on December 29, 2025, RHY feat. Klaus Wohlgemuth performed and recorded in Graz @ Sisi Top Studios. parts of the recordings are included in a video.
Richie Herbst – Analog Synth
Harald Hofmeister – Guitar
Yvonne Hofmeister – Voice, Electronics
Klaus Wohlgemuth – Guitar
the recordings condense a moment of intense collaboration at the close of the year.
((-o sounds o-))
ASTRO BLACK
the duo of Michael Masen on saxophone and Richie Herbst is currently working on its next release, leading towards the concert on March 5th, 2026 at the beloved Interpenetration concert series in Graz @ Wakuum. a short video from last year, recorded at Flucc in Vienna, can be found here: http://astroblack.klingt.org
GRAPHIT
as announced in the last letter, the new band GRAPHIT, featuring Klaus Wohlgemuth on guitar, Martin Pfeiffer on drums, and Richie Herbst on synths, will release its debut album “686c70” in spring 2026. the release will appear via Bureau Le Fou in digital form, with a limited physical band edition also in the works.
https://bureaulefou.org
INTERSTELLAR RECORDS
current releases:
INT065 the klingt.collective ‘variable densities’ LP / DL
INT064 PEACH PIT ‘2018–2023’ LP
INT063 DRUG SEARCHING DOGS ‘zwinger’ LP / DL
INT062 TAIGA ‘murmurations’ LP / DL
INT061 BUG ‘lux ultima’ LP
INT060 PASCAL BATTUS ‘organ zenithal’ MC / DL
INT059 MARCIA BASSETT & SERGEJ VUTUC ‘covering the surface’ MC / DL
INT058 AGATA VILCHYK & ALYONA PYNZENYK & RICHIE HERBST ‘ust08’ MC / DL
http://www.interstellarrecords.at
((-o concerts o-))
04/02/26 A-GRAZ @ kombüse “soundscapes” (Richie Herbst & Leszek + Nicolussi)
the Soundscapes series looks for beauty within hiss, errors, and broken signals. field recordings unfold into complex sonic landscapes, while analog video merges with saturated textures. live concert and visuals: Sandro Nicolussi. Soundscapes is supported by the SKE Fonds. thank you.
https://herbst.klingt.org/soundscapes/ http://www.ske-fonds.at
07/02/26 A-GRAZ @ kunstklub kräftner (as RHY)
the long-running improvisation ensemble RHY, featuring Richie Herbst on analog synth and electronics, Harald Hofmeister on guitar, and Yvonne Hofmeister on voice, electronics, and amplified objects, meets the Drašler–Resnik–Drašler Trio at the wonderful space Kunstklub Kräftner in the center of Graz. collaborations between the six musicians are expected, all of whom are ImproCon-proven.
upcoming:
05/03/26 A-GRAZ @ interpenetration (as ASTRO BLACK)
25/03/26 A-GRAZ @ kombüse “soundscapes” (Richie Herbst & Leszek + Adina Camhy)
11/04/26 A-LINZ @ schlor (as GIS Orchestra)
19/06/26 A-KLAGENFURT @ litonale – festival for sound & poetry 2026 (as MULM)
((-o signals o-))
FREISTIL
still ongoing as a blog.
https://freistil.klingt.org/blog/
BUREAU LE FOU
the latest release on Bureau Le Fou, a collective I am part of, is the album “Cardboard Music” by Kauders. using an old, self-built, electronically amplified wood-and-cardboard drum set, Kauders explores semi-improvised music driven by feedback and error, where fragile grooves, abrasive textures, and fleeting melodic fragments emerge and dissolve. release concert on February 11th, 2026 at Cafe Wolf, Graz.
https://bureaulefou.org/
ISIDOR FANZINE
the 13th issue of the german language Isidor Fanzine has been out since mid january. it carries a spirit reminiscent of legendary Austrian fanzines such as Cracked or Ex-Digest. highly entertaining.
https://isidor-fanzine.de
KLINGT.ORG
sounds.weird
http://www.klingt.org
STIO – Styrian Improviser Orchestra
playing on February 9th, 2026 at Stockwerkjazz Graz, featuring the trio ANJALI (Annette Giesriegl, Jasna Jovicevic & Elisabeth Harnik)
http://stio.mur.at
((-o sounds o-))
INTERSTELLAR RECORDS
updates from the Interstellar Artifacts series. first of all, thank you very much for the support of the Interstellar community and for the generous feedback. a few artifacts are still circulating and available via the website.
current releases:
INT065 the klingt.collective ‘variable densities’ LP / DL
INT064 PEACH PIT ‘2018–2023’ LP
INT063 DRUG SEARCHING DOGS ‘zwinger’ LP / DL
INT062 TAIGA ‘murmurations’ LP / DL
INT061 BUG ‘lux ultima’ LP
INT060 PASCAL BATTUS ‘organ zenithal’ MC / DL
INT059 MARCIA BASSETT & SERGEJ VUTUC ‘covering the surface’ MC / DL
INT058 AGATA VILCHYK & ALYONA PYNZENYK & RICHIE HERBST ‘ust08’ MC / DL
http://www.interstellarrecords.at
The new band GRAPHIT, featuring Klaus Wohlgemuth on guitar, Martin Pfeiffer on drums, and Richie Herbst on synths, will release its debut album “686c70” in February 2026 via Bureau Le Fou in digital form. a limited physical band edition is also in the works, both versions will be released in February 2026. there is nothing to listen to yet. the band and the album took shape throughout 2025 and culminated in recording sessions at Offbeat Ranch in Wörth/Gnas, the space where the Where Swallows Fly Backwards Festival takes place. several concert possibilities are currently in development.
