Hi!
I'm Marten, a young sound engineer with a rolling recording studio.
My mission began as a dream of trying to bring the European continent a little closer together with just a rusty old van and a bunch of microphones. The idea was to find authentic street musicians from all around Europe, record their music, and share their stories with the world. Two years and 25 countries later, the project has grown beyond my wildest dreams and continues to evolve. So far, the project has reached audiences through dozens of records (available on vinyl, CD, and more) and has resulted in a musical archive of these European Pavement Melodies.
Connecting with these musicians from so many different countries across the continent has completely reshaped my understanding of cultural communication. As a result, I’m now working to bring you deeper into the world of European street music, with a feature-length documentary film and a book, to take you behind the music and introduce you to the artists and their stories. I hope that by making this incredible experience accessible to a wider audience, we can build a community of like-minded people to promote a shared understanding of European culture and diversity, without the need to wave any flags.
Share the story:
I've traveled thousands of kilometres to record incredible street artists.
With the first chapter complete, I present: A Collection of Europe's Pavement Melodies
These street musicians from across Europe, totally off the radar of the music industry and playing almost entirely their own original music, offer a simple but powerful message to the world. They show us that we don’t have to look to the big stages and screens of the entertainment industry to find incredible artists – that we can find beauty right in front of our own feet and that sometimes imperfection is the missing ingredient to make something “perfect”.
This album comes to life with the inspiration to connect an entire continent, through this raw, pure music that we may have walked past a thousand times before. Now that it’s recorded, we have the chance to listen to it a thousand times again.
This story of Europe’s street musicians is now becoming a feature-length documentary.
- Runtime: 2 hours
- Genre: Documentary
When I first began my journey, I didn’t have a defined story in mind – I just knew I wanted to record this adventure. In the end, I had filmed every recording session, dozens of interviews, incredible landscapes, road diaries, and all the amazing people and candid moments along the way, and I realised I was already halfway to making an incredible film. More than a road movie and much bigger than my own personal journey, this film is about the connective power of music and its ability to transcend borders. It speaks to the desire for freedom and authenticity that lives in all of our hearts.
The film has now entered the post-production phase, and we hope for a release in late 2020. If you like this project so far and want to support our vision, please consider pre-ordering a digital link to the film to help us finance our goals.