HUBL GREINER – Extended Biography

Musician / Composer / Sound Researcher / Producer / Filmmaker / Photographer

Hubl at an Al-Jertiq ritual in Sudan, 2010

At the age of 13, in 1968, Hubl begins teaching himself drums and bass and forms the improvisational psychedelic rock band “Shikako Maru Ten.” At 15, he intuitively senses that music is more than mere entertainment. In the early 1970s, he begins integrating everyday sounds as natural building blocks into his compositions and exploring sound as a whole. In search of immediate expression, he experiments on stage using, among other things, a power drill to process his bass guitar and send the sound through an amplifier while his fellow musicians interpret the piece.

In 1978, Hubl moves to London, where he lives with key members of the legendary avant-garde rock band Henry Cow (Fred Frith, Chris Cutler, and Tim Hodgkinson) on Silverthorne Road. Since the late 1960s, the group has been developing an approach that dissolves the boundaries between rock, contemporary music, and free improvisation. They work collectively and make musical decisions together. Their attitude represents artistic freedom and social awareness—as a counter-model to star cults and purely commercial production systems that leave little room for innovation, diversity, and critical reflection. His time in London leaves a lasting imprint on Hubl.

Back in Germany, he forms the neo-jazz-rock group “allgäu” together with Ludwig Schmid-Kemmeter. Early tours take them through France, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany. A few months later, he joins the independent musician network “Schneeball” and participates in its collaborative projects.

In the same year, he begins studying at the Jazz School in Munich, but drops out less than two years later. The dogmatic belief of his teachers—that jazz and classical music are the only legitimate forms of serious music—does not align with his vision.

His real school becomes the encounters with numerous musicians from the European Rock in Opposition scene, the Krautrock movement, and the independent Schneeball network. Among them: Christian Burchard – pioneer and spiritus rector of Krautrock and intercultural music – as well as Roman Bunka, Edgar Hofmann (Embryo), Mani Neumeier, Roland Schaeffer (Guru Guru), Uwe von Trotha (Checkpoint Charlie), Chris Karrer (Amon Düül II), Ferdinand Richard (Etron Fou Leloublan), Ken Hyder, Gendos Chamzyryn, Tim Hodgkinson (K-Space), and Nikel Pallat (Ton Steine Scherben).

Equally formative is his close collaboration with Franz Dobler, Rupert Volz, Ludwig Schmid-Kemmeter, Yoruba drummers from Nigeria, hip-hop artists from the USA, musicians from Asia, Africa, and the Arab world, underground musicians from the former Eastern Bloc, Indigenous musicians (Navajo, Northern Tutchone, Lakota, Cherokee, and O’odham) from North America, the unique Iva Bittová, the Sudanese Sufi Mohamed Badawi, the Mongolian throat singer Dagvan Ganpurev, the legendary South Indian tavil master Paramashivam Pillai, and the charismatic shamanic singer Stepanida Borisova from Siberia.

SCHÄGGI BÄDSCH (1980–1984)

In 1980, Hubl joins the political rock band Schäggi Bädsch and moves to Karlsruhe. The band not only experiments musically but also seeks new forms of communal living in everyday life. Schäggi Bädsch is part of a broader counterculture rejecting conventional values and demanding social change. The band supports environmental campaigns such as “Save the Rhine,” traveling with scientists on the cargo sailing ship Avontuurer from Basel to Rotterdam to raise awareness of river pollution.

With the addition of Hubl, saxophonist Ulrike Schimpf, and guitarist Wilfried Sahm (ex-Checkpoint Charlie), the band’s sonic spectrum expands to include jazz, contemporary music, and non-European traditions.

Studio | Label

In 1983, with state funding, Hubl purchases an old hotel in the Palatinate and converts the restaurant and industrial kitchen into the “Tonstudio Glashütte.” There he begins producing early bands and developing his own sound art projects. The central project to emerge from Glashütte is the band THE BLECH.

In the same year, he founds the music publishing company “Hubl Enterprises” and, together with Richy Richter, the label “HEUTE music productions.” In 1988, a merger follows with the Konstanz-based studio “Klang & Hammer.”

THE BLECH (1985–1996)

In 1985, Hubl and Rupert Volz form THE BLECH – a project that from the outset refuses any clear categorization and understands “ruthless entertainment” not only as provocation but as a guiding principle.

