My first day in Kyiv, I met with Igor, Vera and Alex, the collective behind Kyiv party organisers and label, Rhythm Büro. They've created a niche for atmospheric and deep techno. We meet in their bunker-like studio where they talk about their backgrounds and how deep sounds inspire them.

Music credits

Log by Na Nich

The Key by Na Nich

And you can find out how to buy digital and 12” vinyl of that from their Soundcloud

https://soundcloud.com/rhythm-buro

All the music you hear in this series is by Kiev based artists

Support the show (https://www.ko-fi.com/lostandsound)

I’ve been living in Berlin for nearly two years now, I went to meet fellow Brit, Sasha Perera, aka Perera Elsewhere. Her soulful and experimental electronica feels both London and distinctly Berlin. She moved here at a time the Stadt was off many people’s radar and she talks frankly and with searing wit about cultural identity.

Lost and Sound In Berlin is a podcast exploring music and identity in Berlin written and produced by myself, Paul Hanford. Theme music by Tom Giddins

This episode also features Sunk In Motion by Perera Elsewhere Featuring Dis Fig

Check out her website

Wanna help support the production of these podcasts? Then buy me a digital coffee on Ko-Fi 

It’s a year full of change, and for the first podcast of the year the theme is Protest. 

I met up with DJ and film maker Ace of Demons, part of the No Shade crew, who explained to me the way gentrification threatens diversity in Berlin, and what we can do to make conscious decisions. 

Then I went to meet Berlin legend and Possibly the suavest man to have been a political prisoner, the leader of an experimental band and a one time housemate of Nick Cave - Christoph Dreher, who recounts the atmosphere and of protest in 1970s West Berlin and the incredible story that led to the birth of his band - Die Haut.

I met up for with three artists pushing club music expectations here in Berlin. Perel is signed to New York’s DFA label but sings in Deutsch. Her album, Hermetica, is one of my favourite’s this year, she talks frankly about finding her musical identity. Simon Kaiser runs the night, TRADE, bringing an experimental edge to the party scene. And Bakläxa brings touches of UK Bass to her genre-mashing sets, she joined me for a coffee along Graefestraße. Recorded on location in Kreuzberg and Neukölln.

www.facebook.com/perelmusic

www.facebook.com/tradeberlin

www.facebook.com/bklxa

I went off to explore how creating the right environment is so key to making music. Ulrike Haage, pianist, sound artist and composer talks about the way food unlocks creativity, and then over on Washauer Straße, Tom and Nadine talk about what inspired them to build the Michelberger Hotel, and how this space inspired a music festival.

Lebensqualität = Quality of Life

https://www.ulrikehaage.com

https://michelbergerhotel.com/de/

Paul starts the day in Neukölln, meeting electronic producer and DJ Mobilegirl. Then heads over to Karl Marx Allee to grab a coffee with producer Ziúr. These two artists share a similar approach that avoids easy categorisation. Then Paul heads to the historic surroundings of the Martin Gropius Bau museum to talk with Ben Fawkes from the ISM (The Institute For Sound and Music) about how electronic music is creating it's own immersive space within the art world. https://soundcloud.com/mobilegirl https://soundcloud.com/ziurziurziur https://www.berlin-ism.com 

Paul meets two legendary Brits who’ve made Berlin their special place. Daniel Miller, founder of Mute Records, and the man behind the original electro-erotic classic Warm Leatherette, talks about how Berlin inspired him and Mute artists such as The Birthday Party and Depeche Mode in the 80s to his first DJ set at Berghain. Then, Paul heads to Kreuzberg to meet Mancunian legend, label boss Mark Reeder, who came here forty years ago to buy some records, never left, and how he helped organise illegal punk gigs in East Berlin under the noses of the Stasi. You can find out about Mark’s new album Mauerstadt here… www.mauerstadt.com 

Paul meets No Shade, the all female and non-binary DJ collective addressing gender values on the dance-floor. Then he hotfoots it to Wedding to meet Daniella De Picciotto, the multi-disciplinery artist who co-founded one of the city’s most defining happenings - The Love Parade. Supported using public funding by The Arts Council of England

Paul arrives in Berlin and drinks tea with Alexander Hacke from Einstürzende Neubauten and then meets students and teachers at Music Unite - a music workshop for people who have experienced being refugees. 

Supported using public funding by The Arts Council of England