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 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".
This year, the Berlin-based Pop-Kultur Festival celebrates its 11th edition. Next to carefully curated concerts and commissioned works, the event is steeped in conversations around pop and culture, expanding its thematic offerings with talks and listening event. Here is what OFFKEY is looking forward to at Pop-Kultur 2025.
After a public outcry and a petition signed by many influential people from the radio scene and beyond, RBB backtracked on their plans of taking COSMO completely off the airwaves. However, a new proposal could restrict the multilingual radio station in its broadcasting region of Berlin and Brandenburg. OFFKEY editor Felicia Ete Aghaye shares their take on the on-going developments.
Hungarian-born, Berlin-based producer and musician Àbáse is part of a new wave redefining the city’s live music scene blending Afrobeat, Brazilian rhythms, and electronic textures into something entirely his own. Anna Grubauer caught up with him ahead of his XJAZZ! performance to talk collaboration, evolution, and the ever-shifting notion of jazz.
D.$AHIN is a Berlin-based singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist whose music reflects a life lived between cultures. Ahead of her performance at XJAZZ! Festival, OFFKEY author Alice Vyvyan-Jones sat down with her to talk about what it means to create from a place of uprootedness.
OFFKEY reports back from the heart of Kreuzberg, where jazz wasn’t just played—it was lived, stretched, bent, and reimagined at XJAZZ! 2025. Over five days, the festival transformed Berlin into a humming epicenter of improvisation, resistance, and radical joy. From breakout debuts to soul-igniting jam sessions, we witnessed a city vibrating in rhythm with a global community of artists and listeners.
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