THE BLECH is not a genre but a system malfunction – a musical chameleon driven by escalation. Between moshpit-ready punk and the delicate aesthetics of New Music, they dismantle stylistic certainties and reassemble them in real time. Their touring history documents this radical permeability. Over eleven years, the band tours across Asia, North and South America, Europe, and the former Eastern Bloc countries. They are twice invited to documenta in Kassel, perform at rock and pop festivals alongside Nina Hagen and Chaka Khan, share punk festival stages with Henry Rollins and Einstürzende Neubauten, and appear at jazz festivals with Cecil Taylor and Herbie Hancock. At avant-garde and contemporary music festivals, they perform alongside Fred Frith, John Zorn, Helmut Lachenmann, and Mauricio Kagel.

Across six releases, they create an autonomous musical universe composed of Brecht and Weill fragments, Arabic influences, Dada, jazz, punk, and contemporary music. THE BLECH works with overlays, fractures, and deliberate disruptions. Their pieces are driven by eccentric, idiosyncratic texts that are both playful and dark, and by a vocal presence that cuts through space like a muezzin, intimidating operetta stars.
Beyond recordings, THE BLECH develop radical video clips and uncompromising live performances. Their concerts become unpredictable condensations of sound, action, and physical presence. The stage becomes a site of direct confrontation, where energy is released and perception shifts. Between ecstasy and loss of control, situations emerge that resist repetition.

Their recordings are released by HEUTE music prod., Columbia Japan, Jaro Medien GmbH, Traumton Berlin, Trikont, What’s so funny about, In-Poly-Sons (France), Independance, Supporti Fonografici (Italy), Rough Trade, and Macadam Mambo 17.

THE BLECH & Contemporary Music

THE BLECH’s performance at the 34th International Summer Courses for New Music in 1988 marks a radical turning point in the festival’s history. Under Friedrich Hommel, who aims to open the traditionally academic “ivory tower” of New Music to popular forms, THE BLECH becomes the first rock band to appear in this highly specialized context.

The lineup includes Hubl Greiner (drums, metal, sampler), Rupert Volz (vocals, guitar), Therofal Rödelberger (bass), and Helmut Bieler-Wendt (baritone Violektra, “Knackfrösche”).

The concept “Narrncartan mit Peripetie oder ein ganz gewöhnlicher Tag im Leben des großen Gurglers” deliberately crosses boundaries: the band fuses the eruptive energy of rock and punk with complex compositional structures (Joachim Krebs), free improvisation, multimedia elements, and performative contributions by Uwe von Trotha (language, hypermodern expression dance, underwater performance).

Audience reactions in Darmstadt are divided, ranging from enthusiastic approval to sharp rejection. For parts of the conservative audience and faculty, the volume and physicality of the band are shocking and perceived as a provocation against academic purism. Younger listeners, however, celebrate the performance as a necessary revitalization and liberation from rigid dogmas.

Despite—or because of—these controversies, the concert is now considered a historical event that paved the way for the later integration of electronic music and experimental pop culture into contemporary music discourse.

THE BLECH – Final Tour

In 1996, the band embarks on its final tour in Russia and Siberia, accompanied by multiple television appearances, including a talk show with Artemy Troitsky and live broadcasts on Russian TV. The tour culminates in a concert at a Moscow football stadium in front of around 40,000 people, broadcast nationwide and reaching approximately 25 million viewers.

Hubl Greiner & Rupert Volz, 1989

HULU PROJECT (1997–2007)

In 1997, Hubl and Italian guitarist, composer, and visual artist Luigi Archetti form the HULU PROJECT – an open duo that functions not as a fixed ensemble but as a flexible system. Working with changing guest musicians, they create works that explore and interweave different sonic spaces rather than follow a fixed style.

Chat (GECO/Warner Chappell, 2000)

Released in 2000, this trip-hop mini album features five reduced, atmospheric tracks created with American singer Lisa Cash and Belgian composer/pianist Eric Babak.

Cubic Yellow (Captain Trip Records Japan / CCn’C Records, 2001)

Together with electronic music pioneer Dieter Moebius, the duo explores a synesthetic question: can color be made audible? The album is first released in Japan and later digitally by CCn’C Records. It receives the “Selection Swiss Radio International” award.

TranceSiberia (2001)

A collaboration with Yakut singer Stepanida Borisova becomes the starting point for further sonic intensification. Her singing is a shamanic ritual rooted in ancient Sakha traditions, possibly dating back to 3000 BCE. The album reaches No. 3 in the World Music Charts Europe.

