Some bands have such an incredible mixture of styles, a melding of every possible genre into one distinctive blend of sounds which meld into a unique musical expression. The uninitiated should picture an extremely exact and precise group of musicians, who fit all the seemingly wrong pieces and gears of a totality which combines to a perfect homogenous whole. The Merry Poppins are such a band, hailing from Salzburg, and raised in the pop culture of the Postmodern, for them the fight between genres is already decided and played out, and they have taken the combinality and equality of the genres, which emerged out of the revolutionary sentiment o fthe 1990s with a shrug.
From the beginning: The band memebers David Lageder (Vocals), Thomas J. Aichinger (Guitar, Trombone), Mathias Vorauer (Double Bass), Robert Aichinger (Drums) und Herbert Könighofer (Sax, Clarinet, Percussion) met in Salzburg in 2005 at a musician’s collective in the city center where a variety a bands met a played music daily, and where many bands met and formed. Surrounded by a hostel-type feeling, and with plenty of self-organized parties and concerts, the band emerged in 2007 with their debut album “Middenburg 11” (Jazzit Records).
The songs on the debut album hark back to the energy and uninhibited energy of the place where the band was formed and the music is a clearly closely tied to the live-free lifestyle which was established there. The band easily brings danceable grooves without any dominated genre bias, from Balkan inspired boisterousness, Reggae tight interplay and through to dance motivating Ragtime syncopations.
The Merry Poppins hail from a generation which, from their beginning on, inhaled the interconnectedness of both the connectable and un-connectable elements of all musical genres. Instead of close musical study of “pure” forms of musical genres, they preferred to be imbued with a variety and diverse mixture of musical styles, united into a musical potpourri of influences and in colorful combinations of uninhibited musical creation. The result is a merry sounding and organic musical approach which the band has presented to audiences all throughout Europe for the last several years.
Link: www.themerrypoppins.at
Photo: © Steffi Marquet