III
Blumfeld / Jochen Distelmeyer

About:

Born in Bleifeld in 1967 Distelmeyer responded in to an ad searching for a guitarists for the new band ‘Bienenjäger’ in 1987. After Distelmeyer’s military service they merged with members from ‘Der Schwarze Kanal’ and formed Blumfeld. The name of the band was coined by the main character of the short story "Blumfeld, ein älterer Junggeselle" by Franz Kafka. Distelmeyer also started to write lyrics in German combining figurative language with social criticism. The album ‘Ich-maschine’ was a protest  against the selfcentred culture of the eighties and found a listening ear with the young Hamburg crowd. Over the years Blumfeld would develop themselves as one of the flagships of the ‘Hamburger schule’ popscene. In response to the pogroms against foreigners in Rostock-Lichtenhagen Mölln late 1992 Jochen Distelmeyer organized together with Christoph Gurk political action. The political awareness grew after an incident with fellow musicians Die Goldene Zitronen who were attacked during a tour of East Germany. Distelmeyer founded the Hamburger "welfare committee" as an initiative against neo-fascism. Together with Bernd Begemann he created a fraction, and recorded the song "Recession, Baby"(1993) as a dispute the necessary degree of political radicalism. All this political engagement led to the fact that the second Blumfeld was not released until 1994 on the ‘Big Cat/Zick Zack’ label.

After a lengthy tour the band goes through changes in line up. Evetually they start recording on their third album in 1998. ‘Old Nobody’ and the single ‘Tausend Tränen Tief’ becomes their first chart succes. The move to a broader audience also feeds the pressure, artistic insecurity and the feeling of possible loss of their credibility. These somber thoughts lay a burden on the dark fourth album with singles ‘Graue Wolken’, ‘Die Diktatur der Angepassten’ and ‘Wellen der Liebe’. One more album would follow on Big Cat/Zick Zack before the band would sign to Sony/BMG. It would become a shortlived marriage with their debut for a mayor also being their last album as a band in 2006. Their farewell show in Berlin was filmed by Harry Rag for the DVD ‘Nacker als nackt’. In 2009 Distelmeyer announces his solo debut. Accompanying the album he also does a German tour of which the German music magazine Musicexpress releases an exclusive live CD ‘Einfach so – Live’ included in the magazine.

On the web:

- Jochen's website: http://www.jochendistelmeyer.de/

If you like this, you probably like.. / european counterparts:

Baustelle (Italy)

What do we think:

DB: Of the Hamburger scene Blumfeld is probably one of the most dark romantic. Marked by a deep engagement with the social environment, Distelmeyer focuses often on the (im) possibility of a relationship with a rigid consumer society. Anxiety, depression, insecurity, disorientation are recurring themes. The resistance and protest against the cold side of modern society form a central motif. It makes that Distelmeyer is heralded by songwriters and literature writers alike as a rare talent. Contrary to what you might expect Blumfeld knows how to wrap the sometimes pessimistic focus on the world with surprisingly optimistic alternative rock arrangements. Making their music intelligent and still easy accessible.

Albums:

♪♪♪ - Ich-Maschine (Ego-Machine) - 1992

♪♪♪ - L'Etat Et Moi (The State is Me) - 1994

- Old Nobody - 1999

♪♪♪♪ - Testament der Angst (Testament of Fear) - 2001

♪♪♪ - Jenseits von Jedem (Beyond Everyone) - 2003

♪♪♪ - Verbotene Früchte (Forbidden Fruits) - 2006

Solo:
♪♪♪♪ - Heavy - 2009

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♪♪♪♪♪ = outstanding album, an absolute must-have
♪♪♪♪ = great album, highly recomended
♪♪♪ = nice album
♪♪ = be careful, requires listening before buying
♪ = best to be avoided