ABOUT
Dirk Darmstaedter was born in Hamburg, spent his first twelve years in New Jersey, and then came back to Hamburg, which one of his parents apparently thought was a reasonable thing to do to a child. He has recorded six albums with The Jeremy Days, four albums as Me and Cassity, and around twenty albums under his own name, a number he himself finds hard to believe. He has also made two albums with his fellow songwriter and 'elektrischer Liedermacher' Bernd Begemann. He co-founded Tapete Records, a record label, which is a thing people used to need. He now hosts a radio show called Sounds Like Dirk, on which he plays other people's songs. He has released seven volumes of a covers series, which some might call a coping mechanism. He remains reflective about the commercial logic of pressing vinyl for a tour with four dates on it. He is married, to Georgia, and owns a dog named Lola, who has never once asked to hear the new record.“Darmstaedter is one of Germany’s underground pop heroes ”
FOR THE RECORD
I am a 100% independent musician / songwriter / producer - whatever you want to call it. This means that no record company etc. provides me with any kind of budget (aka money) to record, distribute or promote my music etc. There is no 'team' taking care of my business and well-being, it's just me.I write, record and mix my music in my own home studio. I'm my own record company, for whatever that's worth. I design the artwork. I shoot and edit the videos, book my live shows and try to find a sensible way through the dark forests of social media to get some news out there. Don't get me wrong, I've been through all kinds of other setups and this is the one I chose. It's a lot of work, but I'm happy with it.You may have heard that artist royalties from streaming are pretty much zilch (zero), so I am forever grateful for anyone who actually buys a CD, vinyl, t-shirt, etc. from my shop, buys a ticket to a live or streaming show or subscribes to my Newsletter / Substack.
It's what keeps me going and I'm eternally grateful to my fans, which might include you if you've made it this far into this meandering text.So thank you all so much for your support. It means the world to me and I will continue to strive to bring you cool stuff in the future.Dirk, Hamburg September 2026
“Erwachsener Jungs-Pop, Teenage-Gentleman-Music, klassizistisch, souverän und hierzulande einzigartig”