In his column, Jan Müller reports on olfactory experiences that are burned into his memory.
Of the five senses, only sight and hearing have managed to form an intensive connection with the arts. Taste and touch play rather subordinate roles. And the sense of smell is also rarely used in connection with art. And this despite the fact that smelling is a very intensive and, in any case, thoroughly invasive form of perception. Smell memories can be stored in us for life. The smell of a person, an animal or a forest can remain in our memory forever. I, for example, will probably carry a soft spot in my heart for the smell of lit table fireworks until the end of my life. Smelling this creates great feelings of happiness in me, also through the memories it brings back.
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Why did smells so rarely become art? I won’t allow any quibbles here. A perfume is a perfume, not a work of art. This also applies to “Chanel No 5”. But although smells rarely play the main role in artistic expression, they are still a constant companion in the perception of art. I have in mind the smell that accompanied me at my first concerts. It was the smell of the music rooms in the squats and youth centers. No perfumer or chemical laboratory technician in the world would be able to recreate this smell.
It is made up of the following ingredients: dirt, beer, dust, sweat, dogs, smoke and old buildings. And it is a factor that should not be underestimated for the concert experience. This is the case of positive support and reinforcement of music through smell. The smell in more commercial live clubs is similar to the smell just described, but still different. It is similar to the smells of alternative concert venues, but is less unique because the actual scent body was usually contained by the use of cleaning products.
Sometimes I longed for the time before the smoking ban
In any case, until the end of 2007, the predominant smell in German venues was that of cigarette smoke. This changed suddenly on January 1, 2008. Since that day, the smoking ban has been in force in Germany. I still remember how shocked I was by the change in smell. Instead of smoke, the smell of human bodies, sweat and the like, was mostly in the air. And even though I was already a non-smoker in 2008, I sometimes longed for the time before the smoking ban.
Sometimes the smell that you have to endure at open-air festivals is even worse. It’s a wonderful and extraordinary thing to be on stage with a band and play music live. However, I usually need a few songs to really get into the music while playing. Once this moment has been reached, it is a state that is close to bliss. But when the smell of a neighboring bratwurst stand wafts onto the stage, everything is immediately ruined.
You need nerves of steel
I experienced my worst olfactory annoyance at a festival in Switzerland. I still remember her to this day. We started our concert in the fresh mountain air. Perhaps there was even a slight aroma of hay. Shortly before the start, the vanilla scent of the hazer fog machine wafted into my nose. This machine is switched on before the concert so that the lights can be staged more impressively. Already in the first song, this smell, which I really like, just like the smell of hay, was destroyed by the intense bratwurst smell described above. This was then covered by a nasty cannabis cloud on song two, which lasted until song four. By song five the smell of bratwurst took over again. You need nerves of steel.
This kind of thing is only topped when people really think it’s OK to eat a kebab, dürüm or whatever they brought with them in front of the stage at a small indoor club concert. I’ve experienced that too. These are the same people who get on ICE trains with Asian boxes or Mettbrötchen and apparently don’t even notice what they are expecting from those around them. These people are olfactorily brutalized. Although… maybe one day I’ll join this faction too. Because I have to say: there’s something about smoking a cigar on the street.
It’s the most violent passive aggression I can imagine. I find it impressive when individuals fog entire city blocks with a Monte Cristo or Arapiraca Fumo de Corda. This is very similar to the annoyance caused by music that is too loud. Here stench becomes art.
This column first appeared in Musikexpress issue 11/2025.