KCRW Berlin: Amplified

Amplified is a weekly music show, originally broadcast on KCRW Berlin, featuring interviews with musicians from all genres, hailing from Berlin and beyond.

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Episodes

Fiedel, longtime resident Berghain DJ, to release new mix on Ostgut Ton

Picturing the early beginnings of a veteran DJ conjures the classic image of turntables and crates full of vinyl. But Michael Fiedler – better known as Fiedel, Berghain’s longtime resident DJ – began on tapes. “I come from eastern Germany, and there was hardly vinyl available, no turntables…I started recording tapes on the radio, and then I played tapes with two tape decks… I had long, long lists with a counter.” Over the course of Fiedel’s influential, decades-long career, much has changed in B...

Jan 20, 2018•4 min•Ep. 9

Raven Chacon, American Academy composition fellow, to look at role of sound in 2016 protests at Standing Rock

The earliest memory Raven Chacon recalls of music-making is hearing his grandfather sing Navajo songs while working, watching television, or reading. Later as Chacon began taking piano lessons and learning about music notation, he also began experimenting with making sounds in other ways, with cassette tapes or banging on metal. Now Chacon, who is known for his chamber music compositions, experimental noise performances, and installation art pieces, will live in Germany as a spring 2018 composit...

Jan 13, 2018•4 min•Ep. 8

DJ couple SpatzHabibi balance Berlin's nightlife with parenthood

DJ duo SpatzHabibi have been part of the underground club scene in Berlin for years. These days, when not looking after their son, Sophie Funke and Pete Littlewood can be found performing at venues around the city and running their label Polychrome Sounds. Creating their own label in Berlin “wasn’t 100% about music… it was a lot about just being involved and creating like a kind of community or a family feeling; that’s what the label feels like,” said Littlewood. And how do they balance this cre...

Jan 06, 2018•4 min•Ep. 7

Radio personality Rik de Lisle on being the “last man standing” and how he got into radio

“I was an only child,” said Rik de Lisle, an American radio presenter who has been in broadcast since 1976. “My brothers and sisters were the radio.” De Lisle enlisted in the Army when he was 17 and became famous during the Cold War for his on air personality on the airwaves for the U.S. Armed Forces Radio station, AFN. “Berlin was edgy, because of the wall around it, because of the things that were going on,” said de Lisle. “And it was the place where I felt the most at home.” Monika Müller-Kro...

Dec 16, 2017•4 min•Ep. 7

State of the art spatial sound studio opens in former GDR broadcasting center

We’re used to hearing music and digital sound from simple speakers. Monom, a new, state-of-the-art spatial sound studio and performance space, aims to recreate the natural perception of sound in a spatial environment. Monom resides in Funkhaus Berlin, a former broadcasting complex built by the GDR in the 1950s, and is powered by a 4D sound system developed by Dutch audio engineers over the past decade. The result is a listening experience that “awakens your senses,” says William Russell, Monom’s...

Dec 02, 2017•4 min•Ep. 6

Singer, songwriter and producer Sasha Perera on her latest album and the Berlin music scene

“The inspiration was definitely how one has to deal with what’s happening right now,” says London-born and Berlin-based Sasha Perera, also known as Perera Elsewhere, about her new album. Perera talks with Marlene Melchior about the Berlin music scene, her experience performing in the same lineup as Pussy Riot, and what’s next for her. Produced by Marlene Melchior

Nov 18, 2017•4 min•Ep. 5

American DJ and producer Sky Deep explains the inspiration behind her music, and why she moved to Berlin

For years, people told American DJ and producer Sky Deep that she should go to Berlin. It made her curious, so she planned a tour stop in the city with her band at the time. Now she’s lived in Berlin for three years. When asked about the current atmosphere in the U.S., Sky Deep said “as a black, queer woman,” she is terrified to return to her home country. She continued, “But I actually experience fear in several places in the world so I don’t think I can escape it.” Sky Deep joined Monika Mülle...

Nov 11, 2017•4 min•Ep. 4

The Barenboim-Said Akademie: promoting political harmony through music-making

The Barenboim-Said Akademie in Berlin offers a conservatory education to musicians from the Middle East and North Africa as a way to promote a more peaceful future for a troubled region. Monika Müller-Kroll talks to the rector of the Akademie, Prof. Dr. Michael Naumann. A natural continuation of Daniel Barenboim’s and Edward Said’s West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, the Akademie aims to produce a generation of musicians who will “know better” than to support religious or territorial conflicts. Fittin...

Nov 04, 2017•4 min•Ep. 3

On the intersection between digital and analog sound with musician Nat Fowler

For Nat Fowler, aka Novo Line, creating his latest album “Dyad” was a sort of experiment or game: could he produce tracks that work at both 33 rpm and 45 rpm? Besides encouraging people to buy vinyl, Fowler’s approach as an artist plays with the intersection between digital and analog sound, from his choice to use “archaic” computer algorithms when sketching out ideas, to working exclusively with older production equipment. Produced by Marlene Melchior....

Oct 28, 2017•4 min•Ep. 2

Paul van Dyk on his new release 'From Then On'

Pioneer electronic DJ, musician and producer Paul van Dyk has released a new album. It’s titled “From Then On.” We caught up with him before his tour. Produced by Monika Müller-Kroll.

Oct 21, 2017•4 min•Ep. 1

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