INEMURI (2007)

Inspired by the Japanese phenomenon of sleeping in public, the duo explores liminal states between waking and dreaming. The album is released digitally.

MU 無 (since 2019)

MU 無 – Moon Dance is a solo project expanded with guest musicians. Recorded without rehearsals, the musicians hear the material for the first time during recording. Only first takes are used—no overdubs.
The album is both a meditation on reduction and a political statement against greed, destruction, and irresponsibility. It becomes a sonic protest through restraint.

FRAU.BACH (since 2015)

Since 2015, Hubl has been a member of the collective FRAU.BACH with actress/singer Silvia Pfändner and media artist Thomas Maos. The group merges music, film, performance, and personal narratives around death, identity, and origin, including reinterpretations of Bach and radical sound experiments.

Hubl Greiner, Silvia Pfändner & Thomas Maos, 2023

Collaboration with CHRISTOF DIENZ (1992–2009)

Hubl produced three albums for musician and composer Christof Dienz – an artist who moves across boundaries and between systems. For him, folk music represents origin, jazz an open field of experimentation, and contemporary music another state of matter in his thinking. That ensembles such as Klangforum Wien, Phace, or the ORF Radio Symphony Orchestra Vienna perform his works is the logical consequence of a musical approach that resists categorization and derives its precision precisely from this refusal.

From 2022 to 2025, he is also artistic director of Klangspuren Schwaz, a renowned festival for contemporary music in Tyrol.

KNOEDEL (RecRec 1992)

The Tyrolean neo-folk octet “Knoedel” was founded in 1991 by Christof Dienz. In 1992, Hubl produced their first album Verkochte Tiroler. The band subsequently gained international attention and performed in clubs, concert halls, and festivals across Europe, Canada, the USA, Japan, Tuva, and Mexico. The ensemble is regarded as a pioneer of so-called “New Folk Music.” With their radically independent approach to traditional forms, they influenced many musicians dedicated to renewing and expanding folk music. The album received multiple international awards.

DIENZ ZITHERED (GECO, 2006)

On the album DIENZ ZITHERED, the traditional sound of the zither is reimagined and expanded into an independent contemporary sonic language. Through the use of objects, loops, and extended playing techniques, acoustic sound spaces emerge that strongly evoke electronic music. The source material is also reinterpreted and remixed by international musicians from different scenes, resulting in a multilayered work between contemporary music, club aesthetics, and improvisation. The international press responded enthusiastically: “Christof Dienz will go down in the annals of music as a genius of the zither.” The album received numerous awards. Hubl produced the album and contributed a remix.

Dienz Mixed Ensemble (GECO, 2009)

During a journey through Mali and Senegal, Christof collected personal acoustic impressions on a digital recording device – flying dogs, speech, cars, children’s voices, swarms of bees… From this material he created eight atmospheric, jazz-influenced pieces for a mixed ensemble (strings, winds, percussion, zither, double bass, electric bass, and laptop). The album Mon Afrique de L’Ouest was created in collaboration with Hubl and ORF RadioKulturhaus Vienna.

Collaboration with MOHAMED BADAWI (since 2006)

For the recordings of the album Nosybé (Enja Records), Mohamed and Hubl traveled in 2008 to a country under military dictatorship, where a president had come to power through a coup and governed repressively along Islamist-fundamentalist lines. Violence, economic instability, and a fragile humanitarian situation shape everyday life. Human rights, freedom of speech, and freedom of expression are effectively meaningless.

Mohamed has long written critical columns for Sudanese media, addressing issues such as political decadence, democracy, female circumcision, and forced marriage of underage girls. He comes under surveillance by the secret service. Mohamed and Hubl are monitored, harassed by authorities, and temporarily detained.

Life within Mohamed’s Sudanese family and the work on this album count among the most formative experiences for Hubl. The music they created is far more than artistic expression; it is an act of hope and resistance in the face of war, poverty, fear, and oppression.

The album also features contributions from Roman Bunka, Shirley Anne Hofmann, and others.

Hubl with Sufi-Musicians in Sudan, 2010

THE DJ HOERSPIEL ENSEMBLE (2003–2006)

As an experimental sound researcher, Hubl Greiner continually develops his own samples, investigates acoustic materials, and listens deeply into everything that produces sound. Sound is understood not as a finished medium but as an open field that is constantly questioned and reassembled.

