Berghain Archives - Pop-Kultur 2021

No Michanika, but Anika solo

23/06/2015 by

We regret to inform you that the premiere of Michanika, the collaboration between Michael Rother and Anika during our festival, sadly has to be cancelled.

Anika in her own words:

Due to time constraints and pressing individual artistic commitments, our collaborative project ‘Michanika’ must be put on hold for the foreseeable future and all performances of ‘Michanika’ are cancelled. Furthermore, there will be no Anika cameo performances on the forthcoming Michael Rother tour to Spain and Portugal.
Many thanks for understanding!

Anika will perform a solo show instead. Pop-Kultur is currently working with her on turning this concert into a special and exclusive performance. Date and time will be the same: August 27, Berghain – joining a bill with MssingNo, Kiasmos and The Juan McLean among others. Our complete festival programme can be found here. Please, stay tuned!

My first steps… with Kiasmos’ Ólafur Arnalds

22/06/2015 by

Kiasmos are Janus Rasmussen (on the left) and Ólafur Arnalds

As a project of two friends Janus Rasmussen and Ólafur Arnalds like to describe their common baby, electronic outfit Kiasmos. Conceived other many years in various relaxed recording sessions, last year’s debut album presented the listeners a rich techno-narrative one might have not expected from the two. For Pop-Kultur Kiasmos will now join our multi-level approach, playing not only a surely memorable show at Berghain, but also hosting a workshop on »Live Composing« during »Pop-Kultur Nachwuchs«.
Reason enough to collect some first words of advice already. So on the day before leaving for a big US tour one half of the duo, Islandic BAFTA winning musician, composer and producer Ólafur Arnalds took some time off reviewing his first step to success.

ÓLAFUR ARNALDS: As I kid I went to a music school. Later, when I started out making music, I was very ambitious and did everything myself. I grew up in the punk scene, a very DIY environment, where nobody has an agent and nobody has a manager. I got into music that way and I didn’t have a record label around me nor any program. To be honest, there wasn’t very much support for me in the beginning but still I was happy.
I was also very ambitious with playing live and booked all my tours myself. I think, if you do it like this you will meet and find the right people to work with. But if you just sit around waiting for someone to discover you and make you famous nothing ever will happen. My agent and I met quite early for instance.
In 2008, two or three years after I started touring, I stopped working in my side job as a sound guy at a venue, so that was also a music-related job. I had also worked in bars for short periods of time.
And I didn’t have a mentor or someone similar. I just went out and did things. You learn from your mistakes. You learn just by doing stuff. This way you develop an idea of what you want to be. And you have to go to gigs and see other acts. When I’m playing a festival set with Kiasmos today I always try to see as many other act as possible. You can get your inspiration from basically everywhere.
Also, I wouldn’t have a career without the internet. Here I met Robert of Erased Tapes. But wait, no, I guess I would have found other ways if it hadn’t been there. I never had a plan B. I don’t know who I would be if I wouldn’t have become a musician. There was never anything else I wanted to do.

Kiasmos will appear live at Pop-Kultur on August 27, playing Berghain together with MssingNo, Michanika (Michael Rother & Anika), The Juan McLean among others. You can get your ticket in our online-shop. Also, Neneh Cherry with RocketNumberNine, Herbert, @NeinQuarterly, Mute’s Daniel Miller, Mourn are up for this day – so might want to get yourself a 10% discount by buying the »Wahl-Abo« (combo ticket option) for this day. Young musicians, DJ’s, producers, label-, club-, and festival-managers, journalists, bloggers and students of these disciplines can apply for »Pop-Kultur Nachwuchs« from now on until July 10th, 2015.

33 ⅓ Things That You Should Know About »Pop‐Kultur« Right Now

26/05/201529/04/2015 by

#24 Will Make You Re-Think Your Vacation Plans!

1. Pop-Kultur is a new festival for Berlin.

2. After death metal, glam rock & pogo the city will enrich the international music scene once again with a new impulse.

3. Everything will be taking place from August 26 to 28 at Berghain.

4. Yes, THAT Berghain. Pop-Kultur will be utilizing every room of this special location – including Panorama Bar, Halle am Berghain, Garderobe and Kantine.

