In global mythologies, the raven emerges as a figure of paradox, weaving threads of transformation and intellect across Norse sagas, Native American tales, and Celtic lore. This enigmatic bird, at once a trickster and a sage, embodies the duality of creation and destruction, offering insights into the empowerment derived from wisdom, adaptability, and the mystical. From Odin’s feathered emissaries to the Tlingit creator, the raven’s shadow dances over the collective human psyche, urging us to embrace the complex interplay of light and shadow within ourselves and the world around us.

This Friday Sacred Bones celebrate the parallel releases of Xmal Deutschland’s Early Singles 1981-1982 (including two bonus tracks), and the debut solo album from Xmal Deutschland’s inimitable front-woman Anja Huwe, Codes. To whet our appetites, Anja Huwe celebrates the mystical power of the shadowy corvid with Rabenschwarz, a spectacular new single, and an Expressionist video from Codes.

“The main theme is the raven, a classic symbol for black (raven black), which stands for empowerment and is also a symbolic transmission of wisdom,” explains Huwe. The raven also stands for the rediscovery of mystical paths. The emerging egg represents fear but also stands for rebirth.

Directed by Anja Huwe and Stefan Heintzenberg, the video for Rabenschwarz (raven black) ties in with the album artwork, inspired by a private collection of photos from the late 1920s and public domain film footage. The clip also includes video bootleg footage from early Xmal Deutschland shows, as well as textual collages and text boards, created by Anja Huwe.

“We combined old film footage—such as The Fall of the House of Usher (1928) and White Zombie (1932)—with additional material filmed in the basement of a derelict bunker in Hamburg,” Huwe explains. We’ve intercut all the subjects with private outdoor footage filmed at Hamburg Harbor, Brooklyn, and New York City.”

Early Singles (1981-1982) is a map of their foundational movements, just seconds before takeoff. The band’s pursuit of something greater is palpable with this release, a reflection of a time that introduced accessibility to new means of making music following the onset of punk. This reissue includes two bonus tracks; Kaelbermarsch (originally from the compilation Lieber Zuviel Als Zuwenig) and a gritty live version of Allein (originally from the compilation Nosferatu Festival), which is shared online today along with a video montage of footage from this era of the band’s career.

Pre-order ‘Early Singles (1981-1982) here.

Initially inspired by the diary entries of Moshe Shnitzki, who, at the age of 17, left his home in 1942 to live in the cavernous White Russian forests as a partisan, Codes is about the human experience and what extremes can do to an individual. “The result is a poetic, musical cosmos that encompasses the following themes: forest, fear, pain, loss, violence, and loneliness but also beauty, longing, hope and the will to survive,” Huwe explains.

The thematic extremities cause an erraticism to Codes—a passing thunderstorm, a cyclonic burst of nature’s force—but one that exudes anticipation amidst the chill. With elegant production by Mur and Huwe and mixing and mastering by Jon Caffery (Joy Division, Gary Numan, Einstürzende Neubauten) epic builds crash and disseminate, the sleek synthesised drones of sound even feel claustrophobic at times.

Pre-order Codes here through Sacred Bones Records. 

The post Xmal Deutschland’s Anja Huwe Unveils her Gothic Expressionist Video for “Rabenschwarz” (Raven Black) appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Throughout the 1980s, Xmal Deutschland distinguished themselves with a voracious and unwavering approach to their art. Their distinctive aesthetic, characterized by bold hairstyles and intense, kohl-rimmed eyes, mirrored the complex nature of their music, which combined relentless energy with a nuanced finesse. This blend allowed them to break free from the confines of the “Neue Deutsche Welle” movement, differentiating them from peers like DAF and Einstürzende Neubauten.

Xmal Deutschland embraced punk’s bold break from traditional norms, finding solace in its anti-establishment ethos—a stark contrast to the rigid conventions of the past. Their recording debut, the single Schwarze Welt, was characterized by an unforeseen turn of events: Rita Simon, the intended lead vocalist, was unexpectedly absent on the day of recording. This twist of fate thrust Anja Huwe, initially the bassist, into the spotlight as the lead singer. Despite her initial hesitations, she stepped into the role, marking a significant shift in the band’s trajectory.

