KCRW Berlin: Amplified (KCRW Berlin)

Kareth Schaffer is a choreographer and performer who has become a regular at Tanztage, Berlin’s contemporary dance festival, showcasing up and coming talents.

We caught up with her ahead of “Dancing Against the Far Right,” a choreographed conversation where, together with six guest speakers, Schaffer will lead a discussion with a Berlin audience around the values that dance institutions uphold.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

On Feb. 27, 1920, Berlin saw the premiere of the psychological thriller, “The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.” Today, it’s considered a quintessential film of German Expressionism. But a century ago, a mismatched score nearly cost the film its audience.

We spoke to Hans Brandner from the Babylon Orchester Berlin who shares the story about the original screenings of the film and how they prompted the director to work with composer Giuseppe Becce on a whole new score. Components of that very same score have been rearranged by Brandner and conductor Marcelo Falcão to accompany screenings in Berlin at the Babylon this year.

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham

Composer and visual artist Brian Eno returned to Berlin this week for the opening of his audio-visual installation, “Empty Formalism,” at the Martin Gropius Bau. The work is the first in a series of performances and installations created by artists for the newly created ISM Hexadome, a hexagonal structure featuring six large screens and over 50 speakers in a 3D sound stage, creating a spatial sensation coupling music with shifting visuals. 

“One of the reasons for using music in a place like this is to say: treat your sense of sight in the same way as you treat your sense of hearing,'” says Eno. He describes his piece as featuring “color combinations that are so seductively beautiful that you can’t resist them, and then the idea of them disappearing and you knowing that you will never see them again.”

The piece was specifically composed for the new sound technology utilized by the ISM Hexadome and developed by The Institute of Sound and Music in partnership with Pfadfinderei and ZKM | Center for Art and Media with support from the Kultur Bundesstiftung. Over the coming month at Martin-Gropius-Bau, the ISM Hexadome will host an impressive range of established and emerging artists including CAO and Radiohead’s Thom Yorke.

Produced by Marlene Melchior

We spoke with Michael Culme-Seymour — aka Marlais — about his love of folk music and his life in Berlin.

The 33-year-old musician often blends old folk songs with modern elements. "Meeting Is A Pleasure," is his latest single released in mid-September, a preview of the album to come. 

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll 

“I was an only child,” said Rik de Lisle, an American radio presenter who has been in broadcast since 1976. “My brothers and sisters were the radio.”

De Lisle enlisted in the Army when he was 17 and became famous during the Cold War for his on air personality on the airwaves for the U.S. Armed Forces Radio station, AFN.

“Berlin was edgy, because of the wall around it, because of the things that were going on,” said de Lisle. “And it was the place where I felt the most at home.”

Monika Müller-Kroll talks with de Lisle about how he got into radio, what it was like living in Berlin during the Cold War, and why he jokes he is the “last man standing.”

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll.

We spoke with Keith Duncan and Johannes von Weizsäcker, two members of The Chap, ahead of their performance at the Torstraßen Festival.

The band, who has challenged themselves in recent years to release a series of concept albums which push them beyond their comfort zone, shares some thoughts on their tenure together.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

We caught up with musician Candice Gordon to talk about supporting likes of Nena, her 2017 album “Garden of Beasts,” and what else to expect from her this year.

Gordon, who originally hails from Ireland, has been in Berlin for seven years, lured by history and literature. “I just loved it,” she says. “I just felt I belonged.” She hasn’t shied away from incorporating her Irish roots into her music, bringing in The Pogues’ frontman Shane MacGowan to produce her “Before the Sunset Ends” EP, recording in Ireland, and releasing her single “Mother” in support of the recent vote to legalize abortion in the country.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll 

Rising Appalachia is a band founded by two sisters, Leah and Chloe Smith. With links to social and environmental activism, the folk duo from Atlanta, Georgia, look for harmony in the music they create and the places they go.

The sisters dropped by our studio in the middle of a series of European shows celebrating their new album “Leylines.” We talked about their roots and the philosophy behind the Slow Music Movement. Plus, they performed a traditional Appalachian love song live in studio, “Across the Blue Ridge Mountains.”

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham

Berghain resident DJ Pete (aka Substance) stopped by our studio to talk about his new EP “Rise And Shine.” It’s his first solo release since 1998. DJ Pete is a fixture in Kreuzberg, the place where he grew up. He worked in the record store Hard Wax, and it’s where he started to DJ.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll 

Walking through the Funkhaus Berlin with its grand concert halls, sweeping hallways, and state-of-the-art equipment, one can’t help being reminded of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” The former GDR broadcasting studios are an enormous complex, housing cutting-edge sound technology within carefully preserved historical interiors and cavernous industrial halls.

The Funkhaus was designed in the 1950s by Bauhaus engineer Franz Ehrlich, who during World War II had been interned at Buchenwald and forced to design entrance gates and other concentration camp structures. He designed the Funkhaus after the war ended, including details like a stairway made out of marble from the former Reichskanzlei. At the time of its construction, no expense was spared, it seems: Valued in today’s currency, Studio 1 alone cost 8.3 billion euros to build.

Alongside contemporary additions like a 4D sound system called Monom and a massive dance area, these grand spaces offer concertgoers a unique experience as a venue: As Events Manager Christian Block says, once guests have arrived, “they’re just blown away by this fascinating building.”

Produced by Marlene Melchior

For 10 days, MaerzMusik will present its program of unusual musical experiences at the Haus der Berliner Festspiele and other locations around the city. This year’s edition is titled “Time Wars,” and explores our relationships with time through various artistic media and a conference, “Thinking Together.”

The festival’s program is a reflection of current pressing issues – climate change, digitalization, migration – and opened on Friday with a German premiere of selected works by the African-American composer Julius Eastman. It’s an ambitious program, but Berno Odo Polzer, the artistic director of MaerzMusik, insists that the performances are not geared towards insiders, and contemporary music does not have to be elitist.

“The process of listening is much more than only an activity devoted to music,” says Polzer. “I think it’s a way of relating to the world, and this kind of attitude to the world is something I like to give space within MaerzMusik.”