This approach becomes especially evident in the live radio plays of THE DJ HOERSPIEL ENSEMBLE, created in collaboration with writer Franz Dobler, which blur the boundaries between literature, DJ culture, and radio drama.
While Dobler improvises narration, reads, and inserts literary fragments, Hubl creates dense sound collages using turntables and laptop. The result is a mixture of childlike curiosity and professional precision, of research impulse and artistic courage.

One of the guiding threads running through the sonic spectacle is The Big Knockover by Dashiell Hammett – read by Katharina Thalbach. Dobler and Greiner insert passages, modulate and deconstruct the voice, transforming fragments of speech into an acoustic crime story told through sound. It is not a ten-person dialogue with arriving cars, slamming doors, or dripping faucets. It is something without linear narrative, where cosmic events become audible – something that does not exist in reality.

Tour with DJ BOBO (2019)

At first, Hubl declines the offer, but eventually agrees out of curiosity. Six weeks on the road with the perfectly oiled machinery of the mainstream – a parallel world with its own rules.

In conversations with DJ BoBo, the discussion naturally turns to music, its evaluation, and its commercialization. One of the more sobering insights: quality is not heard, it is counted. Full hall = good. Empty hall = bad. Simple, effective.
A concert begins with the mass – with the feeling of being part of something larger than oneself. People orient themselves toward the decisions of others, especially where they do not trust their own judgment. Perception is not neutral; it is shaped by the silent agreement that what many want to see must be worth seeing.

A venue is therefore not simply played – it is staged long before the first note sounds. For marketing reasons, the space is arranged to look like “success.” The stage is moved forward when presales are weak, or pushed back when enough tickets are sold. Seating sections are closed, curtains drawn, entire zones removed. Out of 12,000 possible seats, 10,000 “sold-out” seats are created.

And then the other side: small rooms, half empty. Hubl has often played in such situations – concerts where every breath is audible. No mass, no density, no artificially constructed framework of meaning. And yet something happens there that cannot be scaled – small, subtle shifts that leave people deeply moved when they go home.

Perhaps this is the real rupture:
One system measures impact in surface area.
The other in depth.
And both call it music.

Iva Bittová (1988)

Iva Bittová grows up in the former Czechoslovakia. The political conditions initially make it difficult for her to pursue an artistic career in the West, as concert tours require official permission.

After persistent efforts, Hubl manages to organize permission for three concerts in Germany through the agency “Prago Concert,” enabling her first performances in the West.

During this small tour, Hubl Greiner produces the album Svatba in his studio in 1988, released in 1987 on Review Records. It is the singer’s first Western record release. Through Hubl’s initiative, contact is established with Fred Frith, which becomes the starting point of a long artistic collaboration.
Their work is documented in Nicolas Humbert and Werner Penzel’s film Step Across the Border, one of the most important music films in cinema history.

Iva Bittová is today an internationally recognized musician, collaborating with the Kronos Quartet, Marc Ribot, Bobby McFerrin, George Mraz, and Bill Frisell, among others. Fred Frith dedicated the string quartet Lelekovice to her in 1990.

In addition to music, she is also active as an actress. In 2003 she plays Zena in the award-winning film Želary, nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film in 2004.

Hubl & Iva Bittová, 2018

EMBRYO (1985–2022)

For more than 50 years, Embryo has been one of the most interesting and versatile bands in Europe. Since its founding in 1969, the group has toured worldwide and performed with artists such as Fela Kuti, Ravi Shankar, Trilok Gurtu, Charlie Mariano, and Mal Waldron. In 1970, Embryo played at the Fehmarn Festival immediately after Jimi Hendrix and co-founded a label with Ton Steine Scherben and Rio Reiser. Embryo are considered pioneers of world music.
Hubl has worked with Embryo musicians for many years – especially Roman Bunka, Christian Burchard, and Edgar Hofmann. The collaboration is documented on several CD productions, the Schneeball Opera, and numerous live projects.

Concerts with Indigenous Musicians from the USA (since 2004)

Through close collaboration with Gunter Lange and the INDIGEN: NORTH AMERICA FILM FESTIVAL, spontaneous ad-hoc concerts with Indigenous musicians from the USA and Canada regularly emerge.

In 2018, Hubl performs with Raye Zaragoza, Kholan Studi (Los Angeles), and Good Shield Aguilar (South Dakota), whose work moves between political awareness and personal storytelling.

Raye Zaragoza, of Japanese, Mexican, and O’odham heritage, addresses themes of Indigenous identity and historical trauma in her music. Her song “In The River” received major awards for protest and activism music.

