2raumwohnung – Wir trafen uns in einem Garten

A catchy jingle for a TV commercial. That was all Inga Humpe and Tommi Eckart had in mind in the year 2000 when they produced the music for an East German cigarette company. But fate would have it otherwise. Succumbing to pressure from their friends, Inga and Tommi dubbed themselves 2raumwohnung and released the track "Wir trafen uns in einem Garten" (We Met in a Garden). Within a couple of months the song made it to number 21 of the German pop charts.

Even though the duo’s success came completely unexpected, the band members were anything but newcomers to the German music scene. Inga Humpe had been the singer of the Neonbabies, one of the earliest Neue Deutsche Welle (German New Wave) bands singing in German. She had also recorded with her sister Anette, lead vocalist of the band Ideal. Before 2raumwohnung, Tommi Eckart had produced movie and TV soundtracks, including music for the German television series “Tatort”.

By now 2raumwohnung has put out five albums and the duo has gone from being “the band with the song from the cigarette commercial” to one of Germany’s best-known pop acts. In 2003, their second release, “In wirklich” (In Reality) won the German Dance Award for best album. Another big hit was “36 Grad” (36 Degrees Celsius), the perfect song for a sweltering summerday. In 2005 2raumwohnung won the award for Germany’s best pop duo. The band now have their own label “It Sounds” and try to help young artists find the success that 2raumwohnung has enjoyed.