“The only condition from my side [was that] I will never perform onstage,” she reflects. “Two months later, they made me without ever telling me up front. I had no choice.”Their breakthrough came with the release of Incubus Succubus in 1982, a pivotal moment that was further amplified by a landmark performance in London the same year, where they opened for the Cocteau Twins. This event propelled them into the spotlight, attracting an avant-garde audience characterized by torn fishnets and a penchant for the unconventional.

Listen to the original version of the single “Incubus Succubus” below:

 Schwarze Welt was released on the local punk label, ZickZack, in 1981 and introduced the band as an unsettling swarm of intensity. The characterization of Xmal Deutschland primarily as a female ensemble—a notion later playfully amended with the inclusion of Wolfgang Ellerbrock, who became the group’s lone male counterpart—gained momentum within the circles of media, a fascination propelled as much by their visual appeal as by their musical prowess. “We were like paradise birds,” Huwe wryly remembers. “We as girls, especially being creative in many ways, ignored facts like: be nice, be polite, take good care about your looks. Of course, we wanted to look good but in a different and unconventional way. We were enough for ourselves.”

Following Xmal Deutschland’s distinguished run, marked by four albums released under esteemed labels like 4AD, Anja Huwe shifted her creative focus, leaving the musical stage to delve into the realm of visual arts. However, this transition did not mean an effortless departure from her musical legacy; the echoes of her past endeavors lingered.

“Since the split in the early 1990s, I have been haunted by the ‘Legend of Xmal Deutschland’ and never-ending requests from all over the world, all of which I always turned down,” she says.

Early Singles (1981-1982) is a map of their foundational movements, just seconds before takeoff. The band’s pursuit of something greater is palpable with this release, a reflection of a time that introduced accessibility to new means of making music following the onset of punk. This reissue includes two bonus tracks; Kaelbermarsch (originally from the compilation Lieber Zuviel Als Zuwenig) and a gritty live version of Allein (originally from the compilation Nosferatu Festival), which is shared online today along with a video montage of footage from this era of the band’s career.

Pre-order ‘Early Singles (1981-1982) here.

Pariah is the second offering from the debut solo release from Anja Huwe. Invited by her long-time friend Mona Mur, Huwe reconsidered her decades-long hiatus from music and decided to join Mur in her studio in Berlin. Together, they worked for a year and a half, composing, performing and producing the tracks from scratch which eventually became the album Codes.

The razor-sharp new single shows the intentional interchange between languages on the record: “Since I sing multilingually, and often work with metaphors, I hope that the listener can grasp the moods without understanding them literally. I believe that voice, expression, and sound can achieve an overall atmosphere. Sometimes melancholic and blue, but also uplifting, vibrant, or subliminally aggressive.”

Listen to “Pariah” below:

Initially inspired by the diary entries of Moshe Shnitzki, who, at the age of 17, left his home in 1942 to live in the cavernous White Russian forests as a partisan, Codes is about the human experience and what extremes can do to an individual. “The result is a poetic, musical cosmos that encompasses the following themes: forest, fear, pain, loss, violence, and loneliness but also beauty, longing, hope and the will to survive,” Huwe explains.

The thematic extremities cause an erraticism to Codes—a passing thunderstorm, a cyclonic burst of nature’s force—but one that exudes anticipation amidst the chill. With elegant production by Mur and Huwe and mixing and mastering by Jon Caffery (Joy Division, Gary Numan, Einstürzende Neubauten) epic builds crash and disseminate, the sleek synthesised drones of sound even feel claustrophobic at times.

Pre-order Codes here. 

Follow Anja Huwe:

• Website
• Instagram

The post Anja Huwe Debuts New Solo Track “Pariah” — Plus Listen to the Original Version of Xmal Deutschland’s “Incubus Succubus” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

In punk’s audacious departure from traditional mores, Xmal Deutschland found a haven for their anti-establishment inclinations, a world remote from the rigid conventions of bygone eras. Emblematic of punk’s ethos, the band’s members—Caro May, Rita Simon, Manuela Rickers, Fiona Sangster, and Anja Huwe—ventured into music without the trappings of prior experience. Their initial foray into recording, with the single Schwarze Welt, was marked by an unexpected shift: Rita Simon, who was set to take the helm as lead vocalist, was absent on the day of recording. This twist of fate propelled Anja Huwe, originally the bass player, to the forefront as the lead singer, a role she accepted, albeit with reservations.  “The only condition from my side [was that] I will never perform onstage,” she reflects. “Two months later, they made me without ever telling me up front. I had no choice.”