Kholan Studi follows in the footsteps of his father Wes Studi, a renowned actor (The Last of the Mohicans, Avatar, Dances with Wolves, Geronimo) and is a member of the Cherokee Nation.

Good Shield Aguilar is a musician and activist with roots in the Oglala Lakota and Pascua Yaqui.

In 2016, Hubl meets rapper Frank Waln as well as activists and hoop dancers Lumhe and Samsoche Sampson. Frank Waln is a Sicangu Lakota Sioux artist advocating for Indigenous rights in the USA. Lumhe and Samsoche, sons of Will Sampson (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest), belong to the Muscogee Creek/Seneca tribe.

A notable concert takes place in 2014 with the Diné band SIHASIN from Flagstaff, Arizona. On stage are Jones Benally (hoop dance, vocals), Jeneda Benally (bass, vocals), and Clayson Benally (drums, vocals). Their music blends Diné (Navajo) tradition with activism and punk rock.

In 2010, Hubl meets Lakota artist Sequoia Crosswhite from South Dakota, a storyteller and cultural mediator. His work fuses traditional Lakota narratives with hip-hop, rock, and funk. In 2012, a legendary concert follows in Konstanz, and in 2026 Hubl produces his new album.

Sequoia Crosswhite, 2018

FURTHER ENCOUNTERS AND PROJECTS

THE GUERILLA BOPS (since 2018)

Together with Danny Exnar (keys, Hammond, vocals), the duo THE GUERILLA BOPS was formed in 2019. The BOPS originally served as the theater band for the production “Le Bal” by Jean-Claude Penchenat and Théâtre du Campagnol, staged at TOBS Theatre in Switzerland. After the performances in 2018 and 2019, it became clear to Danny and Hubl that they wanted to continue working together. In August 2023, they recorded the live album Circus at the Kulturscheune Kulturní Stodola in Plainfaing (France).

FREUNDE IM GARTEN (since 2020)

Rupert Volz and Hubl were already touring worldwide with THE BLECH in the 1980s and 1990s, projecting their wildly unconventional sonic worlds onto audiences. Journalist Anna-Bianca Krause once wrote: “… the two are the primordial soup of the project, the founding fathers and driving forces. This is also palpable on stage – one could not exist without the other’s musical intensity.” Forty years later, they are still together, searching for new sounds offered by the vast sonic universe.

KLING KLONG (2018–2025)

Between 2018 and 2025, Hubl is a permanent member of the Hamburg-based band Kling Klong, performing numerous concerts, including at Jazz & The City Salzburg and the Barcelona Jazz Festival. The concept album “Jeder Mensch ein Sender” also features filmmaker Alexander Kluge. Hubl is co-composer of the works. The album is released on Enja Records.

KAPELLE ZWEI – Compositions for Church Organ (2022)

In 2022, Hubl receives a GEMA scholarship for compositions for church organ and gongs. Together with Paul Amrod, he embarks on a musical research journey exploring the sonic possibilities of the instrument.

Music of the Inuit (2020)

Another focus develops through collaboration with Inuit artists Tiffany Kuliktana and Kayley Inuksuk from Nunavut, Canada. The throat singing tradition Katajjaq is a unique vocal form in which two women face each other without instrumental accompaniment, performing a rhythmically intricate duet. This collaboration results in three joint compositions.

DAS LIED DER DINGE – work in process (2015)

Between April 3 and 10, 2015, Silvia Pfändner, Luise von Rhoden, Thomas Maos, Helmut Bieler-Wendt, and Hubl Greiner develop the performance project “DAS LIED DER DINGE – work in process.” The project integrates visual art (drawings/visuals) directly into the musical process. The final concert on April 10 is a joint event by the Institute for New Music and Music Education e.V. and the CAMP Festival as part of the spring conference for New Music at the Jazz Institute Darmstadt.

Helmut Bieler-Wendt | Hubl Greiner | Württembergische Philharmonie – Music and Film for VJ, Acoustic Performer and Orchestra (2014)

Together with the Württembergische Philharmonie, Helmut Bieler-Wendt, and Hubl Greiner, a project combining live electronics, film, and orchestra is created. SEHSTÜCK is premiered on February 15, 2014, as part of the audiovisual concert series “sonic visions” at franz.k in Reutlingen.
The starting point of SEHSTÜCK is four compositions by HB-W for the award-winning film “DAS LIED DER DINGE” by Nils Menrad. HB-W extracts material from these film concerts to create the four movements of SEHSTÜCK. Hubl plays drums, improvises with processed cymbal sounds, and acts as VJ, projecting and live-editing film sequences onto a large screen.

