How was 2019 for you?
Peter Boding: 2019 was an amazing year for me. Actually, I think it has been my best year regarding music. I have definitely reached out to many more people through my music than I ever thought.
Highlights?
Most definitely my debut EP release on Pattern Abuse. It really helped me reflect on my own music which is something i have to get used to.
Song of the year?
Yangze – “Mutation.” Fresh out of my own country, Yangze is one of the most innovative pop-ish artists in Denmark in my opinion. He represents such futuristic ways of structuring and creating a song and his sound is definitely something else. The track is from his new Event Horizon EP. Go check it out – it bangs.
What’s your New Year’s resolution?
Maybe taking better care of myself for next year! And of course to make a lot more music!
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How was 2019 for you?
Brunetto: Well, as usual, and at least throughout the last decade, [it was] very, very intense. 2019 was loaded with experiences in all areas related to music in which I usually work (composing, press and communication, writing), with most of them very satisfying. Clearly I can get used to this so hectic music business life, where professionals are constantly mutating. If you don’t, you’re out! It is insane how fast the days, weeks, months fly lately. .. that happens when you’re a music junkie, a passionate of dealing with new projects, challenges, artists, ideas … a truly but satisfied workaholic! 2019 has been no less than 2020, you’ll see!
Highlights?
As a musician I lived a beautiful experience first composing and then filming the video for “Humanity” in an incredible place as Bardenas Reales here in Navarra (Spain). Game of Thrones was there! I’m very happy of how special the EP released on Sincopat worked out. All this has given me strength and confidence to start preparing a new EP – with more original tracks this time – for this label which I really love. Glad also [about] the remix for Daniel Van Lion’s “Amaina.” I had the chance to express myself with that Boards of Canada mood I love so much.
Another remarkable point in this 2019 has been my great time in a new Sitges Festival edition. Music and sci-fi/horror movies are my greatest passions. Musically speaking, I have much to say in this regard yet… My very first time at L.E.V. Festival (Gijón, Spain) also worth mentioning!
Lowlights?
At work level, within the musical field, I have no complaints. At least to call them lowlights, just the usual ones that must be solved immediately. While it is true the political and social earthquake that the entire planet is experiencing do not help much when it comes to concentrating … at least not always. On the other hand, I want to believe the union of communities will achieve a fairer and better world. If the planet Earth did not die before, that is another. I am very concerned about how rulers as Bolsonaro, Trump and in general the nationalists are ignoring climate disaster. They all are blinded by greed.
Song of the year?
Alessandro Cortini – “La Storia” from the Volume Massimo album on Mute Records.
What’s your New Year’s resolution?
Keep my desire to continue learning and growing intact. Do not stop discovering new music daily. This is something I always loved. Eat less chocolate? (This is for me what smoking is for other people), spend more time experimenting/working in the recording studio and breathe more fresh air in some mountains. Ah, and if possible, have a dog puppy with me while I do all that.
Image by MP Hubaczek
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How was 2019 for you?
Viktor Talking Machine: 2019 was full of love, stress and crazy moments. We released a well-noticed EP on Monaberry with great remixes by Lauer and Italo Brutalo. We had the chance to remix Andhim and played so many great festivals and clubs. We met so many great people and are thankful for every single moment.
Highlights?
Becoming a father and discovering that two hours of sleep are enough. We moved our studio to our friends from Station Endlos and are now super happy with our rooms and the new possibilities. Superbooth this year was awesome and brought us so much new gear that we want but can’t afford. Every festival and club we played was so much fun that we can’t pick one as a super highlight.
Lowlights?
None of them belonging directly to the music scene but are part of our lives, so they influenced us in several ways. There was the deadly shooting with an anti-semitic background at a synagogue very close to the place where we live. So this changed a lot and took us of for a few days. A lot of bad events stopped our daily routine and forced us to think out of the box. The big fire [in] the Amazon, Brexit, rising right-wing extremist violence all over Europe, that the Sumatran rhino is now officially extinct in Malaysia and some more of those lowlights.
Song of the year?
The song that was our constant companion is “Lille Vals” from our friend Storken. We got this massive tune at the very beginning of the year and every time we played it the people went nuts. It is a classical goose-bump song that touches our hearts and forced us a smile on our faces.
What’s your New Year’s resolution?
Work. Work. Work.
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How was 2019 for you?
Monique Bingham: 2019 was great musically! I feel like I’m bursting with new music and ideas. I wish our long national nightmare would end, but other than that it was productive.
Highlights?
I got to travel and perform in some new parts of Africa this year, including Namibia and Angola for the first time. Every opportunity to perform for folks is a blessing, but it’s lovely to meet people and places you had no idea your music had reached.
Lowlights?
The xenophobic “riots” in Johannesburg in September were incredibly disturbing and disheartening. It really messed me up for some weeks. I was touring there the entire month. As a part-time punk Pan-Africanist to watch African nationals fight other African nationals in Africa was a mind fuck for someone like me. But I am lucky I have a lot of great friends in SA, and I can also count the great Nigerian painter Lemi Ghariokwu as a friend, and they really talked me off the ledge.
Song of the year?
Ralf GUM feat. Bongi Mvuyana’s “Used To Be.” Bongi is one of the most original singers I have heard in ages.
What’s your New Year’s resolution?
To remember who I was when I first started this musical sojourn and to be as fearless as she was in everything I do in 2020.
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