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The Obelisk Questionnaire: Friedo aka Sven Müller of Dead Myrick and ElbSludgeBooking

Posted in Questionnaire on August 30th, 2022 by JJ Koczan

Friedo Chemiefabrik

The Obelisk Questionnaire is a series of open questions intended to give the answerer an opportunity to explore these ideas and stories from their life as deeply as they choose. Answers can be short or long, and that reveals something in itself, but the most important factor is honesty.

Based on the Proust Questionnaire, the goal over time is to show a diverse range of perspectives as those who take part bring their own points of view to answering the same questions. To see all The Obelisk Questionnaire posts, click here.

Thank you for reading and thanks to all who participate.

The Obelisk Questionnaire: Friedo aka Sven Müller of Dead Myrick and ElbSludgeBooking

How do you define what you do and how did you come to do it?

I am a drummer with Dead Myrick and a promoter with ElbSludgeBooking in Dresden.

I liked rock music since I was a kid and always had a talent for drumming. So I started playing drums and joined a band afterwards. My later habits made me really dive into Kyuss and Fu Manchu and the whole Stoner Rock thing which to this day is a HUGE part of my life. The promoter thing on the other hand was sheer coincidence. A friend got asked by Gabriele Fiori of HPS records if he could set up a show in Dresden for Ape machine. I joined this operation and from that we just kept going.

Describe your first musical memory.

Drumming with two sticks on a pillow to “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” by the Rolling Stones.

Describe your best musical memory to date.

Impossible to answer. I go to concerts since the mid-90s and I had almost biblical revelations on several occasions. Off the top of my head I’d say one of the first was Neil Young & Crazy Horse playing “Like a hurricane” in Leipzig in 1996. My first real rock show was Green Jelly in 1993 though which was also hysterical! The last one was last weekend when I played on the same night on 2 festivals that were 150 km apart.

When was a time when a firmly held belief was tested?

I can’t think of any real beliefs I hold. All I know is that every rule has an exception so I am always prepared to see that something I expect is not going to happen. Wait… is that a belief?

Where do you feel artistic progression leads?

To excitement and then short-lived satisfaction. Then you carry on to feel it again.

How do you define success?

The word alone makes me feel uncomfortable. It is connected to money in my brain and I detest that. But I guess success just means to achieve something you wanted and had to invest some time to achieve it. One of those things to me is preparing a dough for pizza and later have this crunchy, but not dry pizza. To me that’s success and a bit of magic which makes me very happy. (no joke)

What is something you have seen that you wish you hadn’t?

Peter Griffin making Stewie suck on his boob. And seeing Gunter Gabriel, a formerly well-known singer, change his clothes in his tiny car so I could see his white ass in white underpants through the window.

Describe something you haven’t created yet that you’d like to create.

I want to rent a place that can hold rehearsal rooms, an office, a screenprint area and a small area for setting up small gigs and parties. Like a community centre that is all about hanging with the right people and work there.

What do you believe is the most essential function of art?

Being exposed to something that makes you forget that you are surrounded by evil monkeys.

Something non-musical that you’re looking forward to?

My son starting school and me quitting my Covid-induced, regular job to be a stage-tech again. F*ck office life!

http://facebook.com/deadmyrick
http://instagram.com/deadmyrick
https://deadmyrick.bandcamp.com/
https://www.deadmyrick.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Elbsludgebooking/
https://www.instagram.com/elbsludgebooking/

Dead Myrick, Rolling Steel (2022)

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Days of Rona: Sven Müller of ElbSludgeBooking

Posted in Features on April 10th, 2020 by JJ Koczan

The statistics of COVID-19 change with every news cycle, and with growing numbers, stay-at-home isolation and a near-universal disruption to society on a global scale, it is ever more important to consider the human aspect of this coronavirus. Amid the sad surrealism of living through social distancing, quarantines and bans on gatherings of groups of any size, creative professionals — artists, musicians, promoters, club owners, techs, producers, and more — are seeing an effect like nothing witnessed in the last century, and as humanity as a whole deals with this calamity, some perspective on who, what, where, when and how we’re all getting through is a needed reminder of why we’re doing so in the first place.

Thus, Days of Rona, in some attempt to help document the state of things as they are now, both so help can be asked for and given where needed, and so that when this is over it can be remembered.

Thanks to all who participate. To read all the Days of Rona coverage, click here. — JJ Koczan

sven mueller elbsludgebooking

Days of Rona: Sven Müller of ElbSludgeBooking (Dresden, Germany)

How are you dealing with this crisis as a promoter? Have you had to rework plans at all? How is everyone’s health so far?

First of all: We are a crew of 20 peeps and set up shows for fun. We don’t depend on it — at least financially. Thus far we had to cancel nine shows with 24 bands due to Corona. We still have two shows on in May — a festival and a regular show with two bands. For the fest three bands from abroad have cancelled already, so if the fest is possible we will try to find local bands to jump in. Right now our plan for the rest of the year is to forget about our annual summer break and do some extra shows in July/August if shows are allowed. And we try to move some of the cancelled shows or bands to the fall. The real problem is that this crisis affects all genres so the always crammed September and October will be full to the absolute max. And all without even knowing if we can do shows by then at all.

Healthwise we are all good. Only actual case I heard of in the closer community is one pupil at the school of my godchild.

What are the quarantine/isolation rules where you are?

People are told to stay home as much as possible. No shows/parties allowed. If you need to go out only two persons together are allowed and only for sports and groceries. Bigger families can go outdoors together though. I work mainly at a theatre and it is closed now until the end of April so I am home with my kids since the kindergarten/school is closed.

How have you seen the virus affecting the community around you and in music?

It is a huge blow to the music scene, be it bookers, labels, promoters and bands. For professional bands depending on gigs it is a nightmare. On the other hand we do a lot of shows with smaller bands too who don’t rely on the money from touring so it is not that tough I guess. Some of them will even save money.

Within my community the general feeling is that we can get through this alive and we can cope with this situation. There is so much going on everywhere and it’s hard to keep track of all the information buzzing around. So we sit here and wait – watching live shows on Facebook, drinking some beers and thinking what we can do with our lives without LIVE MUSIC!

What is the one thing you want people to know about your situation, either as a promoter, or personally, or anything?

For the music scene I suggest to bands to consider to tour Europe in January and February 2021. Before that the competition will be tough. With the warm winters lately the conditions to tour here are quite okay.

Personally for me it could be worse. I have time for my kids, I have the internet, my guitar, time to cook properly and some new albums on Bandcamp. If only there would be one live gig each week. And a constant flow of free money too. Lol

https://www.facebook.com/Elbsludgebooking/
https://www.instagram.com/elbsludgebooking/

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