Hubl Greiner, Helmut Bieler-Wendt & Wuerttembergische Philharmonie, 2014

PROJECT 909 (2009)

Modified drum machine, Sufi chants, jazz improvisation: for the Mainz Jazz Festival in 2009, a work based on the Roland TR-909 is created. Hubl processes the sounds of the iconic drum machine into subtle, noise-like textures and develops specially programmed sequences. These soundtracks form the atmospheric foundation for a live performance with four improvising musicians.

TANNENGRIESEL COLLECTIVE (2008)

The Tannengriesel Collective is invited in June 2008 by Estonian composer and musician Peeter Vähi to the INTERNATIONAL KLAASPÄRLIMÄNG MUSIC FESTIVAL in Tartu, Estonia. Hubl composes twelve two-minute pieces for the performance, which are played back via tape during the concert. Ulrich Rützel and Hubl improvise live over these recordings.

Audiobook Productions (2003)

For Theater Konstanz, Hubl produces two audiobooks of German ballads – “Hinter 1000 Stäben” and “Sie haben nämlich Entenfüße.” Bernhard Stengele (recitation, vocals) and Paul Amrod (piano) interpret works by Villon, Schiller, Goethe, Kästner, and Heine.

Audiobook Project with Franz Dobler (2002)

In collaboration with author Franz Dobler, an audiobook project is created for Antje Kunstmann Verlag. The works include Dobler’s western poems about the Daltons, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash, and Kraudn Sepp from the Bavarian Alpine foothills.

SUB (2001–2003)

Between 2001 and 2003, occasional concerts take place with the audiovisual project SUB. The interdisciplinary collaboration between Luigi Archetti (guitars, electronics, video art), Bo Wiget (cello, electronics), Hubl Greiner (electronics, sampling), and Hans X Hagen (live visuals) merges sound, image, and improvisation into an open format. A concert at the Schaffhausen Jazz Festival is recorded by Radio DRS2.

STAHL UND EISEN BRICHT (2013)

Another project, STAHL UND EISEN BRICHT, takes place in a machine hall in Eslohe as part of the “Live in den Fabrikskes” series, conceived by media artist and Ars Electronica co-founder Ulrich Rützel. Industrial space, sound, and mechanical processes are directly translated into musical structures. Language, saxophone, bass, violin, drums, steam engine, stage costume, and space form an integrated, physically tangible environment.

Hubl Greiner on drums, 2013

Álvaro Peña-Rojas (1989–2002)

In the early 2000s, concerts and recordings follow with Chilean singer-songwriter Álvaro Peña-Rojas (“The Chilean with the Singing Nose”). The collaboration is documented on the Trikont compilation A Boy Named Sue – Johnny Cash Revisited curated by Franz Dobler, as well as on THE BLECH album Ich wollte meine Schuhe zerschneiden with the piece “So Viel Geliebt Part I.”

Peña-Rojas released several singles in the early 1970s with Chilean rock bands (Los Challengers and Los Bumerangs). After the Pinochet coup in 1974, he fled Chile. In London, he met Joe Strummer (THE CLASH) and formed The 101’ers with him.

La bataille d’Arminius / Paris (1995)

A technically complex project is the 8-channel production for the theater piece La bataille d’Arminius at Théâtre Nanterre-Amandiers in Paris. In 1993, Ferdinand Richard (bass), Takumi Fukushima (violin), Helmut Bieler-Wendt (violin), and Vladimír Václavek (bass) released a concept album titled Arminius.

In 1995, this music is reworked for a stage adaptation of Heinrich von Kleist’s play. The compositions are arranged in an 8-channel system and mixed independently. In the studio, Hubl uses a specially developed 8-track Pro Tools setup – unique at the time. In the theater, the sound is played through an 8-speaker system distributed across the entire venue, creating a fully immersive 3D sonic experience. Hubl is responsible for operating the system and mixing.

FERDINAND ET LES PHILOSOPH (1993)

Marseille-based Ferdinand Richard, member of Etron Fou Leloublan, is one of the protagonists of the French independent scene of the 1980s. Together with Fred Frith and others, he moves freely across genres. Etron Fou Leloublan is considered a founding group of the Rock in Opposition movement alongside Henry Cow, Univers Zéro, Stormy Six, and Art Zoyd.

