AnnenMayKantereit

Vogelweidplatz 14

1150 Wien

 

"Alles nix Konkretes": That was the title of the first album by the Cologne band AnnenMayKantereit in 2016. It couldn't have been a better title. After all, there really wasn't a career plan back then; the motto was more: just do it, follow the vibe, and see what happens.

Christopher Annen (guitar), Henning May (vocals), and Severin Kantereit (drums) had already done this when they met in school and performed together as street musicians. It remained the same when they released early songs on YouTube, self-produced their first album, now long out of print, and finally, in 2015, released a debut EP with the equally telling title "Wird schon irgendein gehen" (It'll all work out, somehow).

And how it all went: What has happened since then is quite extraordinary and—now, finally—one of the most impressive careers in German pop of the past decades. Since the band's formation in 2011, AnnenMayKantereit has steadily evolved from a Cologne insider tip to one of the most successful bands in Germany, never losing touch with reality.

With their five albums to date, AnnenMayKantereit has achieved gold and platinum status and performed at major festivals; their videos for songs like "Barfuß am Klavier," "3 Tage am Meer," and "Oftgefragt" have been viewed over 1.4 billion times on YouTube. They have 1.9 million TikTok followers and over 1.4 million on Instagram, and five million people listen to them monthly on Spotify.

Internationally, AnnenMayKantereit has also garnered large fan bases in countries such as Mexico, Ukraine, and Turkey. Their version of Suzanne Vega's classic "Tom's Diner," recorded with Giant Rooks, was certified gold in the US. The band has played over 400 shows, won numerous awards, and fulfilled a dream in September 2023 with a sold-out concert at Cologne's RheinEnergieSTADION.

The list could go on, and yet one would never use the word "superstar" in connection with AnnenMayKantereit, even though they essentially have been that for a long time.

(Source: stadthalle.com)