Jo Halbig
In the organizer's words:
JO HALBIG (Killerpilze) comes on solo tour 2025!
ALLE WAREN DA-Tour in 7 German cities
Presented by Frontstage Magazine, MORECORE, The Living Proof Agency, SCHALL Magazine & Punk.Rockt
4 single releases since October 2023, over 400,000 streams on Spotify alone, thousands of new followers on social networks in just a few weeks, a guest appearance in the ARD documentary "Millenial Punk" and now the announcement of his first solo tour: For JO HALBIG (singer of the "Killerpilze"), one highlight is currently chasing the next. At a time when hypes often burn out faster than they rise, Jo, singer & founder of Killerpilze, one of the most influential German-speaking guitar bands of the 00s, which has fluttered across almost every TV screen and has completed the transformation from a teen chart act with European tours to a film award-winning punk rock cult band over almost two decades, is an exceptional phenomenon. Successful in the music business for 22 years, he reinvented himself musically during the break from his main band and ventured back onto the live stage. With his solo debut singles "Alle Waren Da" "Fahr Zur Hölle" and the most recently released single "Diffuse Zuversicht", he has not only delighted thousands of fans, who have streamed the songs over 400,000 times on various streaming platforms within the first few months, but also critics who would not have expected the Killerpilze frontman's new solo sound: "No, he's not here to sell nostalgia.
Who would have thought that Jo Halbig would be the one to throw pop clichés overboard and reinvent himself with a bold sound that lies somewhere between rebellious underground and chart conqueror?" Writes a major online music blog, the renowned Süddeutsche Zeitung in a large portrait of Halbig of "authentic, great indie rock" (03.11.2023) and radio stations such as MDR Sputnik or PULS have also put some of the first songs on rotation. As a true "millennial punk", Halbig is also a guest in the successful ARD documentary of the same name about the German-speaking punk rock scene of the 00s (ARD Mediathek), in which he talks about Germany's punk history alongside scene greats such as Die Toten Hosen, ZSK and Broilers. "For me, it's a huge accolade and an incredibly wonderful moment to be in the same movie as the heroes who got me started making music back then."
JO HALBIG's songs stand out pleasantly in the current rock and indie world, breaking out of the usual patterns of the German music scene and showing an enormous range of musical diversity and emotions. The debut EP is due to be released this year as a herald for the band's first solo tour. In the more than 1000 live shows with his main band "Killerpilze", he was most recently able to impress on a sold-out tour of Germany in 2019, on stages at Rock Am Ring, Open Flair, Deichbrand Festival or as support for bands such as Madsen or Massendefekt. Even back then, the band's incredible live energy was a major driver of their growing cult status.
However, after 17 years of continuous touring, 8 albums and a movie, the end of 2019 marked the end of the band for an indefinite period. A drastic change for Jo Halbig, "a big shock at first, almost a loss of identity", as he says himself, and yet this phase of upheaval is proving to be a door opener for new ideas and paths.
He himself says: "Of course I'm positively nervous about going on tour for the first time in unfamiliar surroundings, virtually alone. But I'm incredibly looking forward to this experience and can already say with certainty that all fans can look forward to energetic rock shows with an incredible band, my new and possibly 1-2 old Killerpilze songs. I want to create a wonderful permanent moment in these shows and am incredibly excited to be back in the middle of the action after 5 years away from the stage."
He sings relentlessly honestly about the issues of the millennials, portrays his origins, takes a stand against the right and delivers a fresh indie rock sound from Germany that has not been heard for a long time. He can take people with him. The fans from the past. But also many new music fans who have been enthusiastically embracing his new project for a few months now.
"Having parents and kids in the audience across generations at the age of 30 is a great privilege." The songs on his announced debut EP are about love and friendship, getting older, psychological problems and the fact that the private sphere is political after all. But it's not just pure sentimentality - and that's what makes the music on his solo debut so interesting. Here a musician unfolds who has discovered a completely new musical playground and has never renounced his DIY ethos or denied his influences between stadium, punk and pop music. JO HALBIG presents himself solo as a musician who has discovered a completely new musical playground, who, with a wink, calls himself "the inventor of indie rock" and who will not renounce his DIY ethos in 2024, and who will never deny his influences between punk and pop music.
"And every year and every step, has brought you to where you are now and it's not all shit", he sings in his single "Diffuse Confidence" and is now giving his solo career a new anthem. Indie rock is alive and well in 2024. Here is the proof. And I only wish for one thing: "That after these shows, after this first round of solo, I can say: Everyone was there."
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