Applications for the second part of Amplify Berlin’s fifth semester (January – February 2021) are now open & will close 15 November 2020 at 23:59. Applicants will be notified of the results by December 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:
Afriqua
(Mentor – January 2021)
Lyra Pramuk
(Mentor – February 2021)
Shub Roy
(Amplify Berlin Project Coordinator)
L to R: Afriqua, Lyra Pramuk
Mentors
Afriqua
... (AKA Adam Longman Parker) crafts his mercurial productions with an eye to the future and an ear to the past. At a young age, he straddled the seemingly disparate worlds of classical music and hip-hop, studying piano works while developing his skills as a producer and DJ. Diving into turntablism and b-boy culture, he performed alongside pioneers Jazzy Jay, Grandwizard Theodore, and Grandmaster Caz, formative experiences that evolved into a natural versatility behind the decks.
Born and raised in Virginia, Parker was inspired by the productions of local legends The Neptunes, Timbaland, and Missy Elliot. He went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London by day, while receiving the essential nightlife education of institutions like Fabric and Plastic People. He moved to Berlin a few years later, embracing the city’s rich musical offerings. His early productions as Afriqua caught the attention of independent labels including 2nd Drop Records, Souvenir, and All Inn, where he explored sounds both firmly within the house/techno sphere and unmistakably beyond it. 2017 marked the beginning of an exclusive relationship with R&S Records.
Standout tracks “Soul Correction,” “Chronic Cool,” and his R&S debut “Aleph” have been DJ and crowd favorites alike, and exemplify Parker’s approach to production: weaving deep samples into spacey sonic tapestries, honoring black heritage while propelling it into the future.
Lyra Pramuk
... fuses classical training, pop sensibilities, performance practices and contemporary club culture in what may best be described as futurist folk music. While the American operatically-trained vocalist and electronic musician is perhaps previously best known for her work with musical collaborators such as Holly Herndon and Colin Self, she has just released her critically-acclaimed debut album, Fountain, via Iceland’s Bedroom Community label in March 2020.
Created entirely from her own voice, although often shaped and structured by electronics, Fountain is an emotional, sensual, and devotional journey. The title is derived from her family name, Pramuk, which translates from Czech as ‘well spring’ or ‘fountain.’ Often wordless, these songs evoke a new wholeness sustained by the ritual force of drowning, immersion, cleansing, and bathing – also referred to in the album artwork by acclaimed visual artist Donna Huanca. Fountain plays with the perception of music, rhythms, speech, body, and the relation between technology and humanity, exploring a post-human, non-binary understanding of life and the fragile ecosystems it depends on. The work documents a healing that is still in process, and a full circle-moment that reunited Lyra with her sound engineer twin brother, Ben, for the final mix, which they completed in tandem.
As a vocal activist and member of the queer community, Fountain’s creation also coincided with a personal rejuvenation for its author. Its completion culminated in the live premiere of the album material at Unsound Festival in Krakow in 2019, where she performed through a multi-channel array designed by Ben Frost, opening for Sunn O))) and Roly Porter. A closer collaboration with Frost on a soundtrack for a new film project will be announced in 2021. Her performance at Berghain on 30 January for CTM Festival in her hometown of Berlin offered an even more confident and joyous realization of the album’s song cycle.
Lyra moved to Berlin in 2013 as a DAAD postgraduate study scholarship recipient, following her degree at the Eastman School of Music in New York. Since then, she has also been awarded residencies at Elektronmusikstudion EMS Stockholm, Open Port Club Residency in Tokyo and Sapporo, and Future Music Lab of the Atlantic Music Festival in Maine. Her interests also encompass writing, poetry, and fashion, where she is sometimes called upon as a model. As a performance artist, she has collaborated extensively with Donna Huanca and at events such as Glasgow International and the Rochester Fringe Festival.
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 November 15, 2020 at 23:59.
This open call applies to the period of January 2021 – February 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.