AnnenMayKantereit is a German rock band from Cologne founded in 2011. They sing predominantly in German but sometimes also publish cover songs in English. A notable feature of the band is the distinctly rough voice of the singer.
History
The three founding members, whose joint surnames make up the band name, formed a band while at school at the Schiller-Gymnasium in Sülz in 2011. Initially, these three, Annen, May and Kantereit, performed as street musicians in Cologne. At a jam session, they were joined by double bass player Lars Lötgering. In 2013, they released their first, self-recorded album, which had a release party in Gebäude 9 in Cologne. The album, which was partly recorded on the street, is no longer available. They have their own YouTube channel on which they have published their songs. Malte Huck has been the bassist of the band since August 2014. After the release of the music video of their song Wohin du gehst, the band toured Germany. In summer 2014, they played at several big festivals, such as the Appletree Garden Festival, the Open Flair, and the Reeperbahn Festival. In autumn, they played at several concerts as the supporting act for the Beatsteaks and accompanied Clueso on the Stadtrandlichter Tour as a support act. They were finalists in the New Music Award of the ARD-Jugendprogramme. In December 2014, AnnenMayKantereit were featured in the television programme Circus HalliGalli, and at the beginning of 2015, they went on tour again. In summer 2015 they performed at more festivals, including the Haldern Pop Festival and Rock am Ring. The Hip-Hop group K.I.Z. featured singer Henning May in their song Hurra die Welt geht unter. In autumn 2015, the band signed with Universal. Together with Moses Schneider they recorded the EP Wird schon irgendwie gehen at Hansa-Studios in Berlin. It was released on the 16th of October, 2015 by the label Vertigo Berlin. Subsequently they had a new tour and sold out numerous venues. In February 2016 they released the single Pocahontas from their upcoming album "Alles Nix Konkretes". The whole album was released in March 2016 and reached number one on the German album charts. On December 7, 2018, the band released their new album "Schlagschatten", produced by Markus Ganter, recorded in a small village in Spain. On January 8, 2019 BMG Rights Management announced that they have concluded a worldwide publishing contract with the band While not touring in 2018 the band started a new tour at the end of January 2019 in Mannheim. In March 2019 they started a big hall tour.
Discography
Studio albums
2013: AMK
2016: Alles Nix Konkretes
2018: Schlagschatten
Live albums
2016: AnnenMayKantereit & Freunde
EPs
2015: Wird schon irgendwie gehen
Singles
2015: Oft gefragt
2016: Pocahontas
2016: Barfuß am Klavier
2018: Marie
2018: Schon krass
2019: Ozean
2020: Ausgehen
Chart placements as guest musicians
2015: Hurra die Welt geht unter
2018: On & On
2019: 5 Minuten
2019: Vermissen
Awards
2015: Kulturpreis der Sparkassen-Kulturstiftung Rheinland
2015: Deutscher Webvideopreis in the category Music Video