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Note: This recording contains strong language that may not be suitable for young listeners.

A few years ago, Stephen Paul Taylor became an internet sensation when a tourist filmed him busking on the street with his ironic pop song “Sh*t’s F***ed.” The video went viral, and Taylor became a celebrity in his own right, with an album, memes, and regular appearances on German TV.

Marlene Melchior caught up with Taylor to discuss his soon to be released album, “Synthpop is Dead,” his recent tour through the Baltic States, and how it feels to be an internet meme and GIF. Taylor also discusses the demise of the street music scene in Berlin as the city enforces tighter restrictions on amplification.

Produced by Marlene Melchior

We caught up with Berghain-resident DJ Martyn shortly after the launch of his latest album, “Voids.” He tells us about his musical process and the lengthy commute between Berlin and his home in Washington, D.C.

Martyn says he took a “back-to-basics approach” with his latest album, reconnecting with earlier work. “For me, it was a moment to sort of look back at the records that really inspired me and that I was really happy with.”

Produced by Marlene Melchior

Gavin Turek has been dancing, singing and writing songs for about as long as she can remember. The 31-year-old Los Angeleno came by KCRW Berlin’s studios while she was in town working with local producers, and we talked about her musical upbringing and how she finds her confidence on stage.

Turek’s live shows burst with energy, unsurprising for a performer who originally trained as a dancer. “I find being on stage incredibly empowering and freeing even though it’s very vulnerable at the same time,” says Turek.

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham

Synth-pop artist Anneli Bentler, aka Queen Alaska began her musical career by studying film music in London, but now she’s a fully-fledged solo artist.

In advance of her upcoming Berlin show at Berghain Kantine, we caught up with her to talk about inspiration, her creative process and her thoughts on the different audiences of Europe.

Produced by Marlene Melchior

Angelica Ranåsen and Jacob Fagerstål are the Swedish pop duo Juno Francis. They teamed up in Berlin a couple of years ago to work on their vision of psychedelic 60s and 80s pop.

We caught up with the singer, Angelica, who is 26, to talk about the duo's upcoming first EP "Oyster Love," and her fascination with all things retro.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

We spoke with Michael Culme-Seymour — aka Marlais — about his love of folk music and his life in Berlin. The 33-year-old musician often blends old folk songs with modern elements. “Meeting Is A Pleasure,” is his latest single released in mid-September, a preview of the album to come. (Originally aired Sept. 28, 2020)

For three days, Berlin’s Pop-Kultur festival showcased local and international musicians at the Kulturbrauerei. Headline acts included The Last Poets, and Neneh Cherry returning for her second year.

But there were also many artists at Pop-Kultur for the first time. We met up with some up-and-coming musicians, including Parisian chromatic harpist Laura Perrudin, Italian singer Munsha, and German-Bulgarian singer, pianist and composer, Lisa Morgenstern.

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham and Monika Müller-Kroll

Culture historian and 2016 MacArthur “Genius” grant recipient Josh Kun says although there’s no “magic science” to figuring out a city, there are at least three types of places he visits from the outset: bookstores, record stores, and stationery stores. Plus, he eats out – preferably street food.

Originally from Los Angeles, Kun is in Berlin as a Bosch Fellow in Public Policy at the American Academy and is researching the relationship between music and global migration, specifically forced migration, and issues of displacement, detention and deportation. “What keeps propelling me forward is a much larger question about what music can do to us, and what music can do for us,” whether understanding this world, imagining a new one, or grieving one left behind. One area he’s been exploring is the Arabic music scene in Berlin, which he says is growing fast.

Kun has found Berlin a fascinating backdrop for his research: “For a student of 20th century issues around freedom, justice, nationalism, community, society, belonging – these key issues that are central to my work – it’s just an extraordinary place.” The L.A. native is also happy he can get by without driving. “The trains, everybody takes the trains. And they’re clean!”

Kun will be presenting some of his research in a talk at the American Academy on March 20 entitled “Sounds of Detention, Sounds of Escape: Listening to the Migrant Songbook.”

The track heard in the piece is called “Down With The Homeland” by the Syrian group, Mazzaj Rap Band.

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham

Berlin is a vibrant place, full of diverse sights and sounds, and the city’s many buskers are a part of the scene. In a new series, we’re talking with Berlin street musicians in order to find out more about who they are and what drives them to share their music throughout the city.

This week, we meet Santur player Hakan Tuğrul at Fehrbelliner Platz to listen to some traditional Persian music as well as his original compositions.

Produced by Nikki Motson

“The only good system is a sound system” is an adage known among music heads and audio nerds. It’s also the name of a festival in Berlin designed to explore the sounds and politics of bass music.

Co-curators Zuri Maria Daiß and Pascal Jurt want to stoke Berlin’s curiosity with the genre of club music and hope the festival will bring together technicians, musicians and theorists to foster an exchange of ideas on sound system culture.

Produced by Charlotte Billing. 

On July 1, 1989, a few months before the fall of the Berlin Wall, a couple handfuls of people started a dance parade to acid house music along Kurfürstendamm in West Berlin. It was called Loveparade and was organized by a DJ named Dr. Motte.

30 years on, we caught up with Dr. Motte to find out more about the origins of the legendary event, and how a celebration founded in the name of “peace, love and pancakes” became a world-renowned party.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Maryama Luccioni is the founder of African Acid Is The Future, a Berlin-based music collective that hosts concerts and radio shows, and has put out an LP titled Ambiance I.

On June 6, African Acid Is The Future will feature Tuareg musician Mdou Moctar in a show at the Volksbühne in Berlin. We sat down with Luccioni to talk about the collective’s origin stories, plus a glimpse into Moctar’s music ahead of the show.

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham

Berlin street musicians play everywhere, from street corners to public transportation. In this series, we’re talking with Berlin street musicians in order to find out more about who they are and what drives them to share their music throughout the city.

We caught up with Ukrainian music students Igor and Anton who play accordion and violin, playing at a U-Bahn station, to gain a bit more insight into their world.

