Talking Kaput (a podcast by Kaput – Magazin für Insolvenz & Pop)

Nadine Moser: „I realized for myself that I need to do something else as well, something that is m ore into creating space in arts and culture for other people and to support emerging artists“

Talking Kaput Part I Goethe Talents at Pop-Kultur Berlin

The name Nadine Moser is – at least in the kaput universe – elementarily connected with her dj imprint Resom under which she is part of the almighty :// about blank resident crew and a long time traveling dj on the floors of clubs like Golden Pudel in Hamburg, Bassiani in Tbilisi or Institut Fuer Zukunft Leipzig. Since a few years she also represents here and then the German techno community on behalf of the Goethe-Institut in as different countries as Mexico, China, Singapore or Phillipines; since 2019 Nadine Moser is taking care of the Goethe Talents program as part of the Pop-Kultur Berlin festival. All in all more than enough reasons for a kaput talk.

Thomas Venker: Hi Nadine, thanks so much for taking the time to do this. We gonna talk of course about the Goethe Talents program, but also a little bit about your own artistic happenings. So, how does it come that you as a dj and cultural very active person are now working together with the Goethe-Institut on the Goethe Talents? 

Nadine Moser: It's actually pretty funny. In the past years I have been pretty active with djing, but I also studied for a long time in Leipzig Cultural Sciences and Philosophy. And I realized for myself that I don't feel comfortable with only touring and playing music, because I felt like I become a bit stupid in my brain, because the traveling is physically so exhausting for my body that I just needed to calm down a little bit more and be able to read a book and listen to music in a different way. 

And since I'm also a pretty social person, I realised for myself that I need to do something else aswell, something that is more into creating space in arts and culture for other people and to support emerging artists.

And then there was the application on the website of Musicboard Berlin. And since I already had a pretty good connection to the Musicboard, and I was working with Goethe-Institut as well before for my own travels and workshops that I was doing, I applied and they invited me half an hour later – and then I got the job. So it was really like go go go. 

Thomas Venker: Berlin is so fast. 

Nadine Moser: Yes, so fast. Compared to New York (lol). I mean, who do you wanna tell ?

Yeah, so this is actually how it started, For me, everything was pretty new, because I wasn't involved with let's say tax money and all the structures in public culture too much in Berlin. I mean, I organised a lot of events myself, but it is a different thing when you have to have like two offers, no three offers for a job – and you then have to decide which is the cheapest one to the best conditions … and this you have to order then.

Which of course is in the idea behind really clever, but of course, then you just look for more. Anyways. 

Thomas Venker: But in a way it's not so far away from what we do on DIY organised cultural events too, cause you obviously don't wanna pay more than you have to and you are looking into the field and try to find like where's the good spot, that is the also working financially. So in a way … but I know what you mean: the paperwork is more there. 

Nadine Moser: It's way more paperwork. But I also think it's sometimes difficult, because if I as let's say curator or programer or whatever, when I have a certain idea and I know that I can work with this and this person or this and this company – but when this company is too expensive, then it becomes a thing, You know what I mean?

So it all works out right now and it's all good. And I learned so much in the last years that I'm actually really happy to be part of this team – but not being in the team is also important for me, because I'm happy to just take care on this own project and to do it the way I do it. And not to have like 15 or 20 other people who …

Thomas Venker: I wanna talk with you about the artistic perspective of the project. And therefore, I guess it's helpful that you (…) yourself being an artist who travelled with Goethe-Institut to other countries. You know on eye level what these artists are experiencing and feeling and what their expectations are, and maybe what their problems are – because you remember your problems on some of those trips to the corners of our world; and now you can help them, like not going into the same mistakes.

First I would be interested in … I mean, there were ten awesome musicians yesterday on stage at the Goethe Talents showcase. They played together for the second time – I was super impressed. They built this set from the scratch.

So: How did you find those ten people? Because there must be a lot of applications and the composing of who to choose is…

Nadine Moser: Well, it's actually not that I find them. They actually apply. We have a public application that´s been sent to all Goethe-Instituts worldwide in the so-called Global South, Southeast Asia, Central Asia and the African continent. We also have other networks that we send the application to – and then they apply. 

I actually changed the application process a little bit, because before I started it was also open to people who were in a music network but didn't really produce music, like journalists or like networkers or whatever. But in the first year I realised that this is not going to work out because you need to have people on eye level. So what we actually did is to change it and close it and to make it only accessible for musicians. Because then we could have like a result that's also beneficial for those who participate.

