Asmus Tietchens was born on 3 February 1947 in Hamburg. Drawn to musique concrète as a child, he began recording sound experiments in 1965 with synthesizers and tape loops, and began a long partnership with producer Okko Bekker in the 1970s. Stockhausen is his reference point, and he pursues absolute music through strict formal exercises.
Peter Baumann of Tangerine Dream heard a recording and offered to produce; the result was Nachtstücke on Egg Records in 1980, followed by Biotop and Spät-Europa in 1981 and Litia in 1983. More than a hundred releases have come since, among them collaborations with Merzbow and Thomas Köner, plus work as Hematic Sunsets and Club of Rome. He has taught acoustics in Hamburg since 1990.