Produced by Nikki Motson

We feature indie-rock musician Ian Tilling.

The 35-year-old Brit moved to Berlin in 2016. After joining and leaving a number of bands, he started his solo project Grief Scene a year ago. Next month, Tilling will release his debut album titled "Bad Times." (Originally aired Oct. 17, 2020)

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Berlin street musicians play everywhere, from street corners to public transportation. In this series, we’re talking with Berlin street musicians in order to find out more about who they are and what drives them to share their music throughout the city.

We spoke with soprano Christina Harslem to learn more about the rewards and challenges of performing as a street musician.

Produced by Flora Adamian

Berlin-based duo RÁN play psych-infused indie rock. The band, comprising Laura Landergott from Austria and Yair Karelic from Israel, found themselves gig-ready within eight weeks of playing together, produced their debut EP, “Hunt Like Lions,” in 2017, and are working on a full-length album to be released at the start of 2019.

We caught up with them to talk about their first chance encounter, their writing process, feminism, and their penchant for the unpredictable.

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham

Nov. 9, 1989 was a historical turning point. This week, we look back and forward, bringing you different perspectives on the 29th anniversary of the fall of the Wall.

Mark Reeder describes his life like a ball in a pinball machine: “I kind of met one person and then it ricocheted onto another, and that’s how I kind of made my career.”

Most of that career was made in Berlin, where he says West Berlin was the “crazy, mad place where I lived” and East Berlin was the “crazy, mad place that I visited.” He joins us to talk about his memories of a divided city, the documentary “B-Movie,” the label he founded, and his latest projects.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

We’ve all seen footage of people taking to their balconies to sing and play instruments together amid the coronavirus lockdown. But why is that?

Gunter Kreutz, who teaches at the University of Oldenburg, has published a book on the mental health benefits of singing, among other things. The musicologist says “in crises, music has a very strong function to balance people, and show them there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

Produced by Benjamin Restle

What is your favorite record of all time? In honor of Record Store Day, we asked the proprietors of Berlin record stores Riseikel, HHV, Musik Department, Oldschool, Soul Trade and Dodo Beach. Discover their favorite tracks and listen to our record store day playlist. We also threw in some favorites from KCRW Berlin’s staff and volunteers!

We’ll be celebrating Record Store Day, all day. Come out and support your local record stores. Check out our Facebook, Twitter and Instagram feeds for updates, or check out our website for more information.

Interviews for the piece were conducted by Colette Harley and Kate Blair.  Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Andromeda Mega Express Orchestra is made up of 18 musicians from a wide variety of musical backgrounds, who all share a dedication to experimentation. They typically meet to rehearse and improvise together about once every month.

We caught up with some members of the orchestra as they prepare for the first concert in their new three part series, “Neue Orchesterformen I/III.”

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham

We met up with DJ and producer Shed, aka René Pawlowitz, following the November 29 release of his fifth studio album “Oderbruch” on Berghain’s label Ostgut Ton.

Pawlowitz opens up about the inspiration for the album, which centers around memories from the region his family’s from in East Germany. He talks about how the area has changed and doesn’t hide the sense of nostalgia that emerges: “It’s a mixture of being sad but also happy. It’s depressive in a good way,” he says.

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham

We spoke to Dutch singer-songwriter O-SHiN about her creative and recording processes. She talks about recording her last songs while immersing herself in the Swedish countryside because “I really love lots of Swedish artists…and I wanted to learn from them.”

The album was mixed in Berlin, O-SHiN explains: “I think my music is a little bit …organic and electronic at the same time…The electronic part of it happened in Berlin and the organic part of it happened in Sweden.”

Produced by Marlene Melchior

German musician Delhia de France likes drawing from Greek mythology to create her music. She’s particularly fascinated with goddesses.

“I like the concept of taking something totally mundane and giving it a kind of divine spark or kind of a divine image,” de France said.

De France stopped by our studio to talk about her new EP ‘Oceanides’ and her collaboration with award-winning German producer Robot Koch.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Musician and producer James Chatburn moved to Berlin in 2015. The 29-year-old toured with well-known alternative R&B artists like Jordan Rakei and the L.A. band The Internet. One of his big idols is American soul legend Donny Hathaway. We caught up with the Australian to talk about his debut release "Faible Teil 1."

Opera Lab Berlin’s upcoming premiere of “ODYSSEY: Dead Men Die” promises a “an apocalyptic journey” encompassing Homer, James Joyce and Hollywood.

We caught up with artistic director Evan Gardner to find out more about the free-form ensemble, which has produced or collaborated on over 20 productions in the past six years, as well as what to expect from their new show.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Brisbane-born Michael Brinkworth draws inspiration from Bob Dylan, Neil Young and from the city he now calls home, Berlin, “this weird halfway house that I ended up in.” The 33-year-old traveled the globe before settling down here six years ago.

In the past couple of months, Brinkworth has been releasing tracks from his upcoming album, “Wasted Wonder.” We talk to him about his new music and life in Berlin.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Berlin-based Swedish musician Fredrik Kinbom has lived abroad for the past 20 years. It was in U.K. where a chance encounter led him to buy his first lap steel guitar, with which he started carving his signature sound.

We caught up with Kinbom to talk about learning politeness from the British, his interest in history, and spreading Scandinavian melancholy through his latest solo album, “Songs for Lap Steel & Harmonium.”

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll 

Artist February Montaine mysteriously disappeared from his Derbyshire, England home in 1991. He left behind a substantial collection of journals and homemade tapes, which became cherished by his stepdaughter Suzy. She passed her stepfather’s work onto Berlin-based musician and producer Sam Potter, who spent years weaving these remnants together.

One journal idea that stuck with Potter, was Montaine’s belief that “the best music listens to you in the same way you listen to it. So to make a song really great, it really speaks to your soul and holds a mirror up to you in that moment.” Potter says it seemed like Montaine was thinking “50 years in the future, whilst living in a small house in Derbyshire and making this low-fi music.”

