Mona Mur
Biography
Mona Mur (born Sabine Bredy, 29 July 1960) is a German vocalist, composer, and audio designer. Born in Hamburg to Polish parents, she first appeared on the German music scene in 1982. Seeking the angry sound of the era, she collaborated with members of Einstürzende Neubauten (FM Einheit, Marc Chung, and Alex Hacke). As Mona Mur und die Mieter, they released the 12-inch single "Jeszcze Polska", which was named Single of the Week by the New Musical Express. The group disbanded shortly after. Mona Mur lived between Paris and Berlin, experiences that influenced the darker tone of her later work. In 1985 she formed a new incarnation of Mona Mur with members of Einstürzende Neubauten, Stricher, and Flucht nach Vorn. The band toured extensively across the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany (including a show with Sonic Youth in Bremen), helping establish her cult following. In 1988 she released her self-titled debut album Mona Mur on RCA, with contributions from Dieter Meier of Yello and members of The Stranglers (JJ Burnel and Dave Greenfield). In 1990, Mona Mur and Dieter Meier recorded the album Warsaw with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and Polish rock musician Grzegorz Ciechowski, though it remained unreleased at the time. She then stepped away from singing to focus on Taekwondo, earning a 3rd Dan black belt, joining the German national team, and becoming International German Vice Champion twice. In 1996 she founded monamur music production and became a composer and audio designer for the software developer Terratools in Potsdam-Babelsberg. There she developed a distinctive style of “electronic orchestration,” creating atmospheric and hallucinatory soundscapes. Her work has been featured in video games such as Velvet Assassin, Ballance, Culpa Innata II, and Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days. Director Fatih Akin also used three of her songs in his award-winning film Head-On (Gegen die Wand). Mona Mur returned to singing and performing in the 2000s. Her 2004 compilation Into Your Eye collected over 20 years of material, ranging from 1980s punk-wave tracks to orchestrated pieces and new dark-wave songs produced with multi-instrumentalist Christian St. Claire. Since 2007 she has collaborated with former KMFDM frontman En Esch. As Mona Mur & En Esch, they released the album 120 Tage – The Fine Art of Beauty and Violence in 2009 on Pale Music.
Known For & Full Filmography7 Titles
Movie - 2004, 2h 15m • as Zoe Bar Regular Customer
With the intention to break free from the strict familial restrictions, a suicidal young woman sets up a marriage of convenience with a forty-year-old addict, an act that will lead to an outburst of envious love.
Movie - 2017, 2h 15m • as Miss Newcastle
Cowboy has a vision. He wants to save the planet with his movement of Free Swingers. That's why he applies for a grant at The Central Agency, who then sends a representative named Fey of Sweden to approve Cowboy's proposal. She demands results and he deÂcides to stage a charity bicycle rally featuring a roster of two-wheeled Berlin misfits. Meanwhile Cowboy's neighbor kills his mother's budgie and sets the Devil of Hermannplatz on him to sabotage his plans. Pretty bad timing considering that he also has to rescue his stubborn mother from a shady retirement home. Torn between Cowboy's budding crush on Fey of Sweden, his hot neighbor Angel and his innate drive towards chaos, the rally soon turns into a race against time. Soon his mother will be taken away from him and the rally racers are doing anything other than what they should: cycling.
Movie - 1988, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
A study of the alienated people who frequent the Ballhaus Barmbek dance hall, including an obese El groupie, an old man reciting poetry, two young women and a regular dance employee.
Movie - 1989, 2h 15m • Main Cast Role
A German woman travels to San Francisco to find her mother, but winds up distracted by the sexually flamboyant culture of the city.
Movie - 1984, 2h 15m • as Pirate
F.M. discovers that different sonic frequencies induce different patterns of behaviour in listeners, first in his own studio but later in the local "H-Burger" restaurant where the passive muzak appears to be wiping people's emotions.
Movie - 2025, 2h 15m • as Self
The film explores the life and career of the Hamburg-born musician, whose creative work began in the West German post-punk scene of the 1980s.
Movie - 1985, 2h 15m • as Self
A voyeuristic panorama of a specific moment in the German independent music scene.