body11

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IT IS 1988.
I’m living my dream. Since I first heard real minimal electronic music from bands like the Normal, Cabaret Voltaire, early OMD and Human League in my summer vacation a couple of years before on a transistor radio tuned to British Radio 1, I wanted to produce and release my own electronic band project. I wanted to create sounds never heard before. I thought this electronic music had a complete new energy level. The acoustic aesthetic created by these new instruments gave all the musicians of that time embracing the technology the feeling of pioneering into new worlds. I wanted to be part of that.

So I produced my first vinyl record, a 7“ EP (I couldn’t afford 12“) titled „MIND“ as BODY 11. The tracks recorded reflected the rebellion of an angry young man, who just finished his compulsory military service, struggling to find his place in life. I was drawn between several youth movements of the time: new wave and punk but mainly all underground electronic music. The whole Body11 project was about yelling out my passion, my aggression and my dispair, doing it all on my own, with no help from anybody.

And I did it all on my own, no compromises. I wrote all the songs, I recorded everything myself, mastered it myself, drove to the vinyl printing plant to oversee the production, I distributed it myself driving to local record stores and placing the EP on commission base into the shelves.

The music scene in Munich was pretty active back in those days, the underground movement just awakening, although that has not been acknowledged by most of the press at the time. In Germany and also internationally, Munich was more seen as the city of the establishment, not the underground music movements. Pop, Schlager, Disco, those were the styles Munich was known for. Still, there were many fellow bands and musicians in the underground: FSK (Freiwillige Selbstkontrolle), The Politicians, Land Of Sex & Glory, In Cold Blood, The Merricks, The Major, Skaos. They all followed their own musical styles of the times, but my projects were the only electronic ones, which always gathered irritated looks when setting up rhythm computers on the live stage rather than a drum kit. Body 11 never performed live, because my ambition was to create a "larger than life" concert experience, hiding my own personality (in a way Daft Punk is doing it nowadays), but I didn't know how to do it with my limited means back then. But my band project PMOTG was pretty successful drawing crowds of up to 1.000 people and more. As singer of PMOTG and local music journalist I was an active member of the scene.


The release of the Body11 EP was supposed to be the start of my own label, with future releases from Body11 but also other local electronic bands. At the same time PMOTG got picked up by a local label (BSC Records), who were able to do professional distribution and publicity. So all the attention went into the recording of the debut album "Control", which got released in 1989. Weeks before the release I had an dramatic accident, being run over by a car in France. That brought all activities for my label and Body 11 to all full stop.


Munich press and the Munich music scene picked up Mind extremely well, but I was doing distribution completely on my own with no professional support. So it got quiet when I was not able to follow up due to my accident. But then, a miracle happened. In the mid 90s, I got approached by fans, who bought up all my inventory on the Body 11 original pressing over a period of a couple of months and distributed it to fellow fans worldwide themselves. I like to believe that the songs hit the nerve of a special underground community. Young people fighting their way into adult life.


To this day, people are still caring about this vinyl release. Body 11 music has been posted on YOUTUBE and many other websites over the years.



IT IS 2013.

Medical Records in Seattle re-releases the MIND EP in July 2013 including unreleased material from 1986 to 1987, which was only available as private compact cassette copies to my friends and a few fans in the past, as a wonderful colored vinyl longplayer. A limited vinyl release again, this sells out but all songs stay on all streaming services.


I am very proud that this music is still relevant to people out there.
I started to write new Body 11 material in the last couple of years and I'm hoping to release it sometime soon.

IT IS 2016.
The first single “Your Name Here” is released in May on all digital platforms!


IT IS 2020
Single release of "Dark Spaces". Stepping away from EBM for a moment to support those who are struggling mentally in these dire times of a global pandemic. If you need help or want to help those in emotional crisis or distress go to https://www.befrienders.org.


More to come!

Thank you all

Tim Stickelbrucks