Frequent readers of zweikommasieben will know that the creative processes we highlight in our magazine are an eclectic gathering of influences that result in varied creative practices. This plurality informs a question we have repeatedly asked ourselves: what might be the common denominator connecting all the dots? For this issue, we would like to make the case for the discursive potential of personal experiences.
Once the personal is taken seriously, anecdotes provide major insights into an artist’s practice. A portrait on producer Malibu taps into memories of popular culture and traces musical experiences from her childhood to highlight the dedication she brings towards composing melodies and using samples. In their essay, the duo Space Afrika assembles recollections of their daily lives in north-west England to frame their artistic output over the years.
Highlighting subjective perspectives allows for the differentiation of what might appear similar at first. Both the collaboration of Andreas Bülhoff and Marc Matter featured in “Soundtexte” and the interview with Tygapaw refer to the use of poetry. The former condense language to its most basic units and present them as rhythmic building blocks for DJs. Taking a different approach, Tygapaw asked a poet to be the narrator of their album, expanding the tracks by embedding an additional layer of meaning.
In this issue, many of the featured artists are aware of the circumstances that they are embedded in. Subsequently, the objective realities of creating the music and culture which we cover with zweikommasieben are foregrounded. Rather than only focusing on music’s inherent qualities, the magazine highlights what is necessary to be able to produce and participate, and who has these resources at their disposal. The often-sobering view on music and art could be read as disappointing. However, the texts, their authors, and the featured artists also reveal their strategies for navigating their situations and how they aspire to find ways of moving towards a more sustainable context for everyone involved.
A red thread running through various entries of this issue is the focus on the importance of community: Lazer-Gazer and Noise Diva, two representatives of the Amsterdam scene, see collaboration at the heart of their practices. In another contribution, the Berlin-based label Unguarded makes a plea for their community as an (artistic) support network. Such a support structure is also acknowledged by Sega Bodega in his interview.
Those and the other contributions are responding to the shared reality of creating anno 2022.
160 pgs, 24 × 17 cm, Softcover.