So after the first experiences in 2019, I realized that my job is actually …

Okay, let’s have some sound impressions. 

Thomas Venker: Now we are listening to somebody staubsaugen on the balcony. Whats the english word for staubsaugen? 

Nadine Moser: Vacuum cleaning. 

Thomas Venker: Yeah. It´s the one thing in the world I really hate. Cause my mother always cleaned the house on Saturdays.

I'm really traumatized by the sound of the vacuum cleaner going against the door of my child room. Boom.

Nadine Moser: Oh yes.

Thomas Venker: Every Saturday. And it was like, my mother was not cleaning in that moment, it was like educating. Like, boom, boom.

Nadine Moser: Get up! Get Up! 

Thomas Venker: Like, boom, boom, boom, boom. So I really hate the sound – thats why I never use it, you can see it in my place.

Nadine Moser: Maybe I should come one day and clean for you. I actually like it. 

Thomas Venker: Is this a fetish of yours? 

Nadine Moser: No, it's not. I don't really think I have fetishes. 

Thomas Venker: We don't have to go there. 

Nadine Moser: Okay. Thanks.

So, okay, going back to Goethe Talents: I'm actually doing the selection of the people together with the colleagues from Goethe-Institut, with Katie and Ghazaleh this year. And we are actually trying to form a band. 

Thomas Venker: That´s what I thought. It worked too good last night, like that's magic.

Nadine Moser: The magic for me is, when I run through the applications and there's „this thing“ and you're like: „wow“. It's not perfect, but there is something, this is the magic for me. Like when I discover a certain character or a certain expression triggers me; to bring all of them together, there were a couple of others that I really wish I would have be able to invite too, but it's only for ten people. Like for example, there's this collective from Ghana. They do pretty weird stuff. I forgot the name, unfortunately, but, I can find out later. (Die heissen: Super Jazz Club - check mal: https://obedworld.bandcamp.com / https://soundcloud.com/ansahlive / https://superjazzclub.bandcamp.com/track/mad

They actually applied as single musicians and as a group. I really would've loved to invite them, but it was four people of them. So it was too much. Yeah. But I hope that Pop-Kultur curator Pamela Owusu-Brenyah is going to invite them one day.

Yeah. So for me personally the outcome of this year is absolutely mindblowing. I wouldn't have expected that. Like when I saw and heard them for first time playing together in the rehearsals – I had to take a deep breath in and then out and exhale and really let this just sink in: „This is like absolutely mad. It's great.“

Thomas Venker: Yeah. It's rare to find people who are talented and socially so open that they can step back with their own position. Because there was no egocentrics feelings in the room. Everybody had his own moments, they all could show „that's my signatures style“. 

But then they opened for like a group jam which was quite far away from their own discipline sometimes. And there was so much happiness visible.

We are both coming from a German electronic music background, a field where you find a lot of stupidity, like people that would never play like for example an African inspired pop song about a beach cause it feels uncool. But you didn't feel that at all in room, it was all about the vibe and the music and the togetherness. And that was very impressive. 

Nadine Moser: Yeah, it was definitely. We had a first gathering on the arrival day at „Frannz Biergarten“ at Kulturbrauerei. And there was like a swing dance, a public swing dance. People could just come and dance; there was a jazz band playing. And I remember that when JOJO (Jo.Clio) arrived, she gave me the luggage and run there and was like „oh yeah, cool.“ It was actually the reaction of everyone. In that moment I could really see that everyone arriving there was so much into the acoustics and sound and music sphere, I felt that I did a good job. That was actually the initial moment where I felt like, „wow, cool“.

I also have to say that two of them – Fawzy and Santiago– were former good Goethe talents in 2020 and 2021, when we had to focus on the digital editions, unfortunately. So I know them for quite a while already. Because we told everyone from the past years that they can apply again, but that they have to run through the whole selection process again, and that we cannot guarantee them to make it. But then we decided all together that they are fitting in perfectly. So yeah, now they're finally here.

They also meet with the former participants, alumni. For example, we have Marcioz playing on Saturday as a dj, he just released this new album and he now is connected with Janat Sohail aka, Wooly and the Uke from Pakistan who were alumni in 2020 and 2021 as well. She now lives in Berlin as well, as well as Gugulethu Duma from South Afrika.

They all kind of like connected now, which is great, because the acoustic influence they have on each other is very important for their own developments as well. 

