#munich again

Munich Underground Scene Review 2020-2024

5 years ago, armed with the knowledge of the biggest Munich-Music-Nerd (that was me at the time) I wrote a pretty long post in three parts about the Munich Sound from 2010 to 2019 and my own part in it in the second half of the decade. The post was called “The Munich Underground Scene: a (half-) Decade in Review,” and a pretty disgruntled “me” looked back at the ups and downs of my relationship with this city I chose to call my own 10 years ago. Feel free to read it if you have not, or to refresh your memory; however it can be resumed as “TL;DR: Fan’s personal journey mirrors the broader challenges of the city’s subculture.”

And guess what? It’s basically the same this time around. Here’s once again the post in three parts because I really like structure and because I love to make little headlines up: Part 1: Reset device to boost performance, Part 2: Sounds of the Munich Underground 2020-2024, and finally Part 3: Subculture under attack & How to fight back. 

Part 1: Reset device to boost performance

First thing first: #munichagain turned 10 years old in April 2024, and this post is probably going to be the only real celebration of this jubilee. To those that haven’t been following the whole thing, 10 years ago I started a hashtag on Tumblr in case my followers wanted to blacklist my ramblings about Munich Underground Music. It became a trademark pushed by the scene here as I was still in Canada. 

“Munich again” bore the dreams of small bands reaching international audiences… I mean, Damenkapelle got an international fan blog and it even got mentioned in a real book. It inspired some, scared away others; all in all, big plans of international recognition really did not come to fruition through this blog nor through me. I was once the flavour of the month for some; for others, I became a member of the Munich Scene Family myself. 

A partner in crime and good friend, Enid Valu, aka warmdefeat, could probably tell a similar tale a couple of years later (the BR Interview is sadly not on the website anymore; the only mention is here): Enid documents on a nearly daily basis the highlights of the Munich Underground through her home base in Import Export. Through Enid’s lens, you get to see the many faces of the city, from soft pop to harsh noise, from international big names to never-seen-before performances. 

The reason why I take the time to mention Enid and her astounding work is because both our cases are textbook examples of the beautiful, manic weirdos that this city’s subculture attracts and nurtures. 

And this, despite a global fucking pandemic. 

March 2020, Factory Reset. The month had started with the first edition of We Won’t Shut Up under the most beautiful sun but also with a slight discomfort about this fast-spreading virus going around (the World Health Organisation only declared COVID-19 to be a pandemic three days later), and soon after, on March 22nd, 2020, Germany goes into lockdown. 

The local scene reactions were quite mixed. Some welcomed the obligatory respite with open arms; others felt alienated and systematically forgotten by the “Hilfspaketen und Maßnahmen.” DJ streams thrived, video-based performances reached new audiences (personal highlights like the Shelter Skelter Series and Glocke für zu Hause (I did a thing there, and I hate to watch myself, but maybe that’s your thing), and all music releases basically came to a full stop. It took a couple of years for pressing plants to come back to normal (bands were telling me that the waiting list for pressing 300 LPs was 6-8 months, when now it’s back to 4-6 weeks). 

Some wonderful concepts came through by the city, and we got some marvellous things like Kunst im Quadrat, where, sitting on little painted chairs 2 meters away from each other, we got to experience What are People For? for the first time. Giesing resonated in Grünspitz with Giesing is a Feeling (and Freezing in Giesing later). Others managed DIY-Style, like the TAM TAM Stadtspaziergänge, and Baldeplatz, for example, became a breeding ground for a whole new generation of subculture (more on that later).

All in all, these few polarising but still somehow energising months gave way to what still feels like an eternity of queasy uncertainty in the face of financial crises, insurrections, and wars. Until I finally found a purpose once more. 

Manic again

Somehow, after years of “taking a step back to just enjoy the show,” I decided to get involved again. But not under my name — I went back behind the scenes (my real first love was for the backstage anyway; if you know you know). 

