8MM Musik – Bands – Shots

14 bands made a scene without a scene in Berlin between the years of 2002 and 2007.

Many of these bands were from anywhere in the world besides Berlin, and seldom had a steady audience to play to in a city dominated by its electronic scene and rock'n'roll cover bands. Often too modest to fit into the hyped-up party scene, the common trait of these bands was that they made their way somehow or other into the 8MM Bar and found a haven for good music from DJs that shared a unique history of rock'n'roll.

THE BANDS:

WG-
John "The Free Man" Fitzgerald was in a jam. He was putting on a last minute tsunami benefit concert in the newly established "West Germany " club in Kreuzberg, and he was short on bands. The answer was to make one. He called his faithful sound guy Constantine "The Greek" and ordered up a band for the show. Constantine called Paul "Fisherman" Fielding and invited him down to Index's Templehof studio. They only had four days left... And on the second day they found the singers Pella and Elisha. WG was complete. Their first set lasted about 7 minutes (8 songs). Their hit song "David Has Chlamydia" is based on a true story, and was reviewed in Vice Magazine (8 out of 10). WG is spending the fall working on an upcoming album, four days at a time.

Powers-
Joe Dilworth (Photographer, Drummer: Stereolab, Faith Healers, PJ Harvey, to name but a few; Resident DJ 8MM), Paul Fielding (WG, Resident DJ 8MM), and Jessica Norman played their first gig at Meg Williams practice space at Alexanderplatz on Halloween 2005. They continued to scare children around Europe when they were invited to open for the Brian Jonestown Massacre during the BJMs Fall 2006 tour. They have released a 2 song single, and an erie track here as they continue to perfect their first full length to this very day.

Tarwater-
Since they first garnered international critical acclaim for their 1998 record „SILUR", separating them from from the Berlin electronic music scene seems as unlikely as separating them from the 8MM Bar. For the past 10 years, these former East German punks having been releasing records (latest „SPIDER SMILE" on Morr Music), writing film music (latest „OSTPUNK" based on the screenplay by Henryk Gericke, also 8MM resident DJ), and working on theatrical productions. Somewhere along the way, they managed to write this exclusive track for inclusion on our compilation.

Singapore Sling-
Singapore Sling stumbled into 8MM in the midst of an Icelandic festival in Berlin in 2005 only to hear their very own music on the house iPod, although not a song of theirs had ever been released in Europe. Turns out the boys at 8MM had been fans for awhile. A long lasting love affair ensued, with the members of the band regularly DJing at the bar and 8MM Musik releasing their back catalogue in Europe and assisting with production of their 4th album. Sugar is off their second full length "My Life Is Killing My Rock'n'Roll".

The Boggs-
Needing a bit of a break from the scene in New York following the breakup of his label and the departure of the remaining ‚Boggs', Jason Friedman settled in Berlin for a year and a half more or less on a whim. He arrived knowing no one but found his way to 8MM where he would regularly DJ and play the unexpected accoustic show or two, all the whilst working on his exceptional followup to "Stiches" (2003), "Forts" (2007, Gigantic Records). His guest lineup includes a virtual who's who of bar regulars from that time period, including one of the bars 2 owners, Louis Trumpbour, and the barkeeper Karen Sharky.

Swearing At Motorists-
Dave Doughman moved from Philadelphia to Berlin in 2004. When he first came to the 8MM Bar he was pleased to hear his label mates SONGS:OHIA (also on Secretly Canadian) and immediately became a regular of the bar and signed up to host his Sunday labtop DJ set titled „Reckless Operation". He wrote and recorded his record "Last Night Becomes This Morning" (2006, Secretly Canadian) in Berlin. By then he had already written over a thousand songs. "Mercury Poisoning" is his unreleased tribute to the 8MM Bar.

Julia Hummer-
Julia Hummer is well known in Germany as a movie actress, appearing in many films since she was discovered by a photographer on the streets of Hamburg at the age of 17. She is also a well established solo artist, and has several solo releases in addition to releases with her backing band „Too Many Boys", and appearances with Schneider TM. She has on occassion drunkenly DJed at 8MM when she's been in the right mood. She once refered to the bar as „krank" which translates to sick or disturbed.

Husky Stash-
A side project of sound engineer Holger Müller (Liars Drum's Not Dead) and Nicole Gruenzig (Kesseteens). When not knocking back Cuba Libres or one too many Becks at 8MM, Holger also does sound for German detective shows and also recorded Powers 2 song 7", Battery and Butcher's Arms, and Nicole is a regular DJ at 8MM and sings with her other band.

Josh T Pearson-
We don't know much about Josh. Josh has got a beard that scares many people. There's been a website about it. Josh used to be in the critically acclaimed band Lift To Experience and comes from Texas, then he ended up in Berlin. How? I don't know, too scared to ask. Wish he would DJ at the bar someday, would love to hear where he's comin' from, but then again we're a little too afraid to ask. This song, THE CLASH, gave me nightmares the first week I heard it. Oddly, being the big Texan that he is, we hear he has a soft spot for early Cure records. Him and Joseph Siwinski from Swearing At Motorists are old friends and once got into fisticuffs in the stairwell up to 8MM Musiks offices.

ET Tumason-
ET is a goofy little runaway with a lot of talent and a bright future. He joined the Icelandic scene at the bar shortly after Singapore Sling returned home and spread the word. He spent every last penny he had at the bar. He started playing unexpectedly brilliant live blues sets in there just to keep his line of credit goin'. 8MM Musik is working to help record his first album. Here's your first taste.

Look Baby!-
Look Baby! seemingly emerged from nowhere early in 2007. Singer Helen had for some time been a regular at 8MM when she let it slip that she had a band and had never bothered to tell anyone. Her and NYC/London based drummer Vincent began rehearsing in 2006 and were joined by Florian (guitars) and Michael (bass). They recorded a 3 song demo EP and slipped it to us thereby earning their first gig opening for Singapore Sling in May 2007 at the famously relocated Mudd Club where they almost stole the show.

The Melmoths-
French guitarist O.D. was approached by long time resident 8MM DJ yAnn (also French) to help transfer his lyrics and a cappella melodies into a band. Joined by drummer Armin "bonjour tristesse" and „Chris" on bass they began rehearsing intensively during the summer of 2006 and quickly realized that it was easier to make good music together than to come up with a band name. When they did we couldn't wait to see them live. We are proud to offer their first release here. yAnn has DJed some of the most legendary nights at the old 8MM and is very dear to our hearts. Oh, the stories I bet he could tell if only we understood french.

The Virgin Tongues-
We love the Velvet Underground. We like the Brian Jonestown Massacre. And we dig on Ride too. So do these guys and it shows, in a very good way. We wish there were more bands like this in Berlin. They're young, broke, always looking for free booze and drugs and the chicks dig em. Lets hear some more of this.

Honey And The Greek-
Meg Williams first encountered Constantine "The Greek" Nicolaidis in the 8MM bar in Berlin. Shortly afterwards he was mixing her live performances and helping her produce some tracks at Index's Templehof Studio. In Hitler's airport, their relationship developed and Honey and The Greek was born. They are currently performing in local Berlin venues such as West Germany, Hotel Bar and White Trash. They are working with 8MM Musik Sound Engineer and producer Simon Guertler to craft an upcoming album this fall.

-A.R. Konuk, Constantine Nicholaidis, Martin Frese, Yann Dobrucki

Compilation Mastering and Additional Mixing by Simon Gürtler

This compilation would not have been possible without everyone that has been a part of the 8MM family, November 2002 - November 2007.