Thomas Venker: Besides bringing them together to get to know each other, to make music together, you also arrange workshops and meetings with people from the industry and stuff like that.

Nadine Moser: I changed the perspective to their perspective. I realized I have to see Berlin as a music industry center as well. For example this time we went to Funkhaus, we got a tour. They could experience MONOM with the spatial sound system. We examined the historical past of the city. We went to Kraftwerk Berlin, we saw the exhibition about Tresor, which was awesome and highly influential for them to see how important the history of Berlin itself is with the wall coming down and all the spaces that came up by that, and the influence the electronic music had on this city as well.

And then we went to the Museum of Instruments, which was also really interesting, because you get like a completely different perspective with all those antique instruments. We saw a Stradivari and we were listening to the mindblowing Wurlitzer Organ, which is actually like ten square meters or like actually bigger, it’s insanely big. Everyone should go to the Museum of Instruments. Book a tour – it is actually cheap. Just do it. You will get your minds blown. I mean, there's the trautonium, things like that, you know, instruments that you won't see anywhere else, because they're not existing anymore. So it's really cool. 

Thomas Venker: It´s good that the exhibition at Tresor points out the connection between the city and the music scene. 

Cause that's what I always think about, like when you have people from so many different countries, you're bringing together cities, like each of that represents a community – and the community is the base of where things are happening. It is not just about attracting people to move to Berlin, or move to somewhere else, its also about giving them the engagement that you can build things in your community. You have perspectives there too. That´s the storylines there too, right? 

Nadine Moser: Yeah. Very important point. Thank you.

So what I also try to do is to bring everyone in contact with like a company or with a certain artist. I think about this myself, but I also ask people like Evyvonne who is taking care of the international residents at the Musicboard, or people like Zuri Maria Daiß from CTM, she’s always like super inspirational for me, she knows really everyone in the city. She's a good friend. We talk about it and I ask her what she thinks? I present her my ideas for connecting them. 

We connected for example Anaparn with KMRU – I think that was a perfect fit. And I connected Anushka and Santiago with the people from Moog, so they could go to their European office here in Berlin and just have like rehearsals with certain instrument.

I connected Jojo with Musicpool, because she wants to create this creative hub in Ulaan Bataar. And yeah, Fawzy was doing stuff with DJ Scotch Egg from Waqwaq Kingdom. Things like that.

For everyone it was super interesting, just to see, okay, when you come to Berlin, you need to find your own Berlin – you have to create things for yourself, but you can also just take the inspiration of the community aspect and bring it back and create something new at home. Like, for example, we just had this discussion at the breakfast about how open and accessible a festival like Pop-Kultur is for people with disabilities. I have never seen a festival which actually builds kind of streets for people in wheelchairs or having performances enjoyable for deaf people.

This is an aspect that I also try to include in the project. I highly wanna recommend people with disabilities to join the program and to apply next year for Goethe Talents.

Thomas Venker: Which makes totally sense in music projects anyway, because I mean like blind people have such a different way of hearing.

I only know it from second word, like from reading about it or, or speaking about it, but this definitely opens new perspectives for a lot of musicians to work together. 

Nadine Moser: Yeah. It is also important for me to give them space to do their rehearsals. It was actually the main point for me, because there are not that many places in Berlin left that are accessible, where you can just go and practice and it's payable; and that are like connected in the cultural scene.

I am really happy that we chad the chance to bring them to ACUD MACHT NEU. I talked with Julie a lot about it in the past years, and now they have this shared room between them and Goethe-Institute for a couple of days where they can just go and rehearse. And that's why actually the whole program is going so well.

Thomas Venker: You mentioned before that maybe the people that you did not choose, or you could not choose will in the future be booked by Pam or other curators of the Pop-Kultur festival.

I'm of course also interested in how the Goethe Talents and the Pop-Kultur team communicate and work together. Do you have the feeling that what you're doing here is also like a talent base for the festival? That they are listening to the Goethe Talents – and maybe these people come in two, three or four years back for performances at the festival? 

Nadine Moser: I wish it would be like that. For the moment I can see that there's a development. For example, like Pam was at the performance yesterday – and she was like: „Wow, they are really cute. It's amazing. It's really good. Thank you for doing that.“ And also Katja Lucker – the festival director of Pop-Kultur – was completely mind blown. I just hope that the importance of this program is being recognized a little bit more. That they all understand how great those musicians are. These are not just young people, who are still on a low level and have to develop. They are on a top level already in everything they're doing. And I'm so fucking proud of them. I have to say that, whoa.

