I am thrilled and honored – my favorite Radiostation Ö1 has dedicated a whole “Spielräume” Radio broadcast to my upcoming album “smiling eye”. Michael Neuhauser, one of my favorite radio journalists, has produced a very personal and intimate piece of Radio. Please take a few minutes and listen to his and my work.
Spielräume “Die Dinge, die Augen, Die Stille”
It´s done ! We released SILENCE – a video to the first pre release single. And I really love it – done by my favorite web and photo designer 86/60 ! You can watch it here. Also till the release there is a free download of the song at m labels band camp side – for free ! A new years starter gift. Get it here
The response has been really great so far, I am really happy.
So the next step will be the release of the second single, which is the song after which the album is named – “smiling eye” – So please don’t get confused…the single comes out on February 12th, the whole album on March 2nd with a live show at Radiokulturhaus Vienna.
New release shows are added frequently – so please be sure to either sign up for my newsletter at the bottom of each page on my website connect to me on my facebook site
We have been spinning many ideas about the Album cover for KMET “smiling eye”. My friends Michael Holzer and Oliver Schöndorfer from 8660 have produced a number of great options. We are in the process of finding the look of the new Album together. We have done a fun shooting outside of the atelier, where i also tried on the wearability and the looks of my new live outfit for this release – I like it ! At the same time we are working on a new live Video for a song of the upcoming Album. It will be shot live in December already, so I am rehearsing it in my studio every day, refining all aspects of it.
There was a short reflection as to change the title of the album – and Oliver walked with the idea for a few days :-)
Fotos by 8660
„Unschuld, die kleine Veronika“ at filmfestival cinema ritrovato
This wonderful and very highly decorated festival has a history of inviting the best piano players and orchesters wordlwide to play with the shown silent films. So it was a special honor being the first guitarist and singer, using also preparations on my guitar to accompany this last silent film that was shot in austria in 1930. I was invited by Karl Wratschko to break the ice for experimental music and silent film on the wonderful Piazetta Pasolini. The film was shown for the first time on the newly restored 35 mm version. The protector was a machine built in the 1920´s working with old carbon lamps. So it was a smoking and hissing „machine performance“ with wonderful warm light in the projection. Open air with about 500 people watching and listening.
picture from the evening of the projection:
This project was also made possible by the clutural forum Milano and the BKA. Many thanks !
the piazetta during the projection
the wonderful projector from the 1920´2
I am very happy to announce my invitation to the great festival “Cinema Ritrovato” in Bologna ! This is a festival with a great reputation and history. Most of the live music is done by piano players. So this will be a fine experiment to take this into an experimental direction as well. I will play live to the silent movie “Unschuld die kleine Veronika”(1930) by Robert Land. This will take place in a beautiful outdoor plaza – Piazzetta Pasolini. There is seats for 400 people, its open air, and I am loving it already. So if you are close by any means, please stop by !
it looks like this:
Also I wanna mention that we had a very fine and touching premiere of out new piece “Die andere Hälfte des Himmels at Kunsthaus Nexus in Saalfeld. The audience was very attentive, the crew of the nexus very supportive to our work. We will now start a little touring with it. fixed are the 9th and the 10th of June in salzburg – please check out the live section. For the fall there a re a few different locations in planning, around Salzburg, but also at the Völkerkundemuseum Wien, in Graz at Theater am Bahnhof and a few others.
We got a great preview in the Salzburger Nachrichten and now the ORF national Television wants to make a broadcast around the piece, and Barbaras Grandfather´s story.
Here is a glimpse of the premiere:
After working with this very funny and inspiring team on INVIDIA der böse Blick for 8 weeks, our premiere went very well. The audience was very responive, and we had lots of fun performing our new work. The media has covered it also in a numerous ways – please check out those articles(in german)
One of the reasons to do a piece without words was to tour with it internationally. So please stay tune for more dates to come.
I am superhappy to announce the mixing process for my new KMET solo Album is finished now. It´s been growing and growing, interrupted and also fed by different works for theater and film. Now it feels mature and kind of ripe. I just spent the last three days with “Mr. Magic Sound” Ollmann Brunbauer at his feedback studio 2. It´s the first time we work together like this – and so far it has been fantastic. The songs evolve in new ways, and everything falls into place nicely.
I am I am very happy to announce the launch of my project „Silent Films with live music“ on my homepage. I have been enjoying playing to silent movies for over ten years now. I always play 100% live, with my live loops, prepared guitars, voice and different simple effects I use. Only at the performance of „Woman in the moon“ – because of its duration 2 hours an 50 minutes – I used some playback tracks that I could fade in and out if wanted. These events took play in the Czech Republic in a summer school of film festival in Uherske Radice, Viennale Filmfestival in Vienna, the Theatermuseum, Metro Kino and other fine places. I mostly do these films as a soloist but also teamed up with Martin Brandlmayr on drums for „Die Puppe“ by Ernst Lubitsch.
Again and again I am stunned how beautiful and with how much care some of those great silent films are done. Especially the handcolourated versions look amazing if projected with the right machines. The colours glow in a totally magic and unseen way.
Also new in the Work section under „Theater“ is „Out there is a Field“ w. Barbara Kraus, and the „Opera of Entropy“. This project might be seen again in a different kind of performance at the Donaufestival or Wien Modern. Please stay tuned for more.
I wanted to share with you a beautiful new but really old instrument I had the luck to meet with and engange in a permanent relationship for now. A 120 year old viennese Kontraguitar. It is a very rare one with 12 chromatic basses. That´s very unusual and I have to see if it is possible to make it work in real life – since 12 basses are really a lot to get organized with. Mr. Witzmann restored the few fine cracks it had beautifully, and his wife restrung the whole thing ! I am waiting for a custom made bag, so I can take it with me to rehearsals and concerts. Jorge Sanchez-Chiong who I worked with on the “Opera of Entropy” already showed his interest to make a new piece of music together, and I am exited to start. So stay tuned :-) !