27 June 2025 |
Few things paint a better portrait of Germany’s diverse people and culture than its music scene. From Baroque to Bowie, the country has a legacy of cultural subversion and we remain a proud hub for musical diversity – where experimentation is not just encouraged, but expected. With this in mind, we present you with ten musical talents who are shaping the future of sound.
Nicholas Isaiah King Rose
A man of many talents – including dancer, musician and activist – Nicholas Isaiah King Rose was raised in the arts and culture public-school system. His first love was the cello, which he discovered at seven years old, captivated by its dynamic register. However, he showed early aptitude for dance and went on to train on a full scholarship at both Colburn Dance Academy in Los Angeles, California and The HARID Conservatory in Boca Raton, Florida. His early professional dance career was with the acclaimed Dance Theatre of Harlem. Rose was recruited to join by DTH founder Arthur Mitchell, the first African-American principal dancer to star in a major ballet company. Later, in 2018, Rose was recruited by the National Ballet of Canada. He went on to join the company ranks and had the opportunity to work with Hamburg Ballet’s artistic director John Neumeier, plus former Ballet Frankfurt artistic director – and one of today’s leading choreographers – William Forsythe. During his first season, Forsythe suggested that Rose move to Germany to continue his dance and choreographic journey. After 2020, Rose departed National Ballet of Canada in the hope of finding truly equitable and diverse dance environments. Guided by Buddhist principles, Rose channels humility and trust into his art, rejecting perfectionism while fostering intention and inclusivity. He urges audiences to engage with diverse creators, building bridges through movement and sound. A techno lover, Rose settled in Berlin and founded the city’s first-ever BIPOC and queer dance collective with Shar Adams in 2024. His work fuses classical technique with contemporary themes, epitomised by the 45-minute techno ballet which was performed at Berlin Art Week, and where both audience and dancers shared the floor. So what’s next? “My next piece will be a Berlin-inspired ‘Rite of Spring’, exploring themes such as addiction, community and sacrifice,” he says. Rose continues to redefine dance, embodying rebellion, reinvention and resilience in every step.
Instagram: @nicholasrose1996
Bendik Giske
The saxophone is more than an instrument to Bendik Giske – it’s an extension of his body, a vessel for self-expression and a medium for challenging norms. Growing up in Bali, where daily music and dance performances replaced television and the internet, Giske’s connection to sound was instinctive. He eventually moved back to his birth country, Norway, where he received formal education and had a successful career as a jazz musician. However, it wasn’t until he moved to Berlin in his thirties that he reinvented himself as an artist. Berlin offered a blank slate, allowing Giske to question everything – even his instrument of choice. “If I could make anything, would I still choose the saxophone?” he recalls asking himself. The answer came through experimentation. Drawing from his training in circular breathing and his drive to push physical boundaries, Giske now developed a unique, immersive approach to recording. Wrapping microphones around his throat, fingers and the saxophone, he discovered a depth to the instrument that mirrored the complexities of his own identity. “All I had to do was shift my perspective,” he says, likening this realisation to the fluidity of his queerness. Giske’s work thrives on the interplay between sound, space and community. His performances – recorded in single takes – blur the lines between live and studio, creating an immediacy that resonates deeply with audiences. “Music has the power to foster communal experiences,” he says. “Sharing an inspired moment can fuel belief in the strength of community.”