Thomas Venker: There is also a changes visible over the last decade. Like if you look back on a lot of these talent contest and stuff like that – to be honest, nobody took them really serious, even an institution like the Red Bull Music Academy got a lot of critical comments in the beginning, like „these amateurs are sending in music, get selected and then listen to the big name musicians telling them blah, blah, blah.“

And then suddenly people realized, oh, wait a second, there’s a pattern. These are the talented people. And yes, two years later, Hudson Mohawk is on a big stage. Or Nina Kravitz is one year a participant and the next year already an established artist. And suddenly people understand. Yeah, of course, that’s how it is. Like young people start off, they don't know anybody. They take every contact possibility and then they are going somewhere. And from there they go to the next point. So I think that mindset changed.

In a way it's the early adapter thing. You should be there. You should see the ones which are coming. 

Nadine Moser: I mean, you're right. Things like Red Bull Music Academy did a really good job, because actually it was one of the few events where you could actually apply for and get funding.

What I realised for myself, it was not taken serious from the regular music scenes. There was no school for electronic music or there was no University where you could study those things. But now we have those options and we have the possibility to apply to certain things. And it’s kind of a DIY structure in here as well – just to gather together and share experiences, it's literally like going to school together. We created education – to share knowledge, to make it accessible to other people as well. 

Thomas Venker: It was about changing the climate. Cause I remember when I got into culture – same goes for you I guess – it was quite uncool to go to a Music Academy Or Music School. But why was it uncool? Cause the teachers were of course so far away from us, that was not our world. And now you see like a lot of people who run labels, who are musicians, who are publishers teach, people who are active in diy independent structures. All these people are involved in teaching. And then it's like talking within the same cultural community and it's not like, „oh, I have to go to this person who has nothing to do with me and who wants to tell me how to learn to play notes or whatever.“ 

Nadine Moser: That was also a very important point for me. And we created it actually in the digital years, in the past two years. I tried to push every participant in the program to create their own workshops for each other. Because I felt like, okay, I don't need to tell them what to do, they can create it themself because they're the experts here.

For example: we did a super nice session online where Santiago (Glitch.Bird) from Mexico actually introduced everyone to the „Deep Listening“ concept of Pauline Oliveros. We focused on what we realised and we exchanged about that. We were like in ten different time zones. And then we used an online tool and started to jam together without latency – that was so intense that people started to remix each other from that sound. We started to create rooms for each other to learn from each other. And that's why I try to push everyone to share their expertise and not being shy, because that's what we need, we need to share our experiences and knowledge and get to create something new by that. 

Thomas Venker: Nadine, do you have the feeling – coming from the past editions and from the developments you see here in Berlin – that they gonna keep cooperating together?

Nadine Moser: Totally. We gonna create … like, I have so many ideas right now. The name of the band is: WOW! I'm going to copyright that.

I really would like to find someone who, or a place where they can go and record songs. Just to have like ten days where they simply can record the songs they were creating here and focus on that. Like a good recording studio and a good sound engineer who is going to record them. That would be actually the best next step for them. But they definitely gonna work together, like Anaparn and Anushka, they bounded totally. 

Thomas Venker: That said, is your involvement in Goethe Talents all year long with a more intense time the closer the festival comes? Do you also have the ability to work on the projects, like in October, November, December… ? 

Nadine Moser: I have a contract, which runs normally from let’s say April to end of September.

It's a project based contract. But let's say my personal involvement of course is a bit deeper, because I really admire everyone in the program and I just want to support and help them with my experiences and my contacts.

Thomas Venker: So there might be even also a collaboration with you artistically? Or more in the sense of an inspiration?

Nadine Moser: Inspiration. I take my own creative process out of it normally, because I don't want to be in the central position there. I'm more like in the process of becoming from mama to becoming the sister, crossing the auntie status. Right now I feel pretty good with being the sister for the next days and supporting them with the things that they need.

Thomas Venker: Last very open question for today: You have like one free wish for the Goethe Talents programing, what will it be? 

Nadine Moser: As already said, I wish that all of them could come back together and we could have like a professional sound recording studio session. That would be great.

And for the group program itself that it would be a little bit more highlighted in the Pop-Kultur festival program – so that they actually could perform on a bigger stage.

And also like to maybe intensify the corporation with Goethe-Institut a little bit, because I really like working with them; most of them are really humble people and I really like working with humble people.