In 1986, Ferdinand founded the MIMI festival (Movement International des Musiques Innovatrices), which he directed for over 30 years. His album Ensableurs de Portugaises was recorded in Hubl’s studio Klang & Hammer in Konstanz, where Hubl also handled mixing and mastering.

HARDIS BRUT – Art in Psychiatry (1992)

Released in 1992 on the French label InPolySons, Hardis Brut explores the theme of art in psychiatry. The piece “Kaisermarsch” by Hubl and Helmut Bieler-Wendt (THE BLECH) is a tribute to Swiss artist Adolf Wölfli (1864–1930), who lived in a psychiatric institution until his death.

Other contributing artists include Cédric Vuille, René Lussier, Danny Finney, Ferdinand Richard, David Moss, The Work, L’Ensemble Rayé, Klimperei, Toupidek Limonade, Look de Bouk, and Lars Hollmer.

DIE WAND AN (1983–1985)

The experimental duo “Scheiß die Wand an” was founded in the early 1980s by Freddy Setz (drums, tapes) and Gerald Luciano Hartwig (bass, tapes). Later, Stephan Rustige (action painting) and Jutta Keller (dance) joined the group. In 1983, Freddy and Gerald left and were replaced by jazz drummer Fred Braceful (known from Wolfgang Dauner’s group Et Cetera) and tuba player Klaus Burger. The project was renamed “Die Wand an.” Shortly after, Fred left due to health issues.

Stephan then invited Rupert Volz (vocals, trumpet, guitar) and Hubl (drums, tapes) to join the live action performances. The use of cassette recorders as primitive samplers became part of Hubl’s practice. Despite changing line-ups, the project remained a dense, strange sonic environment – mysterious, archaic, and dark.

LOGIC ANIMAL (1986)

In the mid-1980s, Embryo members Roman Bunka and Edgar Hofmann formed the duo Logic Animal. Their demo cassette contains four untitled tracks and was never officially released. The music explores analog drum machines and early sampling techniques. Hubl recorded and mixed the material in his studio in Glashütte.

PETER FROHMADER (1985)

Peter Frohmader († 2022), known for his band Nekropolis, was a key figure in European progressive electronic music and dark gothic composition. Often called the “Godfather of Gothic” or “Lord of Dark Sounds,” he influenced bands such as Sisters of Mercy, Throbbing Gristle, and Lacrimosa. He was also a close collaborator of H.R. Giger.
In 1985, Frohmader and Hubl recorded eight improvisational pieces at Studio Glashütte, followed by overdubs using DX7, Chapman Stick, percussion, vocals, and saxophone (played by Ulrike Schimpf). The recordings were never released but are considered stylistically close to cinematic sound worlds such as David Lynch’s Twin Peaks.

SCHNEEBALL OPERA (1980–1982)

The Schneeball Opera was a cooperative music project initiated by musicians of the independent label Schneeball Records. Participants included artists from Embryo, Ton Steine Scherben, Checkpoint Charlie, Schäggi Bädsch, and others. The collective toured as a music theater production with 27 musicians across Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, performing more than 30 concerts.

Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson – Tunji Beier (1993)

Improvisation concert with Jalalu-Kalvert Nelson (trumpet), Tunji Beier (percussion), and Hubl (drums). Nelson studied trumpet and composition at Indiana University with John Eaton and Iannis Xenakis and received commissions from the Kronos Quartet, Brooklyn Philharmonic, and Oklahoma City Symphony.

Tunji Beier trained in Nigeria in Yoruba percussion traditions and later studied at the Karnataka College of Percussion in Bangalore, where he earned his degree as master drummer of the classical Indian tradition. He has collaborated with musicians such as Charlie Mariano, Billy Cobham, and Markus Stockhausen.

PHOTOGRAPHY (since 2004)

In 2004, he discovered a passion for photography through his wife, Claudia Knupfer. Driven by curiosity and a strong desire to learn, he began photographing everything that came into his field of vision. Until 2011, he rarely put the camera down, immersing himself deeply in photographic studies. In 2008, together with other photographers, he co-founded the collective “Fotoristen” to critically document contemporary social developments. This led to several photographic exhibitions. From 2011 onwards, his focus gradually shifted toward moving images, and he began developing his own film work.

