Yuri Landman

Yuri Landman (1973) is an experimental instrument builder and musician. After a career as a comic book artist as well as a musician in the bands Zoppo and Avec-A, Yuri Landman began designing experimental musical instruments. Based on prepared guitar techniques,  he  built  his  first  instrument  in  2001  to  solve  the  inaccuracy  of  instant preparations.

In 2006 he got in contact with Liars. Developed over six years of prototyping, he fully realised the Moodswinger for them with commissions from numerous other musicians to follow. Yuri has custom built derivatives for such musical luminaries as Sonic Youth, Half Japanese, Enon, Lou Barlow, dEUS, The Dodos, Blood Red Shoes, Liars, HEALTH, Liam Finn, The Luyas, The Veils, Melt-Banana, Micachu & The Shapes, The Go! Team, These Are Powers, Kate Nash, Women, Action Beat, Peter James Taylor, Rhys Chatham, Dustin Wong, Philippe Petit and others.

Around 2008 he started giving lectures and presentations with his instruments, leading to a request in 2009 for a practical building workshop. This became the rise of the Home Swinger project. A Gesamtkunstwerk consisting of a DIY-workshop where people build  their  own  electric  instrument  and  often  followed  by  an  afternoon  rehearsal  on the second day and a 40 minute ensemble performance with multiple Home Swingers, drums, basses, and guitars in the tradition of the Rhys Chatham and Glenn Branca compositions. Soon after the rise of the Home Swinger Project, other building workshops followed, featured in this booklet. Events have taken place in AU, BE, CH, DK, FR, UK, IR, NL, SV and US.

In 2012 Landman formed the 2-piece band Bismuth w/ multi-instrumentalist Arnold van de Velde. In the same year he started his infamous Strat Eraser Project to help musicians get rid off their useless gear.

The Moodswinger as well as the Home Swinger are included in the permanent collection of the Musical Instrument Museum in Phoenix, AZ. The SONS Museum in Belgium owns another instrument of Landman.