^"Dark and intriguing are his productions filled with synthesizers, simple rhythms yet astonishing intensity."
Tsugi (FR)
FRIEDER NAGEL is a composer and sound artist from South Germany. Known for his complex, boundary-pushing approach to electronic music, Nagel has steadily built a reputation beyond the mainstream radar. A dedicated synth collector and sonic craftsman, that has performed internationally at places like Centquatre Paris, Reeperbahn, Multiplica and Scopitone Festival, collaborated with visual artists like Maotik, remixed Rone, Santé or Niklas Paschburg, and designed immersive spaces where music and art collide.
Frieder Nagel´s first appearance on stage was during his collaboration with David August and the Deutsche Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in 2016, after what Groove Magazine (DE) described as "being behind the scenery of Berlin´s electronic bubble as connex and catalyst". While working for artists, theater or film from behind the studio desk, he started his solo career with different classical ensembles on stages like Radialsystem V, Philharmonie Essen, Silent Green Berlin or his hometown Nuremberg.
His first ep "Distract Robots" released in 2019 on InFiné Music was described by XLR8R as an "auditory wormhole full of light, darkness, and cosmic bliss" and made him known for his unique style of merging electronica with experimental and immersive soundscapes. While the tour for his second ep "Karoshi" was put to halt due to the beginning of the pandemic in 2020, he steadily gained attraction of listeners online. His meditative and introspective ambient track "Dawn" published by K7! in 2020 was featured on thousands of Spotify playlists and supported by headline dj´s like Ferry Corsten and David Puentez playing ambient from home.
Soon after Frieder Nagel stepped into the realm of audiovisual art his music was played at the three-dimensional mapping festival accompanying Magdeburg cathedral's 500th birthday. During the height of the pandemic whereas live performances were not possible Frieder Nagel developed the outdoor audiovisual installation "Sonido Blanco". Together with light artist Stephan Scheiderer he left visitors in awe as he hid audio and light equipment in the top of trees that automatically started to play for passersby. The mysterious and romantic abstract soundscapes of the installation built the ground for his third ep "The Arrival" in 2021, that got Nagel invited to Multiplica Festival in Luxembourg whereas he performed together with acclaimed digital artist Maotik from France. Afterwards the duo went on to perform at the Scopitone Festival in Nantes.
Catching the attention of house producers Santé and Re.you in 2022, Frieder Nagel got invited to remix their track "Cave" on newly funded label LSF21+. Again with Maotik he celebrated its release with a giant three-dimensional projection mapping at the german Rauhnächte Festival. Besides he remixed French superstar Rone, performed a dj-set after his live show at Centquatre Paris and reworked classical compositions by italian violinst Laura Masotto (K7!) and Francesca Guccione (Whales Records).
In 2023 Frieder Nagel was invited to the Paris Music Festival to perform at the Musée de Arts et Métiers. He produced the soundtrack album "Rebuilding Notre-Dame" by Secret of Elements out of the 3-hour long Arte documentary - and his track "Circuits" got featured by Louis Vuitton within their latest campaign under the creative direction of Pharrell Williams. In the same year Nagel was selected by Bavarian Pop´s program for "promotion of excellence".
In 2024 he started to build a new studio inside the infamous Z-Bau Centre for Contemporary Culture in Nuremberg together with mixing engineer Gleb Lasarew and cultural manager Michael Winkler. He opened the exhibition "Floating Spaces" by Gudrun Kemsa during Nuremberg Pop Festival and released remixes for Niklas Paschburg and French newcomer Abran. Together with light artist Stephan Scheiderer and Alexander Trattler from elektropastete, Nagel created the immersive soundart installation "Collapse" inside the former delivery zone of the deserted Kaufhof in Nuremberg. The complex arrangement of automated lights reflected on a variety of mirrors and poles from the installation got integrated into the project SON. A unique joint venture between Frieder Nagel and his father Norbert Nagel - saxophonist and clarinetist -, that premiere quickly sold-out in the beginning of 2025 at Tafelhalle Nuremberg.
Besides newly focussing on his hometown 2025 also marks the year of Frieder Nagel´s comeback to InFiné with a new series of his beloved retro-futuristic and symphonic electronica. Much more beat-focussed and with lots of pressure - but still driven by the same elegant balance between traditional instruments and his obsession for vintage synths. The second installment of his new stand alone singles “Who Knows” features Daniel Brandt, producer, drummer and co-founder of the acclaimed Brandt Brauer Frick ensemble. A dark, menacing piece driven by severe rhythmic tension, the track builds relentlessly as long, elegiac melodies evolve and dissolve within majestic string arrangements and Nagel’s signature Moog textures.