Norwegion rock band Det Skandaløse Orkester will perform at the Zappanale main stage on Saturday, half an hour past midnight. Some would already call that Sunday.
Let’s try to prepare for it. Here's a Short Chat with Sondre Jørgensen (composer, keys and vocals / Det Skandaløse Orkester)
UniMuta: Hi Sondre, Det Skandaløse Orkester’s previous visit to Zappanale was in 2019. I remember it as a pretty wild concert. Do you have any recollections?
Apparently, there also was a concert film called “Legends Of Europe”. Can you tell us a bit about that?
Sondre Jørgensen: Zappanale 2019 is the greatest festival experience I have ever had. We heard so much great music and met so many good people there. The concert itself nearly got cancelled due to the big storm that suddenly took us by surprise. We were down at the beach and saw it all coming in and when we came back to the festival everything had turned into a disaster and they were closing down and evacuating people. Luckily the wind and the rain stopped and we got to play our best concert until then, two hours behind schedule late at night, but in front of the greatest audience we have seen. It was a magical night that we will never forget.
We made a concert film of the performance, "Legends Of Europe", which you can find on YouTube, and we´re planning to make another film this year. If you have any suggestions for a title, let us know!!
UniMuta: Det Skandaløse Orkester has released two excellent albums, “No Har De Laget Skandale igjen” (2014), and “Tenk Om Noen Ser Deg” (2018). The really uplifting news is that you will be presenting your new release at Zappanale: “Masters Of The Universe”. Will you be performing material from this latest release, or what can we expect?
Sondre Jørgensen: Recently we have released two EPs and now we will collect both of them into one for a CD and LP release. On page A on the LP there is "Legenden om Boblemus" (the legend of the bubble mouse) - This is s suite with a very stupid story about a poor little mouse who crawls out of her mouse hole for the first time. Through six chapters we get to experience wonder and expectation, romance and downfall, but then it ends oh so well in the end. This is probably the most Zappa inspired work we have ever done and we believe no one has ever made such great music with such poor lyrics since Zappa himself. On page B on the LP there is "Masters of the Universe". This is a collection of famous theme songs and other heroic music that has been an important inspiration for our band. This includes tunes like 'Peaches En Regalia' by Frank Zappa and 'Back To The Future Theme' by Alan Silvestri among others. At the Zappanale concert we will will play "Legenden om Boblemus" in it´s entirety, and highlights from "Masters of the Universe".
UniMuta: You concert is scheduled at half past midnight. That might be a bit late for some of the old folks. How would you try to convince them to catch your concert?
Sondre Jørgensen: We believe ourselves that what we do is something you don´t get to see live on a stage everyday. Not even on a festival for music outside the norm. It is just wild energy and happiness, combined with great songs, crazy guitar solos and madness. Check out the film from 2019 - Legends of Europe - and if you like it you probably know that reality is even better.
One of Germanys finest people - Stef Lorentz - became our number one fan when he saw us last time and this is what he had to say: "I´ve been waiting nearly 30 years for music to evolve - and then I see you: Young people making music like this. Zappa would be proud!" (Stef Lorenz)
UniMuta: Thank you, Sondre. Safe travels & see you soon.
Det Skandaløse Orkester will perform Saturday night, at 00h30. This is going to be great ! And they are playing concerts on a regular basis. If you happen to be in Norway, be sure to check out their website:
https://skandalose.no/
The Monika Roscher BigBand is returning to Zappanale. They'll perform at the main stage on Saturday, at 18h45. Those who witnessed the BigBand's previous Zappanale concert (in 2018), know that this is something to look forward to.
UniMuta: Hi Monika,
I’m really looking forward to the upcoming concert of the Monika Roscher BigBand at Zappanale. I still remember being blown away by your previous appearance, in 2018.
I assume you’re looking forward to the trip to Bad Doberan. How do you look back on the 2018 concert and what happened since then?