FILM (since 2012)

Since 2012, Hubl has been producing documentary films. With a keen sense for intimate moments, he captures personal life stories. In his films, he takes on all key roles himself – directing, camera, sound, editing, and production. Dramaturgical support is often provided by actress Claudia Knupfer, whose perspective sharpens and structures the work in key moments. Over the years, he has developed an extensive body of film work consisting of eleven documentaries, numerous short films, music videos, reports, and personal portraits. Hubl during filming in Los Angeles, 2017

Hubl during filming in Los Angeles, 2017

NO-GO
People from your neighbourhood talk about taboos

Documentary film by Hubl Greiner
Duration: 42 minutes
Idea/Direction: Hubl Greiner
Dramaturgy: Claudia Knupfer
© HEUTE.film 2026

The film invites listening – in times when every word can turn into a battlefield. It shows that division does not begin somewhere “out there” – but here, on a small scale, between us. And that understanding may only grow where silence is broken. An urgent plea for the art of being in-between. More about the film!

EIN VIERTEL IN UNSERER STADT
The incredible story of the Chérisy Barracks in Konstanz

The Chérisy Barracks is the first military complex in Germany to break with its past under the Nazi regime and transform into an innovative residential and working project. The alternative scene seeks to develop a better form of civil society. Where did this social experiment succeed, where did it fail? More about the film!

8 PORTRAITS
People with passions and visions

When people speak of “great” individuals, they often mean those with wealth or power. For Hubl, true greatness is measured by the traces one leaves – and by how much one’s actions serve others. This idea runs as a common thread through the film, as the protagonists attempt precisely that: to make our often hostile world a better place. More about the film!

WHERE IS HOME?
A story of German emigrants in America

A life story – a search for a peaceful home. “In Russia I lived in fear, in Germany I was a refugee and in America I’m at home.” More about the film!

HAMLET IN CUBA
A search for Cuba’s future

Inspired by a play by Cuban author Rogelio Arizondo Gómez, the film explores living conditions in Cuba. A collaboration with Theater Konstanz. More about the film!

STANDING
Portrait of the writer Franz Dobler

The film portrays a writer known for his uncompromising and consistently critical voice. Multiple German Crime Prize winner Franz Dobler focuses on pop and subculture, politics, and everyday absurdity. More about the film!

Why Do Germans Love the Blues?

With: Williams “Wetsox” Fändrich, Chris Rannenberg, Abi Wallenstein, Angela Brown, Tommy Harris, Axel Zwingenberger, Simon Oslender and others.

This atmospheric documentary sits between road movie, musical essay, and cultural exploration. A musician from Chicago, the legendary birthplace of the blues, travels across Germany. What begins as a musical discovery tour evolves into a multilayered encounter with a country that has adopted an originally African American music form in a strikingly intense way. More about the film!

DU WIRST NICHT DER GLEICHE SEIN …
Clowns and their path to professional joy

For three years, the filmmakers follow clown students. The film explores the ability to cross boundaries, to question oneself, and to develop a stable personality capable of communicating with seriously ill and dying people through humor. More about the film!

GUDRUN UND DAS MEER
A story from Iceland

In this road movie, a young woman embarks on a journey that triggers and transforms something within her. The story is based on historical events; the characters and their personal stories are fictional. More about the film!

LUKE
Der letzte wilde Hund am Yukon

Luke lives far from civilization in a log cabin, alone, without phone, internet, computer, radio, or TV. In summer 2013, Hubl visits him in the Yukon Territory, where the Pelly River meets the Yukon River. More about the film!

Educational and cultural mediation activities

Alongside his artistic practice, Hubl is also active in educational and cultural contexts. From 2005 to 2006, he led workshops as a lecturer for the State Youth Education Baden-Württemberg and worked as a music consultant for the “ZukunftsMusiker” initiative by dm-drogerie markt, which gives children playful access to music. Here, music is not taught as academic knowledge but understood as a space of experience.

In 2010, he gave a lecture at the State University of Yakutsk, addressing the fundamental role of music in human perception, communication, and cultural identity.

Between 2007 and 2011, he was involved in establishing the “Nihal European University” in Sudan and developed an educational concept for the musical training of street children. Again, the focus was not classical academic training, but an open, practice-based approach to sound, rhythm, and collective learning. More about social projects!

In 2021, together with Dr. Mohamed Badawi, he gave a TEDx talk on “Bridging Cultures through Music Interchange,” focusing on music as a connecting medium between cultures, lived experiences, and social realities.

Alongside music and film, pétanque is a constant part of his everyday life – as a quiet, focused form of perception, time, and social interaction.