The Band

What started as aimless jamming between three childhood friends in a shared flat in Mainz found its concrete form as a band project of all times during the COVID pandemic. The initially purely instrumental trio of guitar, bass and percussion explored a wide range of genres from the start, pausing on the well-worn paths of rock to experiment with jazz and psychedelic funk, stoner rock and post-punk. A dynamic crossover style had crystallised, with which David (guitar), Coco (drums) and Julius (bass) first performed under the name Erpelistics in late 2022.

The group was not complete, however, until vocals were added in the summer of 2023. Roberto’s powerful yet delicate voice gave the music not just an additional colour; the New York native enriched the band with a dimension of poetry. From catchy anthems to sing along to, through intimate chansons to close your eyes to, to ironic verses to smile at — a broad repertoire of songs emerged, with which Erpelistics have been skilfully planting earworms in their audience’s ears for over two years.

With the release of their debut EP Kulturelle Zwischennutzung in June 2025, part of this repertoire can finally be heard in fine studio quality — a milestone for the four musicians, who have long since been working on new projects and continuing their journey together: with a sound of their own, a silly band name, and more songs than Instagram posts.

Photos: Victor Habes, Tanja Upravitelev, Jojo - Farytaleish_photography, Nele Drathen