The MUNICH SCENE

I have been living in Germany's third-biggest city for about a year now, and I am slowly connecting to other people. I could never have imagined it taking that long, but it is happening.

Half a year ago, I felt lost in a city that is known to be rich, conservative and traditional, with a very wealthy citizenship. And... it's true. Compared to Germany's other big cities, namely Berlin, Hamburg and Cologne, Munich often feels more polished, but also more sleepy. Lots of people are working in high-ranking corporate positions, which usually come with tight schedules, little leisure time and lots of money. What's the consequence?

That the underground art scene in this city is abysmally small. But that is not necessarily a bad thing.

I have been looking for events with low entry fees for a while now - jams, networking events, concerts of local bands, open mics. And several places do offer these, but even when I was attending them, I did not feel like I truly belonged. I could not connect with the people, and many of them didn't share my view on arts and music. A comparably big portion of Munich's non-classical music scene is taken by singer-songwriter artists, mostly with acoustic guitars and a mic.

While that can be beautiful to listen to, I much prefer experimental prog music. Doing things that have not been done before, being at the forefront of "innovation" (I hate that word).

So I kept asking around, talking to whomever I could find, and after one year (again, ONE YEAR), it feels like I finally found my group of people - a kind of closed off community of producers and independent musicians, sound engineers and audio technicians. Regular demo listenings are taking place, people are recording together or meeting up in jam-packed rehearsal rooms for open jamming. That's more like it!

Old Town Munich
Taken from the rooftop of a restaurant nearby.

Packed, crammed, but good music
Taken at a small pub in Munich

The exemplary image on the right shows an exclusive little pub that regularly hosts concerts on a stage that is hardly larger than two square meters. And while I visited it only once, it authentically showed me that there are passionate people in Munich, and they gather quite an active fellowship around them. Maybe that's a big city thing in general - because if you open things to the public, it becomes much more complicated to organise.

I am now actively participating in multiple events, which are often organised within private groups, keeping the number of participants below twenty, usually. This way, I am getting to know many collectives, bands and individual creatives with their own story. And while Munich is not necessarily a magnet for all kinds of creatives all over the world (due to its high housing prices), I am happy to say that events do happen - you just need to know the right people, and then you're part of the gang.