Monika Roscher: We’re really looking forward to Zappanale — though not so much to the journey itself! :)
The train company (Deutsche Bahn) has thrown us into chaos once again by cancelling our long-booked group tickets just two weeks before the festival, which means we’ve had to rearrange everything — including hotels.
But yes, we’re super excited about Zappanale!
2018 was almost magical for us. It’s rare to play a concert where you feel like the audience somehow already knows you — even though they’ve never heard you before. We immediately felt understood, which is something you don’t often experience, especially at festivals. Usually there are always people walking off thinking, “What on earth is this?”
That’s why Zappanale 2018 left such a strong and beautiful impression on us. Some people were still hanging out at the campsite afterward — it was just a wonderful evening all around.
Hopefully we can pick up right where we left off!
Since then, we’ve released two new albums: one is a studio album "Witchy Activities And The Maple Death" released 2023, it is full of new pieces that revolve around the theme of witches, and a live album "Witchy Activities - Live" which is brand-new.
"Witchy Activities - Live" album artwork
UniMuta: With 18 musicians in your band and by performing adventurous music, I can imagine that this is not the easiest band to manage and to find opportunities to perform.
What’s the hardest part: matching the agendas of the musicians, or finding clubs or festivals that are interested in your music?
Earlier this year, the BigBand performed at the Gouveia Art Rock Festival in Portugal. Is this something that you would like to do more often? Gigs abroad?
Monika Roscher: Planning for the Big Band is completely crazy — sometimes it feels like hell! But not because of the people — they’re all dear friends, and there’s nothing better than being on the road with this bunch. It’s just that everything adds up: booking trains (we try to travel eco-friendly), organizing hotels and rehearsals… and with the band spread all over Germany — from Berlin to Munich to Innsbruck — it gets complicated fast. Then there are always surprises: someone gets sick, a train is canceled, a laptop is left behind, even a person is left behind… Looking back, it’s actually pretty funny what we’ve already been through.
It’s exhausting at times, but once we’re on stage, all the stress disappears. It’s totally worth it. And the band makes it easier — everyone’s quick to respond and super helpful. We all want to have a good time, and that spirit is what makes our group so special: we’re not just making music, we’re living shared adventures.
As for your question — what’s harder: organizing the musicians or finding places to play? Honestly, both! We get a lot of messages from fans wanting us to come to their cities, but finding clubs or festivals open to our kind of adventurous music isn’t always easy — especially without a booking team. But we’re definitely eager to play more internationally.
Performing at the Gouveia Art Rock Festival in Portugal earlier this year was amazing — such a beautiful festival. We’d love to do more gigs like that abroad!
UniMuta: Frank Zappa was known to push his musicians to the limit of the technical capabilities, and sometimes even further. When you compose for the BigBand, do you have the musicians in mind? Do you write parts that match their sound or personalities?
Monika Roscher: Absolutely! I always have the musicians in mind when I write music. Everyone in the band has their own unique style—that’s something I really love—and I try to incorporate that as much as possible. I know where each musician’s strengths lie, and together we constantly explore how to navigate limits. For example, if there’s a section where it’s impossible to breathe, we find ways to distribute the parts so there are no gaps. Or we talk through what’s realistically doable and adapt accordingly.
When I compose new pieces, I often call individual players to ask if they can record certain passages for me, just to check whether something is playable. I love this kind of close creative exchange.
That said, I compose much slower than Zappa! I’m happy if I manage to release a new album every five years. I get obsessed with every detail—I want to try out everything, fill in every blank. On the way to completing one piece, I’ll often throw away 15 others because they don’t quite come to life the way I imagine. No one hears those, because I didn’t think they were good enough. A lot happens behind the scenes, but in the end, only the music I’m 100% happy with makes it out into the world. If something doesn’t feel quite right, I pull it back and keep working on it.