In a smoky kitchen, sometime very early in the morning in Fall 2021, I got Echokammer an Instagram account and convinced Labelchef Pöschl that it would mean zero work for him because I would manage it (still going strong in a very low-effort way). Days later the plans for the release of a Das Weiße Pferd single were in motion. Since then I’ve been passively broadcasting the label’s offline work to the online world and consider myself an Echokammergirl through and through (yes, also through “scandals-german-style,” like burning mixers and the Death of the Persona of Tom Wu). 

Fall 2021 also marks the revival of Sub-Bavaria through a beautiful pop-up office full of Subculture Regalia in Habibi Kiosk (I did a thing there, and I hate to watch myself, but maybe that’s your thing). And a year later, in Fall 2022, in Lothringer 13, we really started to update the Wiki more deeply. Sub-Bavaria was a gold mine for me 10 years ago, and it was a real pleasure to work with the team there and see where it goes. For example, this year, I borrowed the map to get some insight from the new generation at the Isarflux Kulturmesse and maybe sometime in the future, you will get to see it too. 

As Munich finally bloomed with state-funded subculture events everywhere (personal faves: the DJ Bike and Frictions), I started doing weekly or biweekly “Scene Recs” again, but this time as a little experiment for a potential project (rest in peace, Platzhalter; you lasted like 4 months). In Fall 2022, when I was not busy with Sub-Bavaria, Platzhalter, or Echokammer, or gathering events for munichaigain-recs, I started to spend (a lot of) time in meetings with Freiräumen. More about that there, it deserves a whole chapter by itself, but we won’t do that today. Briefly summarised: Freiräumen opened my eyes to a whole new generation of Munich Underground that I really didn’t grasp at all. 

Shortly after the Forum für Freiraum 2022, with a same-same-but-different constellation, we started to work on Platzverweis, a Punkmusical (my first active contribution to a theatre piece in a fucking decade basically). Through this project I met beautiful souls and artists, an amazing audience, and the highs and lows we shared together marked me for a lifetime. I really hope we get to bring the show back on stage one day (book us), and if not, I know deep in my bones that my journey with this amazing crew is not over.

“I go where I’m needed.” 

A phrase I used often. As I write this, I now realise how manic this whole phase was. As you may know, I work a 9-to-5 job, and there were moments where Manic!Emilie was having meetings every night after work for months. This is the problem with “Aktivismus” and/or “Selbstausbeutung”: you’re not paid, and you’re definitely not counting hours. 

Came and went my part (it’s all very fluid) in Freiräumen, Schallter, Gleisgewitter, Mehr Lärm für München, We Won’t Shut Up, a plethora of Events with Signal people and Scheinbar Grell. 

I got involved, sometimes too much, sometimes too little, sometimes just the right amount at the right time, or not. I got big ideas, sometimes right, sometimes wrong. 

I curated and/or did awareness or security at the coolest parties with the best people. I saw EK100 and the Deutschland GmbH albums basically come to life. I dipped my toes in bigger movements. Went to countless demonstrations again (throwback Quebec 2012 with this and this). I got to feel the pulse of Munich through so many different groups and bubbles, and I am still overwhelmed and flashed by it all. 

And suddenly, Performance Mode

But somehow, close to the end of this 5-year timestamp, I stepped away from the backstage again. Somehow, in the last couple of months, I DJed much more (aka The Queenston, a name taken from the old Tumblr days — any better names are very much welcome,) even became an integral part of the last Blackouts shows by service not included in Pathos, once as a headbanger, once as musical support to the original great soundscapes (love you so much, Abu Gabi!) and recently I even got invited to perform a couple of songs with g.rag / zelig implosion deluxxe and friends at Alien Disko. I got to share a stage with some of the people I respect the most in this city (and some illustrious guests too). More words about that there.

Has my munichagain journey come full circle? Was it what it was always meant to lead to? From fan to booker to performer? Nah. It’s not some glass ceiling to break. It was never about promotions or hierarchy. It was always about absorbing it all. All aspects of the experience. 

So really, let’s not gatekeep it. Subculture lives from your part in it and from your experiences/experiments. If you want to celebrate something, celebrate it. If you want to organise something, organise it. If you want to go on stage, just go on stage. Don’t wait. Just start and/or finish the thing. 

