Data Animal
Future Primitive is the debut album from Auckland / Berlin Techno Punks, Data Animal, on Oliver Ackermann’s newly formed label, Dedstrange. Future Primitive follows highly regarded early singles, Bad M.F & Death Racer, and is a full-blown sonic weapon from the streets. Songs address the decay and breakdown of modern life and the approaching apocalyptic fall out of human behavior. Taking influence from NYC no-wave, British post-punk, and Detroit techno, Future Primitive gives rock n roll a much-needed facelift. The future is simultaneously technological and primordial and Future Primitive is the soundtrack to a species with no future.
Cosey Mueller
We are happy to introduce Cosey Mueller. Originally scheduled to open for our Automatic show last June, that we unfortunately had to cancel due to illness in the headlining band, we are happy we get to present her now. Cosey is an artist and musician currently working and living in Berlin, Germany. She is known for her work as one-half of the synthpunk duo DAS DAS. 'Interior Escapes' is her solo debut, a project which evolved during the time of the pandemic 2020/2021. Her catchy raw electronic sound brings us back to a idealised version 80’s Berlin and NDW. Get here early Saturday.
Cosey Mueller Zum verlieben keine Zeit
Sector 7G
SECTOR 7G Collective is a visual art collective based in Berlin. Inspired by psychedelic art of the 1960s and 80s and 90s video. they re-interpreted projections in relation to modern techniques and music.
Combining colours, shapes, movement, space and time by using all-analogue techniques, their live performances are one of a kind. The projections interact and are influenced by the environment.
Their Light shows have a synesthetic complement to music and dance performances. As part of the psychedelic community, they focus on preserving the use of old-fashioned projectors, overhead projectors, liquid light, video feedback, slides, film loops and Lumia art.
For Synästhesie 2022 they will join forces with visual artists Dwavehed and Quantemera, with whom they shared stages at Desert Fest, Krach am Bach and Psychberg Festival this year.
We can’t wait to see their work at Synästhesie.
Antoinette Wysocki
Antoinette Wysocki has been awarded a Sante Fe Artist Institute grant, and nominated as Best Emerging Artist by GLADD in 2009, she exhibits her paintings internationally with over 50 group shows and 10 + solo exhibitions including: New York, London, Hong Kong, Dubai, Miami and Los Angeles. Her work is in private collections including Mandarin Oriental, Washington DC City Museum and the former Corcoran Gallery of Art, now part of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Gallery of Art collection.
“I've worked to develop a process combining various materials, chance, control and analysis. Part of my focus is the balance of media and absorption rate so that the various materials interact, binding or refracting from each other or the canvas itself. Each work begins with action painting, with focus around gestures and washes, balancing chance and consciousness. The second stage of control defines the abstracted imagery pulling out elements, while balancing the raw with saturated. The mixed media can alter the pieces beyond repair or become the focus of the piece itself. The process is concluded in the analysis stage where the preponderance of symbols are defined through detailed drawings and brush strokes, insertion of dialog and deciphering of imagery.”
Antoinette painted the label for our 8MM 20th Anniversary special edition Gin, and is a contributor to the visual installation at Synästhesie presented by Sector 7G at the festival. We are honoured to have her in attendance this year.
www.antoinettewysocki.com. @antoinettew
Asteroid #4
Even though they claim to be originally from Philly, we have come to love these guys. They supported 8MM Musik and The Blue Angel Lounge back in 2011, letting BAL open up for them for some shows back on their first US tour. Couple that with the Brian Jonestown Massacre crossover factor, and Asteroid #4 are basically part of the extended family. Their unique and enduring blend of 60’s psych and shoegaze make them a welcome last minute addition to Synästhesie this year.
Asteroid #4 A Castle Built For Two
Roller Derby
Roller Derby have had a hell of a year, and it was great to catch their headlining set at Molotov at this years Reeperbahn. Roller Derby are a Hamburg based trio, founded in early 2020 by Philine Meyer (vocals, keys), Manuel Romero Soria (guitar) and Max Nielsen (bass). Influenced by indie and dream pop sounds, the three of them combine their love for chorus guitars, synth pads and twee-pop vocal melodies. Their music is about the longing for love and enduring loss without losing its lightness. They’d fit somewhere perfectly between Slowdive and the Cure. They will have to settle for closing the Maschinenhaus stage this Saturday, right before Slowdive.
Lemongrab
If you might have not have already noticed by this point, there is strong correlation between killing it at 8MM and getting an invitation to Synästhesie. Bands from Berlin make up half of this years incredible lineup, and we view it as our privilege to place the best up-and-on-their-way bands with the best-of-the-best. There is no better example than Lemongrab. Originally hailing from Montreal, core duo Léonie Dishaw and Gaëlle Cordeau relocated to Berlin in 2019, and with the move came a fresh start for Lemongrab. Locking in the drummer of Leipzig synth-punks Lassie, Teun Verheij, along with Mikey Sykes on bass, the band has made a quick yet lasting impression in the Berlin and German punk scenes, now renowned for their raw and cathartic live shows. Fans of Devo, The Raincoats, Wire, and The Gun Club will love this, and they will be closing down the festival Saturday night on the local stage.
Lobsterbomb
Lobsterbomb emerged from the lockdown in 2020 with a string of singles in 2021. As rumour has it, they met on 8MM darlings GURR’s instagram platform @weformedaband dedicated to connecting musicians. It would appear as if Gurr have hit their mark again. Lobstersbombs debut EP ‘GO! Go! Go!’ is out now.
The band approaches themes of personal introspection, desire for systemic change, and individual growth through a lens of frenetic, loud, and catchy indie-garage rock. I can’t help but think of the B-52’s.