((-o concerts o-))
17/01/26 A-VIENNA @ vekks (Jukka Kääriäinen, Michael Masen & Richie Herbst)
after several concerts and sessions in different settings (including ASTRO BLACK and FS Massaker), this trio appears for the very first time. it took shape last year in Helsinki together with drummer Michael Prehofer, and will continue to develop in both trio and quartet constellations.
https://www.vekks.com/programm
04/02/26 A-GRAZ @ kombüse “soundscapes” (Richie Herbst & Leszek + Nicolussi)
the Soundscapes series looks for beauty within hiss, errors, and broken signals. field recordings unfold into complex sonic landscapes, while analog video merges with saturated textures. live concert: Sandro Nicolussi
https://herbst.klingt.org/soundscapes/
upcoming:
05/03/26 A-GRAZ @ interpenetration (as ASTRO BLACK)
25/03/26 A-GRAZ @ kombüse “soundscapes” (Richie Herbst & Leszek)
11/04/26 A-LINZ @ schlor (as GIS Orchestra)
((-o signals o-))
FREISTIL
still ongoing as a blog.
https://freistil.klingt.org/blog/
The latest release on Bureau Le Fou, a collective I am part of, is the album “Music In Piamonte Street 1978 Part I” by Adolfo Schlosser. it is the first part of the Piamonte Street recordings (Madrid, 1978). Schlosser developed a radically physical music practice using self-built instruments made of stone, skin, wood, and water, situated between sound sculpture, ritual improvisation, and a poetic exploration of silence.
https://bureaulefou.org/
KATRINS KLANGSCHIENE on Radio Orange 94.0!
a monthly radio show exploring corners and niches of music. warmly recommended.
https://o94.at/programm/sendereihen/katrins-klangschiene
Wolfram Reiter (These Golden Times Of Ruins) & Olli Altmayr (BUG)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_o31tzhAno
DMYTRO RADZETSKYI (Kyiv)
I met and played with Dmytro in Graz during the Ukraine Meets Styria Festival. he currently needs support for his art space KORA in Kyiv and has shared a short personal video outlining the situation.
https://youtube.com/shorts/9YkUsQWXqXQ?si=WbThgKgVNbQc8m4W
JUKKA KÄÄRIÄINEN
upcoming live dates in Austria:
17/01/26 A-VIENNA @ vekks (feat. Michael Masen & Richie Herbst)
19/01/26 A-VIENNA @ celeste
20/01/26 A-GRAZ @ cafe wolf
https://www.jukkakaariainen.com/
AIRFLOW – Contribution to “VON OBEN – Drohnen und Schwärme”
Exhibition at fluss – Wolkersdorf (AT)
13 September – 12 October 2025
Curated by alien productions
Richie Herbst participated in the project AIRFLOW (mur.sat) as part of the exhibition “VON OBEN – Drohnen und Schwärme” at fluss in Wolkersdorf.
From the official exhibition text:
“Drones allow movement into the third dimension, even if only virtually. Those who do not fly themselves operate a proxy—a perception machine that shifts the point of view away from the body. This dissociation produces a sense of disorientation; the machine must be steered as if it were one’s own body, yet it moves differently. Drones can also act in swarms, reacting to other drones and obstacles in patterns of unstable relationships between proximity and distance. The gain of the third dimension comes with the loss of the ground beneath us—but with it, a view from above.”
Participating artists:
Walter Ebenhofer · mur.sat: AIRFLOW · Gebhard Sengmüller · Fernando Martín Velazco
Sound installation by Richie Herbst / Photography by Nicole Renner
KAPU Linz – June 27 to July 18, 2025 (Fridays, 7–10 PM)
BRDN x KAPU 1999–2009 is a joint exhibition by Richie Herbst and Nicole Renner, created for the 11th edition of Brodeln & Fertig as part of KAPU’s 40-year anniversary program.
Based on KAPU’s extensive audio archive, Richie Herbst revisits a decade of cultural history between 1999 and 2009 – a period he was personally involved in. Following the official exhibition text:
“Out of every year between 1999 and 2009, a distinctive live moment is selected. The resulting sound installation condenses these fragments into a multi-layered sonic space: several interlocking loops – played on analog endless tapes – render the memories of that time acoustically tangible.”