UniMuta: For your previous album, “Witchy Activities And The Maple Death", you produced some otherworldly videos (and I use ‘otherworldly’ in the most positive way): ‘8 Prinzessinnen’, ‘Firebird’, ‘Witches Brew’, … Do I sense a fantasy / sword & sorcery fascination? Did you compose the music with the visuals in mind? Or how did this come about?
Monika Roscher: The music always comes first — from pure nothingness, or maybe from the entire universe, I honestly don’t know where it comes from. You’re just messing around and suddenly, an idea appears. It’s strange, and I don’t fully understand how it happens.
But as the process unfolds, images start to emerge, and ideas begin to take shape. For our music videos, though, it varies. For '8 Prinzessinnen', we left most of the concept to the video crew of Juri Beythien. My only initial idea was the candle being carried through beautiful German landscapes, slowly burning down. I liked the idea of being followed — but by yourself — without realizing you’re running from your own shadow. And at the end, you think you’ve arrived because you meet your idols, in this case the eight princesses, and believe you’ve become one of them. But that’s an illusion. They only recognize you if they choose to. So, chasing after a fantasy can be misleading — sometimes you have to reach the goal to realize it wasn’t the right path. That connects with the theme of the song, which is loosely about influencers.
We didn’t want to literally recreate the lyrics in the video, but rather add a new layer. Filming it was a blast — we had a small but wonderful team and a great time together!
I’m so happy you asked about 'Firebird'! I absolutely love that video. It was created by my friend Sascha Back from Fürth. She’s an incredible painter — I adore her use of color, her playfulness, her whole aesthetic. She wanted to turn one of her paintings into a music video, and she taught herself the entire animation program from scratch! I’m still amazed. She also paints all our album artwork, and I now have my first original painting hanging at home — it’s the artwork for "Witchy Activities and the Maple Death" our third album. It completely transformed the room.
And one of our most special videos is also 'Starlight Nightcrash', created by Patrick Buhr. He developed an incredibly unique and abstract visual world that perfectly matches the energy and complexity of the music.
Because it’s quite experimental, it hasn’t been watched as much as some of our other videos — but I honestly think it’s one of our best. I’m a big fan of Patrick’s idea and how he brought it to life. If you haven’t seen it yet, it’s definitely worth a watch!
UniMuta: You have just released “Witchy Activities - Live”. On LP and on CD. The music is amazing, and you’ve also added some fine live videos to YouTube. Did you consider releasing a DVD or blu-ray?
Monika Roscher: Our very first live album Witchy Activities – Live was released in mid-June 2025. We recorded it at Ampere in Munich — it was such a cool experience, though we definitely felt the pressure for everything to go smoothly. In the end, we were thrilled that nothing went wrong, the solos turned out great, and we’re honestly really proud of the recording!
You can get the album on our website or on Bandcamp. Every direct purchase means a lot to us — Big Band is a bit of a wild operation, so every order really helps support the whole group!
As for a DVD or Blu-ray — I actually hadn’t thought about that yet. For now, producing LPs and CDs is already quite a big project for us, and Blu-ray would definitely be a next-level challenge. So I don’t think we’ll go there just yet — unless the demand turns out to be huge. Then we might consider it!
But! We did make some new t-shirts for the live album — brand new designs are available now! ;)
UniMuta: Thank you very much, Monika !
Looking forward to some Witchy Activities.
The Monika Roscher BigBand will be performing on the Zappanale main stage on Saturday, 19/07, at 18h30.
Not to be missed !
The Fall: Reformation! Post-TLC (2020, 4cd, UK, cherry red)
Initially, The Fall released "Reformation! Post-TLC" in 2007. As a single CD and as a 2LP set on the Slogan Records label.
The enhanced U.S. CD release (on Narnack Records) included some bonus videos, including a live video recording of 'Hungry Freaks, Daddy' (recorded in 2006). This version got released with different album cover artwork.