Thomas Venker: Thank you, Nadine so much for this conversation. I know how scheduled you are. Today even more than usual. 

Nadine Moser: I think you're more scheduled than me today. 

Thomas Venker: And now we listen to a part of last nights Goethe Talents concert.

Concert excerpt

Anushka Chkheidze: „It's so strange that already in my childhood, I was thinking that I want to be a composer“

Talking Kaput Part II Goethe Talents at Pop-Kultur Berlin 

You may not have heard yet from Georgian artist Anushka Chkheidze, but not long from now and she will be an household name in the field of experimental music and way beyond. Obviously cause she is super talented, but also as she does not bother at all about genre categories and sound expectations. Her so far published albums „Halfie“ and „Move 20-21“ are very different journeys into the world of sounds, united by the signature style of their creator, who loves significant patterns as much as irritating sound holes. Curious? Well, here she is, please welcome Anushka Chkheidze, one of the ten participants of this years edition of Goethe Talents at Pop-Kultur Berlin and as said one of the promising talents out there.

Thomas Venker: Hello Anushka. I guess this is not your first time in Berlin, right? 

Anushka Chkheidze: No, it's not. It's my third time. But this stay is longer as the ones before. The first time I came with my friends to see the city – and it was my first traveling actually. This was maybe 2018 or 2017. 

Thomas Venker: And you remember what you saw back then?

Anushka Chkheidze: It was in October. It was quit cold already. We saw the modern art museum, because we were living close to it. My first feeling was: „Oh, some really interesting stuff is happening here“; every people could find something for themselves. I mean, there's place for everyone, every kind of people. And I liked it. 

Thomas Venker: That´'s true. I live in Cologne for 20 years, the city is much smaller, so I'm always jealous what you can organize in Berlin. It's like 300 people coming here, and in Cologne maybe 30 people are coming to the same thing. 

Anushka Chkheidze: We also realized this within our travel group here. We are from ten different countries, you know, but all of us, we are really comfortable here. We have fun. We are working. I mean, no one has problems, there is a place for different cultures.

Thomas Venker: You are talking about your colleagues, the other Goethe Talents. Before I follow that lead, let me ask you something else before: You are originally from a small town in Georgia: Kharagauli, did you still live there when you visit Berlin first or have you already moved to Tbilisi? 

Anushka Chkheidze: When I was going to school, I was living with my grandmother and with my brother and sister, because my parents were young and they were working in the city. It may sound strange that I had to live with my grand, but I think it was a good decision, because we had really free space. I mean, that's a place where you don't need car, you are walking or use the bicycle. You have mountains outside and you walk to the teachers and classes , everything is really like hundred steps away. This was giving us freedom. And later when I started my bachelor, of course I moved to Tbilisi, because there was no option to stay there. 

Thomas Venker: This small city was Kharagauli? 

Anushka Chkheidze: It's difficult to pronounce, but it’s: Kharagauli.

Thomas Venker: How many people are living there? Just to get like an idea?

Anushka Chkheidze: Actually, it's a big region, but the city itself is maybe 2000 or something like that. 

Thomas Venker: Wow. So it's really small. That also means – as you started quite early – that your relationship with music was rather influenced by your grand mother than your parents? 

Anushka Chkheidze: No one is really a musician in my family, but they have good ears. All of them I can say. And in Georgia, every people sing. Every people could sing.

Thomas Venker: Really? 

Anushka Chkheidze: Yeah. How could I say, they love singing and they have good ears. My grandma was someone who was playing the piano; I cannot say that she had influence on me, – I started playing on our piano when I was three, just by myself, I was interested in it.

I have a really old interview from my city town paper – I was like six and I was saying: „I want to be composer!“ It's so strange that already in my childhood I was thinking that I want to be a composer. 

Thomas Venker: What did your parents say back then? 

Anushka Chkheidze: I remember that when they were coming to Kharagauli, I wanted to show to them my pieces, but no one was like interested or something like that. Just my grandfather realized though. He said: „Maybe she wants to go to piano classes.“ And honestly, I did not like these piano classes. I was just going. They were strict, like pushing on your hands. I did not like these rules. I just loved to play myself, but I have finished these classes.still I am happy , because I saved some skills. For six years I was going to these classes. 

Thomas Venker: I know what you mean, I was always lying that the teacher was not there

when I was supposed to go to my classes. I didnt een ring the bell. 

Anushka Chkheidze: Because in earlier times they were really strict. Yeah, all the people have these kind of stories that they hate piano classes. Classical music habits. 

