Music. Or, in this case, m:usic?
Music. That’s what this is all about. This is not some “big label offering” or “current trend/flavor-of-the-month” type of thing. This is as D.I.Y. (for those unaware, “Do It Yourself”) and indie as it gets. With a wide (probably too wide) array of influences and inspirations, the music of Munich Syndrome travels around a wider swatch of styles than most projects.
With the humble beginnings of a drum machine, a couple of synths, and a 4-track, over time, the equipment grew, and so did the styles. Minimal electro-pop gave way to a more straightforward pop style for a bit before excursions into downtempo chillout led to a more direct electronic format. Vocoders also played a big part. (yeah… vocoders)
While there were collaborations that came and went like ships in the night, things stalled out towards the end of the 80s. It wasn’t until the late 90s electroclash and electronica rumblings that things came back to life.
Munich Syndrome’s first commercial release was 2006’s Sensual Ambience, continuing through 2024’s The HOA.
Munich Syndrome Music 2006 – 2024
About the music…
The first album should have been the first album, but it eventually became the 13th album, NINETEEN EIGHTY SOMETHING. But before that could be finished, some 20-year + explorations and experiments had to occur.
Circumstances changed, and it turned out the need to create soundtracks for some short films happened. Those came together and became the debut commercial release from Munich Syndrome, “Sensual Ambience.” Dreamy. Downtempo. Lush. It’s a bit jazzy in places. An overall mood that envelopes. But, recognizing this might be a “one-and-done” situation, four songs in the more electro-pop style were added. The Electro EP.
And with that, with a bit of a personality crisis, a plurality of styles were born. People generally like things to fit a fixed category, box, shelf, or style they can pigeonhole and recognize by name. That, sadly, wasn’t going to be the case with Munich Syndrome. Going with inspiration and a “hey, let’s try that” attitude, Munich Syndrome was/is/and probably will be a tad hard to pin down and define.
Hopefully, you can enjoy 20+ years (and counting) of our musical output. Maybe you’ll pick and choose, or maybe you’ll sign up for the full buffet? OR you’ll pass and enjoy your “Best of Nickelback CD” and relive your times seeing the Dead when Jerry was still around. (kidding) (not kidding)
This is Munich Syndrome
In a past life, everything would be chronological, but we’re here, and with streaming and everything being online, a sense of time and place seems to have evaporated so…
NINETEEN EIGHTY SOMETHING
To whom it may concern…
NINETEEN EIGHTY SOMETHING. A time. A place. A state of mind. Some look back at the eighties with fondness and love, while others view it scornfully. With the distance of time, a bit of soft-focus blurring, idealization can settle in. For some, it was a time to get through. For myself, it was an awakening and a personal renaissance. Emerging out of the dark decade of the 70s, it felt like there was suddenly the possibility of reinvention and recreation. Not tethered to the macho stereotypes of hard-rock heterosexuality, the perceived stridency of women’s liberation, nor the seemingly codified conformity of the burgeoning gay communities, the 80s seemed to offer up an open buffet where one could pick and choose what one wanted to embrace, or discard.
The pulse quickens. The plot thickens.
Munich Syndrome’s thirteenth album is, in essence, the first. What goes round, comes round? Is everything old is new again? More a case of prolonged indifference allowed creative nuggets to fall behind the couch cushions. Tossed aside, and at many key points in time, on the precipice of finding their way into the dustbin of history. Literally and figuratively. But a very small voice in a dark, dusty corner said, “Don’t do it. Hold on to them. You never know?” So, over the decades, four of them, and over moves, four also, the small bits of creativity were moved from closet to box to shelf, and back again. During the various moves, a few of them made a run for it.
Tentatively brought out of the shadows after years of quietly sitting on a shelf, there was much more there than I remembered. The very small voice in the dark smugly said, “See, I told you not to get rid of them.” Yes, there were cringe-worthy moments and areas of breaking the law with criminally horrid mixes, but within it all was a decade. My decade. Not necessarily anyone else’s decade. But it was all there. First love(s), many heartbreaks, optimism, defeat, sadness, loneliness, loss, and casting about blindly into the world to see if I could actually find who I was and if there was a lost tribe I might finally connect with. Each song and each individual instrumental track put me in the very spots that inspiration struck, with a notebook always at hand to jot down musical and lyrical ideas. One was even written in the waiting room of my dentist. At the same time, another came to almost complete fruition while driving two large freight containers from San Francisco International Airport down to be unloaded in the south bay.
What I thought would be a simple matter of doing a bit of EQing and cleaning up of the earlier songs turned into a two-year-long project of restoration and rediscovery that has had me living in two different decades concurrently. As it turned out, not only do I have a lot of affection for these songs, but I’m now giving myself retroactive credit for pulling all of this out of thin air, and I am quite proud of them. A part of me will always live in Nineteen Eighty Something…
Oddly enough, despite living through punk, I felt too old to really partake personally, but I thoroughly enjoyed the energy and attitude. Interestingly enough, years later, I discovered I was only a few months older than the notorious Mr. Rotten. Crawling out of the 70s, having been a music fanatic since I heard my first notes of rock on the local L.A. radio station, actually doing something with it, in it, or around it didn’t seem like an option. So I dutifully worshiped from afar, going to as many concerts as I could fit into a week with my paltry paycheck and buying as many albums as I could also squeeze out of my minuscule budget.
This album is the lucky (or maybe unlucky?) 13th album from Munich Syndrome. But in actuality, it is (and should have been) the first.
For a brief period of time you can download the album for free, or name your own price on our BandCamp Page, or stream it at all major digital services- Apple Music, Spotify, Amazon, etc. Check it out today!
Sensual Ambience (with the Electro EP)
Sensual Ambience (with the bonus Electro EP)
Sensual Ambience. This is where Munich Syndrome emerged from an isolated studio environment and dipped its toe into the waters of the real world. This was an album that wasn’t planned. Work had begun in earnest around 2002 for a more electronic leaning style, more closely aligned to the earlier efforts in the 80s. But a slight detour took place. The opportunity to create soundtracks for some short movies in Paris happened around 2005. A series of atmospheric, dreamy, downtempo electronica manifested in the studio, and without planning it, there was suddenly a full album’s worth of these chilltronica-type songs. The decision was made not only to release them but also to create our own record label and publishing: Syndrome Sounds. Named after the studio Munich Syndrome had been working in for years.
Sensual Ambience is still one of our top-selling and most streamed albums.
A tad worried this might be a “one-and-done” situation, the decision was made to include four songs, the Electro EP, that represented the style that was to emerge more fully on 2008’s album Electro Pop!
Electro Pop
Electro Pop! This is when things came into a sharper stylistic focus. This was the yang to Sensual Ambience’s Yin. The two sides of Munich Syndrome were set with these two releases, and moving forward into the future, there would be more back-and-forth (with some interesting detours along the way).
The first track (post 80’s) that defined what Munich Syndrome was aiming for was Modern Age! Harder-edged, with a grinding electronic beat, the song ends in a wall of electronic distortion and dissonance. Re-tooled a few times from 2002 on up to 2006’s Electro EP, the song had a final mix for the Electro Pop album. It was a bit more metallic with the beat with the electronics, and dissonance dialed up a bit.
The song that became the album’s stand-out track was Dance (Ah Eee Ya Ya Ya Ya), where vocoders were pushed up front and center. Along with Sensual Ambience, this is one of the most downloaded and streamed songs in Munich Syndrome’s catalog.
One song from the album, Murderous (Bad Things Vocal Mix) has been our most streamed track on Spotify!