Produced by Nikki Motson 

Next weekend sees PEOPLE festival at Berlin’s Funkhaus. The festival is unique for bringing artists from all over the world together for a week of experimentation and collaboration before performing new works for a live audience. 160 artists will take part, including Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon and The National’s Bryce and Aaron Dessner, as well as Feist and Jenny Lewis. 

We spoke to festival organizers Tom and Nadine Michelberger, who devised the festival inspired by the spirit of the city. We also spoke to Berlin-based DJ Alex Ridha, aka Boys Noize, who will be performing. “One of the things we tell the artists…do what you ever dreamed about doing,” says Michelberger.

Produced by Dylan Peterson

Julia Holter’s music is exploratory and playful. “Aviary” is her fifth studio album and takes listeners on an unpredictable 90-minute journey, influenced in part by film scores and medieval music.

We caught up with Holter during her 2018 European tour to find out more about her recording process and how her formal musical education helped her to grow in unconventional ways.

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham

In this episode of Leitmotifs, host Fredrika Brillembourg talks with pianist and conductor Benjamin Hochman. He has performed in major cities and festivals around the world, both as a soloist and chamber musician. Currently, Hochman is a research associate with Bard College Berlin and concert curator for the American Academy. Fredrika spoke with him about Mozart and Hochman's approach to music.

Berlin’s clubs were forced to shut this month to help contain the coronavirus outbreak. With Berliners deprived of their beloved music venues, and clubs missing out on vital revenue, Clubcommission and Reclaim Club Culture launched the United We Stream platform. 

Here, venues can stream DJ sets, concerts and much more for Berliners to enjoy in the safety of their homes. In return, they’re asking for donations to get them through these tough times.

We caught up with Clubcommission spokesman Lutz Leichsenring (pictured) on Skype to find out how many people have tuned in so far and if the platform can save clubs from financial ruin.

Produced by Benjamin Restle

The earliest memory Raven Chacon recalls of music-making is hearing his grandfather sing Navajo songs while working, watching television, or reading. Later as Chacon began taking piano lessons and learning about music notation, he also began experimenting with making sounds in other ways, with cassette tapes or banging on metal.

Now Chacon, who is known for his chamber music compositions, experimental noise performances, and installation art pieces, will live in Germany as a spring 2018 composition fellow at the American Academy in Berlin. While there, he plans to work on commissioned pieces for ensembles in the U.S. as well as write about experiences he had with sound at the 2016 oil pipeline protests at Standing Rock in North Dakota.

The compositions in this piece include “Black Sabbatical” on the album Endlings by Chacon and John Dieterich as well as “The Journey of the Horizontal People,” composed by Raven Chacon and commissioned/performed by San Francisco’s Kronos Quartet. Produced by Sylvia Cunningham

The Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin offers a conservatory education to musicians from the Middle East and North Africa as a way to promote a more peaceful future for a troubled region. Monika Müller-Kroll talks to the rector of the Akademie, Prof. Dr. Michael Naumann.

A natural continuation of Daniel Barenboim’s and Edward Said’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the Akademie aims to produce a generation of musicians who will “know better” than to support religious or territorial conflicts. Fittingly, the Akademie and Orchestra are based in the elliptical, Frank Gehry-designed Pierre Boulez Saal in Mitte, a space which the architect has described as “a place of sanity.”

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

This year marks 250 years since the birth of one of the most renowned composers of all time, Ludwig van Beethoven. Germany has poured 27 million euros into marking the occasion, and there are a number of events happening here in Berlin, including Labor Beethoven 2020, which is a contemporary reading of the work of Beethoven.

We spoke with Julia Gerlach, the head of music at the Akademie der Künste Berlin and the director of Labor Beethoven 2020, to find out more about some of the musical experimentation that has grown out of the celebration and how this benefits the composer’s legacy.

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham

June 21 sees Fête de la Musique coming to the streets of Berlin. The imported French festival has been a staple of the city’s event calendar since 1995 and brings music from over 800 musicians, bands, and choirs, performed in Spätis, Kitas, garden colonies and other unusual locations across the city.  We caught up with Björn Döring, the Curator and Director of the festival.

One highlight of Fête de la Musique promises to be a Europe-wide sing-along at 7pm featuring the “Ode to Joy,” John Lennon’s “Imagine” and Oasis’ “Don’t Look Back In Anger.” Döring explains that the latter “was sung in the streets of Manchester after the terror attacks,” revealing to him that rather than responding to violence with further violence, people can “comfort each other with music.”

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

We caught up with musician Diane Weigmann. Born and raised in Berlin, Weigmann was once a member of the all-female pop band the Lemonbabies.

Ahead of the release of her fourth solo studio album, Weigmann talks about how motherhood has led to a change in perspective, as well as her new single “Größer als Du denkst” (in English, that’s “Greater than you think”).

Produced by Nikki Motson

We sat down with JJ Weihl, one of the founders of Berlin-based band Fenster, to talk about their latest album, “The Room,” and past projects. From creating a soundtrack to a movie that doesn’t exist to tracking an entire album live while in the Tuscan countryside, Weihl gives us insight into the band’s creative process.

Produced by Flora Adamian 

The Berlin-based violinist Daniel Weltlinger’s latest album, “Szolnok,” tells the story of his grandfather — who fled Europe during the war, violin in tow, before ending up in Australia — and how Weltlinger came to own and play that violin decades later.

We sat down with Weltlinger to learn more about his grandfather and hear music from the album, played live in-studio, from the same violin.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll 

hear now berlin is a chamber group that plays works by contemporary composers. Inspired by the music she loves playing and hearing, the sextet’s founder and flutist, Kelly Watson Woelffer, searched for five musicians who shared her vision: a violist from Australia, a cellist from New Zealand, and a trumpeter, violinist and clarinetist from Germany.

Though they are all classically trained musicians with orchestral foundations, the six are also skilled in a wide range of other genres, including singer-songwriter, big band, pop and jazz.

About 18 months after the group’s debut performance, we caught up with Watson Woelffer and violist Xina Hawkins about the challenges of holding auditions for a new group member during the pandemic and their upcoming concert on Sept. 7 at Kulturhaus Insel Berlin.

