Einstürzende Neubauten Adds Bassist Josefine Lukschy After Alexander Hacke Exit

Einstürzende Neubauten closed the Rewire festival’s 15th edition in The Hague with a set that included pipes, drills and metal sheets hauled from Berlin in a shopping trolley.

The performance came weeks after the band announced bassist Josefine Lukschy as its newest member. Lukschy, born in 1989, is the first addition since Jochen Arbeit and Rudolph Moser joined in 1997.

Alexander Hacke, who joined shortly after the band formed in 1980, announced his departure last April. In a statement he cited differences in “basic standards, personally and professionally, on every level” and said he was leaving to protect his “core value of integrity.”

Blixa Bargeld said Hacke had grown focused on outside projects, including the duo hackedepicciotto with his wife Danielle de Picciotto, and could no longer commit to new Neubauten work. The band used improvised passages from 2022 live shows as the basis for its 2024 album Rampen.

Lukschy, who uses they/them pronouns, was chosen after four musicians auditioned. “With Josefine, it felt as if they’d always been with us,” Bargeld said. Lukschy had played in Berlin underground projects, including the sludge-rock band Crashpad.

Bargeld, who received the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany last year, said the band plans to record again. “Take it for granted – we’ll make another record,” he said.

The group’s sound began with building materials and scrap metal and helped shape the industrial genre. Later records grew more melodic, yet the core approach of using found objects on stage has remained.

Lukschy said the invitation came through an acquaintance and that they rehearsed alone before joining the others. “I was very much looking forward to finally playing with them,” Lukschy said.

Bargeld rejected the idea that the band has joined the cultural establishment. “We were the counter-counter culture, the double negation of everything,” he said. He added that Neubauten bears some responsibility for the rise of acts such as Rammstein.

The band continues to tour with its familiar stage setup. After the interview, Bargeld and Lukschy crossed the street to their hotel while the pipes and metal sheets waited for the next show.