Chris Janka

“I try to do something that I've never heard before,” says Chris Janka. The pieces that emerge from this approach are not easy to play, but Chris and his band manage to inspire the audience with a complex ease.

For at least a quarter of a century, the trained mechanical engineer from Salzburg has been combining “music, art and technology”, as you can read on his Janka Industries website. Behind this is also a recording studio in Vienna's 7th district, which functions as a place of sound discovery for numerous Viennese indie projects of all genres. The now 18 albums of his countless projects have also been created in this “biosphere of creativity and passion for technology that has grown naturally over the years”. Chris Janka is bringing three of these projects to Saalfelden as this year's Artist in Residence - from the sparkling solo to his trio “Blueblut” and the Totally Mechanized Midi Orchestra. “Irritations and provocations are positive impulses,” says Janka, “which make people think, or at least take a closer look.”