Applications for the first part of Amplify Berlin’s fifth semester (September – November 2020) are now open & will close 15 July 2019 at 23:59. Applicants will be notified of the results by August 31rst 2020.
Amplify Berlin
... is a residency program designed to support emerging Berlin-based musicians through mentorships with more established ones in order to facilitate creative development through guidance, a focused work environment and access to resources. This program has been initiated by Acud Macht Neu and is co-financed by the Europäischer Fonds für regionale Entwicklung (EFRE) and Musicboard Berlin. The program has been funded until 2021, with a total of 25 mentors and 50 mentees over the three-year period.
The jury for September 2020 – November 2020 consists of:
Khyam Allami
(Mentor – September 2020)
Jochen Arbeit
(Mentor – October 2020)
Phase Fatale
(Mentor – November 2020)
Shub Roy
(Amplify Berlin Project Coordinator)
MENTORS
Khyam Allami
... is an Iraqi multi-instrumentalist musician, composer, mix engineer and label manager with a formidable and continually growing international reputation. Despite only taking up the Oud – his principal instrument – in his twenties, Allami rapidly became a performer of international renown. His remarkably assured 2011 debut solo album Resonance/Dissonance was widely critically praised and led him to high profile performances across Europe and the Arab world including the BBC Proms (UK), WOMAD (UK), Supersonic (UK), CTM (DE), Incubate (NL) and Irtijal (LB).
Born in Damascus, Syria in 1981 to Iraqi parents, and raised in London from the age of 9, Allami began his musical path by studying the violin for a minor role in the Syrian arthouse film Al-Tahaleb (Rimon Butros, 1990). Following short stints as a violinist in school orchestras in London he moved on to Guitar, Bass and Drums during his teens before continuing on as a Drummer in the metal, post-rock and progressive rock bands Art of Burning Water, Ursa and Knifeworld.
During the US/UK-led invasion and destruction of Iraq in 2003 Allami found himself to be “out of balance” with himself and his history and in 2004 – aged 23 – began to study Oud, Arabic and Iraqi music with Iraqi Oud master Ehsan Emam in London. A year later he enrolled himself into the B.A. Ethnomusicology degree at SOAS, University of London and graduated with a distinction in 2008. After receiving scholarships from SOAS and the British Institute for the Study of Iraq he went on to study for a Masters and continued his research and Oud studies across Istanbul and Cairo with Mehmet Bitmez, Naseer Shamma at Beit al-Oud, Hazem Shaheen and Abdo Dagher. In 2010 he was chosen as the first protege of BBC Radio 3’s prestigious World Routes Academy mentorship scheme which saw perform at WOMAD and London’s Royal Albert Hall broadcast live on BBC Radio 3.
Jochen Arbeit
... moved to Berlin in 1980 and became part of the art and music movement Geniale Dilettanten, which had its roots in punk rock and Dada. In 1983 he became a member of the influential instrumental band Die Haut, with whom he toured in Europe and overseas. In 1997 he became an official member of the avant-garde noise band Einstürzende Neubauten, who he first met in the early eighties and has worked on all albums and tours since. Other projects include the Berlin country band The Jever Mountain Boys, the soul band Martin Dean, and painter Martin Eder’s band Richard Ruin et les Demoniaques. In 2006 Arbeit began working with dancer and performance artist Vania Rovisco, which resulted in the project Stupid Green. He also created the music for Abraham Hurtado’s dance piece I was there. In 2009 he composed a sound installation for an exhibition of Martin Eder’s paintings in Dresden, worked with Stupid Green on a performance for the 90th anniversary of the Bauhaus at Theaterhaus Jena and presented and composed the music for Abraham Hurtados performance installation Die Körper ohne Uns in Murcia, Spain and Mexico City. In 2011 he founded the new band AUTOMAT with members Zeitblom and Achim Färber, with whom he recorded various radio plays and played live shows in Germany. Currently Jochen Arbeit is working on performances with Böse Diva Productions and Finnish choreographer Milla Koistinen.
Phase Fatale
...is the Berlin-based techno project of Hayden Payne.
Since 2014 the New York native has earned a reputation as a techno
innovator, both for the broad spectrum of dystopian, gritty, industrial-
laden electronics included in DJ sets as well as his deep
understanding of synthesis and sound design in his own productions.
Having released his debut album on Hospital Productions (Redeemer,
2017) and 12″s on labels such as Jealous God, Ostgut Ton and its sub
label unterton, Phase Fatale has since settled into residencies at both
Berghain in Berlin as well as Khidi in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi. In 2018
Payne launched his own label BITE.
Phase Fatale’s sharpened rhythmic contours in the context of his DJ
sets draw on a vast repertoire of new and classic references: dark
ambient drones contrast with the raw, punchy dynamics of industrial
and post-punk, cold wave aesthetics combine with 4/4 functionality –
all stitched together meticulously with strong atmospheric sensibilities,
careful and precise mixing.
REQUIREMENTS
Applicants must be Berlin-based.
Applicants must be 18 years or older.
Applicants must be available to dedicate time to the project in the month for which they choose to apply.
Interested applicants are asked to fill out the application by July 15, 2020 at 23:59.
This open call applies to the period of September 2020 – November 2020. Another call for the period January 2021 to February 2021 with new mentors starts in September 2020.
For full details about the program, click here.
Questions can be directed to shub@amplify-berlin.de.