Blackmail (band)

Blackmail
Kurt Ebelhäuser, Mario Matthias, Mathias Reetz, Carlos Ebelhäuser (2011)
Background information
Origin	Koblenz, Germany
Genres	Alternative rock, indie rock, progressive rock, electronic
Years active	1993–present
Labels	BluNoise, Speicherstadt, WEA, City Slang, 45
Website	www.blackmail-music.com
Members	Kurt Ebelhäuser Carlos Ebelhäuser Mario Matthias Mathias Reetz
Past members	Aydo Abay

Blackmail is a German alternative rock band from Koblenz, Germany which was started briefly in 1993. Blackmail are singer Mathias Reetz, brothers Kurt Ebelhäuser (lead guitars) and Carlos Ebelhäuser (bass) and drummer Mario Matthias. Their style of music usually varies, but mainly consists of the indie rock genre which is combined with experimentation of electronic music, progressive rock, alternative rock and dance. It is also known for its harsh and high-pitched guitar melodies.

The band is said to be greatly influenced by sounds of the 1960s and the 1980s, particularly artists such as The Beatles, The Who and Depeche Mode. The band was initially formed through a local magazine known as "Visions" that had a contact advertisement for new musicians. As a demo recording, they initially recorded a number of songs in an old 8-Track studio that belonged to Kurt. They sent the demo tape to multiple recording studios.

The response from the studios was quite shaky, but they were able to engage in the services of recording legend, Stuart Bruce, who had just moved into the area of Koblenz. Stuart owned a very advanced recording studio in his house. With some luck they were able to record eight songs in three months. After that, they went ahead to search for a recording studio, and this time, responses were much more positive. Their first live performance was 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. Due to an "unpredictable incident" that occurred, however, they were not taken into Virgin Records. As Abay explained on the biography section of the site: