Jens Zygar

Jens Zygar (1960) had a great musical start as a guitarist in the Neue Deutsche Welle band, Große Freiheit. After turning to practices of natural healing, he found a way to combine his passions in the Klanghaus project: a series of holistic spaces where he has conducted work with sound as a transcendental medium. His work has been deeply informed by Hans Cousto‘s writings on concepts like the Cosmic Octave. To open the Berlin Sessions, the performer will grace us with the sounds of his planetary symphonic gongs, which he employs in the exploration of frequencies, tones and harmonics inherent to nature.

klanghaus.de

Manfred Kage (Visual Artist)

Manfred Kage (1935) is Germany‘s most important micro-photographer, and he has been influential for subjective photography, the Informal arts and the ZERO movement. His invention of the polychromator, used for coloring photographs taken using a scanning electron microscope (SEM), and his work with the analog recording videocassette system U-matic has enabled him to create new visual realms. He even added his aesthetic touch to Salvador Dalí‘s 1975 film project Impressions of Upper Mongolia. Kage will be visually enhancing an audio-rich evening for Session 1.

kage-mikrofotografie.de

Raz Ohara and The Odd Orchestra

Imagine the sound of sweetly sad electro-acoustic folk-pop experimentation, and you are in the right mind frame for Raz Ohara and The Odd Orchestra. This is the collaboration of Patrick Rasmussen (aka Raz Ohara, 1976), Oliver Doerell (1969), Hanno Leichtmann (1970) and guitarist Tom Krimi.

No stranger to the jam session, Raz spent many a Wednesday night perched on couches at Berlin’s late Maria Club, playing improvised sets for hours along with cohorts Dr Phelbs, Robert Defcon and Chilly Gonzalez as The Nightline City Cruisers. We look forward to the sound of that lovely odd orchestral voice at Session 2.

myspace.com/razoharaandtheoddorchestra

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rRoxymore

Most recognizable as the keyboard wizard in Planningtorock’s (DFA) live show, as well as Speed Caravan, Ms Frank will be drawing upon her own solo project, rRoxymore, to introduce a slightly harder, electronic element to the evening’s collective improvisation.

soundcloud.com/rroxymore

Annika Henderson aka Anika

Annika Henderson (1987) is a political journalist turned dub-punk singer of the No Wave variety. She recently teamed up with the band Beak> to release Anika, an album which runs the gamut from experimental rock (Yang Yang, Officer Officer) to folk covers (Masters of War), to pop songs (Terry, I Go To Sleep), all set to the soothing drone of reverb-drenched, ancient rhythms.

myspace.com/anikainvada

Jochen Arbeit

Jochen Arbeit (1961) has been an active part of Teutonic experimental rock music in recent decades. In addition to playing with noise pioneers Einstürzende Neubauten and the mythical 80s Berlin band Die Haut, Arbeit also boasts a rich solo career. He has composed pieces for dance, film and theatre, worked with artistic activists such as AADK (Abraham Hurtado/Vania Rovisco), Supercosy Klangwerkstatt (Yuko Matsuyama, Kotomi Nishiwaki), Soundscapes (Live Improvisation Concert Series) and Aufladetechnische Konferenz (Paul Lemp, Mark Boombastik, Brian Mitchell). Arbeit’s sound installations and performances are infused with the spirit of the Punk and Dada movements.

jochenarbeit.com

Valerie Renay from Noblesse Oblige

Valerie Renay (1966) is the singer of the band Noblesse Oblige, which she formed in London together with the German producer Sebastian Lee Philipp. After establishing themselves as a staple of the electro underground, their third album Malady is a development into new worlds of sound. What is the sound of voodoo? Of soul electrification? Tropical meets tribal meets new wave theatricality, if you can imagine that. Valerie is also a trained actress, which becomes immediately apparent to those lucky enough to watch her perform.

noblesseoblige.co.uk

Brian Mitchell

Originally from Kansas, Brian Mitchell moved to New York City in 2002. After a chance meeting one day, he found himself in regular company with none other than Ornette Coleman. Over the course of the three years Brian spent in New York, he and Coleman would meet regularly to play together or sometimes simply talk about music and life. It was around this time that Mitchell also began working with Lawrence “Butch” Morris, a composer whose use of conducting without sheet music or rehearsal, and also played with Kenny Wollenson (Tom Waits, John Zorn, Bill Frisell, Norah Jones), Meshell Ndegeocello, Greg Cohen (Tom Waits, Ornette Coleman) and Jojo Quo (Fela Kuti, Manu Dibango) in the five years he was there.

In May 2007, Brian headed for Berlin. He soon became heavily involved in the improvised music community leading to work with Brendan Dougherty, Guido Henneboehl, Tony Buck and Greg Haines.

His most recent projects include a duo with Jochen Arbeit (Einstürzende Neubauten) and a trio The Tulip Trees with fellow Berlin musicians Almut Kühne, and Els Vandeweyer. A new album with Jochen Arbeit, 3 Days will be coming out on Tetrahedron Records, winter 2010.

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Travis Stewart aka Machinedrum

Travis Stewart (1982) came to life as Machinedrum in 1999. His sound is heavy with field recordings and vintage synths. You may know him from his club tracks like Alarmaa or the critically acclaimed 2011 Sepalcure album released by Hotflush. A true electronic musician, he has found his niche in melding the genres of house, techno, juke, electro, ambient, hip hop, IDM and beyond.

machinedrum.net

Miguel Trost-Depedro aka Kid 606

Miguel “Kid 606” Trost-Depedro (1979) was a real pioneer of the glitch and mashup styles which are shaping today’s popular music. He’s been able to remain underground, working with labels like Ipecac, Wichita, Mille Plateaux, Fatcat, Souljazz, and Carpark, but has also had the honors of remixing the likes of Amon Tobin, the Rapture, the Locust, Foetus, Depeche Mode, The Bug, Peaches, Dälek, Ellen Allien, Saul Williams, Super Furry Animals and countless others.

myspace.com/kid606 | tigerbeat6.com

Infinite Livez

London-born MC Infinite Livez (1972) of Big Dada Records will be jamming a mixture of experimental noise, stream of consciousness rapping and live beat making. His range of influences — from P-Funk to Surrealism — will be a great addition to the medley of inspiration that is Session 5.

infinitelivez.bandcamp.com

Verity Susman

Verity Susman (1978) is a saxophonist, keyboard player, singer and composer who makes experimental, psychedelic, improvisational music-noise-performance: like the captain of a ghost ship, playful and wild, suspended in an obscure hermit landscape of sound waves. She is a founding member of cult UK indie band Electrelane and has also spent some time as ageing songstress Vera November.

facebook.com/veritysusman

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The Mindpirates

Mindpirates is an artist group that works on aspects and issues of contemporary culture, sociology and ecology. Our approach to this work is independent and interdisciplinary. We combine challenging aesthetics, substantial examination and experiment with new forms of distribution, exposition and cooperation.

The Mindpirates Vereinsheim has seen some very special jam sessions take place among Mindpirates and friends. With a tendency towards the cosmic and the tribal, we have thrived on ever-revolving groups of creative spirits communicating through sound. Synthesizers, guitars, horns, and voices get raised to the skies in a flurry of sound, color and rhythm. Our sessions are left open to the creative input of friends — a dynamic, organic process, which shifts and turns as people come and people go.

The musical jam is a special part of our group dynamic and we are very excited about welcoming Lionel, about incorporating him, his exhibition and his performances.

mindpirates.org

Michel Morin aka Sneak-Thief

Under the monikers of Sneak-Thief and Polygamy Boys, Michel Morin (1976) makes stomping electro-funk, techno and disco. His live performances are all him, all synth, all live sound. In attempts at fusing man and machine, he does what no vinyl, cd or laptop can. Over the past five years he’s also been hard at work on his custom analogue modular synths, with which he will really push the boundaries, challenging the accepted definition of electronic music performance.

sneak-thief.com