; a chance which Volker had in 1993 at the legendary Gordon-Bennett balloon championship. The journey lasted for more than 30 hours, taking him across majestic canyons, untouched forests and almost completely deserted areas across the Rocky Mountains to Colorado, where he landed happily but very exhausted. The sensations of gliding in a willow basket low over the lonely desert landscapes, hearing mysterious sounds from the ground, have been captured in this atmospheric song. Apart from crickets and the occasional howling coyote, only the ticking of the altigraph could be heard. At the same time the huge moonlight shadow of the balloon, a round black disc, moved along silently over the desert.
Title: Cloud Ghosts
It is difficult to describe the experience of gliding silently through the air at two to three kilometres altitude for a whole day… an experience possible only in a gas balloon, moving far above the clouds towards destinations unknown. This leaves a lot of room for philosophising, for thoughts to be sent on a journey of their own. Sometimes the balloon drops right down to cloud-level before it rises once again majestically over a cloud landscape, where every cloud has its different shape, always changing, never remaining the same. Volker spent a lot of time gazing at these clouds from above and discovered many strange, ghostly beings, which whispered their mysteries to him. What they really were will remain his secret… but it might be similar to what you can hear in this atmospheric song.