The characterization of Xmal Deutschland primarily as a female ensemble—a notion later playfully amended with the inclusion of Wolfgang Ellerbrock, who became the group’s lone male counterpart—gained momentum within the circles of media, a fascination propelled as much by their visual appeal as by their musical prowess. “We were like paradise birds,” Huwe wryly remembers. “We as girls, especially being creative in many ways, ignored facts like: be nice, be polite, take good care about your looks. Of course, we wanted to look good but in a different and unconventional way. We were enough for ourselves.”

Following Xmal Deutschland’s distinguished run, marked by four albums released under esteemed labels like 4AD, Anja Huwe shifted her creative focus, leaving the musical stage to delve into the realm of visual arts. However, this transition did not mean an effortless departure from her musical legacy; the echoes of her past endeavors lingered.

“Since the split in the early 1990s, I have been haunted by the ‘Legend of Xmal Deutschland’ and never-ending requests from all over the world, all of which I always turned down,” she says.

Finally, however, the persistent clamour for reissues has met a resonant response. Sacred Bones Records announces with palpable enthusiasm two simultaneous releases: a reissue of Xmal Deutschland’s ‘Early Singles,’ enriched with two bonus tracks, and the inaugural solo album from Anja Huwe, titled ‘Codes.’ These records are slated for a concurrent release on March 8th, 2024,

Early Singles (1981-1982) is a map of their foundational movements, just seconds before takeoff. The band’s pursuit of something greater is palpable with this release, a reflection of a time that introduced accessibility to new means of making music following the onset of punk. This reissue includes two bonus tracks; Kaelbermarsch (originally from the compilation Lieber Zuviel Als Zuwenig) and a gritty live version of Allein (originally from the compilation Nosferatu Festival), which is shared online today along with a video montage of footage from this era of the band’s career.

The Schwarze Welt seven-inch was released on the local punk label, ZickZack, in 1981 and introduced the band as an unsettling swarm of intensity. There’s an urgency in its repetitive dirge, a swirling mania that persists on the b-side with Die Wolken and Großstadtindianer, whose crude synthesiser noises escalate in tension. Most of all, Huwe’s uniquely venomous German vocals quickly became embedded in the unbridled and burgeoning scene of glamorous gloom.

Anja’s debut solo album Codes, a pleasant surprise, emerged following an invitation from her long-standing friend, Mona Mur. Huwe, reevaluating her extended sabbatical from the music scene, decided to collaborate with Mur in her Berlin studio. Over eighteen months, the duo meticulously crafted, performed, and produced the tracks that would culminate in ‘Codes.’ A critical element of the album’s distinctive sound came from the involvement of Manuela Rickers, who infused it with her renowned guitar style. This partnership was marked by a shared artistic vision and mutual understanding.

“Mona and I have a similar artistic background since the 1980s,” says Huwe. “We hung out together, and we sport a similar attitude towards life and art. We don’t have to explain ourselves to one another.”

Mur adds: “Anja’s voice is like a spear, her appearance a torch in the darkness.”

Initially inspired by the diary entries of Moshe Shnitzki, who, at the age of 17, left his home in 1942 to live in the cavernous White Russian forests as a partisan, Codes is about the human experience and what extremes can do to an individual. “The result is a poetic, musical cosmos that encompasses the following themes: forest, fear, pain, loss, violence, and loneliness but also beauty, longing, hope and the will to survive,” Huwe explains.

The thematic extremities cause an erraticism to ‘Codes’—a passing thunderstorm, a cyclonic burst of nature’s force—but one that exudes anticipation amidst the chill. With elegant production by Mur and Huwe and mixing and mastering by Jon Caffery (Joy Division, Gary Numan, Einstürzende Neubauten) epic builds crash and disseminate, the sleek synthesised drones of sound even feel claustrophobic at times.