Thomas Venker: But later on your parents understand your talent for music? 

Anushka Chkheidze: I stopped my piano classes at the age of 15. Also cause I was interested in other things in art, and also cause I needed to concentrate on my Bachelor. A lot of stupid thoughts, my mind was like, I need to do something professional.

But later, when I was 18 and started my Bachelor, I realized I don´t want this kind of things. I learned the Social Science, Psychology and Philosophy, but I am not so interested in it anymore. So when I started college I made my first two piece – and my parents listened to them and recognized tt „it´s something“.

My parents are more clubbing interested than me – it's really funny, because they're saying, „oh, you must do something more dance orientated“. And I'm saying, „no, I'm not so dance, I don't know how to do this.“ We have different perspectives on music, but now they follow me and believe in it. Because they see that I'm happy and that's most important for them.

Thomas Venker: Also they get older. They are now maybe listening to more diverse music. Are they still going out? Are they still like culturally seeking and active your parents or they more settled now? 

Anushka Chkheidze: They are really active. But it's not in common in Georgia.I mean people after 40 years –they are 45, 46 – are not going out. They are not trying to express themselves. It´s a problem in my country. 

Thomas Venker: That´s interesting, cause you mentioned earlier that everybody sings in the country. So it's a very musical country. It's very cultural country, but still…

Anushka Chkheidze: They just sing within the families. 

My parents are really open. They’re still going out, going to the clubs and meeting their friends. They're more open, but some people are staying at home. The 90s have been a really difficult time in Georgia, people there are really reserved, they can not express themselves. 

Most females are just staying at home. Like housekeeping. I mean, they don´t have their own things to do – it’s changing now. 

Thomas Venker: That’s what I wanted to say. There's was the political system inside the ocial block, like everything was under pressure, there were this classical ideas of neighbors watching what you're doing.

Anushka Chkheidze:Yeah. It's of course from the politic and social system. 

Thomas Venker: From what I hear it is obvious that you have musical talent. I already knew that before, but how you described your way into music sounds so reflective. So many people I talk to and also my own way into culture was rather diy. I'm a writer now for 25 years – but I would not say I was super talented when I was starting. I was just doing it. And the same goes for a lot of musicians. They just made it and that's how they built up the career. But in your case it is obvious from the beginning on that you are vey talented. Did you reflect about that?

Anushka Chkheidze: I don't know. 

Thomas Venker: It’s an embarrassing question, I know. 

Anushka Chkheidze: It is really a tricky one. From the beginning it was just about me getting pleasure. Now I can realize that from my childhood on I really had a good perspective. I just wanted to play back then. And still my music is like that for me. I still think that I'm a much better listener than musician or composer, because I'm a really good listener.

Like as a musician, I’m not too talented. I know really talented people. They are my friends and I know how it works.

I am more likely someone who really wants to do something. And I had not too much interest in other fields – music was something that was catching me and I was following it. Maybe I was just lucky, I don´t know. I found it well. 

Thomas Venker: But within the field of music, you are quite interested in a lot of different sound corners. Like yesterday on the stage with the other Goethe Talents. What I really liked when you all played together – especially with that „Beach“ song, which was like a nice pop song –, everybody seemed so happy. A lot of musicians stick to their own genre and are more likely, „I will never go into the territory of a song like that.“ You seem to be very openminded when it comes to music, even tho you have many more avantgarde ideas yourself. 

Anushka Chkheidze: That's right. Because even tho I was from the beginning making electronic music and digital music, I had always this feeling that I will not just go in one direction, I always try to find more, because this is something that I'm interested in. I have a whole life waiting for me in the future, I can´t just go in one direction, I want to try different kind things.

I like these kind of artists who are trying different kind of things in their work. Of course, I love the sound of them who chose one direction – they reflect on me. Like, for example, my favorites: Boards of Canada – they always have like something melancholic about them they have their signature sound. So maybe in the future someone can´t really tell it´s Anushka or not because I make all these different things – but I like it that way. 

Thomas Venker: Well, yes, maybe they don´t bring it together as these things happen in different fields, like for a theater play or for a soundtrack. Cause, I mean, look at Radiohead, like what Colin Greenwood is doing, he does so many projects – and a lot of people just knew him from Radiohead.

Do you have the feeling that for you working in those different fields, they have influences on each other? Are the theater ideas or the film ideas have an impact on your music and solo albums? Or do you have different sound pools for each field? 

