Many things are still possible in Chemnitz that have already been done in other large cities

Mario Forberg

Mario Forberg is a veteran doer in Chemnitz. He has been running a music pub on the Sonnenberg for 19 years, which has built up an international reputation as a music venue. Bands from New York and Manchester, Italy and Ireland play here. Although we meet him on a sunny afternoon in a café in the state capital, where he has moved to for personal reasons, we discover another trademark of the Chemnitz makers: you can meet them anywhere in the country. The owner of "Subway to Peter" can confirm this. He himself has also worked everywhere, even as a driver for the Kastelruther Spatzen, as he later admits. It was not difficult to meet people from Chemnitz here and there who do not deny their origins, as is often claimed.
It's a good feeling now, because with the "Everybodys Subway to Peter", the full name of this Chemnitz music institution, Mario Forberg continues to get things moving in Chemnitz and is also someone who can tell stories and has stories to tell.and has stories to tell about how it all began 19 years ago, when he quit his job at Chemnitz city council to write music history in Chemnitz.

What did you do back then?
Mario Forberg: I was a car mechanic at the city council. For ten years, but I was already busy back then. I knew the people from the film workshop, for example, and went out with them. But "publican" was never my dream job. But I was always like that: I had to do something, I had to do something with people and in the scene.

Did you have a special connection to the GDR music scene? What was it like after reunification, in those famous early days?
Yes, absolutely! One example is "Skeptiker", this subsidised FDJ punk band. But they really did have such lyrics for the time! I was friends with Eugen [meaning Eugen Balanskat, editor's note]. "Skeptiker" disbanded much later and Eugen then did other projects, supported his bands and organised events in Chemnitz. That continued with Makarius, singer of "Die Art", or with "Freygang". We knew each other and because we were in the business, a few friendships developed. Then we did concerts and that's how it built up. It started with the "Subway" - that's where we started saying we'd play live music at the weekend.

Have you always been in Peterstraße?
Yes, we've always been there.

The building used to belong to "Selbsthilfe 91 e.V.".
They still own the building. Selbsthilfe 91 e.V. was founded by parts of the squatter scene in Chemnitz. At the time, they were offered the chance to choose a house and realise themselves there with subsidies and ABM and everything else that was available. That's how the house came about and I moved in with them. I had this secure job and I wasn't one of the people who lived in squats - I had a flat - but I was in contact with this scene. And then there was a flat available, a shared room, and I moved in and there was a cellar downstairs. Then I was told: "Well, write a concept."
Back then, after the fall of the Berlin Wall, there was this energy, like: "What are we going to do together now?" I had already thought about it with friends and it went a bit in the direction of a pub, pub and live music.

Was that the rough concept?
Exactly. They had always said that they had the cellar downstairs and would like to rent it out and write a concept for it. At the time, I already knew Bea from the film workshop, a good friend.

Beate Kunath, the film maker?
Yes, she was making her first film at the time, "Manchester Chemnitz". Manchester is the twin town of Chemnitz and Bea had to go back to England to shoot a few more camera shots. She asked if I wanted to come along. Then I sat in a pub in Manchester called "Subway". It was some normal pub in a cellar, well, a bit more hearty. I thought about it there: The name in Chemnitz, so "Subway"? Our cellar is opposite the railway station. The connection was just right. And then, for the sake of completeness, we called the whole thing "Everybody's Subway to Peter". I brought the name with me from Manchester, so to speak, and wrote the concept a bit more in the twin city.

What happened next?
I quit my job at the company and managed to get two friends who were also living in the house at the time to join me. The three of us started it, so to speak. That's just how it started. In the beginning, a live band at the weekend, usually something from the neighbourhood. But because we already had contacts with other bands, at some point the first band from New York that had a name played, and then it was like a snowball effect. When the internet - at the beginning everything remained on the phone and was made clear that way - then things took off, that was the effect. It really took off and became more and more every year, with bands coming from all over the world. Of course, you got to know more and more as a result.
That was a really good time. At that time, there were still all the flatshares on the Kassberg and there was the "VOXXX". Compared to today, there was more of a colourful scene life.

This spirit of optimism?
Yes, people were there. After 19 years, I realised that a lot of friends from my generation who, let's say, did something in the business, had left. They now live in Berlin, Hamburg, Malmö, London. Somewhere in this business, in these jobs, whether they're roadies, whether they're on tour or in the crew of Die Toten Hosen - they're all gone. They were all from Chemnitz. If you're travelling anywhere in this business, you meet people from Chemnitz everywhere. That's really awesome. You can be at any production, at any festival and someone asks: "Where are you originally from?" And you say: "Chemnitz."

