If you were at the concert by my band mockART in September last year, you already know that traffic || jammed was a very specific moment. If you read my report about the evening shortly after, you might remember how intense and concentrated the atmosphere was that night at Atelierhaus Orber Straße, during the Rush Hour Kulturfestival.

What I am happy to share now is that the music from that evening has been released.
traffic || jammed, the album, is out now on CD and in digital form.

All the pieces were written specifically for that concert. We did not take existing material to the stage but instead developed a complete program around the idea of rush hour and the people who create it, intentionally or not. Drivers, pedestrians, systems, habits, blockages. Playing this music live, in that space and in front of that audience, was an essential part of shaping it. At the same time, it always felt like more than a one-off performance.

The concert was recorded by Jörg See, and over the following months I worked carefully on the mix and master. The goal was not to document a concert for nostalgia’s sake, but to shape the material into an album that holds together on its own, even if you were not there that evening. The energy, tension and physicality of the performance were important to preserve, while still allowing the music to breathe as a listening experience.

The CD edition also includes two bonus tracks, La Bête Noire and Kör Adamın Gazeli, which we played as encores. Both tracks were previously released digitally as the single La Bête Noire (Alive).

If you were at the concert, this release might bring you back to that evening. If you were not, this is a good chance to experience what we were working towards.

Thank you for listening and for staying with the music beyond the moment it was played.