Anushka Chkheidze: I always feel the direction, like this is theater music, or it's for my solo album, or it's for a collaboration with other people. Still you could realize that it's my sound, but I'm trying to work differently for them. When I work for theater, there are people from different kind of perspectives and it's not like just musicians – you have really open space to work on music because no one is into music, they are into different kind of thing. You are part of one big piece with your music. With collaborations – you must sometimes step back, because someone else is making something good and you do not need to bring something in on top. You must respect others music as well.

When it's my own album, I can do everything! But it doesn't mean that it's better than others. It's just mean that you work differently. 

Thomas Venker: To change topic a bit from the creative artistic process to the economic situation. Is it easier to handle the economics by acting in many fields? Because obviously theater is sometimes better paid and it helps you like working on the album to be also active in that field. Are you also strategically going in different fields or is it always the artistic perspective that makes you make decisions? 

Anushka Chkheidze: Honestly, in Georgia you are not well paid in the theater at all. It's economically bullshit – no one is well paid, neither artists or actors. It is a group of people who really wants to do something creative. And I was always interested in theater from my childhood on. Some people are watching theater and feel that the music is like a background for it – but it’s not a background. Music is really important for theater. That what interest me, that´s why I started working in theater, I wanted to put more music in the theater, to have some accents or something to make some picks in some parts and not just like a background.

Regards the artistic way, I am just interested to try lots of things. Not like I must do it, because I want to be well paid. But maybe later I will need it, because … I’m still like young and aline and trying to have everything. I just have to care for myself right now with this jobs – if I call them jobs –, but later I don't know what I will need. 

Thomas Venker: Is being a musician a full time job for you right now? 

Anushka Chkheidze: Yeah. I’m focused on it. Sometimes I think, maybe I need to try to have like a job – but no, it's better like this for me. I´m more focused on it that way. 

Thomas Venker: While researching I found this info that you work right now in Basel on a project combining architecture and music. Whats that about? 

Anushka Chkheidze: That's really a crazy project. It's will lead to my third album. I am working on it right now.

I was traveling to Basel; and there is this new building in the centre, a Research Institut – they needed ten years to renovate it. They invited me to see the building and make some field recordings there to make some pieces for it. That was quite interesting for me, like working with architects –and some workers that were painting there. I was really alone in this building for two or three weeks making field recordings. I recorded piano as well inside the building. And I recorded a little choir, just three or four people in some rooms.

It was like research for me to make field recordings. And after that to build like songs. The material is already mastered and will hopefully be out soon – a new album by me. Yeah. It’s really great. It is quite different than my other albums. It's more experimental, I can say so, because it was field recordings. It's more classical, sometimes choir, some digital, but really noisy sounds.

To me it feels like traveling through the building. The album is like traveling up and down through the building. 

Thomas Venker: It's nice to have this real world going into the imaginary world and then coming back to the real world that way.

I also read that you are about to study sound studies in Utrecht. To me it is impressive that a person who has already so much laid out, so many projects and albums, is starting a study. So what's that about? Is your curiosity so huge for learning? 

Anushka Chkheidze: I can't say that I have academic knowledge, like I played piano, but I was not so good with scores and notes. After the piano lessons I went to college and started making things myself. I have realized that, okay, I have not had opportunity to study because in Tbilisi you just have one conservatory, and it´s still new. I wanted to to try these things in another country, I am curious how they handle this.

For example, now I'm Berlin, and I saw in the last ten days more things than maybe in one year in Tbilisi. I mean, in Tbilisi, there are lots of things happening and I'm working on lots of projects be honest, but still in Berlin you have … how could I say …. in other countries I am just interested how they do things there. 

People who are like me. I mean, they're making much more things. They are much more professional. I feel that I must start something new to get education. I don't think that every artist need to get knowledge or so, maybe I don’t need it – we´ll see. If I will feel that I will loose inspiration or something is going like in an angle and I could not move, I will stop it. I, I don't have this kind of like, I must do a master degree as a musician or something. 

Thomas Venker: The last days must have been a learning process too, because you met people from nine other regions in the world – you have talks and you make music together. In a short period of time you wrote songs from scratch for the performances. This is like a quick learning process from each other – others study like two years for some experience like that.

Anushka Chkheidze: Yeah. That's right. Sometimes you could learn more in five days than in two years. It's dependents… But yeah, I just wanted to try it. 

Thomas Venker: Let´s talk about the music I heard yesterday at the concert. How do I have to imagine it? Like, you all get introduced, you talk a little bit small talk and then suddenly you're in a room together making music together? 