Halle am Berghain © Frederik Schulz / www.pan-o-rama.de

5. Pop-Kultur shines a light on Berlin’s busy scene while meeting standards of internationality and diversity one can expect to experience in 2k15.

6. The festival advocates interdisciplinary exchange, including contemporary scientific discourse on music, society, and urban development. Its programme comprises live concerts, performances, talks, and readings.

7. Visitors can experience various international and German premieres. It began in Berlin! – is our motto for good reason. Over the course of three days, the festival turns into a one big productive laboratory for the most ambitious of ideas.

8. So… who’s coming? Bianca Casady of CocoRosie is. As Bianca Casady & the C.i.A. (US/FR), together with internationally acclaimed dancer Biño Sauitzvy, she will be presenting her newest musical performance and her upcoming solo debut album to a German stage for the first time.

9. Sophie Hunger (CH) will play an exclusive gig with a number of illustrious guests. The (super)moon is just the base camp for her!

[vevo id=”CH4931500030″ aspect_ratio=”16:9″]

10. Robbie Williams won’t be joining us.

11. But Matthew Herbert (UK) will. Living up his reputation as a man of many, many talents the British musician and producer will not only be presenting his newest full-length “The Shakes” for the first time live in Germany with his band, but will also participate in a talk and and conduct a workshop.

12. Icelandic duo Kiasmos (IS) weave their epic techno tapestries into the Berghain air. This electronic project is the newest brainchild of BAFTA-winning Ólafur Arnalds and Blood Group’s Janus Ramussen.

13. The “Ärger mit der Unsterblichkeit” (The trouble with immortality): the book written by Sven Regener and German underground legend Andreas Dorau (DE) about the latter’s life will be read out by the duo for the first time in Berlin.

14. Bernard Sumner (UK) will be also reciting from his new autobiography, while his New Order compatriots – Gillian Gilbert and Stephen Morris – will appear in a joint talk with Mute founder Daniel Miller (UK) and musician/composer Owen Pallett (CA). This will be held in the spectacular environment of the former Schlackehalle, where numerous tons of coal were melted down to slag every day, supplying East Berlin with power.

15. Hollywood actor and label owner Elijah Wood and his partner Zach Cowie, also known as Wooden Wisdom, will be joined by DJ Fitz to form a dancefloor conquering troika.

The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. WingNut Films/The Saul Zaentz Company, 2001 (bearbeitet)

19. You’ll find the complete festival line-up with more than 60 acts on this website by Wednesday, April 22nd.

20. Pop-Kultur is all about making decisions.

21. The schedule is divided into single modules, each including up to four different gigs at the same venue. Tickets can only be bought for this slots.

22. Hence, there will be now day or festival passes, but you will still be able to create your own personal pass by combining the different modules.

23. Single tickets are between 5 and 25 EUR plus advanced booking fees.

24. Pop-Kultur presale opens in two weeks, on Wednesday, April 29 via this website.

25. We did not invite Beautycrush, nor Stampylonghead. Sorry

26. Instead, we do invite young talents of all disciplines to join our workshop programme Pop-Kultur Nachwuchs.

27. At the studios of Bühnenservice der Stiftung Oper Berlin (which is next to Berghain) we will pair you up with professional musicians, economical and political leaders and decision-makers out of the music industry. You can expect both inspiring and productive talks right in the middle where the creative production of the city’s theatre and opera stages take place.

28. You will be able to apply for participation in Pop-Kultur Nachwuchs very soon.

29. Pop-Kultur can be seen as more than just a typical music festival. It also functions as a new and open space for Berlin, where the local music and art scene melds with its international peers and representatives of politics and economy.

30. But that doesn’t mean that there will be an “accreditation for professionals” after all! More art for everyone, less snacks!

31. Mingling spots to meet and converse can be found all over the festival area: on the lower level of the Halle am Berghain, in the beer garden, and also –by invitation– at the Diskogarten.

32. If you want to stay on the pulse with Pop-Kultur and receive further information, register for our newsletter now and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

33. Pop-Kultur is brought to you by Musicboard Berlin GmbH.

33 ⅓. Pop-Kultur takes pop culture very serious. Most of the time, at least…