At least since the band power plant experimenting with analogue synthesizers has become an integral part of the pop music scene. They are mostly used in the studio, live they are hardly in the foreground. Unlike the Munich duo Umm Block. Klara Rebers and Leoni Klinger use the instrument live against the trend. The result: rave-like beats and spherical sound spaces created by Pink Floyd are influenced as well as by trip-hop and techno. The SZ nominated them for “Band of the Year 2018”. On January 28th Umme Block will play in the Munich Technikum.
Monday: Meeting of the Munich pop scene
“Lauraine” is the synth-pop project by Munich-based Laura Faithr with Stefan Deimel, Kilian Sladek and Felix Renner, which has been an integral part of the Munich music scene for years.
(Photo: Laila Bierling)
“…but isn’t that really difficult, as a band from Munich? Is there a music scene there at all…? we are often asked. Yes, there is, and it’s growing. In the last few years alone, there have been countless exciting music projects like seda, Victoryaz, Lauraine, lux or mola established. We really appreciate the exchange with other cultural workers. That’s why we start our week after a long day at “Cheers” – the monthly get-together of the Munich music scene organized by the pop department at the legendary Feierwerk. Anyone active in the broader arena of pop culture is welcome here.
Tuesday: New culture hotspot
The Bergson artificial power plant in Neuaubing is still a construction site. But from the end of the year it will be a new venue for art, theater and music.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
Exactly two years ago we released our debut album “25 Hours”. A challenging time followed. Munich has lost legendary cultural venues like the Cord Club. And yet new places are emerging again: Roman Sladek (Jazz rush big band/Slatec) is the Artistic Director of the “Bergson Kunstkraftwerk” in the west of Munich. From the end of the year flourishing culture can be experienced here. But we don’t have to wait that long, because on Tuesday Roman will guide us through the gigantic construction site. We are excited! And who knows – maybe we’ll be on one of the new stages.
Wednesday: Haidhausen home
The cable bridge leads over the Isar from the Muffatwerk directly to the Lukaskirche.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
Why actually Umm Block? On Wednesday we will visit the neighborhood where we grew up and find answers: Haidhausen. Flashback: The homework is only half done and prepared for the math-ex more badly than good. A call: “Hey, let’s do another round around the block“. So we did our rounds for years, looking for ourselves – and some of the visions and dreams from back then later came true. The streets are filled with memories: Buying a book with your own pocket money for the first time in the Horne bookstore. Then “Pettersson and Findus”, today “Casper’s world formula” (Victoria Grader). In the “Blaugold” we have been getting hold of second-hand treasures for more than a decade. After a walk to the Kabelsteg past the Muffatwerk and the Gasteig, where we spent half our youth, we leave the evening in our old favorite pub “Vivo” on Lothringer Straße.
Thursday: rehearsals and pizza
“Umme Block” share the rehearsal room with “Blackout Problems”.
(Photo: Bernhard Schinn)
The day begins with a meeting. Mario Radetzky, who supports us as manager and also produced and mixed our second album, always has advice. A true all-rounder. Our rehearsal room is in the Westend, we share it with Daniel Fahrländer and Mario’s great band blackout problems. In front of us are our beloved synthesizers and beat machines – they blink and sparkle, ready for the big night. So we are preparing for our biggest own concert in Munich so far. Precisely because there are only two of us on stage, we do everything we can to create a varied live show that inspires and surprises the audience. After the work is done, we reward ourselves with pizza and aperol spritz at “Spuntino” on Westendstraße.
Friday: Superstar in the cinema
The SZ editors have enriched this article with content from YouTube
Load content now
The week takes us to Vienna on Friday. Here we play our first own show in Austria in the “B72”. Meanwhile, one of the most exciting artists of our time can be seen on cinema screens around the world. We recommend: Billie Eilish live at the O2, preferably in the Arri cinemas. Speaking of film: In addition to all the exuberant streaming offers, let’s not forget our great Munich arthouse cinemas. A little tip for those interested in arthouse: www.artechock.de. By the way, our single “Wet Surface” will be released on January 27th. It’s a song about what’s left when all the screens are off and everyone else is gone.
Saturday: The big show
The SZ editors have enriched this article with content from YouTube
Load content now
The time has come on Saturday: We start early in the morning on the A1 back to Munich. It’s going to be an extremely busy day. Because the concert in the Technikum is also the release show of our second album “State of Limbo”. With this work we would like to take an unusual path: On January 28th, the album will initially only be released physically (Vinyl & CD) and exclusively via the Munich Warehouse label. The digital release will follow on March 24th. The excitement mounts. We can finally present the result of three years of intensive work in our hometown. So if you don’t have any plans for Saturday…
Sunday: strengths before the walk
Breakfast plate in the “Trachtenvogl” restaurant at Reichenbachstraße 47 in the Gärtnerplatz district.
(Photo: Robert Haas)
It won’t be a classic Sunday, when you just recover from a stressful work week, but the day on which an enormous burden falls from us after we have invested so much time and heart and soul in this project. Hopefully the weather will be good so that after a late breakfast in the “Trachtenvogl” we can take a long walk along the Isar and through Munich. Afterwards: browse through the brilliant Bahnwärter Thiel at the “Krims & Krams flea market”. Maybe we’ll end this exciting week with a swim and sauna in the Müller’sches Volksbad. Then we fall into bed. And we are excited to see what else this year will bring.
Klara Rebers and Leoni Klinger started as acoustic ones Singer-songwriter duo called “NouNours”: Two voices, one acoustic guitar. They mainly trundled through the Munich scene, were out and about on cabaret boards and thus created a first fan base. When Leoni returned to Munich after studying media sciences in Weimar, the two friends developed a new sound: a very special mixture of synthesizer sounds (Rebers) and singing (Klinger and Rebers), which the two always used live for their concerts import. This mix of dreamy pop songs and danceable beats was so well received that SZ nominated them for Band of the Year in 2018. Umme Block toured as the opening act for “Blackout Problems” and performed at various festivals. In 2020 their debut album “25 Hours” was released, now the second one called “State Of Limbo” is coming out.