Acid Pauli

Martin Gretschmann’s work has moved between indie rock, laptop electronics and film music, with a track first issued as “Crabcraft” later appearing, at Björk’s request, as “Heirloom” on her album Vespertine. Gretschmann released the original piece under his Console project, where it sampled Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark’s “Sacred Heart.” He is also known as Acid Pauli, a name attached to DJ sets and productions he has described as falling somewhere between ambient and techno.

Born in Bavaria and originally from Schongau, Germany, Gretschmann played bass in independent rock bands in the early 1990s alongside Axel Fischer, Matthias Laub and Christian Schröcker. Those groups played numerous concerts, including dates supporting The Notwist. In 1995, three electronic pieces credited to Console appeared on the Kollaps label compilation The Day My Favorite Insect Died. He joined The Notwist in 1996, serving as the German band’s lead programmer, while continuing to develop Console as a separate electronic project.

Console’s debut album, Pan Or Ama, arrived in 1997 through the Weilheim label Payola. It was followed by the 1999 single “14 Zero Zero,” described as Console’s most successful single. Console has also operated as a live group, with Gretschmann on computer alongside Miriam Osterrieder on vocals and keyboard, Christoph Brandner on drums, Axel Fischer on MS10 and guitar, Michael Schwaiger on keyboard and pad, and Anton Kaun on visuals.

Since 1998, Gretschmann has worked with radio-play author Andreas Ammer, creating pieces including On the Tracks and Spaceman ’85, which the pair toured in Germany. Around the turn of the century, he began performing as Acid Pauli. The name came from a friend calling out “Acciiiiidd Pauliiii” during a small illegal party in Munich, when Gretschmann was playing only with a laptop and ReBirth software, an emulator of the Roland TB-303, TR-909 and 808 machines. “Paul” had been a school nickname.

In 2005, Gretschmann was among the founders of Munich club Rote Sonne, opening it with Peter Wacha, Dorothea Zenker, Richard Rieger, Bernd Bergmann and Sven Künast. Under the Acid Pauli name, he also composed the score for the 2017 film Es war einmal Indianerland.