How much freedom – or what kinds of freedom – do artists enjoy? Do us regular Joes have a rosy view of that self-employed existence?

In May 2018 I interviewed singer, songwriter, poet and writer Sister Chain in Berlin. She is part of the duo Sister Chain & Brother John as well as the bands Spinster Sister and The Hunters.

Artist freedoms for everyone?
After attending a night of poetry reading at the Curious Fox Bookshop in the Neukölln part of Berlin – where Sister Chain had read some of her poetry – we walked back to her home in Kreuzberg and talked all the way.

I among other things brought up the obvious issue of enjoying a livelihood without a boss. Must be the ultimate freedom, right? Not necessarily.

There are more important freedoms. Some that arise from friendship, from honesty as well as not all the time adhering to the gender roles that society is lining up for us.

Freedoms that are definitely not specifically tied to the life of the artist.

We also talked about her life in Berlin and a bit about her origins in Tel Aviv and how things change or don’t change when returning to one’s hometown.

A practical note: Experiment
As the first podcast this second one is also an experiment. Recorded a few days after the first one. Unlike most podcasts which are recorded in studios I recorded this outside while walking. It presented some practical issues regarding both sound and keeping one’s focus on the interview. The conversation strayed a bit. But on the other hand allowed for a laid back exchange and the surrounding ambience colours the listening experience. As far as we know we both asked about drugs along the way as well as experience both traffic and bird noise.

I have uploaded the podcast to Mixcloud, so I could include some music in it as well.

The first seven minutes of the interview I filmed as well to give you a sense of the place and situation. But for obvious reasons I couldn’t hold a camera like that for an hour or more. So see below.

I hope you enjoy it!

Links:
Sister Chain & Brother John (website)

Podcast video intro

Sister Chain & Brother John – On The Roof (Live In Copenhagen)

This text and podcast originally written and produced for Easy Being Free, October 22, 2018.

How does a geographical location affect your feeling of freedom? Is there a certain mindset in that location that allows for different life styles? Of course there is. And you don’t have to compare with North Korea to notice.

In May 2018 I interviewed musician, dj, radio host and shamanistic healer Roberta Perzolla in Berlin. She also goes by the name of Zelda Panda (as dj and radio host) and Marzipan Marzipan (her band).

Transformative Berlin
Berlin is a city I have visited many times. I have noticed differences between Berlin and Danish cities. Comparing Berlin with other German cities would certainly reveal big differences.

According to Roberta the city of Berlin supports transformation. Whenever I visit there I feel that she’s on to something with that statement. The way she lives her life in the German capital inspired me to ask her if she would be my first guest in my very first podcast.

A friendly freedom talk
We went for a walk in the former Tempelhof Airport that is now a park and talked about freedom, finding your own way, about music, books and basically took at few dips into her life story as an Italian settling in Berlin.

I have known Roberta for many years. We have done various small creative projects together (like the music and video at the bottom of this blog post) and maintained a wonderful friendship all the way. It was a privilege to get to record a chat with her.

A practical note: Experiment
This first podcast is an experiment. Unlike most podcasts which are recorded in studios I tried recording this outside while walking. It presented some practical issues regarding both sound and keeping one’s focus on the interview. The conversation strayed a bit. But on the other hand allowed for a laid back exchange and the surrounding ambience colours the listening experience.

I have uploaded the podcast to Mixcloud, so I could include some music in it as well. I might upload a non-music version on other platforms.

The first five minutes of the interview I filmed as well to give you a sense of the place and situation. But for obvious reasons I couldn’t hold a camera like that for an hour or more. So see below.

I hope you enjoy it!

Links:
Roberta Perzolla’s shamanistic healing (website)
Roberta Perzolla’s shamanistic healing (Facebook)

Podcast video intro:

Marzipan Marzipan with Resident Tourist – John’s Song (Music Video):

This text and podcast originally written and produced for Easy Being Free, July 12, 2018.