Formed in 1970 in their native Ulm, Kraan first migrated to Berlin before eventually settling at an artists’ commune in Wintrup in late 1971. Nestled deep in the idyllic Teutoburg Forest, the close quarters further shaped the band’s intuition for each other as musicians; Kraan lived their music. The band featured the superb instrumental talents of bassist Hellmut Hattler, saxophonist Johannes “Alto” Pappert and brothers Jan (Fride) on drums and Peter (Wolbrandt) on guitar and vocals.