Anushka Chkheidze: It started with us listening to music, because we were in XX Sans XXXIDK ???? room. It was like just sharing with each other what we like, what we listen. It was really good that we met on the first day for a group presentation – showing each other our pieces; so we know what the others work on. After that happened we hired like two studios and we just randomly separated and started jamming – afterwards we realized, okay, everything works. 

It was my first show having so much fun. I'm almost for every concert just alone on stage. „So, what is a band?“ – I realized just now. And everyone had this feeling. Some of the others didn't know how electronic stuff is working – and afterwards they said, „now I understand what is happening behind the laptop or synthesizer and drum machine.“Yeah, it happened surprisingly really easily. I dunno how it happened. Cause, yeah, it was really in three days that we wrote five songs, and I like them, that’s really crazy. 

Thomas Venker: I guess it was good that everybody knew before that this is the concept – „we have to be in a way quick“. It's also that people maybe are not as egocentric as they are normally in a real band when it is about a long time territory definition: „I have to make sure I get my grounds here“, and stuff like that. It looked more likely everybody had a moment to show „that's my thing“ – but then also go into the play with the others. It looked very smooth how it all came together. 

Anushka Chkheidze: That´s the way I'm always looking for. That if I like artist, I like person as well. I'm this kind of person.

Because, okay, some people are really crazy and maybe they don't have good personality, but they have crazy music. But still I'm this kind of person – and these people are really good. I mean, they have really good souls. If you find people well, everything runs well after hat,. 

If someone is trying things with too much pressure or they're trying to be egocentric, they are not going to step back when something is coming confronting. I don´t know how it works. 

Thomas Venker: Yeah. It's difficult to find people who are generous to each other.

Did you also find time to talk a little bit about your backgrounds? Are they also like from smaller towns in their countries? 

Anushka Chkheidze: Most of them are from the centers in their countries. I mean, no one is like from a real village. Maybe someone is, but I don't know. 

Thomas Venker: Can you say what you are searching for in music? I know , a very open question, but is there something you would say, like that’s the thing music gives me and only music is able to give me that.

Anushka Chkheidze: From the beginning I was and I'm still like a bit shy – and music is a way I can express myself. It started like that. And still it’s like that. I like being alone sometimes. When I'm playing I'm really free. And so it's just freedom for me. 

Thomas Venker: Nice. So next up is the album you just finished and the studies – and then? Are you working with longer plans? Do you have like two, three years ahead in your mind? 

Anushka Chkheidze: As said, the album is finished and mastered and now the vinyl needs to be cut. It's working well, and I have some concerts ahead.

And I start working with an artist manager. I found this really good woman. I hope it will work well, because I was making everything myself so far. 

Thomas Venker: You found a manger? That´s great. 

Anushka Chkheidze: Yeah. We will see, I want to work more with choirs  and acoustic instruments, because it's something that I'm really interested in.

I think electronic music composers must start and try to be more … how can I say this? Computer music is really easy now for everyone and everyone could make something, so we must work harder to express that it's really something which has value. 

Thomas Venker: That's an interesting sentence. Cause in a way, at the end, it’s the music that speaks, right. Even with the most simple equipment, and yeah, it's easy to make, but then it works and sometimes you have all that instruments and no feelings are transported.

To come to my last question, and to circle back to the beginning of our conversation. I guess you will for now move to your studies to Utrecht, but we also talked about the situation in your home country … do you plan to live in Georgia in the more longer perspective? 

Anushka Chkheidze: I am inspired by my country – so I want to come back. I don't like it when people are trying to leave their places, because there's some artists they want to go and study and move to another place, but still if you are showing something, your background is the most important. And I want to show my country and city – because it's me. I always think that I'm like a world citizen and not like a Georgian citizen, but still it's show I grew up.

I want to go back. I want to research and continue working, be reborn but intonational, something like that. 

Thomas Venker: Thanks so much for your time. 

Anushka Chkheidze: Bye.

–

This episode von „Talking Kaput“ is proudly presented by HAU – Hebbel am Ufer, kaputs favorite Berlin theatre and beyond, the place to be for theater, dance, performance, discourse, music and

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Diese Folge von "Talking Kaput" wird präsentiert vom HAU - Hebbel am Ufer, kaputs Lieblingstheater in Berlin und darüber hinaus, the place to be für Theater, Tanz, Performance, Diskurs, Musik und bildende Kunst.

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