Split Mirrors

History

Achim Jaspert and Andy Cay founded Split Mirrors in 1985 after meeting in a rehearsal space in Münster. Jaspert had gained drumming experience during a stay in India, while Cay had previously been a singer in the United States. The band wrote their first songs and recorded the EPs 'The Right Time' (Extended Version) and 'Voices' (Extended Version). After releasing the single 'The Right Time' (Let's Go Crazy Mix), they performed at gigs both domestically and abroad. Their album '1999' came out in 1993. For convenience, the band established their own recording studio, which included a sound-proof room for recording analogue sources such as vocals and saxophone. The synthesizers of the era featured MIDI connections and were used with Atari-ST series computers, which also had MIDI connectors, enabling digital recording and editing of melodies. SMPTE technology allowed vocals and other analogue recordings to be synchronized with MIDI instruments, facilitating editing and programming of digital components. The Atari Falcon, equipped with a DSP chip and hard disk recording capability, made it possible to edit analogue sounds as well. These digital recording techniques allowed Split Mirrors to employ methods in their studio that were typically found only in professional facilities. Many artists from the Münster scene recorded at their studio, including WestBam, Frank Mertens from Alphaville, Dr. Ring-Ding, Törner Stier, Bawa Abudu, Ulrich Hesselkamp, Doc Heyne, and Simon Cay. Musicians from genres such as rock, reggae, synthie pop, German schlager, hip-hop, rap, and rave participated, with some contributing to Split Mirrors' own songs. Collaboration became a primary activity; they composed, wrote, or produced songs for artists like Marani, Mike Bauhaus, Andreas Martin, and Wolfgang Petry, whose combined sales exceeded five million records and earned multiple gold and platinum awards. They also produced songs for the German rock band Audiosmog, featuring former VIVA presenter Tobias Schlegel as guest vocalist. They subsequently released the single 'When Will I Be Famous (Originally Performed by Bros)' and the album 'Top of Rocks', which contained cover versions of well-known hits.