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham

Chelsea Nikkel, alias Princess Chelsea, brought her charming, onerous, twee-indie Pop back to Berlin last week for a show at the Funkhaus, her fourth time performing at the venue.

While she wishes she had more time to explore Berlin on her tours, the city never fails to impress the New Zealand musician, or to draw a crowd: “a lot of people choose to travel here to Berlin from other countries where I haven’t played to come and see me, so maybe they think ‘Berlin , that’s gonna be the big show!’ And it always is a really good show.”

Her new LP, “The Loneliest Girl,” was recorded entirely in Glen Eden, a suburb of Auckland where she grew up and returned as an adult. “I’m getting a little bit older now…I feel a bit more detached from the Auckland social scene, and even in some respects the music scene.” Between international tours and the production of three LPs, it’s understandable that a little distance could be grounding: “I’m just out here in West Auckland chilling in my studio, and I don’t really care about anything.”

By Jack Riddell

Munich-born rapper Ebow has been performing for over a decade, having broken into the male-dominated world of hip-hop as a teenager.

We caught up with Ebow about her musical influences, sharing a stage with other women, and her latest album, “Komplexität” (in English, that’s “Complexity”). To Ebow, this release symbolized a major step in breaking away from the influence of older male figures in the industry. “At a certain point I stopped believing in my own aesthetics, my own style, because people kept telling me that…we should do it differently…I had to think about who I wanted to be surrounded with,” Ebow says.

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham

Back in March when all the music clubs closed in Berlin, big band leader Andrej Hermlin made a promise: to keep on performing as long as the coronavirus pandemic restricts our lives.

His band, the Swingin’ Hermlins, started a non-stop series of nightly concerts streamed live via Facebook. KCRW Berlin’s Erik Kirschbaum met Andrej Hermlin to talk about his love for American music from the 1930s and why he made this crazy promise.

Produced by Erik Kirschbaum

We spoke with performer Tara Nome Doyle ahead of the Torstraßen Festival at the Volksbühne. The 21-year-old Berlin singer-songwriter walks us through her songwriting process and the first song she wrote at the age of 11, the musical impact of growing up in a Norwegian-Irish family, and her first EP, “Milk and Honey” which was released in 2018.

Stick around until the end to hear a special a capella performance of her version of the Norwegian folk song “Till Till Tara.”

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

We’re used to hearing music and digital sound from simple speakers. Monom, a new, state-of-the-art spatial sound studio and performance space, aims to recreate the natural perception of sound in a spatial environment. 

Monom resides in Funkhaus Berlin, a former broadcasting complex built by the GDR in the 1950s, and is powered by a 4D sound system developed by Dutch audio engineers over the past decade. The result is a listening experience that “awakens your senses,” says William Russell, Monom’s Creative Director.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll.

Tricky just released his 14th studio album, “Fall To Pieces.”

On most of the new tracks, the Berlin-based artist is joined by Marta Złakowska, a vocalist whom he discovered on a European tour. We caught up with the 52-year-old about his new release and to find out what keeps him going after three decades of making music.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

The Pop-Kultur festival is returning to Berlin next month, presenting over 100 events from Aug. 15 – 17 at the Kulturbrauerei. The festival gives musicians space to expand on the artistic currents underpinning much of pop culture and pop music today with a program of performances, new commissions, exhibitions, talks, and workshops.

The festival’s organizers have assembled a line-up of both international and Berlin-based artists. Finding balance was a major factor when choosing musicians according to Martin Hossbach, one-third of Pop-Kultur’s curatorial team. The lineup features both older and younger generations of performers and achieves a 50-50 balance between male- and female-identifying artists.

Hossbach laments that a male majority among musicians is still the norm at most music festivals, but rejects the idea that finding female musicians is a challenge. On the contrary, “it was really easy,” he says: “I get very upset when someone says there aren’t enough female, I don’t know, ‘headline acts’…that’s just rubbish. It usually means the person saying it is lazy.”

Produced by Marlene Melchior

Despite being born in Switzerland and raised in the United States, musician Paul Wallfisch maintains a strong connection to Germany. The pianist and composer, who is the son of classical musicians, was introduced to the country through his German record label, and it is here that he has ventured into theater.

Wallfisch stopped by our studio to talk about his family’s immersion in music and his current project at the Volksbühne, “Das 1. Evangelium,” or “The First Gospel,” for which he composed and performs the music.

Produced by  Monika Müller-Kroll

Szabolcs Bognar, better known as Àbáse, is a Berlin-based producer and multi-instrumentalist who is playing at this year’s XJAZZ open air festival.

A classically trained jazz pianist, Àbáse combines jazzy elements with West African, Brazilian and other influences to create a fresh, new sound.Ahead of his performance this weekend, we caught up with the 29-year-old over Zoom about his appreciation for Yoruba culture and growing up in post-socialist Budapest.

Produced by Benjamin Restle

Berlin-based musician Derya Yildirim is a multi-instrumentalist, but her favorite is the Turkish lute called the “Bağlama.” Usually, the 26-year-old performs with her band, Grup Şimşek, but more recently, she’s played on her own. We caught up with the 26-year-old in France, where she is reuniting with her band to write new material.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Born in a small Bosnian town, L.A.-based Valida has experienced life all around the world. Now a KCRW DJ for The Lab, Valida says that despite all of her travels, the music coming out of Berlin, and other parts of Germany, has stuck with her through it all.

From stints in Moscow, Baghdad, and London, her globetrotting ways have undoubtedly influenced her musical style: “[There’s] no escaping the fact that…I really do feel like a citizen of the world.”

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Berlin-based musician Finn Ronsdorf is releasing his first EP, “Odes,” on June 12. We talk with the 21-year-old singer-songwriter about his early musical influences and what it takes to write a love song. He says the key is “really just being very much in the moment.”

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham

It was August 2018 when Kelly Watson Woelffer, a Berlin-based flutist originally from the U.S., heard “Music in Circles” by American composer Andrew Norman and something in her ignited.