Lobsterbomb - Starting Over (Video)
Kick
KICK from Italy, combine raw and enclosing elements in what the band themselves call "sweet noise", a style of their own that reconciles noise with soft atmospheres.
Their latest album ‘Light Figures’, out now on Anomic Records: The sound is analogue, minimal and heavy. An approach that reflects a heterogeneous background, embracing the hypnosis of trip hop and the harshness of New York no-wave and psychedelic.
Avishag C. Rodrigues
Avishag C. Rodrigues has become popularly known for being the guitarist for New York hotter-than-shit punk sensation Cumgirl8, and is also a collaborator on numerous projects around the globe including Sloppy Jane, Ryskinder, and Laila. Rodrigues, who is originally from Tel Aviv and based in New York, studies landscapes created by pop-inferno synths that shapeshift into a layered world of avant-garde pop. Her latest album ‘Islands’ was released in July 2022. We are very grateful to our friends at Baby Satan Records for bringing her to Synästhesie this year. The Baby Satan ladies will be DJ hosting the Local Stage on Saturday night.
Gwen Dolyn & Toyboys
I first came across Gwen Dolyn last year in the lead up to Synästhesie, we had already had a couple corona related cancellations and werent even sure if Beak> were gonna make it. The show must go on, as they tell me, and we began scouring the continent for bands deserving and near enough to jump in on short notice. That’s when someone played me their recently released single Dr. Murkes. It put me in a good mood, it remined me a little of early Ärzte and I really liked her vocals. Long story short, they didn’t get the call in 2021, but were one of the first bookings for 2022.
BIOGRAPHY
The words “grunge, punk, and crazy high emotions'' adorn the Spotify biography of post-punk band Gwen Dolyn & Toyboys. Their debut EP ‘Komm schon!’ (‘Come on!’) shows that, emotionally, what's on the inside is also what's on the outside. ‘Come on!’ also seems to be the motto according to which Gwen Dolyn, a Darmstadt native, goes through life. With a little less grunge influence on the latest EP, but with all the more passion, she blasts her feminist views, emotions, and convictions out into the world. This is what post-punk is meant to sound like.
The Toyboys are a three-piece band – Robert, Jörn und Tilli – who most notably perform as Gwen Dolyn’s studio and live band.
Exek
These guys are furthest from home this year. I hope. I didnt fact check that. Too busy really. But 8MM has always had a deep connection with Melbourne, and not just because of Nick Cave, who spoke to me in a dream once. The Devastation and HTRK were part of our early DNA (here’s to you Sean), and I was delighted when I first came across Exek. I think if you like the Oscillation, and I love them, this will be right up your alley. If you dont trust me then at least listen to John Dwyer. He signed them to his Castle Face record label.
“Beyond what we already know about the Australian music scene, there are plenty of diamonds in the rough. Arguably, some of the groups that would qualify for this kind of description are some of the most rewarding sound manufacturers of the current moment. None better than Melbourne’s Exek, who have released two sonically different yet synonymously enthralling records this year.
“Ahead of Two Thoughts” and “A Casual Assembly” are two projects that appear so foreign on the surface, though, make complete sense based on the wholly different and enthusiastic approach to music that Exek procure through every track. The anxious slew of spoken word on “A Casual Assembly” is eerily captivating in partnership with the intricate drone of sound in the background of every tune. Conjuring the feeling of a soundtrack to a melancholic storybook. “Ahead of Two Thoughts” is a separate kind of beast. Filled with groovy, gummy basslines that wooz you into a haze of movement. There is an expert kind of musicianship involved when a song makes you want to dance, yet makes you feel isolated at the same moment in time. Exek have succeeded in bringing such emotional conflictions into the totality of their sound… and are truly making it their own.”
Maxwell Denari, Reflektor Mag
Gloria de Oliveira
Gloria has been a regular DJ at 8MM for a while now, and I first bumped into her there about a year ago. Any DJ who plays Broadcast is a DJ after my heart. The German-Brazilian multidisciplinary visual artist and musician’s full length debut “Fascination” was released via Reptile Music and Cargo Records in 2020, including remixes by Gudrun Gut, Tellavision, Box And The Twins and others. It was the follow-up to her EPs La Rose de Fer and Lèvres de Sang — released on limited edition cassette tape through her own imprint La Double Vie and the cult cassette label Dispersion in 2019. She has recently composed the score to Peter Thiers’ play Paradiesische Bauten, which premiered at Hamburg's Thalia Theater, followed by the score of and performance at the Bora Aksu Autumn/Winter 22/23 Catwalk show at London Fashion Week. De Oliveira directed a multitude of outstanding music videos and acted in the much celebrated Netflix production Babylon Berlin, alongside many other titles as an actor.
Gloria de Oliveira & Dean Hurley - Something to Behold (Official Music Video)
ROOMER
Roomer is one of the highlights from the Berlin music community this year. They wowed us with their first performance at 8MM in June, reminding me why I got into music in the first place, and earning themselves an invitation to the years festival in the process. They describe their sounds as future-gaze, blissed out angel lyrics over waves of distorted guitars and unique melodies. Their first fully self-produced EP “SKICE” is out September 2 via Fun In The Church.
The band is made of well-seasoned musicians from the local music scene, with their own respective solo projects. Many of the songs spring out of the singer-songwriter practice of Ronja and are then extended by the sensitivities of experimental electronic producer Ludwig Wandinger, minimalist composer Luka Aron and guitar wizard Arne Braun.
Their debut record was conceived during an artist residency at Kunsthalle Below and a full-length album is in the making, planned to be released next year.