The Text Is My Party - A History of the Hamburger Schule - Book (Jonas Engelmann)

The chronicle of one of the most influential German music scenes.

"I'm new to the Hamburger Schule" Tocotronic sang in 1995. "The teachers are all very nice here and most of my classmates too." But who are the "teachers" of this band, founded in 1993, who only joined the scene known as "Hamburger Schule" late? And how do the "classmates" look today at the music scene that developed from the mid-eighties at the bars, in the rehearsal rooms and concert halls of the Hanseatic city?

At a time when German punk became duller and the Neue Deutsche Welle more schlager-like, something new and unique emerged somewhere in between. Without tracksuits, side partings, and German lyrics, a musically wild mix initially prevailed - alternative alongside Northern Soul, punk alongside noise, pop alongside instrumental music. Only gradually did the German-language, intellectual discourse pop emerge, which became the trademark - and cliché - of the Hamburger Schule and led bands like Blumfeld, Die Sterne, or Tocotronic to national recognition.

"Der Text ist meine Party" accompanies numerous protagonists on their way from the provinces to Hamburg, whose legendary reputation since the early eighties had been shaped by the "underground pope" Alfred Hilsberg with his Zickzack label. Many of the musicians had learned self-empowerment and the do-it-yourself ethos in the punk scene and founded bands and recording studios, labels and concert venues.

The diversity of Hamburg's music scene over the last few decades is described by, among others: Bernd Begemann, Myriam Brüger (L'Age D'Or), Ale Dumbsky (Buback), Ebba & Jakobus Durstewitz (Ja König Ja), Pascal Fuhlbrügge (Kolossale Jugend), Charlotte Goltermann (L'Age D'Or), Carsten Hellberg (Ostzonensuppenwürfelmachenkrebs), Bernadette La Hengst (Die Braut haut ins Auge), Oliver Hörr (Boy Division), Bernd Kroschewski (Boy Division, Hrubesch Youth), Tobias Levin (Cpt. Kirk &.), Dirk von Lowtzow and Jan Müller (Tocotronic), Hans Nieswandt (Whirlpool Productions), Carol and Chris von Rautenkranz, Knarf Rellöm (Huah!), Tilman Rossmy, Luka Rothmann (Brüllen), Frank Spilker (Die Sterne), Linus Volkmann, Rebecca 'Nixe' Walsh

Frank Werner (Fast Weltweit), Thorsten 'Taucher' Wessel (Ostzonensuppenwürfelmachenkrebs)