Along with the announcement today, she shares the frenzied Rabenschwarz, which, with Rickers’ hypnotic apocalyptic guitars, Mur’s agitated and distinctive electronic sounds and beats, forged together with Huwe’s unmistakably energetic and expressive vocals, hits you in the face

Pre-order Early Singles (1981-1982) here. Pre-order Codes here

Follow Anja Huwe:

• Website
• Instagram

The post Anja Huwe Announces Solo Album “Codes” and Xmal Deutschland’s Early Singles for Release on Sacred Bones appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Breaking onto the “German Wave Explosion” during the early 80s with John Peel championed track Mona Mur and die Mieter 12 inch Jeszcze Polska, Mona would continue is garner accolades when in 1986 Dieter Meier of Yello became her producer, and they hired JJ Burnel and David Greenfield of The Stranglers to work on her first solo album”Mona Mur”, which was released in 1988.

Now, following the release of Delinquent, Mona’s first solo album in 30 years, we sat down with her at her studio in Berlin to discuss the new record, her collaborations on it with Anja Huwe of Xmal Deutschland, Bettina Köster of Malaria! (see “Sex to Go”), and co-writer/producer Ralf Goldkind, as well as her thoughts on industrial music, and achieving the 40 plus club from touring the US.

Watch below:

Delinquent is a fantastic record, mixing Neue Deutsch Welle sounds with twangy cowboy guitars, and is the perfect soundtrack for the autobahn, or route 66.

Order a copy here

The post Delinquent: An Interview with Mona Mur appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Motorboy, directed by Elfi Mikesch and edited by Dominik Backhaus, is a hip vintage joyride through the Mojave desert conjuring the imagery analog to the seductive celluloid of 1965’s Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!.

Watch the video below:

Starting her career in the early 1980s , Mona Mur has been touring, releasing music, and collaborating with various artists for three decades, most notably alumni of Einstürzende Neubauten such as Fm Einheit and En Esch of KMFDM.

During these past decades, along with a few recent retrospective compilations, Mona’s career has branched in various directions, whether it be martial arts champion, or video game music composer, and other extended breaks and “devious detours”.

Despite often being being hyped as an exceptional singer with all the expectations that go along with that, Mona’s “poetic adventurism” ultimately clashed with the trappings of the music industry, leaving her unable to write new material in the shadow of her earlier career.

Now all “legacies” have been processed, however, it’s finally time for a new Mona Mur album.

The result is 12 songs in German, in hard black and white. Short stories and clear statements, urban desperado style. This is done with Mona’s collaborator, co-author and co-producer, Ralf Goldkind (Lucilectric), who immediately agreed to enlist to “finally make the Mona Mur album I always wanted to do”. Goldkind’s hypnotic twang guitar riffs and minimal electronics loops are the best triggers for the both gaudy and catchy electro-pop rock’n’roll style featured on the record.

A number of esteemed musician colleagues are also involved with the record, such as Bettina Köster (Malaria!), Anja Huwe (Xmal Germany), Annika Line Trost (Cobra Killer), En Esch (KMFDM), Kristof Hahn (SWANS), Rudy Nielson (guitarist, inter alia Nena + Alphaville) and more. There is also support from YELLO’s Dieter Meier, who will contribute a video.

Pre-Order Delinquent here

The post German Underground Music Legend Mona Mur Premieres her Video for “Motorboy” from New Solo Album “Delinquent” appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

The show was also accompanied by a live performance from Berlin Techno/EBM duo Schwefelgelb, who have a new EP titled Dahinter Das Gesicht out on aufnahme + wiedergabe February 24th.

Read our interview with Anja Huwe of X-Mal Deutschland here

The post X-Mal Deutschland inspired runway show at Berlin Fashion Week appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

Greg’s only analog in music journalism is perhaps the UK’s Mick Mercer, Chronicler of The Batcave scene—furthermore, while Fred Berger of Propaganda Magazine was integral in the initial covering of Gothic Music in the US (predating Greg by about 2 years), he is more renowned for representing the fashion aspects of the Gothic subculture in NYC (and beyond)—whereas Greg Fasolino represents the die hard music nerd fandom that in my opinion dwarfs High Fidelity’s Rob Gordon by comparison.

