Since 1990 Kick - now VirusMusik – has fought for the existence and support of two sectors in which creativity and diversity prevail and where music can be really enjoyed: with rehearsal premises, concert concepts, the issue of annually updated and freely available I-pages – a compendium of addresses in the music business, free promotional activities for musicians and bands on radio, TV and in internet, plus information on all questions concerning the music business and much more.
History
Kick e.V., now VirusMusik was founded by musicians and bands to promote the regional music scene and create an environment in the City that is conducive to productive and future-oriented work. VirusMusik represents musicians and fans of the ca. 1200 bands in and around Frankfurt.
Rehearsal room situation
VirusMusik is involved with obtaining and providing additional, payable rehearsal rooms. Frankfurt has ca. 10 air raid shelters, which have been converted to rehearsal and cultural premises by bands and culture initiatives. These places must be preserved, maintained and extended, because rehearsal rooms continue to be scarce in the Rhine-Main region.
Events concepts
Since 1990, VirusMusik, formerly "Kick e.V.", has developed events concepts in order to create performance potentials for musicians in the region and to give the public interesting and entertaining insights into the region's creative music scene. For example, in 1991, the first Frankfurt Rock Fair was held. During the week sixty bands from Frankfurt and vicinity performed on nine stages to a audience of 10,000 with free admission. A band catalogue, video documentation, a cassette sampler and the first KICK Newsletter were issued to coincide with the fair. The concept was repeated in similar form in 1994.
Opening up the music scene and other cultural sectors were the themes of the 1. Breathless Festival in 1992 with around 4,000 spectators. An approach that has since been repeatedly adopted for numerous projects with artists from other fields of culture. For example, in theatre projects with the Youth Education Centre Dietzenbach (e.g. 1996 "Jim Morrison & Hölderlin", 1990 "The Andy Warhol New York City Diet"), in productions with the Theater Willy Praml and Antagon, at the 2. Breathless Festival in Sinkkasten in 1999 on the theme "Music and Video" and, in the year 2000, at the WordArt Music Festival that focused on the exciting interplay of literature and music.
The "Virus Record Shop"
Due to the extremely high presence of Anglo-American sound carriers, interesting domestic productions stand little chance of being heard. The "Virus Record Shop" and accompanying mail-order facility set up by VirusMusik reacts to this dilemma. Female musicians and bands find here a public and they can be included in the sales catalogue.
The VirusMusik office
Since 1991, the office has been the nerve centre of operations. Incoming information is categorized and forwarded to VirusMusikRadio. Events are planned and organized. Various services have been set up, e.g. a musician archive, an appearance management service, contacts are cultivated to labels, disc companies, organizers and the media. The VirusMusik office is the information and communication centre for the regional music scene and it represents the interests of musicians with public bodies and the public.
Crosslinking
Kick - now VirusMusik - has worked for many years in a Germany-wide network together with music initiatives and culture associations from other cities and regions. Promotion concepts are developed and network events conducted in order to create a public forum and pan-regional performance opportunities for artistically ambitious bands.
VirusMusikRadio, formerly "KickRadio"
VirusMusikRadio on RadioX 91,8 Mhz, in cable 99.85 Mhz has broadcast since September 1997 daily from 17-18h. Transmitter is a city radio and thus it has an open ear for the Frankfurt music scene and reaches an ever-growing audience.