“I’ve been a little bit artistically starved for the last five years or so because I have three tiny humans at home,” said Watson Woelffer. “I have been playing and teaching, of course, but have not led something of my own in about five years…I was just listening to [“Music in Circles”] and I had a sudden decision finally that I knew exactly what had to be next for me, artistically.”

From this inspiration, the chamber group hear now berlin, a sextet that challenges classical music paradigms, was born. The group — comprising Kelly Watson Woelffer (flute, alto flute, piccolo), Alexander Glücksmann (clarinet, bass clarinet), Damir Bacikin (trumpet), Meike Lu Schneider (violin), Xina Hawkins (viola) and Edward King (cello) — had their debut concert on March 14.

Ahead of their next show on April 3, we talked to Watson Woelffer, Hawkins and King about the genre of indie classical and making music more accessible for all listeners.

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham. 

Fin Greenall, better known as Fink, knows a few things about music. His musical career started in the club culture of the 1990s, when he was signed to Ninja Tune. In the 2000s he got into blues and folk songwriting and Fink became a band. He has lived in Berlin since 2014.

We caught up with the musician, originally from Cornwall, to find out about his musical shifts, his love of the blues, and the journey that has led to his current output. Greenall says: “I don’t like music which is just product…intensity is the key to art. So anything that’s intense, I get.”

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Ishmael Ensemble is a Bristol-based ambient-jazz-electronica outfit that defies being pigeonholed into only one genre. We sat down with band leader Pete Cunningham and bassist Jake Spurgeon to talk about what inspires them musically and why they love playing in Berlin.

Ishmael Ensemble released their debut album, “A State of Flow,” in May of 2019. They are currently recording a new EP and planning a concert tour for 2020.

Produced by Benjamin Restle

Berlin-based garage pop band Gurr write songs about anxiety, what it means to be a strong woman, and, of course, love.

We caught up with the Laura Lee and Andreya Casablanca to talk about writing lyrics in German versus English, friendship, their upcoming tour and their new “She Says” EP, which is available now.

Produced by Sylvia Cunnningham

German-born Robot Koch is dropping his new record “The Next Billion Years” on May 29. Ahead of the release, we spoke to the L.A.-based artist, producer and composer about why late French conservationist Jacques-Yves Cousteau inspired him to make the album.

Robot Koch, who spent several years living and working in Berlin before relocating to L.A., has a visual approach to his music. He says for him creating songs is “like scoring imaginary movies in my head,” and that being in nature is an important source of inspiration.

Produced by Benjamin Restle

For Nat Fowler, aka Novo Line, creating his latest album “Dyad” was a sort of experiment or game: could he produce tracks that work at both 33 rpm and 45 rpm?

Besides encouraging people to buy vinyl, Fowler’s approach as an artist plays with the intersection between digital and analog sound, from his choice to use “archaic” computer algorithms when sketching out ideas, to working exclusively with older production equipment.

Produced by Marlene Melchior.

This week, we caught up with musician David J, who was both the bassist in the goth rock sensation Bauhaus as well as bassist and vocalist of the ’80s band, Love and Rockets. A Los Angeles resident, he admits that he feels uncomfortable with the current political situation in the United States, confessing, “it’s in a sorry state, and I’m rather repulsed by it.”

David J talks about his new solo album and how he aims to pursue more collaborative work in the future: “I’m always full of ideas, and more creative now than ever.”

Produced by Marlene Melchior

For years, people told American DJ and producer Sky Deep that she should go to Berlin. It made her curious, so she planned a tour stop in the city with her band at the time. Now she’s lived in Berlin for three years.

When asked about the current atmosphere in the U.S., Sky Deep said “as a black, queer woman,” she is terrified to return to her home country. She continued, “But I actually experience fear in several places in the world so I don’t think I can escape it.”

Sky Deep joined Monika Müller-Kroll to talk about her involvement with a new festival called We Make Waves as well as the inspiration behind her track, “Coconut Oil.”

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

With concerts and festivals canceled, artists are struggling to make ends meet.

London-based label Ransom Note came up with a novel idea to generate some much needed cash for music makers. They invited a number of artists — among them, KCRW Berlin’s Moderna — to contribute to a compilation album by collaborating remotely on original tracks in just 10 days. The completed album, “Pen Pals,” went on sale on April 24 and features 15 tracks by 32 artists. The proceeds go to supporting the artists and the label.

We got in touch with Ransom Note’s Rosie Cain to find out about the unusual project and how collaborating remotely affects the creative process. “Pen Pals” is available to buy online.

Produced by Benjamin Restle

Berlin’s public transport is both loved and hated by residents of the city, and the U8 line pretty much embodies this public sentiment. The line connects the north to the south, running through the heart of Berlin, and it connected an American from San Francisco with a Berliner for a musical homage of sorts.

Journalist Sally McGrane and musician Axel Scheele both live on the U8. “The whole song just came to me between Schönleinstraße and Weinmeisterstraße,” says McGrane. Their band “Lou Electric and the Gold Kimono Band” just released “U8 U8” as a single, with more Berlin-inspired songs to come. Scheele says, “I didn’t plan this but [the song] came out that it’s the exact right tempo that the train is.”

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll 

Craig Walker, frontman of indie/electronica band Archive, and former Nouvelle Vague singer Phoebe Killdeer have been living in Berlin for a decade, and say the city has been great to them musically – which seems almost an understatement given the past few years they’ve had.

The two co-wrote the 2016 hit “Fade Out Lines,” which was remixed by French DJ The Avener and became a massive hit that lingered at number one on the German charts for 52 weeks, with 100 million listens on Spotify and 42 million hits on YouTube.

Now the duo have renamed themselves “Them There” and are set to release a new album, “Love is an Elevator,” in the coming weeks. The album features a dizzying range of accomplished artists, with Tyler Pope (LCD Soundsystem) on bass, Knox Chandler (Siouxsie and the Banshees, R.E.M., Cyndi Lauper) on guitar, Tim Gane (Stereolab) on keys, Raphaël Seguinier (Phoebe Killdeer and the Short Straws, Shannon Wright, Rufus Wainwright) on drums. It’s produced by Victor Van Vugt (Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, P.J. Harvey, Beth Orton).