In a series covering Greg’s music fandom throughout the years, we begin with 1984.  It was in this year that Greg started his own fanzine Heaven Down Here, as well as his first band “The Cave” (which would later be followed by The Naked and the Dead, and Bell Hollow). He has always been an avid photographer, and in 1984 he documented legendary acts such as Sisters of Mercy and Nick Cave in the Bad Seeds in their prime. We have featured Greg’s pictures of many of these classic concerts here on Post-Punk.com in the gallery below.

The Sisters of Mercy

The Psychedelic Furs

The Cult

Xmal Deutschland

Siouxsie and The Banshees

The Cure

Gang of Four

Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds

The Cramps

Ramones

Public Image Ltd.

Nick Cave and Bad Seeds at Danceteria.
June 8, 1984.

Blixa and Barry

Nick sits down to deliver “In the Ghetto

The Cramps at the Peppermint Lounge, NYC.
May 19, 1984.

Lux swallows the microphone

Lux grabs someone’s panties.

Gang of Four “farewell” tour at the old Ritz, New York City.
April 26, 1984.

Andy Gill of Gang of Four enveloped in smoke

The Cure’s classic concert at the Beacon Theatre in NYC.
November 17, 1984.

Lol Tolhurst

Phil Thornalley

Porl Thompson playing Keys

Someone threw this caterpillar doll onto the stage at the Beacon, and The Cure respond with a rare rendition of “The Caterpillar.”

Robert Smith does the “Caterpillar” dance

The Cure closing out their Beacon show with an epic rendition of “Forever.”

PiL at the Beacon.
November 2, 1984.

John Lydon tries to figure out who is taking his picture.

Anja Huwe casts a spell with Xmal Deutschland at Danceteria.
September 19, 1984.

Wolfgang Ellerbrock on Bass

Siouxsie and the Banshees dazzle us at the Beacon.
July 13, and 14th, 1984.

The Cult at Danceteria on their first American tour. They played in front of about 10 people and blew us away.
July 18, 1984.

Billy Duffy on his grand Gretch

Jamie Stewart on Bass

The Sisters of Mercy at the Ritz in NYC, opening (if you can believe this bill) for Black Flag. The smoke machine was stupendous.
August 9, 1984.

Wayne Hussey on Guitar

The Psychedelic Furs at Radio City Music Hall, NYC. November 19, 1984

Ramones at Final Vinyl Records in Baldwin.
October 18, 1984.

Dee Dee Ramone

Johnny Ramone

Joey Ramone

Richie Ramone

Joey Ramone walks the fan gauntlet after their record store appearance at Final Vinyl Records in Baldwin.

Stay tuned for 1985…

The post 1984 NYC Goth and Post-Punk | Photo gallery from the archives of Greg Fasolino appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

The album featured guest musicians and vocalists such as: Elizabeth Fraser, Robin Guthrie,  and Simon Raymonde of  Cocteau Twins. Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry of Dead Can Dance, Gordon Sharp of Cindytalk,  Martyn and Steve Young of Colourbox, Mark Cox of Wolfgang Press, Manuela Rickers of X-Mal Deutschland, Martin McCarrick and Gini Ball (Siouxsie and The Banshees) Robbie Grey from Modern English,  and Howard Devoto of Magazine, Howard Devoto, sang “Holocaust”, which was one of two covers of songs from the Third/Sister Lovers album by Big Star. The other Alex Chilton track, was album opener “Kangaroo” sung by Gordon Sharp, and was released as a single to promote the album along with a video.

Two songs were performed by Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins, including Tim Buckley’s haunting “Song to the Siren”,  which oddly would foreshadow her later relationship with his son, Jeff Buckley.  Fraser also performed “Another Day” by Roy Harper.  Not all of the song covers were 60’s and 70’s classics, however, as the song “Fond Affections”, sung by Sharp, was a cover of a Rema Rema track, and “Not me”, sung by Robbie Grey, was originally a track by Colin Newman of Wire.

