Sebastian Krumbiegel

In the artist's words:

You loved me, you hated me
Cheered or booed anyway
What's the big deal
I feel free
And continue to take full risks

That's what Sebastian Krumbiegel sings in the opener of his album "Aufstehen - Weitermachen!", which will be released on 20.09.24. You can hear that this motto is the program in the 12 songs written exclusively by him. In the title track, he sings about how his mother always advised him to question authority. In "Superhero" he sings about the possibility that everyone has the superpowers to make this world a better place and in "Freddie Mercury" about someone who has actually made the world a better place with his superpowers. At least the music world. There are also political songs, love songs and even a hate song.

"Get up - keep going!" - For as long as he can remember, he has been getting up (sometimes earlier, sometimes later) and carrying on... making music! Sebastian Krumbiegel started making music as a child in the St. Thomas Boys' Choir, where he learned to sing. At 15 he had his first band and then DIE PRINZEN. "No shit, I write songs and sing every day. It often has a downright therapeutic effect, it gives me the strength to get up again and again after setbacks and keep going."

A fitting title for the new Sebastian Krumbiegel solo album, his first in almost exactly 10 years. Back then, the reduced piano album "Ein Mann, sein Klavier und ihr!" was released. Krumbiegel's favorite instrument is of course also prominently featured on "Aufstehen - Weitermachen!", but not only. He recorded a kind of band album with musician friends, with bass, guitar, drums, wind instruments, strings and everything that goes with it. And with lots of choirs, which Krumbiegel recorded solo in his home studio in Leipzig. And so "Aufstehen - Weitermachen!" is not piano chanson but pop. Not chart pop, but much more spontaneous, heart-warming indie pop with big choirs.

"I listen to a lot of music and I make a lot of music with other musicians. Last year I recorded a song with the Hamburg band SWISS UND DIE ANDERN, this year with the ALEX MOFA GANG and the Viennese artist BIBIZA - all that inspires me a lot and keeps my mind fresh. Music and language are constantly changing and I don't want to stand still in what I do."

Don't stand still, do your own thing, stay fresh in your head - you can hear that in "Aufstehen - Weitermachen!". Sebastian Krumbiegel took absolute freedom in the production regardless of losses. Regardless of any manager blah blah blah or the clever strategies of a major label or whether someone is annoyed by political songs. It's all about taking risks.

Speaking of political songs, they can of course also be found on the album, such as "Der Führer hätte sich gefreut" and "Nicht nochmal". "Mixing pop and politics, he asks me, what the use is? / I offer him embarrassment and my usual excuses" BILLY BRAGG once sang. Does Sebastian Krumbiegel feel the same way from time to time? Far from it: "I think pop music is always political, even if it's not explicitly political. I can't help but express my opinion on things that are happening at the moment. I don't think you need an excuse to be political in this day and age, you need excuses to stay out of it."

Sebastian Krumbiegel can do a lot once he's stood up: recording pop and political piano records and writing books (his autobiography "Meine Stimme" was recently published by Ventil Verlag), portraying singing lizards (with The Masked Singer) and Helmut Kohl (with Jan Böhmermann) and now releasing fresh, cheeky, great (indie) pop records.

I was already at the top and I was lying in the dirt
And sometimes what I did had no level
What's the big deal
I feel free
And continue to take full risks

There's definitely no need to worry about the level of Sebastian Krumbiegel's new work, it's top notch. In this case, it was worth taking a full risk. Carry on!