Music is a language of protest and creates networks of solidarity. That is the ethos behind Sarkash سرکش Underground, a festival for hip-hop, rap, trap, and experimental sounds from Afghanistan, Balochistan, and Kashmir taking place in Berlin on August 1st at Marmorbar & Oelgarten. We spoke to organizer Armeghan Taheri about what it means to host a festival for the diaspora of a region where music is banned.
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.
The Berlin based SO SORRY formed in 2023 and immediately turned heads with their vibrant sound of contemporary jazz, alternative pop and R’n’B influences. OFFKEY editor Anna Grubauer took the chance to speak to the band ahead of the release of their debut EP "WE ARE SO SORRY".