Director David Lynch tried to license the This Mortal Coil version of Song to the Siren for his film Blue Velvet, but instead emulated the feel of the project with Angelo Badalamenti, which led to the development of the music for the television series Twin Peaks. Read more about that here…

This Mortal Coil would go on to release 2 more albums Filigree and Shadow, and Blood, with only Fryer and Ivo as constant members.  The pair would then would release 2 more records under the guise of The Hope Blister, which was ultimately the swan song for classic era 4AD.

Check out things coming full circle with this interesting cover of Slowdive’s “Dagger” below:

The post This Mortal Coil | It’ll End In Tears appeared first on Post-Punk.com.

As a girl in her teens, Anja would make various trips to London with her boyfriend to check out the burgeoning ’77 Punk scene. At the time, she had sights on Paris to pursue a modeling career (Anja had very long hair prior to this, but cropped it to become a hair model), but heavily influenced by the DIY punk aesthetic, she soon formed the original all-female incarnation of Xmal Deutschland with the assistance of borrowed equipment from various friends and boyfriends.

“It all started in 1980 because our friends were in punk bands.”

In those early days, Anja would even spend time sharing a flat in Germany with a crowd that included members of Einsturzende Neubauten and the notorious Christiane F., each seeking their own musical relevance at the time. Anja originally began as the band’s bass player, but soon switched to vocals by default.

In The Beginning: To a fledgling band in Germany, Alfred Hilsberg’s ZickZack label was a godsend.

“Alfred was great, he would release anything”.

The first Xmal recordings, the 1981 Großstadtindianer 7’’and 1982’s seminal 12″ Incubus Succubus were released with little fanfare in their native Germany, but garnered much more interest in England via the legendary John Peel , who over the years recorded four of his famous Peel Sessions with the band. Consistently gigging in London, Xmal Deutschland grew their fan base while touring with bands such as The Mission, The Cult, and Cocteau Twins, the latter who helped the band obtain a spot on 4AD.

1983’s Fetisch captured that pure, raw energy that any great first album should. Musically tight and lyrically dark, Fetisch was an incredible debut album which put the band light years beyond anything in the Neue Deutsche Welle realm. Classic tracks like ‘Qual,’ ‘Geheimnis,’ ‘Danthem,’ and the album’s strongest track ‘Boomerang,’ clearly showed Xmal Deutschland at their finest. Xmal worked on the album with John Fryer, in the studio owned by Vince Clarke.

“We would record during the daytime while at night was Depeche Mode’s time. To sing every morning, we would have to put away all these walls because Dave Gahan couldn’t sing in front of people.”

Also in 1983, the band re-recorded ‘Incubus Succubus’ at the urging of label head Ivo Watts-Russell, which birthed the version that is still, to this day, a dance floor staple in every goth/industrial club around the world.

Released in 1984, The band’s second record, Tocsin refined the energy of the debut album and as any good sophomore album should, it broadened their sound; adding more atmosphere and richer production, most notably on tracks such as ‘Reigen,’ ‘Eiland,’ ‘Tag Fur Tag,’ and ‘Xmas in Australia.’

”Ivo (from 4AD) liked the first album. Disappointingly, however, he wanted us to be the new Wire. We wrote songs that meant something to us, but that’s just what he didn’t want us to do- he wanted us to be arty.”

Anja and co. strongly disagreed with Ivo’s suggestions, so the band parted ways with 4AD upon the record’s release and took things upon themselves. As the band’s following grew and grew, singing comparisons to Siouxsie Sioux arose, but funnily enough when asked, her response was most curious.

“I never heard her music, and I just didn’t know her. We nearly had the same management at one point (Dave Woods), but the Banshees said NO, you’re not going to manage THEM.”

Hot off the heels of their 4AD departure, Xmal Deutschland decided to start their own label, X-ile. Their releases were set to be distributed through the German Phonogram label, who promised worldwide distribution as well. However, the truth was that 1987’s Viva didn’t nearly have the impact that it could and should have, for despite decent sales in Canada and England, it was still a very-hard-to-find record in the US market.