Instagram: @bendikgiske
JakoJako
Sibel Koçer – also known as JakoJako – didn’t always want a career in music: she wanted to be a nurse. “I moved here in 2013 to study, but the city had different plans,” she says. Renting near the legendary club Tresor, she often found herself on the dance floor and soon discovered that her passion was music. Between her classes and intense 12-hour hospital shifts, JakoJako began tinkering with an old synthesiser, thus igniting her curiosity for sound design. She eventually made a brave decision to quit her job and focus entirely on developing her craft. The result of this new career is to be heard in a mix of dreamy ambience with hard-hitting techno beats. Repetitive structures with unexpected breaks, built on modular and analogue synthesisers, create textured soundscapes that are both emotive and experimental. At the same time, JakoJako worked at SchneidersLaden, the legendary modular synthesiser music store. It was there that she forged connections with the crew behind Berlin-based label and event series Leisure System, with whom she released her first EP, Aequilibration, in 2019, plus Daniel Miller – for whose label, Mute, she first remixed New Order’s Be A Rebel, before signing on with them. Her style of hardware techno will be explored on the compilation Hardwired that she curated for the New York based label Air Texture. But first will be the release of her most personal work to date, album Tét 41, made during the Lunar New Year in Vietnam, exploring her maternal family heritage through her own electronic musical language. “The sounds and rhythms I experienced there deeply influenced my creative process,” she explains. We can’t wait to dive into her new sound
Instagram: @jakojako_live
Steve Katona
To Steve Katona, the German rising countertenor, composer and artist, the traditional and classist nature of the classical music community surprised him when he first started studying. But it’s inspired him to challenge its confines, making it more accessible and relevant to the wider audience. Katona’s creative process is a blend of spontaneity and meticulous preparation. “I appreciate planning things – a very annoying ‘German’ trait of mine,” he quips. He’s used such skills to create performances in non-traditional venues and invite new audiences to engage with the art form. Pivotal moments include performing in Jamie Man’s opera Zelle: Wenn es dunkel wird and breaking the ‘fourth wall’ in Tze Yeung Ho’s composition of the ‘Altersea Opera’ at the 2024 Venice Art Biennale. Katona’s career exists at the intersection of classical and contemporary music. Initially inspired by early music, particularly from the Renaissance and Baroque periods, he finds joy in blending the past with the present. His approach is unorthodox: he incorporates modern narratives and synthesisers into his work. “It’s all about stitching things back together,” Katona explains. “Marrying the past with the now.” So what does 2025 hold for Katona? Theatre projects, new compositions and an album featuring the art of improvising with two musical artists he met at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. “In the past, improvisation was an essential part of a musician’s craft,” he says. “We aim to reconnect with those roots.” He notes that skill is key to creating a meaningful piece. For Katona, improvisation is not about chaos but mastery and precision; reflecting his dedication to both tradition and innovation.
Instagram: @steve_katona
Lyra Pramuk
“For most of human history, all music was folk music,” explains Berlin-based American singer, composer and producer Lyra Pramuk. We’re discussing the modern music landscape and its profit-driven model, an ecosystem she’s critical of. In Pramuk’s view, music has shifted from being a communal experience to an elitist product, disconnected from its roots in collective storytelling and emotion. She sees her own practice as punk: a bold reclamation of folk traditions filtered through technology, a genre she calls “futurist folk”. Her 2020 debut, Fountain, embodies this philosophy. She electronically layers and manipulates her vocals to craft lush, harmony-driven soundscapes that blur the line between organic and otherworldly. “The human voice is my favourite instrument,” she says. “It unites and connects us all.” Pennsylvania-born Pramuk studied at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, where she honed her classical training. Drawn to European art utopia, she moved to Berlin, immersing herself in the nightlife and avant-garde performance scene. “Raving became a career and a philosophy,” she laughs. The past few years have been transformative for Pramuk, both personally and professionally. After an album tour and a series of gender-affirming surgeries, she now feels “moved on” and ready for new challenges. This year she’s launching pop.soil, a new experimental label platform, evolving from the musical research of her NTS Radio residency of the same name. “I want to nurture adventurous, new musical forms and foster a creative musical community,” she explains.
