Martin Wenk first picked up a trumpet aged eight, in a small village near the German city of Kassel. Several years later, he's played with the likes of Feist, Nancy Sinatra, Los Lobos, Arcade Fire and Broken Social Scene. Having just finished touring Europe with Nada Surf, Matchless caught up with the talented multi-instrumentalist to talk about a life in music.

London singer-songwriter Alan Pownall is has chiselled good looks, he's friends with the likes of Mumford and Sons, Noah and the Whale and Ellie Goulding, has received praise in Vogue and has just released an album to critical acclaim - this is one young man to keep an eye out for. Matchless had the chance to catch up with a very busy Alan Pownall, to chat about his rise to stardom.

Nada Surf could have so easily been a one-hit-wonder, up there with Falco, Babylon Zoo and Vanilla Ice. Thankfully, fourteen years after Popular was released, they're still selling out international venues. Back with a new album, If I Had A Hi-Fi, composed entirely of covers (an eclectic mix from Kate Bush to Arthur Russell), we caught up with Matthew Caws before their sold-out gig at Backstage in Munich, to talk about the good old days of record stores, confiding in Twitter and the pains of being untidy.

Ed Harcourt started making waves back in 2001, with his debut release and Mercury Prize nominated Here Be Monsters. Nine years on, Ed's released seven solo albums, has since become a father and has worked with the likes of Patti Smith, Marianne Faithful and Lisa-Marie Presley. Matchless was lucky enough to catch up with the singer-songwriter before he embarks on his US and European tour this autumn.

Patti Smith / We Shall Live Again Tour

Piazza San Marco, Venezia

1 August 2010

Blessedness, damnation, elevation. There's something sacred in the poetry of this cursed priestess.It's like something that breaks down the barricades of raw humanity to transport us to an afterlife -  without any emergency exit. Composed of verses, consumed by words of a dreamy substance, that has its roots in the social and cultural resistance that defines her; Patti Smith is still at the center of struggles and revolutions as she has been for the past few decades.

TRAMFAIR OPENAIR - Seebühne Westpark

04 September 2010

The Tramfair Openair festival has been running since 2004 in Munich as a free festival in south-west Munich for young, talented Münchner musicians. Six years on, the festival is still in full-force and this year has a host of treats for you.