Name: George Pimentel aka Das Kope
Nationality: Brazilian, USA-based
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, producer
Current release: Das Kope's new album Brutamonte is out November 7th 2025. Pre-order the album here.
Recomendations for California, USA: I was born in Brazil, but I’ve lived in California for most of my life now. I highly recommend driving on the Pacific Coast Highway—it’s a beautiful drive with amazing views. Even though it couldn’t be more different from the Autobahn, it’s a great place to listen to those Kraut records. It’s also a great drive to listen to Jon Hassell, Terry Riley, Steve Reich …

If you enjoyed this Das Kope interview and would like to stay up to date with his music, visit his official homepage. He is also on Instagram, Facebook, Soundcloud, tiktok, and bandcamp. 



How would you describe your personal relationship with Krautrock? When and how did it start?

I’m a fan, and a lot of those bands inspire me.

Bowie’s Berlin Trilogy led me to it in my early 20s—that’s when I first heard about Neu!, Michael Rother, and Klaus Dinger. After listening to Neu!’s albums, I just kept digging.



I knew about Kraftwerk before, but I wasn’t aware of the universe they came from. Later, I learned about Conny Plank, Can, Ashra, Harmonia, Tangerine Dream.

[Read our Michael Rother interview]
[Read our Michael Rother interview about improvisation]
[Read our Ashra's Manuel Göttsching interview]
[Read our Harmonia's Roedelius interview]
[Read our Harmonia's Brian Eno interview about climate change]
[Read our Tangerine Dream interview]

Tell me about one or two of your favourite Krautrock records please.

NEU! and NEU!2—I’m a big NEU! fan. Every time I listen to the first NEU! album, I ask myself: Did NEU! invent post-punk before punk rock even existed?



It’s such a hypnotizing record; it’s beautiful and raw at the same time, very intelligent in a minimalistic way. I absolutely love this album.

Krautrock always seemed like a phenomenon connected to a very specific era in German history. What about this music and its time do you connect with?

I appreciate the experimental nature of the music.

In the post-WW2 era in Germany, I think there was a sense of experimentation that went beyond the idea of ‘the current generation rebelling against the previous one.’

I think they felt a responsibility to recreate culture from scratch, and with that spirit came a lot of experimentation.

Many of the original Kraut musicians loved blues, rock, and psychedelia; they were intrigued by electronics and improvisation; they rebelled against virtuosity, classical education and the superficiality of Schlager on German radio. How much of that do you recognise in your own creative preferences and interests?

That idea of improvisation may not be obvious in my final mixes, but my writing process revolves around it.

I’m influenced by many styles of music, Krautrock being one of them, but when I’m writing, the concept of drone and repetition is very present.

I think my writing sessions are a lot more 'Kraut' than my final mixes (laughs).

Both in the music and the way it was made, Krautrock was about imagining different worlds. What is the experience of listening to this music like for you and what kinds of worlds is it taking you to? What is your preferred way of listening to it?

When I think of "Negativland" by NEU! and "Deep Distance" by Ashra, they have different textures and perhaps different intentions.

Even though I get different feelings from them, I still hear something that ties them together.



I love listening to them on long drives or when I’m in a new place by myself.

A lot of the Kraut spirit came to life through musicians living in communities, playing and recording together every single day. Have you ever tried working and creating in such a constellation? Is it possible to emulate this process from a home studio?

I’m inspired by it, but I’ve never tried working that way. I wish I could do more of that, but I work by myself all the time. A person alone could probably emulate the sound, but not the process.

Like I said, when I’m writing in my home studio—especially when I was writing my last album, Brutamonte—I like to apply some of those krautrock techniques. I like to have drones and progressions going; I may start playing one-note guitar solos on top of that or try to align an arpeggiator by ear instead of locking it to the grid.

I’m also a fan of Damo Suzuki’s dada style for coming up with lyrics.

What, to you, are the main elements that make something “Kraut?” What are the practises of the musicians from the 70s that inspire your own practise today?

In very general terms, I think it’s about experimentation, improvisation, and repetition.

These are practices that keep me going back to the studio.

Tell me about one or two of your own early Kraut pieces that you're still proud of (or satisfied with) – and why you're content with them.

It’s hard to think in those terms when talking about my own music. I have many different influences.

I feel that in my musical life, 'kraut' is more of a process or inspiration than the final product.

What instruments or equipment are you using to create your music? Are there any vintage instruments that you find essential to get your sound right?

I use a laptop, a bunch of guitar pedals, a couple of Casio keyboards from the '80s, and some drum machines—nothing too vintage or expensive.

I have a lot of plugins too and I also like to re-amp things a lot.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of your most recent Kraut-leaning release?

For both my tracks, ‘We Must Be Out of Our Minds’ and ‘Stuck on the Freeway,’ I had the main riffs playing on loop for hours.

I like to feel like I’m flowing with it. I would then add lots of effects on the master bus and apply delays and reverbs to that—like I’m jamming with my tools.

By doing that, I get all these other ideas and melodies in my head. I’ll record most of them, then comp it. Kind of like a sculptor, but with modern technology, I get to be a heavy-handed sculptor.

Tell me a bit about the role that improvisation and inventive arrangement techniques (like cut-up) play for your work?

I would not be able to finish any song without these techniques.

I think when they were doing inventive arrangements back in the ’70s, it was actually a lot more of a commitment. Because they were using tape, it was a lot more radical, collage-style, which I find amazing.

For all the great things modern recording technology has to offer, it can also make you lazy. It’s another reason to keep an eye and ear on those older recordings.

Did you ever visit one of the birthplaces of the genre – Berlin, Düsseldorf, Munich – or any spaces related to the history of Kraut? Do you own any paraphernalia from the era?

Once, I was on the Autobahn in a van, listening to Kraftwerk’s Autobahn, and it was fantastisch (laughs).

I wish I had more vintage gear. I’m pretty sure I don’t have any paraphernalia from that era, but with the tools I have, I try to recreate some of that vibe.

These are the hardware tools I’ll use when I’m feeling very "kraut" (laughs): Tascam 4-track, Casio MT-100 and CZ-230S, Mopho X4, Kaoss Pad and Kaossilator, Bass VI going through pedals (Syntax Error, Boss DD-6, Mantic Flex), SG guitar, LinnDrum, and RD-8 drum machine.

But sooner or later it all goes into my computer.