Wolfgang Pollanz

He brought the diversity of pop to the provinces

Wolfgang Pollanz is celebrating his 70th birthday these days. For decades, the musician, author, publisher and label boss has been responsible for ensuring that pop culture has a place away from the urban centers - in Wies in south-eastern Styria. On June 5, the Literaturhaus Graz is dedicating an evening to this jack-of-all-trades.

Los Angeles, New York, London, Berlin - these are the places where pop culture is actually at home. It is thanks to Wolfgang Pollanz that tranquil Wies in south-eastern Styria has also found a place on the pop map.

The author, musician and declared pop aficionado has been the programmer of the local cultural initiative Kürbis since 1987. Following his motto "diversity instead of uniformity", Pollanz has created a haven for the diverse possibilities of pop far away from urban centers in Wies - among other things by founding the record label Pumpkin Records and the publishing house Edition Kürbis.

A mix of seriousness and entertainment
There he has not only provided a stage for countless authors and musicians, but also promoted his own artistic work. He has used his immense knowledge of pop culture in novels, short stories and essays. To mark his 70th birthday this year, an anthology of his comments on pop culture has been published under the title "Von Arschlöchern, weißen Fahrrädern, Scheissfilmen und Zebrastreifen". His great talent: he mixes information and entertainment, mass appeal and sensitivity for the subcultural, seriousness and humor.

And Pollanz has also been as productive a musician in recent years as he was in the 1980s as the singer of the combo "The Isolierband": he released his first album under the name Les Machines Molles in 2020, on which only animal voices could be heard. This was followed by two more albums every year - and now with "Je Ne Suis Pas Non Toutou" (German: Ich bin nicht dein Schoßhündchen), another conceptually exciting work: on it, he performs one song in twelve different variations (from pop to country), once again demonstrating his own diversity and the diversity of pop.

Birthday party at the Graz Literaturhaus
On June 5, the Graz House of Literature is throwing him a big party to celebrate his 70th birthday. Pollanz himself will be reading from his texts. Gabriel Schmidt, musician and Pollanz's successor as label boss at Pumpkin Records since last year, will provide the musical backdrop.