Biography
Jonas Poppe Since his teenage years in the late 1990s, Jonas Poppe has been counted among the prominently visible, style-defining figures of the Berlin music scene, both as a solo artist and in various constellations with fellow musicians. Revered as one of the "grand outsiders of pop in Germany" (according to German newspaper taz), he has made his mark in electronic music (with Kissogram) as well as in cross-genre forms such as post-punk, garage rock, and New Wave / Contemporary music with Middle Eastern influences (as Oum Shatt). He has released six studio albums and a series of singles and EPs, most recently the critically acclaimed album Opt Out by Oum Shatt (2024), which was nominated for the Preis der deutschen Schallplattenkritik.
Navigating between deconstructing musical clichés and embracing a "trashy refusal stance" (as described by intro magazine) in earlier years, Poppe and his band "Sitcom Warriors" were discovered by John Peel and received regular airplay on the BBC. His 2001 track "If I Had Known This Before" (with Kissogram) marked his only chart success to date, eventually becoming the anthem of the Love Parade 2001. Over the years, Poppe has graced over 500 stages in more than 30 countries, ranging from Berlin's clubs to the major rave events of the early 2000s, touring Europe with Peaches (2004), performing at the EXPO in Shanghai (2010), supporting acts like Underworld and Franz Ferdinand in Japan, and making regular appearances in Eastern Europe, Spain, and Sicily. Furthermore, Poppe has composed film scores (including for Leander Haussmann, Esther Gronenborn, and Oliver Rihs) and written music for theater performances (collaborating with Pascal Fuhlbrügge, former member of Kollossale Jugend).
Since 1999, he has been DJing under various pseudonyms, spinning Arabic and Turkish psychedelia/funk from the 70s and 80s, among other genres. Between 2000 and 2024, Poppe collaborated with the likes of Chilly Gonzales, Feist, Pascal Fuhlbrügge, Bonaparte, Tomoyuki Tanaka, Masha Qrella, Jeans Team and Schneider TM, and briefly served as the guitarist for the Austrian group "Ja, Panik." In 2023 Jonas Poppe founded his own record Label Wanda Y.