Der Tiroler Musiker Jo Stöckholzer, Jahrgang 1993, hat „Zum Lästern“ beim von ihm mitgegründeten Label „Unserallereins“ veröffentlicht.
© Kapelari
Innsbruck – Almost exactly a year ago, Innsbruck musician Jo Stöckholzer received a rejection. His application for a work grant from the state was given a negative assessment. Stöckholzer wanted to use the Corona event freeze to work on his third album. But Stöckholzer makes pop music. And pop is – nomen est omen – popular, so it can finance itself. Or so the country argued. The musician made his displeasure public, the TT reported. The country responded. “I was asked by the next higher position to apply again,” says Stöckholzer. He got the grant. But he really didn’t see through the country’s funding policy, he says. “I know musicians whose projects have been supported – and others who have been canceled despite comparable conditions. The decisions seem arbitrary and difficult to understand. “
Jo Stöckholzer’s album has now been released. It is called “To blaspheme”. And offers little reason to do so. It is Stöckholzer’s most popular record so far: more up- than ballad mid-tempo and a lot of courage to play the melody. The song “The worst night of the day” soars – in spite of its title – in the final third to a decently danceable sing-along hymn. He wanted to change the composition, says Stöckholzer: “The songs are less melancholic and sound less cerebral, more direct, more surfy.” There are digitally alienated voices, powerful drums, rhythmic clapping and – in the song “10 to 3” – a spherical one Synth interlude that some New Wave combo should get more than an appreciative nod. “To blaspheme” are eight summery, playful songs that are repeatedly broken in their self-confident catchiness on the text level: Stöckholzer tells introspective stories that can be read in their entirety as a great love story: from heartache to loneliness and once accepted Alone for the arrogance of a looming new relationship. He finds catchy images for this standard pop repertoire: The most beautiful, because it is unobtrusively touching, is the pizza that the I has already ordered for an emerging we, in order to then clarify the “relationship status” in the song of the same name. With that – and accordingly hopeful – the record ends.
“Zum Lästern” is the first album that Jo Stöckholzer has released on the label “Unserallereins”, which he co-founded and runs. However, Stöckholzer did not only declare composition, production and sales to be a matter for the boss when it came to “blasphemy”. In the studio, too, he took on all the tasks himself: he recorded every instrument that can be heard or can only be guessed at, and sung all the voices himself. For the music videos published so far, the trained graphic artist used a pencil himself. Jo Stöckholzer has already convinced several large streaming providers. His new songs were placed on the services’ curated indie playlists. “In order to be visible and audible, the streamers are essential,” says Jo Stöckholzer. Since the end of last week, “Zum Lästern” has been available in a limited edition on vinyl and as a CD. (jole)
Indie / Pop Jo Stöckholzer: To blaspheme. Our all / Believe.