What makes Chemnitz special for you today?
The nice thing about Chemnitz, which helped us back then, is that everyone knows everyone else. Despite being a big city, it has the feeling of a small town. Everyone here is friends with each other, we all know each other; everyone who has anything to do with the city. I've even got to know Barbara Ludwig.

What does the sound of Chemnitz sound like?
Musically? If you listen carefully or look under the covers, it's very diverse. Sure, Kraftklub is now the thing that everyone is talking about. But if you compare the music of Kraftklub, which they themselves admit: They've taken something from every possible style of music they like. You recognise "The Hives" there, you recognise rap there. If you look at all the bands in Chemnitz, and there are still plenty, there's something going on. I always say: it's mixed in Chemnitz. You have very good punk bands there, for example the band "Lousy", which has been around for ages and has already made it to European tours and festivals. Then you have the school bands at the other end, who rehearse and make music.

Another question that arises: What then makes Chemnitz this famous folk music city? Why do the folk musicians always have the ambition to come to Chemnitz?
I can't speak to that because I spent two years travelling for the "Kastelruther Spatzen". (Laughs.) During the "Kraftwerk" time and the "Subway" time. I got involved by chance, through former Chemnitz residents who were in the business and I still had my driving licence from the GDR days and was asked if I could drive the truck, the 40-tonne truck, for the guys. Apart from the fact that you earn money there, I did it and found it quite funny and in the end I stayed there for two years. I did the job four days a week and went to the pub at the weekend. Back then we had the "Subway" and the "Kraftwerk" together. And when the "Kastelruther Spatzen" were in Chemnitz, they played for two days. That's because the average age is simply very high and that doesn't just affect Chemnitz, it affects the whole of the Ore Mountains. You have to look at the whole surrounding area and if you have a densely populated area like Chemnitz with a high average age, where bus companies simply bring people to the Stadthalle, then it works.

The terms "music pub" or "Musikpub" don't really do the "Subway to Peter" justice, as it is an internationally recognised location for bands. From a wide variety of genres, from metal to hardcore to punk. They all come to you for free - how do you do that?
The great thing is that we simply wrote the concept back then and said: we offer the podium, we have a pub, it's not a concert venue. The bands can play there if they feel like it, we pass the hat and the band gets what people give voluntarily. Of course, it's initially for up-and-coming bands. But it's also great for bands that are on tour and have an off-day on a Tuesday, for example. An off-day like that costs money: you have a car, you have to pay for a hotel and an off-date [editor's note: an off-date is a gig outside of the official tour schedule] to play in a place where you get food, drink, an overnight stay and maybe a "Fuffi" comes around in donations, that's great. That's how it came about. On top of that, we somehow know bigger bands, we're friends with them and they just say: We're playing there. I stand there and have goosebumps: That this is going to happen to me, that the big ones are really coming. They made records in England in 1977, their first records, and now they play once a year at the Subway. The day before, they had a contract with some promoter in Dresden or Leipzig, where they get a "Tausi". Chemnitz already has a certain external impact. Many bands, for example, say: "In Chemnitz, there's the 'Subway', we've already played there, there are nice people". At this point, it doesn't matter how many people were there.

This raises the question of how important is the location of a pub, a music venue like the "Subway to Peter", in Chemnitz?
If I were to reopen the exact same concept and the "Subway to Peter" project now, with some of the experience I've gained over the years, I would say to myself: I'm going to the city centre. However, the "Subway" is in a great location. We have hardly any residents, you have parking, you're still centrally located and ultimately it's a kind of alternative underground culture, a feeling. If you were to walk into the pedestrianised passageway with one of these things, you'd be bound to cause alarm.

Is that typical of Chemnitz?
I have the feeling, yes. Or to put it another way: perhaps it's more noticeable in Chemnitz, it's not so booming that you still have to fight for every guest. The nightlife is not as intense. A lot of places have closed down in the meantime. You can't open a venue where you sell out twice a month and the rest of the time you try something with smaller bands and nobody comes. The costs are too high.

How can you encourage the people of Chemnitz?
A lot of things are still possible in Chemnitz that have already been done in other big cities. You still have niches there, enough niches! You can contribute ideas - in nightlife, in catering, in events. It hasn't all been mapped out yet. It's not yet, as they say, saturated. Something is still possible there. There is still so much that can be done. But there have to be people who have energy and desire and who are behind it. And have stamina. Of course, it doesn't fall at anyone's feet and then everything is great. You have to really get to grips with it and then just say: "I'm going to do it now." But everything is still open.