In 2020, Cherry Red Records decided to do an expanded 4 CD re-release: the original album plus lots of alternative and bonus tracks, plus one live disc. No videos. Only audio. The live disc also included The Fall's performance of 'Hungry Freaks, Daddy' (recorded in 2007). (The live disc got previously released as "Last Night At The Palais April 1st 2007" on the Sanctuary record label, in 2009)"
The Ciardelli-Drago-Strano Trio will be performing twice at this year’s Zappanale festival.
Expect compositions by Frank Zappa, but also by other composers, in a baroque, classical setting.
A Short Chat with double bass player, arranger and composer Valentina Scheldhofen Ciardelli felt necessary.
UniMuta: Hi Valentina,
We’ll be seeing you at Zappanale soon, where you will be performing as part of a trio with Anaïs Drago (violin/ voice) and Riccardo Angelo Strano (countertenor) with whom you recently recorded and released the beautiful “Sheik Your Duty” album (out on the Parco Della Musica record label).
Next to Bad Doberan, you’ve also performed a pre-concert at the St.Katharinenkirche in Hamburg a couple of times. Always with different projects. How do you look back on these? And how does it feel to return to Zappa Town Bad Doberan?
Valentina: Looking back at my performances at the St. Katharinenkirche in Hamburg, I always feel a strong connection with that space. I’ve performed there several times with very different ensembles (like Vibes Duo with the fab Benjamin Boo from Singapore in 2017 and Napoleon Murphy Brock in 2018). Each time I’ve felt artistically free and respected. That church holds a deep, resonant silence that listens with you while you play. And on top of that Hamburg is the city where I have roots, my mother was born and raised there so Hamburg has a special place in my heart.
(Valentina & Benjamin Boo at the St. Katharinenkirche, 2017)
Returning now to Bad Doberan feels like returning to family, to a place where curiosity and bold creativity are welcomed with open arms. Zappanale is unique in its openness to genre-blending and boundary-pushing — and I love that spirit and I hope it will last in the future, we need a festival like that, we need it because we need to keep Frank's legacy!
UniMuta: This year, you will be performing twice. Once on the main stage, but also at the expo. Is there a different approach in playing? Open air and amplified versus an acoustic setting?
Valentina: Playing twice at Zappanale, once on the main stage (One Size Fits All), and once at the expo is exciting because it demands two completely different approaches. On the main stage, the amplification and outdoor setting give you the chance to project powerful gestures and larger-than-life energy. It becomes theatrical and grand: the sound it’s being filtered and carried by a PA system into an open space which is a challenge for an acoustic set-up as ours.
At the expo, in contrast, the acoustic setting calls for intimacy and more close listening, the true chamber music experience for me. Every small dynamic detail and expressive breath matters. As performers, we must adapt our phrasing, articulation, and even our mental energy to suit the size of the room and the audience's proximity. Both performances are equally challenging but in opposite ways. I find it enriching to be able to switch between the two and showcase the trio in these two different settings! Can't wait!
(TheCiardelli-Drago-Strano Trio)
UniMuta: November last year, we saw you in concert in Rotterdam, NL, with Letizia Maulà, with your “From Puccini to Zappa” program. It was a passionate performance. How difficult is it to find like-minded musicians to participate in your projects? Do you meet musicians and then start a project, or do you come up with a project first and then have to search for the other musicians?
Valentina: Your question about how I find musicians really touches the core of my artistic path. I met Letizia Maulà during a festival at Teatro Argentina in Rome, and we immediately started discussing how the double bass and clarinet blend beautifully in a chamber music context. We began rehearsing and seeking out performance opportunities. To me, the dynamics within a chamber group are very similar to those of a friendship, a romantic partnership or a family relationship. There must be mutual respect, trust, and a shared artistic vision. Especially today, with the massive transformations and crises within the music industry, particularly in classical and contemporary fields, it’s increasingly common to find highly skilled virtuosos who are willing to invest time and energy in building something unique and authentic. Artists are carriers of meaning, and now more than ever, despite the effort, the disappointments, and the resilience it requires, we need performers who stand for something on stage. It’s the only way to reconnect with an audience that often feels disillusioned or distanced from classical music. Live music is a treasure, a vital part of human identity that has existed since the dawn of time. Music is a universal language, capable of conveying stories, emotions, and messages. The audience is just as active as the performers. When we play, there is no “us” and “them”, there is only a single community, exchanging something meaningful together. That, for me, is the greatest value of music and performance, and I always seek collaborators who share that same approach.
