cover Projekt2_Layout 1 19.12.18 17:37 Seite 1 978-3-9817928-5-0 Picture: @newfrontears ➞ www.hebbel-am-ufer.de 3 Start playing. PERSISTENCE CTM FESTIVAL 2019 ADVENTUROUS MUSIC & ART 20TH EDITION BERLIN 02 CTM 2019 – PERSISTENCE 46 WE ARE THE HALLUCI NATION: Introduction AN INTERVIEW WITH BEAR WITNESS OF A TRIBE CALLED RED 08 INTERDEPENDENCE Lindsay Nixon JON DAVIES 52 MICROTONALITY AND THE STRUGGLE 12 ON LOOP AND IN THE CROSSFADE: FOR FRETLESSNESS IN THE MUSIC IN THE AGE OF MASS DIGITAL AGE PERSISTENCE Khyam Allami Josh Kun 60 ARKESTRATED RHYTHMACHINE 16 TRANS-MITTING BLACK RESISTANCE KOMPLEXITIES: MACHINIC Tai Linhares in Conversation with GEISTERSTUNDE AND POST-SOUL Linn da Quebrada PERSISTENCIES ARK 21 »ALL THAT IS SOLID MELTS INTO PR«: ON PERSISTENCE, RESILIENCE, 66 200 BPM ORGASM CLUB MUSIC AND AUTONOMY IN MUSIC Gabber Modus Operandi Ollie Zhang in ConversationEverything with Jan Rohlf changes 24 ALL UNITED 72 NOISE BOMBING:when THE SPIRITyou OFlisten. IC3PEAK in Conversation with STREET NOISE Mariana Berezovska Indra MenusThe & Seanmusic Stellfoxthat moves you is just a tap away. New Sennheiser MOMENTUM 30 THE RADICAL ELASTICITY OF SOUND 80 PEEPING THROUGHTrue Wireless A FROWN: earbuds have intuitive Salomé Voegelin A DÉRIVE THROUGHtap controls. THE No PUNK clicky buttons. No CONTINUUMwires. Just exceptional sounding, 36 FAILING AT THE IMPOSSIBLE: Tim Tetznerergonomically designed earbuds that ATTEMPTS AT EMBODYING are ready to wear and can easily be MATRIARCHY 86 ENCOUNTERS WITH BEELZEBUB’S ~ recharged in the compact carry case. An Interview with Nguye^n + ORGANS – QUELLGEISTER #3: BUSSD Transitory by Kamila Metwaly Stefan FraunbergerSearch: MOMENTUM True Wireles 42 POP, POLITICS, AND PERSISTENCE: POPULAR CULTURE BETWEEN DELIMITATION AND ACTIVISM Luise Wolf MOMTrueWireless_198x285_MTW_EN.indd 1 21.12.18 11:50 5 CTM 2019 PERSISTENCE As polarising stances and simplistic rhetoric con- idealistic kind of perseverance – a persistence of like little else. It is something we have had the rare tinue to proliferate at alarming rates, we are faced the transitory? privilege to bring about – a gift. One that was made with the difficulties of resisting them and the rifts possible by the great many people who sensed the they create. The challenge lies in cultivating per- The persistence of transience is not only a fitting value of such a festival and generously contribut- sistence without tumbling into rigidity or dogma allegory for CTM Festival’s 20-year anniversary, it ed to its survival and prosperity with their energy, – in cultivating a steadfastness through a recog- also describes an attempt to think of collective- creativity, affection, skill, and knowledge. It’s a gift nition of diversity, difference, and hybridity while ness, community, and subcultures as fleeting, ex- that we wish to share with as many as possible. also embracing fluidity, uncertainty, and flux. perience-based associations. It’s a framework for considering them as testing grounds for collec- We’d like to thank all of you from the bottom of our With Persistence, CTM 2019 examines the aes- tive speculation rather than rigid or exclusive con- hearts. Our endless gratitude goes out to everyone thetic and societal potentials and pains of perse- structs. CTM has always strived to provide a forum that has collaborated and contributed to the fes- verance, and of its opposite: the transient and the that facilitates exchange and networking between tival throughout the years; to everyone that came provisional, and considers the struggles that come different creative communities, while at the same out once or many times over; to all participants and with balancing continuity and changeability. time fostering open spaces of possibility that also artists; all volunteers; all partners, first and fore- allow those who are non-associated to navigate most our sister festival transmediale, to all funders, Music and art are characterised by continuous the interstices and try things out. sponsors, and supporters; to our hometown for all searching, open-ended experimentation, and the its unrefined realness that provides a continuous speculative nature of hypotheses, which allows for In order to keep such spaces open, however, we source of inspiration; and to our dear partners and a positive adoption of uncertainty. A hypothesis is must also insist on stable economic conditions. To families for their immense and lasting support. always open to being corrected or discarded. It survive as an artist and to maintain communities Without all of you the festival would not exist. requires constant questioning and exchange: Lis- and spaces of open discourse make for great chal- tening, critical discussion, and doubt are inherent lenges worldwide. We urgently need concepts, We also sincerely thank the authors of this publi- components of this process, as are sensing and tools and structures that enable music and cultur- cation for sharing inspiring reflections informed by recognising inconsistencies and differences. al creators to continuously experiment in a self- their broad range