New album "Three"

Markus Kienzl: Electronics after the Sofa Surfers

(Bild: Krone KREATIV/Blankton Recordings, Monoscope Productions)

Markus Kienzl first made local music history as a member of the Sofa Surfers and then went on to achieve widespread success as a composer for films and series. Somewhere in between, the 51-year-old always had time to work on his own songs. On the album "Three", he now brings them together and mixes strengths from his past with contemporary themes and a modern approach to sound.

Without him, nothing would work in the Austrian electronic scene - or at least it would be poorer for many an atmospheric sound collage. Markus Kienzl, member of the legendary and currently suspended Sofa Surfers, has made a name for himself in recent years primarily as a composer for film and television. With his band, he has already provided the musical accompaniment to the "Brenner" film adaptations based on the novels by Wolf Haas, and in recent years he has immortalized himself alone in "Tatort", the Sky-produced series "Die Ibiza Affäre", the third season of "Der Pass" and the ZDF production "Dead End", among others. Not a bad CV then. In between, the Mödling native has repeatedly holed himself up in his studio in the 4th district to really get back into the swing of things musically, away from the visual sound accompaniment - "Bumm-Zack", as Kienzl laughingly and appropriately calls the songs written in these sessions in the "Krone" interview.

Taking the next step
"I've always used the short breaks between series and film productions to come home to my world". By coming home, Kienzl doesn't just mean tougher pieces, but also more freedom. While in the TV business you have to go through an infinite number of feedback and control loops before completion, he himself is the biggest corrective in his solo productions. "I've written a few songs that I didn't want to release in such a big way. I once thought about an EP, but then there was more and more material. At some point, I no longer wanted to just hoard the songs on my hard drive, I wanted to make them available to other people." As the songs accumulated and resulted in a product, his friend and Sofa Surfers colleague Michael Holzgruber, who also took care of the mastering, encouraged him to take the next step. "He said I should make an album straight away. I could have done even more than the 13 songs, but it's fine as it is."

"Three" is Kienzl's third studio album and his first solo album in 15 years. Based on the foundation of his classic sound, he stretches out in various directions from hip-hop to trip-hop, dub, rock and even some soul. A fundamentally important part of the overall result is due to the strong vocal performances. Oddateee, who comes from New York and currently lives in Lyon, provides the harsh hip-hop parts, while Tania Saedi's voice is more of a delicate touch, and Semtex MC aka MC Santana and Loretta Who can also be heard on the songs. "Sometimes I got the vocal parts and made the music, sometimes it was the other way around. With some tracks you know quickly what kind of vocals they fit, with others it takes longer. I tried a lot and trusted my instincts."

Minimalist sharpness
In terms of sound, Kienzl also tried to stick to his roots. In other words: the music should sound contemporary, but not overproduced or too fat. "The biggest challenge was not to plaster everything over with bombast. Every song and every sound on the album stands on its own. When I listen to the different recording tracks, it sounds good on its own and that was particularly important to me. This kind of minimalism brings with it a certain hardness and sharpness that I really liked for the individual tracks." "Three" is very spherical and cohesive despite the songs having been written over several years, the different genre structures and the different voices. A controlled aggressiveness duels pleasantly with the restraint we are accustomed to in domestic 90s electro productions. An interesting and successful mixture that unconsciously draws an arc from old Sofa Surfers to Kienzl's solo songs and parts of his film and series work.

"I love many of the sounds and beats of the 2000s, but I didn't want to simply reproduce them", explains Kienzl, "I made an effort to make the album sound current and contemporary. I'm no longer a young act who is desperate to reach new heights. I'm under no pressure to achieve anything with this album. I'm taking a step back and trying to move in all directions. It was more important to me than that the songs correspond to the zeitgeist that they amuse me and bring me joy." When it comes to his music, Kienzl talks a lot about following his first intuition as much as possible, but he is an incorrigible perfectionist when it comes to developing and refining it. "I don't plan beforehand what I'm going to do and how something should sound. I let myself be guided and you can hear that in the album. The basic structure is always intuitive, then it goes into the editing phase."

The flow is right
The composer, who is completely focused on the sound, gives his singers complete freedom with their lyrics. Oddateee sings about the distorted reality driven by social media platforms in "Confused", wonders about climate deniers and Trump supporters in "I Often Wonder", while Saedi ventures a personal encounter with her childish self on "Chained" and tells the story of a toxic man in "Hustler". "I know what I'm getting from them and I don't have to watch out. There are definitely no Nazi slogans to be found and, on the whole, the flow of the content fits very well with the music." Depending on the voice and content, the degree of harshness and focus also change and adapt. On the whole, it's about everyday problems experienced from different perspectives - identifiable and understandable for everyone.

The final Louis Armstrong cover "What A Wonderful World" with Saedi on vocals is a surprise. "We applied for a commercial with this track and failed. Our version has such a depressive touch, so in retrospect I'm not at all surprised why it wasn't chosen. But I thought it was too good not to publish it somewhere. It also leaves the listener with a double meaning. On the one hand, there is nothing wonderful about our world anymore. On the other hand, the song can also be interpreted to mean that it's still great despite everything that's happening." The musician leaves it open as to whether the compact "Three" will ever be heard live. "I don't want to play in all the venues I've been to so often. It would be nice to play at the Donaufestival in Krems next year, for example, that would be a suitable setting. Let's see if it works out."

What will happen to the Sofa Surfers?
Due to his many activities in the film business, Kienzl is not dependent on concerts. The family man would have to carve out additional time and space for this - hence the very vague prediction of a live performance for the time being. A return of the Sofa Surfers, who last came into the public eye seven years ago with their anniversary album "20", would not be completely out of the question either. "We see each other from time to time. I have a poker table in my studio where we are always active. We recently had an interview for Ö1 and were asked how we were getting on. We took a look at ourselves and realized that maybe we really should do something again. It's not a big topic at the moment and everyone is busy, but if the vibe is right, I'm definitely up for it. None of us really have the fire to play live, let alone go on tour." That still leaves the strong "Three". Kienzl's third solo album is more than just a bridge to his own Viennese club nostalgia anyway.