Career
Schmidt was born in Frankfurt am Main, West Germany. During the early 1990s, he produced dance music under a number of monikers including Atom Heart. In 1994, Schmidt started his own label, Rather Interesting, with the aim of developing music that doesn't follow the "traditional paths of electronic music".
In 1996 he invented the Señor Coconut moniker, and released the album El Gran Baile in 1997, right after he had moved to Santiago, Chile, in order to detach from the European music scene.
His next release, in 2000, was El Baile Alemán, which featured several Kraftwerk classics reworked with Latin instrumentation and rhythms.
He has often stated Latin American, and particularly Brazilian, music as a big influence.
The album was credited to Señor Coconut y Su Conjunto, but the album was entirely the work of Schmidt on synthesizers and samplers, with the aid of three vocalists. It received just enough critical acclaim in the U.S. for Schmidt to put together a short headlining tour. In March 2001, Señor Coconut, complete with a seven-piece backing band, set off for North America, but visa problems with some of the Chilean musicians forced Schmidt to cancel the tour.
Read more about this topic: Uwe Schmidt
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