Defiant Imagination: Sarkash سرکش Underground Festival Is a Political Project

The new single "LTDA" by Mariama is dedicated to love beyond romantic love and an ode to femme friendship and community. On it, the Berlin-based singer teams up with afrofuturist artist Astan KA as well as Johanna Amelie, Ay Wing, Mya Audrey and J-JD. Ahead of the release, Mariama answered a few questions about the collaborative process, and the importance of love and community.

Otis Mensah oscilates between genres drawing on influences from rap, jazz and beyond. Since moving to Berlin, they have found their place in the local music scene and recently released their EP "small town otis". In conversation with Anna Grubauer, Otis chats about their musical approach and reflects on their experience of searching a home in Berlin.

In Berlin, it seems every which way you look new music event series are popping up. One of which is the newly debuted The Hang! They're signaling a stark return to the live music experience which we welcome with open arms. Felicia Ete Aghaye got the chance to talk to one of its organizers, Brian D. Sauls, about its conception and their objective for the Berlin scene.

The Palestinian multi-instrumentalist Ahmed Eid has released his first solo record "min ghazzeh la baghdad min haifa la beirut (من غزة لبغداد من حيفا لبيروت)" after performing with bands for more than a decade. We spoke to the Berlin-based artist about using music to express lived reality, Palestine Music Space, and what calling out the Western complicity in the ongoing genocide in Palestine means for musicians.

For over a decade, Avalon Emerson has shaped dancefloors through carefully constructed, emotionally charged DJ sets. In recent years, she has expanded that language into songwriting with her band project Avalon Emerson & the Charm, trading immediacy for introspection. With a second band album on the way, Anna Grubauer spoke to the artist about navigating life between club culture and the stage.

The British-Canadian singer-songwriter and producer Rochelle Jordan has fought for her place in the spotlight, and it looks good on her. Her new album "THROUGH THE WALL" is a true celebration of her uprising; a blend of house, UK garage, soul and contemporary R&B that holds triumphant weight. With Alice Vyvyan-Jones, Jordan shares insights about her new album, and the importance of women, self-determination & boundary setting in the music industry.

Marcy Angeles is an author, musician, painter, and journalist from southern New Mexico whose work moves fluidly between sonic experimentation, literature, and political testimony. Ahead of the release of her new record "Data Mining", we asked the artist a few questions about her musical journey and what drives her to create.

The Detroit-based artist Tiffadelic moves at her own pace. From growing up on artists like Jimi Hendrix and Sade, she got into goth and alternative music, something that didn't always land with her peers. Her debut, "Retrosynthesis Vol I", is a document of survival and self-liberation. We spoke to Tiffadelic about what shaped her sound, the stories of survival that informed the record, and why we need songs as rituals of protest.