Hi! I’m Stephan Kunze.
zensounds is a weekly newsletter about non-mainstream music.
It is published on Saturday morning and contains one longer feature about an artist or an album, plus my recommendations for the week, and sometimes a brief concert review or two.
I cover a wide range of genres – ambient and experimental electronic music, jazz and free improvised music, modern composition, leftfield hip-hop, post-rock and noise rock, avant-pop, and more.
I’m drawn to music of marginal commercial appeal, because I enjoy sounds that are not too predictable and manipulative.
I’m not a club person, and I can’t stand top 40 radio.
I avoid the jazz police, and I could care less about the rock/pop ‘canon’.
I despise academic elitism, and I distrust algorithms.
About me
I grew up in a small beach town in Northern Germany. I absolutely loved books and records. The internet was in its infancy, and social media non-existent. I got my first mobile phone after my 18th birthday.
I moved around quite a bit in my 20s and finally settled in Berlin.
I’m a writer, and I’ve worked as a magazine editor, editorial manager, copywriter, artist manager, label co-founder, A&R consultant, project manager, radio host, and playlist curator. In my last full-time role, I was leading Spotify’s global editorial team.
I am currently working as a freelance writer and consultant, mainly for Universal Music Group’s Global Classics & Jazz division and classical label Deutsche Grammophon. These companies are not affiliated with zensounds in any way.
As a digital remote worker, I’ve been trying to spend more time removed from screens and live more in tune with nature and the seasons. I enjoy seemingly anachronistic, analog activities. I’m a student and practitioner of Zen, Deep Listening and mindfulness meditation. I’m trying to stay away from social media.
I’ve become interested in topics that are often lumped in under the umbrella term of ‘alternative lifestyles’ – things like off-grid living, self-sufficiency, permaculture gardening, and DIY craftsmanship.
My non-fiction book Zen Style was published in 2021. It got picked up by a few newspapers, magazines, and podcasts. My agent has been trying to coax another book proposal out of me. So far, to no success.
I find joy in writing this newsletter every week though.
Today I live in Western Pomerania, a rural area in Northeastern Germany, with my wife and our yellow lab, building things and repairing stuff and growing plants and reading books and listening to records.
zensounds is free, but if you enjoy my writing, please consider becoming a paid subscriber to support my work. A subscription is €5/month or €50/year.
Paid subscribers will get access to the full archive and exclusive posts – these will be more personal essays around my journey to a mindful, analog lifestyle.
If you don’t feel like subscribing, you can also donate sately on my Ko-Fi page.
You can reach me and pitch music at zensounds@posteo.de.
