Sascha Kegel Konietzko (born 21 June 1961), also known as Sascha K and Käpt'n K, is a German musician and record producer. He is the founder, frontman and "anchor" of the industrial band

KMFDM KMFDM (originally Kein Mehrheit Für Die Mitleid, loosely translated by the band as "no pity for the majority") is a multinational industrial rock band from Hamburg led by Sascha Konietzko, who founded the band in 1984 as a performance art proje ...

. Konietzko jokingly purports himself to be the father of industrial rock. '' Keyboard Magazine'' wrote of him, "You won't find a more imaginative or effective keyboardist on the hard-core scene."

KMFDM

Konietzko is best known for his role as frontman of KMFDM. Having founded the group as a

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

project in 1984, he is the only member of KMFDM to appear on every release, and the only founding member still in the band. His main instruments are keyboards and drums, although he is also proficient at playing guitar and bass guitar.

Side projects

Konietzko has formed a number of side-projects: *

Excessive Force Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...

in 1990 with Buzz McCoy of My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult * MDFMK in 1999 with Lucia Cifarelli and Tim Skold * Schwein in 2000 with members of the Japanese band

Buck-Tick Buck-Tick (stylized as BUCK-TICK) is a Japanese rock band formed in Fujioka, Gunma in 1983. The classic lineup of lead vocalist Atsushi Sakurai, lead guitarist Hisashi Imai, rhythm guitarist Hidehiko Hoshino, bassist Yutaka Higuchi and drum ...

and English musician Raymond Watts * KGC in 2006 with Lucia Cifarelli and Dean Garcia of

Curve In mathematics, a curve (also called a curved line in older texts) is an object similar to a line, but that does not have to be straight. Intuitively, a curve may be thought of as the trace left by a moving point. This is the definition that ...

* OK•ZTEIN•OK in 2011, Konietzko's first solo project

Remixes

He has re-mixed acts including

Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...

, White Zombie,

Rammstein Rammstein (, "ramming stone") is a German band formed in Berlin in 1994. The band's lineup—consisting of lead vocalist Till Lindemann, lead guitarist Richard Kruspe, rhythm guitarist Paul Landers, bassist Oliver Riedel, drummer Christoph ...

, Love & Rockets,

Kittie Kittie is a Canadian heavy metal music, heavy metal band from London, Ontario. The band was formed in 1996 by guitarist Fallon Bowman and drummer Mercedes Lander, with guitarist and vocalist Morgan Lander and bassist Tanya Candler joining the ...

Die Krupps Die Krupps () ("The Krupps") is a German industrial metal/electronic body music, EBM band, formed in 1980 by Jürgen Engler, Ralf Dörper, and Bernward Malaka in Düsseldorf. The band has had a diverse range of musical influences over time, i ...

, Flotsam & Jetsam,

Living Colour Living Colour is an American rock music, rock band from New York City, formed in 1984. The band consists of guitarist Vernon Reid, lead vocalist Corey Glover, drummer Will Calhoun and bassist Doug Wimbish who replaced Muzz Skillings in 1992. T ...

Mindless Self Indulgence Mindless Self Indulgence (often referred to as MSI) is an American electropunk band formed in New York City in 1997. Their music has a mixed style which includes punk rock, alternative rock, electronica, techno, industrial, hip hop, and b ...

Combichrist Combichrist is an American Electro-industrial, aggrotech / industrial metal band formed in 2003 by Norwegian vocalist Andy LaPlegua, who also founded the bands Icon of Coil, Panzer AG, Scandinavian Cock and Scandy. Combichrist was formed in Atlan ...

, Young Gods, and

Pig The pig (''Sus domesticus''), also called swine (: swine) or hog, is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is named the domestic pig when distinguishing it from other members of the genus '' Sus''. Some authorities cons ...

Personal life

Sascha Konietzko lived in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

from 1991 to 2007, dividing his time among

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, and

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

before moving back to his hometown of

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Konietzko married fellow KMFDM member Lucia Cifarelli in 2005.

References

1961 births Living people Musicians from New York City Musicians from Chicago Musicians from Hamburg Musicians from Seattle German industrial musicians KMFDM members Missing Foundation members Schwein members Excessive Force members {{Germany-musician-stub German hardcore techno musicians