The Sound of New Music – Innsbruck’s contemporary music scene

04 November 2024

Post originally written in: English

When one thinks of Innsbruck as a cultural entity it's much more likely to be in regards to winter sports - the city having twice hosted the Winter Olympics - rather than in regards to music.

Even Austria's unrivalled classical tradition doesn't extend as far as Innsbruck, with the nation's most famed composers hailing from Salzburg (Mozart) and the east (Schubert, Strauss, Haydn etc)

As for pop music (in the broadest sense of that term), it barely gets a look in when it comes to the cultural conversation but I recently spoke to three people heavily involved in trying to change that perception.

Innbrucker born and raised Kenneth Winkler is the driving force in setting up MusikbüroTirol. Founded in March of this year, Winkler describes MusikbüroTirol as 'quite a complex project' but does a good job of explaining it anyway:

Musikbüro - music Co-working space

'Musikbüro is in the first place a co-working space for people in the music industry. If you're looking for a hot desk to work on in a networking space with other artists, managers, labels, bookers etc, then Musikbüro is the place to be'.

'Besides that we are also accommodating MICA (Music Information Centre Austria) which offers advice to artists in all sorts of areas, from marketing to legal stuff, to career development to funding applications. We have eight different experts offering advice. It's the first MICA office in Tirol, the first in the west of Austria in fact. Musikbüro is funded by the cultural department of the city of Innsbruck, the county of Tirol and the Wirtschaftskammer Tirol' (A body which coordinates the regional chambers and with the interests of commercial business)

Also, Musikbüro will also be a lobbying institution; 'we will bring together the interests of our stakeholders and communicate those as one strong voice towards politics etc'

Winkler, a sound engineer and musician himself, has released two excellent electronic albums under the name Kentrix.

She is now heading up Upload Sounds, which comes under the MuiskbüroTirol banner.

'Everyone can get a FREE consultation... Kenneth is co-ordinating it all so if he gets an email in he can say, 'right, this one's for Baiba, this one's for Tom Tanzer (manager of Manu Delago - acclaimed percussionist and one of Tirol's top musicians) or for Stefan Penz' (manager of psych-space-rock-trio Mother´s Cake).

Support for Musicians

'The reason me and Lisa (who performs as Little Element) are involved in Upload Sounds is because the careers we've built we've built the hard way, there was zero knowledge, nobody could tell us 'this is how you find a label, this is how you find a booking agent, this is how you get press pictures done.' It somehow worked although it was a lot of hardship. We don't want it to be so complicated for people now. So now with Upload Sounds but also the Open Mic nights at die Bäckerei for example, we want to show people there are opportunities and you are not alone. Because very often you feel alone and insecure. So, in this way, I see a massive development. And it's nice to feel that I've contributed to that'.

Sofar Sounds

'In Innsbruck there is more of an information problem, people don't know that this support is there. The music business is tough, really tough, but it's exciting. The fact that Innsbruck is small also makes it fun... I'm kinda known as 'the pop girl!' like Lisa is 'the surf girl' and Spilif is 'the hip hop girl'... People in the Innsbruck music scene have their own niches'.

Also sitting for the interview is Bradoh Enodeh. Unlike Dekena and Winkler, Enodeh isn't a musician himself, coming at his involvement in the Innsbruck music scene from the perspective of an enthusiast.

Originally from Nigeria, Enodeh has been in Innsbruck for 25 years now and recently brought Sofar Sounds to the city.

Sofar Sounds is a global music community that connects artists and audiences through live music, 'bringing people together to create a space where music matters in 400 cities around the world', according to the website.

'The reason I was interested in bringing Sofar Sounds to Innsbruck is that it was in Vienna, in Linz and other cities and I just thought, 'why?...why is it not in Innsbruck?'

Dekena and Enodeh had never met before but it turns out Dekena has worked with Enodeh's daughter Gina Disobey on her track 'Seeking asylum is not a crime', winner of radio station FM4's protestsongcontest in 2021. She plays down her involvement though ('she wrote the lyrics, the message was really strong, the melody was there...she just needed a bit of help producing it')

Live Gigs at Ambras Castle?

So, certainly there is enough creative talent in Innsbruck and the surrounding area but one of the problems is the lack of venues for various sizes of audience. It's frustrating at times but Dekena sees opportunities in Innsbruck that simply weren't available to her in Latvia; 'Although it's small, there is a community here - there are people who ask you to collaborate with them. It's a supportive community.'

Enodeh sees improvements - 'Treibhaus puts on more local acts now, Backerei is doing good things' - but to fulfill his wishes, Enodeh is hoping the city authorities will think outside the box more in terms of allowing him to use different spaces for events. 'We need to push the city more to be able to use different venues... the museums for instance, Schloss Ambras..'

This is one of the reasons why, for the moment at least, Enodeh is concentrating on uploading videos onto the Sofar Sounds website rather than putting gigs on.

"Upload on Tour" Live Gigs

Meanwhile, Upload Sounds has a couple of gigs coming up under the banner of Upload on Tour.

Next up Tirolean reggae act Rebel Musig who will be playing at the Rathaussaal in Telfs on Saturday November 9th, because Dekena says 'Telfs is super into reggae!'

As for Innsbruck, PMK on Wednesday November 20th is the place to be as Nenda & Gilewicz will perform as the main act, with Taubsi (Tirol), Nina Duschek (South Tirol) and ILPALESECHEAMO (Trento) as support.

Support acts representing South Tirol, Trentino and Tirol is in order 'to give newcomers the opportunity to perform live as the opening act for nationally and internationally known bands and acts'. The aim is to offer young musicians a stage, create space for networking, enable performance opportunities at home and abroad and to cross the Euregio area as far as possible.

From nearby Ötztal, but now living in London, Nenda is one of the jewels of Tirol's musical crown. Breakthrough track Mixed Feelings explores her mixed identity, because, as Enodeh proudly points out, 'she's also from Nigeria!' Her music is a wonderful stew of hip-hop, pop and R&B, but the way she flips from a London accent when rapping in English to full-on Tiroler Deutsch (and back again) is what marks her out as truly unique.

Gilewicz, longtime friends of Nenda, are a local indie rock band. It should be a fascinating collaboration.

Opportunties for musicians

As well as Upload on tour the other elements making up Upload Sounds are Upload Export (which is trying to get bands onto festival line ups, making connections outside Austria), Upload School (workshops) and Upload Contest. Everyone on the site is entered, then there's auditions with 12 artists, chosen by a jury. 'We have more than 40 bands on the site already so I'm happy', says Dekena.

If you're a young musician, it's well worth getting involved. As the website states, there's 'a universe full of opportunities, with prizes for further development, professional training for young talents, concert tours, further performance opportunities through national and international partnerships and promotion'.

The 2024 final was in October and Tirolean artist Tom Joseph took the third main prize.

Dekena wants as many young creatives involved as possible; 'The open call for Upload Sounds for this year is closed but there will be another one next year. So all artists and musicians should apply for next year for Upload Sounds so they have a profile on the website. I want EVERY artist under 35 to be registered on the platform'.

As Enodeh concludes, 'we have to push on'.