Part 2: Sounds of the Munich Underground 2020-2024 

As I write this, I am starting to go back and forth between sections and have already a good outline of the whole post. And I also have been listening to the above playlist for a good 10 hours already. Some things start to crystallise: a lot more FLINTA*-Voices this time around. I did a fast count, and I would say that between the last playlist and this one, we went from a 20% FLINTA*-Anteil to 45%. This is, to me, a sign that times are changing and that the footwork done by feminists in the music industry was not in vain. One thing that stands out is how the increased presence of FLINTA* voices doesn’t just reflect a shift in representation but also influences the overall texture of the music. There’s a noticeable depth in many of these tracks that feels fresh, like the scene is embracing vulnerability as much as rawness. It’s not just about being louder or more visible; it’s about being unapologetically personal. 

Ok Emilie, politics are well and good, but how did Munich sound like in the last 5 years? There is definitely still a healthy balance of krautish pop, synth celebration, and punky lyrics, but what I really noticed is that everything got more polarised somehow. Whether it’s the nerdy, off-kilter beats or lyrics that feel like diary entries, there’s a freedom to these songs that’s hard to ignore. It’s as though the artists have stopped chasing polish and started chasing connection instead. That polarisation I mentioned — the tension between extremes — might be exactly what makes this scene so compelling. It’s a kind of beautiful chaos, where every sound, no matter how different, somehow belongs. The Munich Underground Scene sounds like it’s not just evolving but actively questioning itself, and that’s where great music tends to thrive.

Here are some special mentions (I did that last time). 

Echokammer slowed down, but Alien Transistor, Trikont, Höllenfrau, and Gutfeeling kept on being strong pillars of the Munich Scene. I rambled in Part 1 long enough about Echokammer, but if you didn’t listen to the 100th Echokammer Release yet, do it now. It is an absolute gem of a mixtape (on vinyl), with evergreens and some crazy unreleased stuff. What should we look forward to? Definitely the first Schnecken im Hochbeet LP (absolute BABES), a new Sound of Money and more.  

Alien Transistor naturally gets my full endorsement because of the releases of WAPF and Soft Violet. I was a WAPF fan from the start (I mean, all stars lineup overall, if you need me to rave on about that I could go for hours) and Soft Violet (Veronica Burnuthian) came as a natural progression from their work with Panty Paradise. Personally looking forward to the upcoming “SPINNEN” Release on Alien Transistor next year (Veronica Burnuthian + Sophie Neudecker).

I also really enjoyed following the punk-reaffirmation of Gutfeeling – I mean, I knoooow it’s always there but it’s always fun to see it concretely now and again, see g.rag / zelig implosion deluxxe and Analstahl. The “zelig”-releases after COVID particularly hit such a sweet spot (ZKW, please? Komm geh schwimmen, please?? Amazing stuff – but I am really biased since I got to get up close and personal with the band on stage very, very recently). I have zero inside knowledge of what’s coming for Gutfeeling (or do I) but i know that g.rag and friends will continue to thrive and surprise in the years to come. This is a DIY-Label by and for musicians, they eat and drink and breathe music and cannot stop.  

Höllenfrau held my attention through stunning aesthetics (hello 3M, hello cassettes) and beautifully curated compilations (last one here, feat. loads of favourites like Rumpeln, Lina Zylla, Palanca and more). I look forward to more of these compilations in the future. I hope for a way to follow these releases in a more “mainstream” manner at some point, it is very difficult to have this Analog/Bandcamp versus Streaming ecosystem. I like when I can do both: buy the music/merch AND stream it too. Same mention goes to Cosima Pitz, a label which I should definitely listen to more. 

Another very worthy mention to me is Alligator Gozaimasu, the international music collective initiated by Stephanie Müller aka ragtreasure, that got reactivated during lockdown and is an absolutely inspiring show of collaboration overcoming distances (but generally that’s the vibe with the Mediendienst Leistungshölle crew – anything, and everything, is always possible). 

