Liv Toerkell

Ten years of music, ten personal stories. The writers of NBHAP are given the opportunity to resume the records that excited them the most during the past decade. This is a subjective reflection rather than an ultimate conclusion. Editor Liv Toerkell now shares her favorites.

This is the story of the probably most important interview I have ever done and I do not even know how and where to start because I am not sure how anything I write could ever live up to the singer I am about to introduce to you.

Uniting photography and music, indie rocker Laura Carbone set out with a camera in her hands to capture unique backstage moments. Before the show she roamed the empty venue and sound checked in a room full of stars. Here is the visual journey to an artist's experience of Synästhesie Festival.

This band is as sweet as their name; Pale Honey is the Swedish indie rock Duo Tuva and Nelly. The two musicians have known each other since 8th grade, which was also when they first embarked on their musical journey. We met the band on their stopover in Berlin, to chat about being devoted to art and to rummage a candy store for treats.

The name Vagabon, like the vagabond evokes a certain romantic imagery of a lone wolf traveling from place to place without a home. Well, the singer and guitarist with the name inspired by it is also quite the globe-trotter. Attributed to her by her mother, the nickname stuck and now we caught Lætitia Tamko, aka Vagabon at her Berlin show before she flew off to another place.

Touring life is a world of its own. Being on the road constantly, sleeping way to little, traveling to but not really visiting hundreds of cities. To get a grip of what being on tour means for a musician, we spoke to Black Sea Dahu during their stop over at Berlin's sold out Lido.

Here is a little glimmer of hope for all of those in Berlin who do not get excited over pumping techno beats. In the middle of the capital of electronic music and techno parties, the Synästhesie festival creates an island of refuge for the ones among you who prefer to get their eardrums bashed by a crashing guitar riff rather than a core-shaking DJ set.

Here is another one of Switzerland’s freshest musical exports; MAREY. The alternative pop/trip-hop duo consists of the two musicians Maryam Hammad and Aurèle Louis who have been making music together since 2016. Completely independent they released 'Save Animals Eat People', a rich album full of quiet melancholia, which starts on a positive note buts gets darker and darker towards the end.

Somewhere in Latvia a few years ago, three young musicians got together to form a very special group. From there they set out to conquer the entire country and the rest of Europe. This is the story of a colorful band, Carnival Youth.

The two faces of swans; pretty on the outside but cruelly aggressive on the inside. Taking the ambiguity to another level is the band with the same name. What started in the 80s as one of the most notorious metal bands, grew wings and flew off to dark folk-inspired grounds. For the release of the band's 15th LP, NBHAP editor Liv Toerkell sat down with front man Michael Gira to speak about his work.