Blackmail Tickets

Blackmail
Over the past few years, some of the German bands have created waves in the International music scene. Blackmail is leading the lot with their popularity rising day by day. Blackmail is a famous German indie rock band from Koblenz, Germany that has created a niche for itself in the world of music.

The band consists of singer Aydo Abay, lead guitarist Kurt Ebelh?user and bassist Carlos Ebelh?user and drummer Mario Matthias. Kurt and Carlos are brothers sharing the equal passion of music.

Blackmail was started in when the four joined hands in order to produce their kind of music. The band was initially formed through a local magazine known as Visions that had a contact advertisement for new musicians. They sent demo and were appreciated for their work.

After some failed attempts with different recording labels, they took the services of recording legend, Stuart Bruce who owned a very advanced recording studio in his house. They recorded 8 songs in 3 months there.

Blackmail had their first live performance in a club located in Bonn known as Carpe Noctem as a sample for a scout from Virgin Records who had come there to judge their performance. They were, however, not taken by Virgin Records.

Then they approached Guido Lucas, who had started his own label bluNoise Records. They recorded their first album, blackmail, late in 1996 and release it in the fall of 1997. They went on their first ever tour in the same year in order to promote the album.

They toured alongside Swedish rock band B-Thong and also played various one-off shows in numerous places, including Austria. This got his recognition and there music was appreciated at many different places.

Their second album Science Fiction? came two years later. Reactions to this album were even better than the previous one. This sophomore album by the German indie rock quartet received good reviews and there were many positive reactions in all directions.

The popularity of the album made them to participate in festivals like Rock am Ring and the Bizarre Festival. They were also supported by the Manic Street Preachers with whom they did a splendid performance. After Science Fiction, they were approached by many music label companies.

All of them were eager to sign this emerging rock band. Finally the band decided to sign a contract with the Warner Music sub-label Speicherstadt. Being regarded as one of the Big Four record labels, Warner Music provided them with all the necessary promotion and facilities. They released an entirely remixed version of Science Fiction entitled ?Do Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?? under this label in 2000.

Following a successful continuous tour throughout Germany, they started recording Bliss, Please in the summer of 2000. The album was released in 2001and gained wide acclaim. It contains fantastic songs like Same Sane, A Reptile For The Saint and Ken I Die became exceptionally popular.

When the first single, Same Sane, came out in February 2001, it became extremely popular in Germany. Same Sane was also their first music video release. Other videos from Bliss and Please, first aired on VIVA 2, also gained widespread popularity.

Speicherstadt was closed down at the end of 2001 and they signed their further contracts with the mother-label: The Warner/Elektra/Atlantic recording group, now known as the Warner Music Group.

In 2002, WEA gave them their own studio, and they started recording their next album, Friend Or Foe. They recorded 28 songs at a stretch. Out of these, only 11 songs made it into the album. They completed the album in February, 2003 and released it on May 26, 2003.

The first single from the album, It Could Be Yours became an astounding success. Following this release, the band went on another tour to Japan to perform in the Summer Sonic Festival in 2004. They also released an export version of Bliss, Please in Japan in 2005.

During this time, they released a special version of Friend Or Foe with bonus tracks. They packed four other songs in this EP and released it along with an album entitled The Lost Summer. Both albums, which were released exclusively in Japan, earned them accolades and appreciation.

In 2005, Blackmail composed the soundtrack for the German film Kammerflimmern with producer Hendrik H?lzemann and German techno artist, Lee Buddah. The movie starred Matthias Schweigh?fer and Jessica Schwarz.

In the same year, they signed a contract with City Slang/Rough Trade and released their latest album, Aerial View on Friday, January 13, 2006. The album saw big sales and critical acclaim.

Blackmail are currently on world tour to promote Aerial View. They have developed a loyal fan base for themselves in a short period of time. Their style of music is varied, but mainly consisted of the indie rock genre.

Today they are considered the masters of this from of music which is combined with experimentation of electronic music, progressive rock, alternative rock and dance. The band is also famous for its harsh and high-pitched guitar melodies.