Klaus Hoffmann-Hoock was born in 1951 in the German town of Duisburg. In the sixties he was trained as a guitarist and a drummer. In 1969 he founded his first band, Archaeopteryx, followed in 1971 by Impuls. Impuls toured extensively, amongst others as support-act for Nektar, UFO and the Dutch progrock band Earth & Fire, the latter producing Mellotron and guitar-based epics with lovely female vocals.
No official recordings remain of both bands, although one surviving live-tape from 1971 of Impuls reveals much of the musical ideas of Klaus that would emerge in the 1980s and 1990s. The tape features a lengthy instrumental called "Azrael", which clearly shows the influence of the early Pink Floyd. Other lasting influences were Nektar and Hawkwind.
In 1972 Klaus visited a concert by British progrockers Genesis, who were by then playing the magnificent track "Watcher of the skies", which has one of the greatest Mellotron-intros of all time. This event turned Klaus into a true Mellotron-aficionado. In 1973 Klaus bought a Mini-Moog, the instrument made famous by Keith Emerson. He would acquire a large collection of (now) vintage keyboards and synthesizers during the next years, even including a extremely rare Mark V Mellotron, previously owned by Klaus Schulze.
During the years 1976-1978 Klaus joined the German band Alma Ata as keyboard-player, guitarist and lyricist. The band released three singles and two albums, "..." (Eulenspiegel Records) in 1976 and "Dreams" (CL 4793) in 1977. The rather conventional rock sound of the Alma Ata albums does have few reminiscences of Klaus' later works. Although some fragments of live-tracks by Impuls and Alma Ata became the basis of long tracks by Mind over Matter like "Children of the Midnight" and "Shangri-La". Klaus was also involved in music for films and commercials in this period.
In the early 1980s Klaus was joined by keyboard-player Georg Mahr and lyricist Andreas Hub and established a band called Cosmic Hoffmann. The only release of this combination was a 7"-single called "Weltraumboogie" (EMI 1C 006-46 620) in 1982. The single (with "Space-Disco" on its b-side) was not a commercial succes, but is nowadays is true collectors item.
The period 1983-1985 was one of preparations for something completely new. Klaus was working on a long track called "Paradise". In 1986 world-traveller Klaus founded Mind over Matter. A group that would produce a mix of sounds from the Far East and western music, resulting in magical music for imagination. Klaus would prominently play electric guitar, but also keyboards, flute and a selection of Asiatic instriments, like Nepalese handchimes, Balinese bamboophone and sitar. He would invite guest musicians to record in his Quasar Studio. One thing was to be clear: Mind over Matter would produce music that could not be compared to anything. The samples from Sri Lanka, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Birma and Tibet would accompany quiet electronic music, but also outbursts of psychedelic electric guitar and keyboards. A group that would get high listings in German polls such as the "Schwingungen Wahl".