Instagram: @lyra.pramuk
Billy Bultheel
“I see my compositions as maps,” Billy Bultheel explains, “and my performances as parallel universes that invite people to explore. Sound exists in space and time, transforming the physical and emotional experience of a place.” For the Belgian composer and performance artist, sound is a dynamic force that shapes space, movement and emotion. By the age of 12, Bultheel was experimenting with music production software: blending classical harmonies with beats from Tricky and Massive Attack, he christened it “orchestral trip-hop”. It’s this fusion of classical and contemporary that is the foundation of his artistic identity. He’s collaborated with artists Anne Imhof, Eliza Douglas and James Richards, among others. In his 2023 work The Thief’s Journal – based on Jean Genet’s 1949 queer classic of the same name – he teamed up with curator Marie-Therese Bruglacher and architect and scenographer Andrea Belosi to create a site-specific piece harnessing the brutalist power of an old East Berlin power station with choreography and custom-built instruments. In December 2024, Bultheel premiered ‘A Short History of Decay’ at Volksbühne Berlin. Viewing themes such as fanaticism, religion, music and the nature of progress – inspired by Emil Cioran’s A Short History of Decay and Constantine Cavafy’s Waiting for the Barbarians – through the lens of modern-day Berlin, he invited us to reflect on how far we have evolved. Bultheel harnessed his unique instrument- building practice, which integrates resonators found in the walls of medieval churches. With the piece going on tour across Europe and potentially to Australia, Bultheel remains grounded in his influences, especially Renaissance choral music. “It’s playful, rigorous and timeless,” he says, “like it bridges the gap between the human and the cosmic.”
Instagram: @billyjohnbultheel
LSDXOXO
For Philadelphia-born Raushaan Glasgow – better known as LSDXOXO – music has always been the key to expression. A quiet child, the Berlin-based producer and performer first discovered his “voice” through attending choir and playing the piano. Road trips with his mother listening to Lil’ Kim, and teenage obsessions with Kylie Minogue, Linkin Park and Blink-182 then provided inspiration for his genre-bending “techno punk” sound. An LSDXOXO track is raunchy and daring, celebrating queerness and sex positivity. Inspiration comes from his community, but also from cinema, particularly horror and experimental directors such as Gregg Araki and Tarsem Singh. Early releases on Tumblr (look up his provocative ‘Spit or Swallow’ series) blossomed into collaborations with some of his idols: remixing Lady Gaga and Kelela, while playing the opening set twice for Beyoncé’s German tour. A move to Berlin gave him space to evolve and reflects a balance between nightlife’s pulse and the chaos of digital spaces. What does 2025 hold for LSDXOXO? In addition to his music, he is committed to supporting emerging artists by stepping into an executive producer role at his label, Fantasy Audio Group (FAG). He’s also working on a collection of tracks that – at the time of this interview – is still evolving. “The stage is where I can connect with audiences,” he says. “Now, I’m creating music with the live experience in mind, pushing boundaries both sonically and visually.”
Instagram: @lsdxoxo
Paramida
Paramida isn’t a DJ; she’s a storyteller. A tireless crate-digger with an uncompromising artistic vision and a talent for blending the obscure, the Berlin-based DJ and producer’s sets take you on unexpected sonic journeys through proto-house, disco and cosmic techno. And she does all of this in vertiginous heels. Working multiple minimum-wage jobs to buy her first turntables, Paramida had to haul her gear to gigs in local bars more times than she can recall. “I still wonder how I managed to carry my turntables and records up and down to my fourth- floor apartment!” she says. Paramida grew up in Hesse but spent her formative years bouncing between Tehran, Frankfurt and Berlin, living off an eclectic diet of trance, electroclash and minimal beats. She kick- started her career in Frankfurt and Offenbach, earning a residency at the legendary Robert Johnson club before a fan- uploaded set on the IYKYK rave forum Restrealität propelled her into Berlin’s DJ circuit. She moved to the city in 2010. Working for over 15 years in a male-dominated environment hasn’t held her back. She was the first woman to play Berlin’s legendary gay party Cocktail d’Amore, which led to her Panorama Bar residency. She was voted into the BBC’s 100 Women list, followed by a documentary about defying cultural restrictions for women of Iranian descent and challenging gender norms in the music and nightlife industry. In 2014 she founded label Love on the Rocks. Inspired by dance-music history, it promotes euphoric and outsider dance culture. So far, it’s released 28 sold-out records, as well as reissues of rare tracks from her crate-digging adventures. Her advice for aspiring artists? “Keep listening – especially to underground producers and DJs in different cities. Their passion and dedication remind me why I love this journey.”
