Sorry! This website is still under construction. If you are looking for information about me, you can find some below. If you are searching for music and videos I recommend visiting my other pages.
For compositions, improvisations for piano, works for theater & dance go here: Clark Stiefel - MySpace Music. For synthpop/electronica/ go here: Official Maison Vague Website. To see Maison Vague videos: YouTube - maisonvague's Channel
Thanks!
About Clark Stiefel:
Born in Atlanta, Georgia USA, keyboardist/composer Clark Stiefel knew from a very early age that music would be the driving force in his life. He first began playing piano at age four, singing at age eleven, and by the time he was fifteen, he had already made up his mind he wanted to become a concert pianist.
Two unexpected events, however, would radically change his direction in music:
First, as a college student, he discovered keyboard synthesizers, which opened up an entirely new world of sonic possibilities. Second, he discovered he had a special talent for improvisation when, in the middle of a solo piano recital, he had a harrowing memory slip, but continued playing anyway, eventually improvising his way back to the written score.
Soon after he realized that improvisation was a valuable skill, especially in ballet and modern dance studios where he was able to find regular employment as an accompanist. In 1990, Clark left the United States for Europe where he found many opportunities for experimentation and collaboration with other musicians, visual artists, dancers and choreographers. From 1996-2001, he toured internationally with the legendary performance artist Meredith Monk whom he credits with re-awakening his desire to sing. Inspired by her incredible voice, he would seek to find a world where his own voice could be heard--the world of Maison Vague.
About Maison Vague:
During his college days, Clark would spend hours and hours in the electronic music studio. Although the focus of his studies was "serious music" he found great pleasure in creating "less serious music." Inspired by the great masters of 70s/80s electronic pop like Gary Numan, Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode and Ultravox, he began writing and recording synthpop songs. After graduating, however, he abandoned song-writing entirely--not so much out of disinterest but rather out of distraction by other projects.
In 1999, together with his brother, guitarist/composer Van Stiefel, Clark formed an experimental improvised electronic music ensemble called Maison Vague. After recording an album together with cellist/composer Alex Catona (which was never released), and performing a well-received debut concert during the October Jazz Festival in Holland, the ensemble became dormant and eventually disbanded. In 2007, Clark decided to bring Maison Vague back to life, this time as an 80s inspired one-man synthpop band based in Essen, Germany.
About Synthpop's Alive:
For over two years Clark Stiefel dedicated himself solely to writing and producing tracks for Maison Vague's debut CD, Synthpop's Alive. Despite having traveled far from its roots in experimental electronic music, improvisation still plays an important role in the music of Maison Vague. Framed within tightly composed song forms are moments of spontaneity and uncertainty. Furthermore, most of the synthesizer tracks are played by hand--even when that hand is triggering an arpeggiator--giving the music a kind of breath and looseness often lacking in much electronic pop music. Synthpop's Alive was finally released on January 11, 2011 as a digital download and is available worldwide.