Nadia Says

Last Saturday, the Berlin-based collective, Queens Against Borders, celebrated its 10-year anniversary: a decade of bringing queer, trans, refugee, and migrant performers together through events, club culture, and community. They re-united artists and long time supporters for an evening of discussions, visual art, music, dance, and elevated snacks at Portal Galerie, Alte Münze.

The queer goth and synth wave festival, Lieber Tot, had a bigger than life comeback in Berlin last weekend. Our author Nadia Says reports from Aeden, capturing the vibe and speaking to audience members, organizers, and the artists Light Asylum and Tiffadelic, who delivered exhilarating live performances.

Mad Kate | The Tide is a three-musician neo punk band hailing from Berlin, exploring hard and soft melodies, ambient sounds and spoken word, costume and performance, sexuality and other societal matters, and now releasing their new album "Stage and Bedroom". Nadia Says asked the singer, Mad Kate, a few questions about the genesis of the album. 

The Berlin-based singer Anika released "Abyss", a record oozing with urgency and the need to make one's voice heard. Following her solo albums "Eat Liquid" (2023) and "Change" (2021), she now reinvents her signature post-rock sound for the current state of the world and to deliver a gut-moving live show. Nadia Says spoke to the singer about the societal inspirations for the record's themes and whether music can be a driver for change.

What happens when the human voice is manipulated through electronic drone sounds? The London-based choir project NYX is experimenting with collective singing and digital production creating a unique soundscape on their self-titled debut. Nadia Says spoke to founder and musical director Sian O’Gorman about the power of the collective voice and the joy of playing with manipulation and distortion.

When examining gender representation in the music industry, we mostly see cis men. Efforts to be more inclusive tend, more often than not, to focus on cis women as so-called "female" representation. Four artists who contributed to the "Soli Tunes" Compilation—6zm, Venusloc, Strip Down, and Mad Kate—reflect on why that is problematic and what could be done better.

The opera singer Michaela Tobin, known as White Boy Scream, turns the genre on its head and makes it resonate with underground drone music. Resistance to musical and societal structures is at the core of the artist's practice. Tobin doesn't just call out the eurocentricity of the genre but laces her lyrics with social and political commentary.

Melike Şahin releases her sophomore record "AKKOR" meaning glowing or burning in Turkish. With catchy melodies and the occasional disco-inspired song, the artist sings about her personal experiences of survival and how they are connected to collective survival. In conversation, Melike Şahin dives into what's behind her new release.