Instagram: @paramidaaa
Gabrielle Kwarteng
“I’ve never been able to pigeonhole myself,” explains a slightly jetlagged Gabrielle Kwarteng when we meet. Fresh off a flight, the NTS Radio resident is in reflective mode following a successful tour of Southeast Asia. The Berlin-based New Yorker has a unique sound: it’s house-heavy and incorporates percussive rhythms, soulful vocals, gritty acid undertones and everything in between. A childhood spent primarily in the Bronx, soaking in a mix of the first-wave highlife, Afrobeat and disco that her Ghanaian parents played, has given this talented woman a desire to dig deep and create an eclectic sound. So what was it that prompted Kwarteng’s move to Berlin in 2019? “I had to relocate to Europe to grow as an artist,” she explains. As an African-American woman coming from the birthplace of house and techno, the journey has been bittersweet, yet Berlin’s vibrant, exciting community has inspired and grounded her. “It feels like home,” she says. Though Kwarteng is firmly ensconced in the capital, she’s excited to see pockets of electronic music spaces emerging in the US and was delighted to return home last year to play at the Met Gala afterparty, which was hosted by FKA twigs. Held at the Boom Boom Room at the Standard Hotel, it was a full-circle moment, as she was a former resident. She describes the year as a “huge learning curve”, one which deepened her self-awareness and trust in her intuition as an artist. Elsewhere, meditation, cooking and staying active provide her balance amid the irregularities of a DJ’s life, reinforcing her belief in the importance of feeling grounded physically, mentally and emotionally. So how would Kwarteng describe her sound; what does she bring to the dance floor? “The music I play is about movement, mood and moments,” she says. With a stellar 2025 on the cards, this talented artist is destined to create many more of those.
Instagram: @gabriellekwarteng
Sedef Adasï
This Augsburg native and self-confessed “small town girl” is on a mission to queer-up Bavaria’s clubbing landscape. The Munich Blitz Club and Berlin Panorama Bar resident has been championing the cause since 2017, when she launched Hamam Nights at her local City Club, with the intention of creating a celebratory space for her community. What started out as a local initiative evolved into something deeper; now it has become a powerful battle cry for the transformative power of music. Adasï draws on her Turkish-Albanian roots and infuses her nights with authentic top notes of Kolonya, a Turkish scented disinfectant steeped in social tradition, creating a heady mix of cultural exchange and exploration. Guests arrive on time, dressed in their finest, and dance to Adasï’s sets, which move seamlessly between proto disco, techno, acid, house breaks and 80s/90s pop music. By the end of the evening, everyone is family. The night has had several successful takeovers: thrilling clubbers at Berghain and debuting at Amsterdam’s club Raum, bringing DJs, CEM and Doppelgang along for the ride while she played a b2b set with Bashkka. Though Augsburg remains her home base, Adasï is taking Hamam Nights far beyond its roots. Next on her agenda? She’s going global: Hamam Nights in NYC and Istanbul. So how does she like to sum up her night? “Raw”, “sexy” and “pure” are three words that she uses to describe the energy, emphasising the need for authenticity over pretense. Above all, “It’s about embracing yourself,” she says. “And that’s not an easy thing to do. You have to learn how to love yourself and to be yourself.” Sedef Adasï’s Hamam Nights is more than an event – it’s a movement. Through her artistry, she is redefining the nightlife experience, proving that the dance floor can be a space for healing, community and unfiltered joy.
Instagram: @sedeffadasi
Photographer MATTHIAS LEIDINGER
Fashion Editor HAKAN SOLAK
Talents NICHOLAS ISAIAH KING ROSE, BENDIK GISKE, JAKOJAKO,
STEVE KATONA, LYRA PRAMUK, BILLY BULTHEEL, LSD XOXO, PARAMIDA, GABRIELLE KWARTENG AND SEDEF ADASI
Hair DENNIS BRANDT at Diller Global Agency using ORIBE
Make-up JANETTE PETERS using IL MAKIAGE & SKIN1004
Digital operator SIMON SCHREINER
Photographers assistant ADRIEN BOSSA
Fashion assistant DENYS SADOVYI
Producer JOELLE FLACKE at Westend Berlin
Executive producer NICOLAS SCHWAIGER at Westend Berlin
Location DRS Studio
