Sharper Than A Needle

In the organizer's words:

By Stephanie Müller and Klaus Erika Dietl with Karen Modrei, Stefan Wischnewski and numerous guests

Music with sewing machines? It's possible! A small international scene explores the sound of textiles and invites you to its second convention at the Münchner Kammerspiele.

The Therese-Giehse-Halle is transformed into a sounding textile workshop: In the interdisciplinary project Sharper Than A Needle , textile machines and haberdashery are transformed into musical instruments. A sewing machine choir tunes in to the silky threads of the spinning wheel, a knitting machine weaves electronic rhythms and an oversized sewing box becomes a beat machine.

Video projections reveal details of the machine's activity, while the sounds produced are translated into movement and dance.

On February 23, 2025, the Dressed in Sound ensemble took to the stage of the Münchner Kammerspiele for the first time. The recordings of this world premiere have now been turned into a live album - which will celebrate its official release on vinyl alongside the performance on June 3, 2026.

Very few people know that music is made with sewing machines. Yet there is a small but globally networked scene. One nucleus is located in Munich: The textile sound convention Sharper Than A Needle was initiated by Stephanie Müller and Klaus Erika Dietl, known for music projects such as SEWICIDE, beißpony and the international collective ALLIGATOR GOZAIMASU. For years, they have been working at the interface of textile art, experimental pop and sound art, often in queer-feminist contexts. They focus on creative handicrafts as a networking tool. With their unconventional performances and happenings, they question production conditions and at the same time create multi-sensory worlds.

The convention is being realized together with Karen Modrei and Stefan Wischnewski from the Dressed In Sound ensemble. Together, the ensemble members will explore the acoustic spectrum of their textile machines.

They will be supported by guest artists such as wheelchair dancer Sema Schäffer, media artist Licia Lumen and textile artists from the Beyond Textiles network.

The record was created in close collaboration with noise musician and sound artist Colin Djukic (ZORK FREE ARTS LAB). The live album will be released on the Rheinschallplatten label. The LP will be accompanied by a limited edition magaZINE (icon Verlag) with photos by Florian Freund and further text and image contributions that provide an insight "behind the scenes" .