Parka is a three person German

indie rock Indie rock is a Music subgenre, subgenre of rock music that originated in the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand from the 1970s to the 1980s. Originally used to describe independent record labels, the term became associated with the mu ...

band. It consists of Martin "Fly“ Fliegenschmidt (guitar, singer), Gianni Dedola (bass), and Raphael Sbrzesny (drums). The group has played with these members since the end of 2006. Their first live performance with this lineup was in the beginning of 2007.

History

The three musicians from

Köln Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 million ...

Neuss Neuss (; spelled ''Neuß'' until 1968; li, Nüss ; la, Novaesium) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located on the west bank of the Rhine opposite Düsseldorf. Neuss is the largest city within the Rhein-Kreis Neuss district. It ...

, and

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

met each other in the late summer of 2006 at the University of Music and Theatre Hamburg and formed the band. As early as 2007, shortly after the band formed, they won the German Rock and Pop Prize, the Deutscher Rock & Pop Musikverband's (German Rock & Pop Music Association) junior competition. In the period following, they recorded their first EP "Dein Leben beginnt" ("Your Life Begins") autonomously at Tinseltown Music in Köln and played over 150 live performances before they released their second EP "Granaten aus Licht" ("Grenades of Light") in 2009. Among other things, Parka played concerts with

Silbermond Silbermond ("silver moon") is a German pop rock band from Bautzen, Saxony. The band consists of Stefanie Kloß, Andreas Nowak, and brothers Johannes and Thomas Stolle. History The band members originally met in 1998 when they participated in t ...

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, and

Die Happy Die Happy is a German alternative rock band from Ulm. The group was founded in 1993 by Czech singer Marta Jandová and Thorsten Mewes. Even though the band is based in Germany, their songs are written and performed almost exclusively in English. ...

. In 2011 Parka played support for

during their tour through Germany and in autumn released their first single of the album "Oben" ("Above") as EP with two additional songs and the music video for Oben. The video clip premiered on 7 October 2011 on

MyVideo MyVideo was a German video hosting service website, provided by Magic Internet based in Bucharest, Romania and later in Berlin. It was available in German (myvideo.de, myvideo.ch, and myvideo.at) until April 2016. According to Alexa Internet, th ...

. On 20 January 2012 the second single release, "Eins" ("One"), followed. The video clip reached over 70,000 viewers on

in one week and subsequently was included on television broadcaster

ProSieben ProSieben (, ''sieben'' is German for "seven"; often stylized as Pro7) is a German free-to-air television network owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media. It was launched on 1 January 1989. It is Germany's second-largest privately owned television company ...

's website. The self recorded and produced debut album "Raus" ("Out") was published on 24 February 2012; the single "Wieder ich" ("Me again") on 1 June. In addition, the band released the live DVD "Belagerung der Stadt Rottweil" ("Siege of the City Rottweil") on 28 September 2012, which was recorded in a historical brewery hall in

Rottweil Rottweil (; Alemannic: ''Rautweil'') is a town in southwest Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Rottweil was a free imperial city for nearly 600 years. Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, Rottweil has nearly 25,000 in ...

Music

The singer and guitarist Martin Fliegenschmidt composed and wrote each of the band's songs. Parka plays to date music only in the

German language German ( ) is a West Germanic languages, West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and Official language, official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Ita ...

, which they justify in their belief that one can say more between the lines in their native language, and that it's more important that people understand the lyrics than it is to reach many people. The band classifies themselves, based on statements, to "a generation, which wants to set political and social statements, but without the classic image of the enemy."NetInfect, Parka: Das neue Video zu „Eins“
(German) In the text, the band generally takes on socially critical themes.

Discography

* 2007: ''Dein Leben beginnt'' (EP, Self-distributed) * 2009: ''Granaten aus Licht'' (EP, Tinseltown Records) * 2011: ''Oben'' (Single/EP, Bullet Records) * 2012: ''Raus'' (Album, Bullet Records) * 2012: ''Wieder Ich'' (Single, Bullet Records) * 2012: ''Belagerung der Stadt Rottweil'' (Live DVD)

External links

Official Website
(German)

References

{{Authority control German indie rock groups