Otherwise in the news department, Markus Rhein of Katie Smokers Wedding Party got into the label business! Since 2021, Rheinschallplatten has been releasing a steady flow of wonderful releases (monobob!!!!), sometimes even as collab with Gutfeeling. As a truly pleasant surprise last Spring: a new Beißpony album (Shall We Look At Flowers is definitely on the shortlist for best songs this year).  Discogs tells me that we can expect a new Sasebo Album soon there too, I am really excited about that, and also a Single from Ta Mourmourakia (Grexits fam!). 

Ok but Emilie, what’s new new?

Alternative Fakten is new and exactly doing what’s right. Some really great artists found their home there and I am looking forward to more. Faileri Failera is just unequivocally, wonderfully perfect. Alternative Fakten organises really great parties too. This is something that really marks the last 5 years for me: the borders between showcase, label and booker got much more blurred and you get this “sweaty basement energy” that makes Munich sound so much better. Talking about basements: definitely start having a look at the next generation’s DIY-Labels with New Basement. Definitely follow their Instagram for infos about the next parties. 

Also deserving the spotlight is definitely Schaufel und Besen Records. I got the chance to work with these guys on the first Edition of Scheinbar Grell two years ago and the Schaufel-Family is a really great one. House of many of my personal favorites (Erleuchtung, you own my heart), this label will definitely continue to surprise in the next few years.

On the harder side of life is Grauton, house of Kommando Hörsturz (DJ Collective and your favorite Krachparade-Wagen), Sendling Allstarzz (making Y2K hot again since 2022) and Deutschland GmbH (album is still steaming, that’s how fresh it is) only to name a few. Don’t underestimate this relentless label and their keen, evergrowing audience. 

Messy lists of things that are also important

I cannot mention the Grauton-Gang without mentioning the post-pandemic-boom of collectives in Munich. Last year with a project we did a Scene-Landscape and in minutes, we already had listed 30+ collectives just in the “friends and family” category. Buuuut as I am not a real party expert despite everything, here is my own loose selection of Munich Collectives (or teams, or series; label it how you want): Signal, WUT, Black Rat, Zombie Sessions, service not included, Core Chaos, Grell, Holy Fingers, In Orbit, Sonic Hypnosis, Isarbass, Tanzwut, Timetripping and newly Bootlick only to name a few, some really post-covid, some already more established. 

Thing is, I definitely don’t have an overview anymore (maybe I never have). Where does Inselgruppe with Vandalisbin and Angela Aux fit into all this? Squama with Enji and Popp? What about Heroic Leisure? Radio 80000? What about the new trend of self-releases, now that bands can upload their own tracks on all streaming platforms for 20 EUR a year, like Mindsight, fab or DIOSA? Where do projects on friendly-labels-in-other-towns like Grotto Terrazza, RIVER, SINEM, Brnjsmin, Möbelkröger or Lunsentrio fit in? Or bandcamp-only-projects like Pacifico Boy, Die Lore and Anthômas? And what about the big new names, Emilie? No mention of the Notwist-Cosmos at all, of Packed Rich, Malva, Rue Oberkampf?

But Emilie, is that really so fragmented? It looks like a normal town-life to me.

Yeah you’re absolutely right.

I just really, really liked that I could put this tiny subculture in little wallet-flaps organized by label in my pocket. That was easy.

But the more you know, the more you know that you don’t know.

All in all, my inbox is open. Send music my way. Always eager for more.

Part 3: Subculture under attack & How to fight back

I was tempted to do something clever and call this “Zombie Nation” (hi Mooner) as a nod to the last recap, “Autopsy of a City” from five years ago. But honestly, I’m tired of feeling powerless, and I’m not in the mood to catalogue all the new problems that have piled up since the pandemic, and from the new budget cuts to the commercialisation of public space, the future is daunting. 

Let’s just leave it at this: nobody is coming to save us. No higher power will magically give away a Leerstand or two for us to play with (for more than a couple of months mind you). Because if it ever did, it would come with strings attached — a poisoned contract: we’d have to make it efficient and profitable.

Asking subculture musicians, artists, and activists to become successful entrepreneurs is like asking a fish to breathe out of water. Sure, with enough time, the fish might adapt. But in forcing it to survive in a completely unnatural environment, we strip it of its essence. Is it even still a fish at that point? And more importantly, would it still matter in the same way?  

