Willkommen im Magnetbanduntergrund!

A live broadcast from Hamburg featuring GAJEK, Jan Jelinek & Frank Bretschneider. Independent music productions were banned in the GDR in terms of production, distribution, and sales. However, countless groups such as Der Demokratische Konsum, Zwitschermaschine, Schleim-Keim, and Kein Talent defied these regulations imposed by the workers' and farmers' state. They took it upon themselves to play their (mostly homemade) instruments and recorded their compositions directly onto tape: unorthodox punk met lo-fi experimental rock, stumbling electronics met grinding pop constructions, conceptual minstrelsy met infernal noise.

The publication Magnetizdat DDR, Magnetbanduntergrund DDR 1979–1990 (2023, Verbrecher Verlag) tells the story of this magnetic counterculture. Inspired by this, we will explore the musical subversions of the late GDR in three acts over three days. Curated by Judith Behre and Florian Bräunlich