They’ve also just finished shooting the music video for their single BLAZE, slated for release in March 2018. With its warm pop feel and melancholic yet upbeat take on love, Walker and Killdeer may just have another hit on their hands.

Produced by Marlene Melchior 

Candice Gordon is the new cultural officer at the Irish Embassy in Berlin. The musician is known well beyond Berlin’s music scene for her haunting voice and prolific lyrics.

We caught up with Gordon about her new role in cultural diplomacy and her latest EP, “The Sacramental Traffic Lights.”

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Jazzfest Berlin has a long tradition in the city. It's been a platform for musicians from around the world since 1964.

This year, the four-day festival is scheduled to kick off on Nov. 5 with a focus on the jazz scenes in Berlin and New York. We spoke with Nadin Deventer, the artistic director of the festival about what to expect from this special pandemic edition of Jazzfest Berlin.

 We sat down with Johnny “Jacho” Bottrop and Bene Diktator from Berlin punk band Acht Eimer Hühnerherzen, which translates to “eight buckets of chicken hearts.” They explained the meaning of their unusual band name and why coming up with song lyrics should take 30 minutes tops. 

Produced by Ben Restle

Brisbane-born Michael Brinkworth draws inspiration from Bob Dylan, Neil Young and from the city he now calls home, Berlin, “this weird halfway house that I ended up in.” The 33-year-old traveled the globe before settling down here six years ago.

In the past couple of months, Brinkworth has been releasing tracks from his upcoming album, “Wasted Wonder.” We talk to him about his new music and life in Berlin. (Originally aired July 11, 2020)

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

We feature indie-rock musician Ian Tilling.

The 35-year-old Brit moved to Berlin in 2016. After joining and leaving a number of bands, he started his solo project Grief Scene a year ago. Next month, Tilling will release his debut album titled "Bad Times."

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll 

5K HD is a Vienna-based avant-garde electro pop band tired of sticking to musical conventions. We met up with lead singer Mira Lu Kovacs to find out about the band’s jazz influences and passion for experimenting with sound and improvisation.

The band recently released their second album, “High Performer,” and will be showcasing their new material in a European tour in early 2020.

Produced by Benjamin Restle

“The inspiration was definitely how one has to deal with what’s happening right now,” says London-born and Berlin-based Sasha Perera, also known as Perera Elsewhere, about her new album.

Perera talks with Marlene Melchior about the Berlin music scene, her experience performing in the same lineup as Pussy Riot, and what’s next for her.

Produced by Marlene Melchior

In this week’s edition of Amplified, we catch up with New Zealand-born soul singer and producer Noah Slee. The musician just released the single, “Here For It All.” It comes after his EP, “TWICE,” and his breakthrough debut album “Otherland.”

Slee is usually based in Berlin, but he got stuck on tour when the pandemic struck. We reached him via Zoom in New Zealand.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Noah Slee is a Tongan New Zealander whose music spans genres from traditional soul to mixed electronica and R&B. He moved to Berlin about three years ago and has seen his career flourish, especially on Spotify, where he boasts an audience of 400,000 monthly listeners.

We caught up with him to talk about his unexpected love for Berlin’s techno scene, finding success in his adopted home and becoming a role model.

Produced by Marlene Melchior 

Picturing the early beginnings of a veteran DJ conjures the classic image of turntables and crates full of vinyl. But Michael Fiedler – better known as Fiedel, Berghain’s longtime resident DJ – began on tapes.  

“I come from eastern Germany, and there was hardly vinyl available, no turntables…I started recording tapes on the radio, and then I played tapes with two tape decks… I had long, long lists with a counter.”

Over the course of Fiedel’s influential, decades-long career, much has changed in Berlin’s dance scene. Techno has risen to international prominence, tapes and vinyl have been largely replaced by digital media, and Berghain has gained a more mainstream audience. Nonetheless, Fiedel insists some things haven’t changed: “When you go to South Korea, to France, or wherever, it’s nice to see that the young people half my age have the same spirit that there was in the clubs in Berlin back then…a kind of open-mindedness, and the urge to dance.”

Produced by Marlene Melchior

Pioneer electronic DJ, musician and producer Paul van Dyk has released a new album. It’s titled “From Then On.” We caught up with him before his tour.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll.

Martha Rose, a U.K.-born, Berlin-based musician, just released her second full-length album titled “Undress & Dive After.”

The 33-year-old multi-instrumentalist talks with us about her songwriting process, what her grandparents have to do with it and what’s behind her intriguing album title. (Originally aired Aug. 8, 2020)

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Martha Rose, a U.K.-born, Berlin-based musician, just released her second full-length album titled “Undress & Dive After.”

The 33-year-old multi-instrumentalist talks with us about her songwriting process, what her grandparents have to do with it, and what’s behind her intriguing album title.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Sopranist Julie Wyma is the chairwoman of the Berliner Opernverein. Together with Berlin-based artists of different nationalities, backgrounds, and sexual orientations, Wyma has produced a staged version of the AIDS Quilt Songbook: Berlin Edition.

The project was first started in the United States by baritone William Parker, who, according to Wyma, was driven by the belief that “the artistic community could do more to recognize the epidemic and support those living with it.” The Berlin edition includes two new commissioned pieces in German, because, according to Wyma: “Each place has its own unique own story to tell…and its own way of grieving.”

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Pop-Kultur Festival will be back in Berlin for it’s fourth year between August 15 and 17. We caught up with curator Christian Morin to talk about how the goals of the festival have evolved and what to expect from this year’s lineup, which features Neneh Cherry amidst a “very strong female presence.”

Morin says that he wants the festival “to bring back meaning and content…to music, and the other goal is the transfer of knowledge.” One of the festival’s strong features is Pop-Kultur Nachwuchs, the talent program which connects young talents with professionals from the music industry. Calls for submission are open until May 23rd.