of disciplines and experiences. determined manner and to freely associate them- A decisive difference between artistic and scien- selves. CTM’s 20th anniversary edition, and also tific hypotheses is that art and music take subjec- this magazine, brings together many actors and in- tive feelings, personal experiences, empathy, the itiatives across music, culture, and technology to Oliver Baurhenn, Jan Rohlf, and Remco Schuurbiers imaginary, and desire as their starting points. Artis- imagine, discuss, and celebrate open and plural- tic propositions can therefore never be complete- istic structures. ly eliminated, and because they need to be expe- rienced, they offer transitory moments of radical Developing our festival and keeping it afloat pluralisation. Thinking and acting on this basis is a throughout the past 20 years has been a challeng- form of resistance against essentialism and natu- ing exercise in determination and persistence, of ralistic misconceptions, against the absolute, and constant and sometimes extremely rapid change unshakable identities, and also against the cor- and continuous learning, and with moments of in- rosive powers of uncertainty. So, can music and tense existential pressure. It has been an incred- art provide us with methods to move towards new ibly enriching experience, one that we wouldn’t societal horizons? Can we maintain a productive, want to do without and that has shaped our lives 7 9 AS IF WE EXISTED AS IF WE WERE UNIQUE AS IF WE WERE SOLITARY SELVES AS IF WE KNEW AS IF WE REMEMBERED AS IF WE COULD FEEL AS IF WE WERE FREE AS IF WE WERE HEARD AS IF WE HAD A VOICE AS IF WE WERE HAPPY AS IF WE WERE BEAUTIFUL AS IF WE WERE EQUAL AS IF WE HAD RIGHTS AS IF WE HAD AGENCY AS IF WE WHERE WHOLE AS IF WE HAD MEANING AS IF THERE WERE NO IFS AS IF WE WERE SEEN AS IF WE WERE KIN AS IF WE COULD SPEAK AS IF WE COULD SHARE AS IF WE WERE GHOSTS AS IF WE WERE STRONG AS IF WE COULD CONNECT AS IF WE COULD AGREE AS WE COULD BE HOPEFUL AS IF WE HAD POWER AS IF WE WERE LOVED AS IF WE COULD IMAGINE AS IF WE COULD LEARN AS IF WE COULD CHANGE AS IF WE COULD LIVE ON 11 designed as self-improvement not only for one’s cal practice, may intervene in our mindfulness ma- own needs but also for the creation of more men- laise may prove to be a key to how we might es- INTERDEPENDENCE tal resilience in the face of ever more exploitative cape emotional capitalism. labour practices? Aisling McCrea posits that »the rhetoric around self-care is flattering but flatten- Reinvigorating forms of solidarity in music mark a JON DAVIES ing, treating its audience as though the solution strategy for wellness, not just for oneself but in or- to their problems is believing in themselves and der to support one another. The dynamics of im- investing in themselves. This picture glosses over provised music within a group, for example, dem- the question of what happens when society does onstrate ways of communication and care in which not believe or invest in us.«*4) Not only does mind- the sonic outcome is dependent on the constitu- fulness demand a form of labour on the self, but ency of the group. As David Bell notes, improvi- As expectations around creative labour have transformed under Cap- it also turns its patients into consumers, supple- sation as a radical practice »collapses the binary menting their lives through short-term fixes, from opposition between the individual and the collec- italist Realism, the role of the musician has changed drastically. Jon short breaks to health apps. tive: the ability of one to act from their position Davies considers the hazards of contemporary discourses around of difference increases the ability of the collective McCrea asks: »Why are these feelings familiar to to act.«*7) Rully Shabara’s improvisational practice mental health and consider how music might posit potential salves. so many of us, yet we feel so alone?« Refocusing explores consciousness-raising through commu- on the musician, what impact does production and nicating musically with different performers from performance have on our mental health? What im- various traditions, as well as responding to his en- pact does it have, particularly on the surge of solo vironment. With Senyawa (roughly translated as artists, producers, and DJs who on one hand have »chemical compound«), his semi-improvisational benefitted from computer music-making yet on the compositions with Wukir Suryadi are inspired by a other hand have ushered in the atomisation of cre- dialectic between man and nature, while Ruang Ja- What to make of Capitalist Realism and the state in particular the effects it has on mental health. ativity, after the wreckage of the music industry at gat invites audience members to try their hand at of music-making for many struggling artists today? Labour became flexible in more ways than one; the beginning of the 21st century? Without lament- exploring their voice through conducted orches- Perhaps a day for the average electronic music not only does the contract between employer and ing too heavily on the decline of the band, one tras.