Viva, though perhaps an album largely unheard, may be in fact Xmal’s finest hour, containing numerous great tracks like ‘Matador’ (produced by friend Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers), ‘Eisengrau,’ ‘Sickle Moon,’ ‘Polarlicht.’ and ‘Morning (Will There Really Be),’ which was based on an Emily Dickinson poem. To this day, the CD pressing still sells for around $100, if you can catch one on various online auction sites. As a taste of things to come, some of Anja’s earliest artwork can be seen in the booklet that came with the Limited Edition Matador 12’’. (NOTE: buy this if you can EVER find it!)

Even during their finest recording hour, more and more label tensions plagued the band.

“We had this attitude, we could have been much bigger, and we had the same manager as Simple Minds! He got us a deal with Island Records. We were ready to sign, but Xmal Deutschland was a band that said we would always sing in German and never ever in English and that was it. With Phonogram it was the same sort of problem.

Phonogram signed the Mission UK and All About Eve around the same time and they were successful. Since Xmal Deutschland was not as successful Xmal wasn’t really pushed.”

Anja also tells of the numerous attempts to push her to the forefront of the group. Sugarcubes vocalist Bjork had been nudged to go solo by the same publishers that were pushing Anja to do the same, further straining relations in Xmal Deutschland.

“Phonogram said ‘we want you as the main person’ but I said ‘I’m the singer, I’m just part of the band. Without the band I’m no one.’”

Signing with Metronome Musik in Germany for their next record Devils in 1989, the band was again promised worldwide distribution but yet again, the only licensing outside Germany was to the Attic label in Canada. Devils was the only Xmal album sung entirely in English.

“I just made the decision to give it a go and try it, which was good because it was totally different to sing in English. The songs were really great songs, really hard songs. Warner wanted to sign us first but they said this was nearly heavy metal. We said we wanted the album out at the same time in Britain, America, etc. and they just fucked it up. It just came out in Canada- it didn’t even come out in Britain!”

Soon after the record’s release, Xmal Deutschland would call it quits.

After Xmal: In the mid to late 90s, Anja grew interested in the techno/trance scene. She worked for the internationally broadcast German music station VIVA TV where she hosted the show “HouseFrau,” a one-hour TV show with videoclips, electronic musicians, djs, reports on rave events and information about techno/trance labels. In viewing her present-day artwork you can clearly see that the bright colors and liveliness of the techno scene are part of her influence.

After a life threatening illness in the late 90s caused Anja to spend nearly a year in a hospital, she recovered and went back to her television work. This time the daily stresses of a crazed schedule and the death of her father brought her to consider a lifestyle change. Though it was something she had merely flirted with in the past, she started painting again.

“I realized that for me, this is my kind of music, because I was totally satisfied with working with colors. The whole thing that we were in, like the punk thing, we never wanted to be pop stars- we were all artists. We never wanted to be the focus, we did what we did.

When I started making music, I also started studying art but I had to make a decision and being in a band was more fun so that’s why I stopped studying.”

After all her years in the music business, Anja threw herself full time into her art. The beautifully colored and painstakingly precise paintings that she has created simply jump off the image. Her typical canvas is covered in a complete field of uniform dots, which allows her works to look and feel three dimensional.

“I paint music. I hear color. My work is the synesthetic translation of sounds and tones. My paintings can be heard with the eyes. Many times, performing with Xmal Deutschland, I would remember songs as colors. This is the Blue song, this is the Red song…”

Each of her paintings could virtually compare to a song; imagine them measured as a frequency response using EQ as if they’re moving, depending on which angle the viewer takes. Her pieces are all untitled, leaving each open interpretation (again just like a song), as to the feel and flow of the color combinations. Each viewer and viewing creates a different effect. Listen To The Pictures indeed…

Anja Huwe has had exhibitions in Germany, London, and New York. She continues to paint and splits her time between Hamburg and New York with frequent trips to London. You can view many pieces of Anja’s artwork at www.anjahuwe.com.

This article is dedicated to my late best friend Stephen Cundaro, without whom many a great band would have gone undiscovered. You are missed but your spirit will never die.

The post Viva Xmal Deutschland! A History and Interview with Anja Huwe appeared first on Post-Punk.com.