Essentials in English

Kinbom & Kessner is a collaborative project between the Swedish lap steel musician and composer Fredrik Kinbom and the German theatre artist Sonja Kessner. The two have been working as theatre music duo Kinbom & Kessner since 2015, writing songs and theatre music, playing concerts and producing studio albums. In their projects, they frequently work with international guests such as James Williamson (Iggy & The Stooges), Hannah Moule (Moulettes), Glenn Richards (Augie March) and many more. Their songs deal with historical, social and philosophical themes, tell of humanity, love and war and promote a peaceful and tolerant society.

The duo’s first album, Lieder von Liebe und Krieg (2015, Theater.Macht.Musik), is in the tradition of political singer-songwriters with its simple instrumentation and complex lyrics. The second album With The Beetles (2017, Sotones Records) is elaborately orchestrated by hand and combines Kurt Weill’s waltz motifs with Fredrik Kinbom’s experimental lap steel soundscapes, classical string arrangements and dark udu drum grooves. The current album Anthropos (2022) is released by Hook Music/Theater der Zeit and deals with the beginning and end of the Anthropocene and sketches the symptoms of a dawning future in various utopian and dystopian facets. The musical protagonists alongside Fredrik Kinbom and Sonja Kessner include Chris Farr (drums), Andreas Dormann (bass clarinet, baritone saxophone), Hans-Jörn Brandenburg (grand piano, celesta), Paul Brody (trumpet), Matti Bye (Hammond, analogue synthesizer) and Larry Mullins (percussion). The album also contains theatrical guest contributions from Angela Winkler, Axel Werner and the Theater.Macht.Staat Ensemble.

Kinbom & Kessner’s current theatre music can be heard in the productions ‘Der gestiefelte Kater’ and ‘Iphigenie Königskind’ at Theater Waidspeicher. The duo also regularly writes music for the ensemble Theater.Macht.Staat in Berlin. Their current work ‘Anthropos (Ex Machina)’ also gave rise to Kinbom & Kessner’s new band project Red Largo. Listen to the trailer with selected theatre works.

A new Duo-Album – this time with english lyrics – is currently in the making.

Join our mailing-list to stay posted: musik(at)theaterstaat.com

Booking and press: Benjamin Junge/ music(at)theaterstaat.com

All essential links about streaming, buying, social media and concerts you find here.