Produced by Monika Mueller-Kroll

How should we care for sound archives in the digital age? It’s a question that Detlef Diederichsen, head of music and performing arts at the Haus der Kulturen der Welt, has considered for more than 10 years — so much so that he created Find the File, a festival that begins on March 21 at the HKW, to explore big-picture questions about music digitalization.

We caught up with Diederichsen to discuss how the idea came to life, plus we hear from Berlin-based musicians Tellavision and Derya Yıldırım, who were commissioned to produce a work for the festival’s opening night.

Produced by Charlotte Billing

Barry Burns of the post-rock band Mogwai, and his wife, Rachel, came upon the space that would eventually become their pub, Das Gift, completely by chance. Now, seven years later, Das Gift is a Glasgow-meets-Berlin mainstay in the neighborhood of Neukölln. We spoke to Barry about the bar’s beginnings and Berlin’s influence on it and the band.

For Barry and Rachel, who moved to Berlin in 2011, Das Gift became central to putting down roots: “It was a good place to meet people…because we didn’t know that many people and the pub was a sort of meeting place for people from all over the world.”

 Produced by Dylan Peterson

DJ duo SpatzHabibi have been part of the underground club scene in Berlin for years.  These days, when not looking after their son, Sophie Funke and Pete Littlewood can be found performing at venues around the city and running their label Polychrome Sounds.

Creating their own label in Berlin “wasn’t 100% about music… it was a lot about just being involved and creating like a kind of community or a family feeling; that’s what the label feels like,” said Littlewood. And how do they balance this creative life with the demands of their own family? “What helps a lot is that Otis is pretty chilled out.” That, and the ability to keep an entire music library in their pocket thanks to digital technology: “less to carry!”

Marlene Melchior catches up with the duo-turned-trio to discuss life with a baby, their label, and what’s coming up in the alternative music scene in Berlin.

Produced by Marlene Melchior

The folk-rock band Mighty Oaks has rooted itself firmly in Berlin soil, but in order to do so, its three members each had to journey far from their respective homes. It’s an origin story that feels so familiar in Berlin, it might be the set-up of a joke: An American, an Italian and an Englishman walk into a bar…

Produced by Caitlin Hardee

Andres Barlesi first picked up a guitar when he was just five years old, was in his first band by the age of 12, and went on to play and tour internationally with the Argentinian indie band Los Alamos. Today the 36-year-old musician from Buenos Aires lives in Berlin and is working on his solo project, “Atalaya.”

Barlesi’s music for Atalaya isn’t confined to particular song structures. When developing a piece of music, Barlesi often starts with an image in his head: “I close my eyes… I just let my fingers go,” he explains. He draws inspiration from the celebrated American guitarists John Fahey and Robbie Basho and their “spiritual, open-tuning” sound.

Barlesi has called Berlin home for five years now. It’s not the cheap rent and beer that drew him to the city, he says, but the “fantasy to go somewhere else.” When not working on Atalaya, Barlesi teaches music to small children, adding the occasional Black Sabbath song to his lesson plan: “They have to learn something cool when they’re starting,” he laughs. 

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Brodie White loves to teach guitar and audio production to kids. So when the schools were closed, the 35-year-old had a lot of time on his hands, so he came up with a special lesson for his students: a hygiene rules rap for kids.

Covid Who!? is a production of Berlin Cosmopolitan School & Musical Friends (Brodie White and Trevor Woods).

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

Berlin-based composer Sam Auinger describes himself as a “sonic thinker.”

The 64-year-old Austrian has spent decades exploring sound and perception in public places. Auinger’s current project is a sound installation with his long-time collaborator Hannes Strobl. The duo’s work, “Eleven Songs,” runs until August 2 at the Halle am Berghain .

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

This year’s Berlin Music Video Awards will take place from May 23 and 26. Since 2013, the awards have highlighted the art behind music videos while acting as a networking platform for musicians and filmmakers.

Aviel Silook, founder of the event, has always been a huge fan of music videos. In fact, at the age of 14, Silook would wake up in the middle of the night, just to watch all the censored videos he loved. It resulted in him missing 100 days of school. Now Silook says the biggest reward of his job is watching what happens throughout the weekend, when the nominees all get to know each other and then collaborate together for the following year.

Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll

 At 7:00 p.m. on Saturday night, 200 students from all over the world will be taking the stage at the RBB Große Sendesaal in Berlin for the annual High School Honor Choirs Festival. The festival was established by the Association for Music in International Schools (AMIS) and has taken place annually since 1976. The event gives participating students the opportunity to work with renowned conductors and to travel to international schools for an intensive three day program.

Joseph Curtis is the chairman of the fine arts department and choral director at the John F. Kennedy School in Berlin. He’s traveled with students in the AMIS honor choir to perform in places like Luxembourg, Brussels, London, and Abu Dhabi, but this year he looked forward to showing visiting students the culture Berlin has to offer.

Curtis says the hope is that students will develop a kind of harmony when they perform together on stage, and form long-lasting friendships. He observes that “there’s something magic that happens in rehearsal. When the people are all very committed to what they’re doing and they’re making something beautiful together, there’s a team aspect: everybody needs the rest of the choir.”

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham

Jackson Dyer is an Australian singer-songwriter and producer, based in Berlin. His debut album, “Inlet,” was released on November 15.

We caught up with him to talk about going home to Australia to record his debut album, the pros and cons of producing an album solo, and his beginnings busking in Mauerpark. Stick around until the end of the interview to hear Jackson perform “Over the Dunes” live in-studio.

Produced by Sylvia Cunningham

Victor Van Vugt is a producer, mixer, and engineer who has worked with acts including Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Einstürzende Neubauten, and P.J. Harvey. We speak with Van Vugt about his return to Berlin and his plans for the future.

Van Vugt made Berlin his home in the 1980s before moving away to live in London and New York. He returned to Berlin four years ago and has since been working with a host of artists, including on a bi-monthly night called “The Fan Club” to reinvigorate Berlin’s live music scene.

Produced by Marlene Melchior