Photo by Camila Lakonic
A party without music is pretty shitty. For our 17th-Anniversary Party at ACUD Macht Neu on Friday, June 7, we’ve lined up Bad Hammer and The Queef of England to stop you from getting the runs.
Neukölln duo Johannes Badzura and Lisa Klinkhammer have been making velvety melodies and sentimental synth as Bad Hammer for four years, releasing their debut EP Extended Play this past spring. Along the way they’ve played support for acts such as Joan as Policewoman, Better Person and Molly Nilsson. We posed six questions to the Badzura-half of Bad Hammer.
Both of you were already coming from other music projects. Why did you decide to join forces for Bad Hammer?
Well, it was the momentum. Both of us were used to coming up with ideas on our own, but with our particular dynamic, it was possible to develop ideas more spontaneously. Our solo projects are currently on hiatus. It’s just rather fulfilling to have a second person working on something with you. We’re both equal partners in songwriting and production.
Describe your music for us…
Well, we like the term adult contemporary a lot, at least as a category, or maybe emo-country if that exists – that’s also good. I think our single “Forever” is pretty much emo-country with a dash of dark gospel at the end.
You’re also into music videos.
Our videos are quite different in style. While our “Forever” video looks like an “indie band having fun at an amusement park”, our latest video for “Ghost” looks a bit like a darker and cheaper version of Wham’s “Last Christmas”.
There’s that old saying: If your only tool is a hammer, you see every problem as a nail. What are some of Berlin’s biggest nails?
Berlin has a lot of advantages: there are a lot of possibilities to play live, there is a very active scene and there is definitely interest in what we’re doing. But live music is under-represented in some way, at least the underground DIY part of it. There are lots of successful labels for electronic music, whereas in our genre, especially for a city like Berlin, there is a lack of labels. It is a curse and blessing at the same time because everything that happens is thanks to very determined people and all the players, organisers, promoters and bands are very strongly involved in the process. Was that a nail?
How do you sustain a DIY project in 2019? Money from performing?
In comparison to the electronic music scene, our scene simply lacks money. Making live music today is almost an anachronism. Today it’s more about an event culture where there is no defined end point. With concerts, there’s a beginning, a middle and an end, but today the mentality is: I come when I want and I stay as long as I can and the DJ makes sure the whole thing just goes on. With live music, it’s like you’re from another time. You need to make connections in a city like Berlin.
You were recently on a big tour of Europe with Molly Nilsson. What was the overall experience like?
It was great! She’s an artist we appreciate as much as a person as for her work. Our sounds are very different in a way. But they fit well, a certain nostalgia resonates in our sounds.
No Shit! EXB Turns 17! Jun 7, 21:00 | ACUD Macht NEU, Mitte. RSVP on our Facebook event.
