Mapstation is an experimental electronic solo project of Düsseldorf musician
Stefan Schneider founded in 2000 after his departure from
Kreidler, an electronic/post-rock band he had co-founded six years prior. Besides co-founding
Kreidler in 1994 alongside
Thomas Klein, Andreas Reihse, and
Detlef Weinrich, and contributing to the albums
Weekend (1996) and
Appearance and the Park (1998) before his departure from the group,
Schneider also played bass in the post-rock band
To Rococo Rot alongside
Robert Lippok and
Ronald Lippok, with whom he released the albums To Rococo Rot (1996), Veiculo (1997), and The Amateur View (1999).
Schneider made his solo debut as
Mapstation in 1999 with a self-titled mini-album on the London-based label Soul Static Sound. A series of releases followed on the Staubgold label, including the albums
Sleep, Engine Sleep (2000),
A Way to Find the Day (2002), and
Version Train (2003), as well as the 12" single New Direction (2002), which featured reggae vocalist
Ras Donovan and signaled
Schneider's turn toward experimental dub-reggae (as explored at length on
Version Train). Additionally,
Schneider collaborated with former
Pale Saints singer/guitarist
Meriel Barham (aka Kuchen) for the album Kuchen Meets Mapstation (2003) on the Karaoke Kalk label. After a few years of relative inactivity,
Schneider revived his
Mapstation project on the Berlin label ~scape with the full-length album
Distance Told Me Things to Be Said (2006) and the 7" single In the Loss of Clarity (2006). ~ Jason Birchmeier