ASM, ASM , ASM - a state of mind, a state of mind or simply state of mind is an international Hip hop act, their music is considered Alternative Hip hop, but draws influences from other genres like Jazz and Funk. They consist of two MCs, Benjamin Bambach alias Green T or GT Lovecraft from Canada and Maik Schindler alias FP respectively Funk.E Poet from Germany, as well as producer/beatmaker Adam Simmons alias Rhino or Fade from England. Since 2019 they are signed to Chinese Man Records, a FrenchIndie-label run by Chinese Man.
History
The group members met in Frankfurt, where they went to school together. They soon started listening to Hip Hop music and were influenced especially by Old-school hip hop. They first gained international recognition for collaborating with Wax Tailor and made an appearance on his albums Hope & Sorrow and In The MoodFor Life in 2007 and 2009. Soon after they released their first EPPre-Emptive Nostalgia which they had produced together with Skrein. ASM's first solo-album Platypus Funk was released in 2010, followed by their second albumCrown Yard in 2011. In 2015 they released their most ambitious and successful project to date, the albumThe Jade Amulet, a narrative album set in the fictional ancient kingdom of Vabaria. The story is spun around Shalim, last of the clan Tan Suo, spoken by FP. Green T guides from a narrative perspective through the album, other artists like MF DOOM as the tyrant King Dumile, Mattic as the king's son Rongon The Conqueror as well as other artists set characters into music. The album was realized with the help of an orchestra. Additionally they created a beer, which shall resemble Belko Brew, a fictional beverage from Vabaria, and a comic book for the story. In 2016 ASM turned to their roots in boom bap again, leading to their EP String Theory. In 2017 the groups MC's accompanied Chinese Man, a Trip hop trio from Marseilles, on their Shikantaza-tour, following their signing to Chinese Man Records in 2019. Soon after ASM released their fourth album Colour Wheel under the label's name.
Other projects
Schindler and Bambach are members of the alternative hip hop trio Clouds In A Headlock, where they appear under the names Éph and Lovecraft. Rapper and sound crafter Mattic completes the group, which released their debut mixtape ASMATTIC VOL 1 in April 2020. They are featured on tracks with the likes of The Waxidermist, Daylight Robbery!, Smokey Joe & The Kid, Chinese Man, La Fine Equipe, Wax Tailor and Antiloops Simmons apart from ASM pursues a solo carrier under his stage name Rhino and is part of the Jukebox Champions, together with Blanka from La Fine Equipe. Bambach further is a co-founder of Makoto Wagyu, breeders and distributers of ecological Japanese beef.