I dropped a couple of times in these last pages that I have been spending a lot of time with a new generation of subculture. My time with Freiräumen and the network of smaller bubbles attached to it (Freiräumen is a Bündnis, you see, just like Kollektivis, and Mehr Lärm für München) work in a drastically different way than the Ü30 subculture bubbles. They are still blissfully enthusiastic and use their anger and frustration against the state of things to fuel their performances and their parties. 

They are systematically forgotten by a system where they fit in no Förderungswürdigkeit little box (trust me, I wrote so many Anträge in the last 2 years). They instead embrace “Alles für Alle” (everything for everyone) and see their art as something to be shared, not to be paid for. Young alternative audiences come in with 20 Bucks in their pockets and will go home to wake up in the morning with a brand new screen-printed T-shirt, the ears full of music and a slight hangover. Drinks, Merch, Einlass, alles auf Spendenbasis. Artists get paid in home-cooked food and a taxi back home. Nobody really pays and nobody gets paid. 

It seems like a good social contract on paper, however there’s always a little surprise at the end of the night that tips the balance in the red. My personal favourites: surprise Reinigungskosten that were not discussed but you need to pay them to stay in the good graces of the venue; the collective got overenthusiastic and bought too many shirts and now you sit on hundreds of bucks of unbought merch; and of course, theft. 

So here we are slowly, agonizingly, structurally antagonizing young motivated artists until they reach their breaking point and either A) stop engaging in the scene or B) move to Berlin. 

And the older subculture bubbles, holding on to their spaces with dear life, always fearing the day the dreaded letter comes with a death sentence: Eigenbedarfskündigung, Resanierung, Abriss.  

We need to find a common ground (see what i did there). 

Very few people take the time to step out of their comfort zones and have a look at what other bubbles do, and those who do, cannot do it all the time. The need for a safe space away from the mainstream is a fertile soil for tribalism and once you find your tribe, you want to protect it from potential invaders, colonisers and assholes at all costs. 

Bookers, curators and organisers play a deciding role here. Let’s talk with each other. Artists want to perform, audiences want to party. When we work together, when we brainstorm DJs and Bands for the right spaces and crowds, we make up for a more colourful and experimental scene. 

Let’s share the love with each other. Let’s drop names, let’s mix things up. Let’s bridge the generational gaps. Let’s make old white men learn about awareness and consequences. Let’s be there and take responsibility for young audience members still learning about their own boundaries. Let feminist voices inspire. Let queerness bloom. Let there be mistakes and learnings and noise and dirt and chaotic beauty. 

Where to start?

Start by reaching out. Let’s talk, let’s meet. As I hope I made clear in the last 10 pages of text, I don’t gatekeep. I am always available to help connect the right people with each other and I am more than happy to just enjoy the show. No strings attached.

But if that’s too much for you, here are some resources you can use.

Engage directly in saving Munich Subculture:

Connecting FLINTAs* together:

Venues open to subculture program if you come up with a good concept 

This is a list based on my own personal experience. I must mention Kafe Kult, Kafe Marat, Unter Deck, Heppel & Ettlich, Kap37, Feierwerk, Milla, Tröpferlbad and Strom, but some of these venues are hard to get in for various reasons. You will also definitely need to organise some financing yourself in most cases. For this, the Info-Pool of Fachstelle Pop could be quite helpful.

And of course look up in Part 2 for a lot of bands, collectives and labels to follow for good party recommendations. 

And now for some last words for the next 5 years

The fight to preserve and grow Subculture is not just about keeping venues open or funding accessible; it’s about refusing to let the essence of what makes a scene thrive — connection, creativity, and rebellion — be diluted by bureaucracy and commercialisation. The new generation understands this intuitively, and it gives me hope.

The Munich Underground doesn’t just survive; it adapts, experiments, and thrives in the margins. And as long as there are dreamers willing to fight for a space to create, to connect, and to resist, this city will always have a vibrant and vital subculture. It is up to us.

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Emilie