I’d say that finding the right musicians is a mix of instinct, chance, and vision. I met extraordinary artists and kindred spirits, like Anna Astesano, my partner in The Girls in the Magnesium Dress, and a natural synergy gives birth to a new project. Like in our repertoire Ruutsu or How I Met Puccini, it was our shared love for theatrical storytelling and genre-blending that brought us together almost instantly. Other times, I already have a clear concept in mind, and I actively search for the right musical personalities to embody it. What matters most is curiosity, openness, and a willingness to take risks. I’m drawn to artists who listen deeply and treat music not as a fixed form but as a living, breathing organism. Art is not polite, art is not on-demand, art is our tool of expression, we give voice to human psychological, emotional and social needs. Working with Anaïs Drago and Riccardo Angelo Strano on Sheik Your Duty was exactly that: three strong, unique identities uniting to tell a story — with no compromise, but with deep mutual respect and love for art and performance.
("Shake Your Duty", album cover)
UniMuta: Dispite your busy schedule, or should I say: “because of your busy traveling schedule”, you recently started a campaign to capture and to improve the rules for the transportations of musical instruments.
I also learned that you don’t always travel with your double bass. Sometimes you hire or lend an instrument to avoid travelling with it?
People can sign the petition for support, but they can also, voluntarily, show their support by making a donation.
How has the petition been going so far?
Valentina: Yes, the petition is something I care about deeply because I’ve lived the nightmare of traveling with a musical instrument far too many times. Transporting a musical instrument is logistically complex, emotionally stressful, and mostly financially unsustainable. Inconsistent airline policies, oversized baggage fees, damage risks, and a general lack of understanding from travel staff, it's a serious obstacle to our work. Sometimes I’ve had to rent or borrow instruments locally, which always feels like giving up a part of myself. That’s why I launched the petition at the end of May 2025 to advocate for fair, clear, and consistent international rules for traveling with musical instruments. Our instruments are not cargo. They're part of us. They deserve dignity and care. So far, the petition has reached thousands of signatures, and many colleagues and institutions have shared it and supported it. Some have also made donations, which are helping the platform to reach over more people. But it is not enough, we need everyone in this campaign because, Music is for everyone and not a luxury service. We need even more visibility especially from festivals, orchestras, and venues that rely on traveling artists.
Here’s the petition link to sign, share and support:
It’s not just a personal cause — it’s about creating a better and fairer future for all professional musicians. For all of us. My instrument is NOT a Luggage. It's an extension of my body, the tool that allows me to express myself and deliver an artistic message to the community.
As Frank Zappa said :
Information is not knowledge.
Knowledge is not wisdom.
Wisdom is not truth.
Truth is not beauty.
Beauty is not love.
Love is not music.
Music is THE BEST.
I don't know why, but to me this quote is the most human thing ever written, and it makes me cry all the time.
Thank you, Frank, for everything you brought to this crazy world.
UniMuta: Beautiful words. Thank you very much , Valentina.
We’ll see you soon and we’re extremely looking forward to it.
The Ciardelli-Drago-Strano Trio will perform at the main stage on Friday at 20h30, and at the expo in the centre of town on Saturday, at 11h00.
We’re in for a treat. Don’t miss this !!
German 'Good Times' magazine, issue 169, 6/2020, had a 4-page articles on Frank Zappa: 2 pages on his discography and 2 pages on Pauline Butcher's book.
The Nov/Dec 2008 issue of "Record Collector" magazine, had FZ on the cover. and 7 pages inside (about the Joe's Garage music, and about FZ's "Mystery Disc" album.
