Fabian Neubauer
musician | multi-instrumentalist improviser
[acoustic + electronic sound]
about
photo by Katharina Geling
Fabian Neubauer (*1994) is a musician, multi-instrumentalist, and improviser, active internationally at the intersection of experimental music, Free Jazz, Noise, electroacoustic music, performance art, and interdisciplinary practices. Between acoustic and electronic sound, he works with a broad palette of instruments and sound sources—including piano, drums, guitar, percussion, field recordings, samples, as well as electronic feedback systems. Depending on context and situation, he performs in changing setups composed flexibly from different configurations. His working practice moves between free improvisation and conceptual approaches. Central to his practice is an attitude shaped less by control than by physical play and openness.
His work questions traditional notions of the finished artwork. He understands music as a dynamic, process-based phenomenon. Rather than reproducing aesthetic or stylistic templates, he subverts routines and automatisms through an independent approach to sound, instrumentation, and form. Chance, spontaneously emerging structures, and a sensitive handling of sonic and performative elements play a central role. He rejects artistic conformity as well as calculated provocation, understanding his work not as a finished product but as a continuous experiment. His music resists rigid categorization and moves freely between contemporary improvised music, Noise, and electroacoustic sound art. It reflects a critical engagement with musical conventions as
self-portrait
well as social and aesthetic questions. At the same time, playful curiosity, humor, and naivety shape his artistic process.
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Fabian Neubauer has collaborated with numerous international artists, including Elliott Sharp, John Edwards, Caroline Kraabel, Kazuhisa Uchihashi, Korhan Erel, Kevin Shea, Jeff Platz, Hans Tammen, Sun Yhizou, Mats Gustafsson, Le Quan Ninh, Michael Zerang, Masayo
Koketsu, Phil Niblock, Mik Quantius, Gunda Gottschalk, Sebastian Gramss, Jan Klare, and many others. He performs both as a solo artist and in ensembles, and works across disciplines with artists from dance and visual art. A significant part of his practice emerges in open improvisation contexts and temporary formations. He has performed at festivals and venues such as Moers Festival, JOE Festival Essen, Bova Istanbul, Bar Isshee Tokyo, Curva Minore Palermo, Ambient Festival Cologne, the Cologne Philharmonie, and Fusion Festival, as well as in numerous independent contexts of the experimental music and performance scene in Europe and Asia. Fabian Neubauer has composed music for dance and theatre companies such as SZENE2WEI, POUR Ensemble, Folkwang Tanzstudio, and Chikako Kaido (IMA KOKO WATASHI, Karada/Kriegskörper), as well as for The Place from Which (Jennie Boultbee). His discography includes releases on labels such as Leo Records, Mount Wobble, and Staatsakt. Further ensembles and projects include [e:ga‘l], KNYNS, Nasssau, der Weise Panda, The Dorf, the Wuppertal Improvisation Orchestra, the London Improvisers Orchestra, and GLIS GLIS. He is the organist of the psychedelic folk band The Düsseldorf Düsterboys.
He studied at the Folkwang University of the Arts in Essen. In 2026 he received the Atelier-Galata scholarship from the Kunststiftung NRW in Istanbul as well as the Steinway Prize NRW. With the Düsseldorf Düsterboys, he received the German Record Critics’ Award for Nenn Mich Musik.Together with Bastian Buddenbrock, he curates Solips, an independent venue in Wuppertal-Vohwinkel dedicated to interdisciplinary, experimental, and process-oriented artistic practices. The program includes both curated events and open formats that foster exchange between artists and audiences. He also curates the “Off-Grid” series at ORT in Wuppertal, which focuses on experimental and improvised music.