Complementing the audio work, photographer Nicole Renner presents images from her long-term series KAPU Corner, offering visual impressions that document the atmosphere of the same years.
The exhibition runs from June 27 to July 18, 2025, open every Friday from 19:00 to 22:00. KAPU http://www.kapu.or.at Kapuzinerstraße 36, 4020 Linz, Austria
we’ve launched
astroblack.klingt.org
astroblackklingtorg.bandcamp.com/
For the international project Sonic Heritage by Cities and Memory, Richie Herbst contributed two works that explore the relationship between sound, place, and cultural memory.
The field recording “Echoes of the Sacred” was captured on 13 May 2023 at the Battistero di San Giovanni in Pisa. For the project, the material was recomposed by Kent Macpherson.
Richie Herbst also created the piece “ASRASRASR call”, a recomposition of the field recording “Call to prayer at 4:45am, Essaouira” (Morocco).
More information on the project: https://citiesandmemory.com/heritage/
Thanks to Stewart Fowkes / Cities and Memory for the invitation to participate in this collective exploration of sound and memory.
MRM TRIO consists of well-known names of the experimental scene from Serbia, Austria and Croatia: Marina Džukljev (Eco Tiger organ), Richie Herbst (modular synthesizer) and Miodrag Gladović (electric guitar, electronics).
MRM members strive to discover hidden sounds through improvisational play of dynamic and dense drones, processed, modulated and fused in a live setting.
MRM TRIO was born at the 5th Improcon Congress of Free Thought and Music in Bistrica ob Sotli in 2019. Marina, Richie and Mijo, the few Improcon participants with non-portable instruments, met by chance in the room where their instruments and equipment were installed and tried to play together. They soon felt a mutual “chemistry” and immediately recorded an in-situ album “ears are for ringing”.
the ear are for the singing, the ring sing for the ears and tears are for the ringing – seem to be the mottos for each of the three pieces that officially go by the titles Black Fish, Oblak and Quiet Now.
On this album, the Trio is collaborating with Mario Stadler at Goon Studios / Austria, well-known for it’s recordings of artists like Attwenger, Elektro Guzzi and his own band Tumido. The artwork for the Release (on Tape and digital) is a collaboration of the Zagreb based artists Miron Milić and Darko Kujundžić, and was refined in Riso-Print process in collaboration with Risofort located in Hamburg / Germany
February 24th – March 4th, 2023 @ A-GRAZ @ Rhizom
Bordun, Italian bordone, means “humming bass” and refers to the sustained bass tone accompanying a melody. It forms the elementary component of drone music, to which the Bordone Ensemble, founded in Graz in 2019, has dedicated itself.
In the form of an installation, the space is occupied by interwoven pieces by the individual musicians of the ensemble, in which elements of acoustic and digital sound generators, field recordings, and tape manipulations intertwine.
Related building blocks are found on a visual level in the projections of the film and projection artist collective OchoReSotto – photographs, found footage and manipulations of the material. The loops used by the collective also represent a central element in Drone Music.
The installation opens with a concert by the Bordone ensemble, and closes with Nadeshda, who creates dense soundscapes from tapeloops and tape manipulations.
The exhibition will be accompanied by an overview of the current projects of the musicians involved.
Curated / Concept: Richie Herbst
Audio Contributions: Helmut Kaplan, Michael Eisl, Richie Herbst, Thomas Neulinger
Projections: OchoReSotto (Volker Sernetz & Stefan Sobotka-Grünewald & Lia Rädler)
Graphics: Thomas Neulinger
Bordone Ensemble: Edda Strobl & Helmut Kaplan & Michael Eisl & Thomas Neulinger & Richie Herbst
Nadeshda: Andreas Haslauer
Opening/Einklang /w Bordone Ensemble (Graz)
Thursday, February 23rd 2023 – 7pm
Finish/Ausklang /w Nadeshda (Vienna)
Saturday, March 4th, 2023 – 7pm
Exhibition duration:
February 24th – March 4th, 2023
Thursday, Friday, Saturday from 7pm – 10pm
RHIZOM
A-8020 Graz, Annenstraße 52
http://rhizom.mur.at
The album „God Is A Dancer“ is the first release of the band now sports who were founded in 2014 and have been around the block with a changing line-up ever since.
While classic drumming provided the beat in their early days, they now utilize electronic loops instead of a live drumkit. With tracks mostly written in 2021 and 2022, the EP was produced almost exclusively with a home studio set-up.
Though the first track sports trap-adjacent samples and hi-hat figures, the EP soon shifts away from clichés, showcasing their unique handwriting full of trippy melodic arcs over sluggish beats mix with noise. There is no pigeon-holing the guitar; the vocals ‒ partly rapped, partly sung ‒ also come with their own unique touch, resulting in distinctly unconventional song structures. Richie Herbst’s modular synthesizer and the vocals by Alexandra Steßl and Michl Laab embark on a journey towards something resembling musical experimentation and suggest that improvisation ‒ especially during live shows ‒ is a defining factor for their sound.
