Biography
Robert Görl, a Munich-born drummer, electronic musician, and vocalist from 1955, co-founded the pioneering electro-punk and Neue Deutsche Welle outfit DAF. Originally an industrial noise ensemble, the project stabilized as the duo of Görl and vocalist Gabi Delgado, whose minimal sequencer-based sound and overtly sexualized aesthetic helped shape the foundations of EBM and industrial dance music. Their commercial high point arrived with the 1981 album Alles Ist Gut on Virgin, after which the pair disbanded the following year; both pursued solo work while reuniting sporadically across subsequent decades. Görl later emerged in the 1990s as a techno producer, releasing the acid-tinged Watch the Great Copycat in 1996 and collaborating with Pete Namlook and Karl O'Connor, aka Regis.
Trained in jazz drumming and initially pursuing classical studies, Görl gravitated toward punk and experimental sounds before forming DAF with Delgado in 1978. While based in Düsseldorf the group incorporated players from Der Plan, another act in which Görl performed, and their 1979 debut Produkt Der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Freundschaft consisted of free-form improvisations. The following year Mute issued its first release, the half-live, half-studio Die Kleinen und Die Bösen, around the time the band moved to London; Görl also contributed to Robert Rental’s Mute single “Double Heart” that same year.
Now reduced to the core duo, DAF delivered their most successful and influential album, Alles Ist Gut, in 1981, followed the same year by Gold und Liebe; Görl additionally supplied drums for the Eurythmics single “Belinda.” The band fractured during sessions for 1982’s Für Immer. Görl’s solo debut Night Full of Tension appeared on Mute in 1984, sung entirely in English—unlike prior DAF material—and featuring Annie Lennox on two tracks. A reunion yielded the more stylized synth-pop album 1st Step to Heaven in 1986, likewise performed in English.
After withdrawing from music to study Buddhism in Asia for several years following a serious car accident, Görl returned with the 1991 synth-pop single “Electric Marilyn.” He soon embraced a harder, faster techno direction, issuing multiple EPs on Munich’s Disko B starting in 1993, the 1994 compilation (Psycho) Therapie, and the acid techno album Watch the Great Copycat in 1996. As the duo Elektro with Pete Namlook he explored territory ranging from ambient to hard trance, while also appearing on Harthouse as a member of the trio Heat. The 1998 release Sexdrops was co-produced with British techno artist Regis, and the self-produced Final Metal Pralinées followed in 2000.
DAF reconvened for the drum machine-driven Fünfzehn Neue D.A.F.-Lieder in 2003. After another split Görl issued the solo single “Seltsame Liebe” in 2006 and served as drummer for the electro-pop band Client. He released the darker, more experimental techno album Dark Tool Symphony in 2007. The group marked its 30th anniversary in 2008, and the single “Du Bist DAF” surfaced in 2010. In 2018 DAF issued the remix album Reworx while Görl presented The Paris Tapes, a collection of previously unheard late-’80s instrumental demos.
Following Delgado’s death from a heart attack in 2020, shortly after the pair had resolved to create new DAF material, Görl recorded the single “Ich Denk An Dich” with producer Sylvie Marks. He subsequently reworked sequences from early London rehearsals and developed tracks from unused material, resulting in Nur Noch Einer, credited to Görl and DAF and released by Grönland Records in 2021.
Trained in jazz drumming and initially pursuing classical studies, Görl gravitated toward punk and experimental sounds before forming DAF with Delgado in 1978. While based in Düsseldorf the group incorporated players from Der Plan, another act in which Görl performed, and their 1979 debut Produkt Der Deutsch-Amerikanischen Freundschaft consisted of free-form improvisations. The following year Mute issued its first release, the half-live, half-studio Die Kleinen und Die Bösen, around the time the band moved to London; Görl also contributed to Robert Rental’s Mute single “Double Heart” that same year.
Now reduced to the core duo, DAF delivered their most successful and influential album, Alles Ist Gut, in 1981, followed the same year by Gold und Liebe; Görl additionally supplied drums for the Eurythmics single “Belinda.” The band fractured during sessions for 1982’s Für Immer. Görl’s solo debut Night Full of Tension appeared on Mute in 1984, sung entirely in English—unlike prior DAF material—and featuring Annie Lennox on two tracks. A reunion yielded the more stylized synth-pop album 1st Step to Heaven in 1986, likewise performed in English.
After withdrawing from music to study Buddhism in Asia for several years following a serious car accident, Görl returned with the 1991 synth-pop single “Electric Marilyn.” He soon embraced a harder, faster techno direction, issuing multiple EPs on Munich’s Disko B starting in 1993, the 1994 compilation (Psycho) Therapie, and the acid techno album Watch the Great Copycat in 1996. As the duo Elektro with Pete Namlook he explored territory ranging from ambient to hard trance, while also appearing on Harthouse as a member of the trio Heat. The 1998 release Sexdrops was co-produced with British techno artist Regis, and the self-produced Final Metal Pralinées followed in 2000.
DAF reconvened for the drum machine-driven Fünfzehn Neue D.A.F.-Lieder in 2003. After another split Görl issued the solo single “Seltsame Liebe” in 2006 and served as drummer for the electro-pop band Client. He released the darker, more experimental techno album Dark Tool Symphony in 2007. The group marked its 30th anniversary in 2008, and the single “Du Bist DAF” surfaced in 2010. In 2018 DAF issued the remix album Reworx while Görl presented The Paris Tapes, a collection of previously unheard late-’80s instrumental demos.
Following Delgado’s death from a heart attack in 2020, shortly after the pair had resolved to create new DAF material, Görl recorded the single “Ich Denk An Dich” with producer Sylvie Marks. He subsequently reworked sequences from early London rehearsals and developed tracks from unused material, resulting in Nur Noch Einer, credited to Görl and DAF and released by Grönland Records in 2021.
Albums