One of my main goals when setting up my space has always been to go beyond the day-to-day workings of a music studio and to initiate projects that promote Berlin’s rich music scene, celebrate the coming together of different cultures and use artistic collaboration as a means to tear down some proverbial walls.
I try my best to create a safe space for everyone where you are welcome to come as you are ❤️
To this end I have been working on the following platforms:
Open Calls & Live Studio Sessions
As and when time allows, I try to organise free sessions at my studio. This entails a process of scouting for gifted musicians in Berlin and either working on their music together or filming live studio performances. In the different versions of this initiative I have been lucky to have collaborated with some awesome people and musicians.
The first iteration was a series of live studio performances filmed by my good friend Tom Alan Davies in 2018. This was under my previous partnership Mauerfall Kollektiv with Nikolaos Laskaridis and Bruno A who assisted with organising, audio and video. We called these the MK Lounge Sessions. The bands we recorded included Chinaski in Space, Fjaka, Birds and Coughs as well as music from our own solo projects. Each band performed 2-3 songs and spoke a bit about themselves and their music in short interview segments. Heres a link to a playlist with the music from those sessions:
The next round took place after the lockdown. After almost a year of isolation the economy was slow… I had a studio with almost no bookings. So this time around I decided to offer studio time to some talented musicians. I collaborated with Bruno A for the first two of these sessions where we worked with singer-songwriters Phileas (recorded vocal tracks for a song he was working on) and Madlen Strange (produced a single with her). For the next session I got together with Nikolaos Laskaridis and we helped the prodigious Sophilein produce her first single in the studio. For the fourth session I had assistance from Francesco Stancati to help Belena produce her first single in the studio as well.
Most recently, I hosted Olla and Diazno at my studio to record live performances of some cover songs. Here is their lovely rendition of Simon & Garfunkel’s Bridge Over Troubled Water.
In the near future I am planning to work on two different projects under this platform… And I am always on the lookout for talented musicians to collaborate with. So do get in touch and share your music with me via the contact section if you would like to be involved. Since this is something I organise on my own time where I don’t charge for my space or services, I would welcome any support I can get from videographers 🙂
Berlin Musician Meet-ups
This again was a lockdown, isolation inspired idea. The meet-ups are organised for a small group of around 5-10 musicians at my studio. The idea is to have fun, network, jam and make new friends 🙂 The first one took place in July 2021. Since then I try to conduct them on a monthly basis. We stay in touch as a wider group and have created a really nice resource network together. If you would like to join in sometime, do visit the link to book a spot.
https://usamasiddiq.com/berlinmusicianmeetups/
Knowledge Sharing Sessions & Internships
I am always very happy to help those starting out in the fields of music-making, production and engineering and am equally interested in learning from others. To this end, I welcome people who like to spend time in the studio to gain experience in the form of formal/informal internships where the focus is solely on the technical and business side of things. I am also in process of organising group knowledge sharing sessions. So do get in touch if you would like to participate or if you are looking for an internship at a music studio in Berlin. The more, the merrier! 🙂
Mental Health Support
I am working towards creating a support group for musicians and artists around the topic of mental health. Having suffered from different issues personally, I wish this was a more openly talked about subject. If you feel like this might be useful to you in any way, do reach out.
TW: Suicide Prevention – I also directed a music video for one my songs that aims to create more awareness around suicide prevention. Please watch and share it with people around you who might need to hear this. If you are suffering, remember that you are not alone… you are loved ❤️ If you need help, please reach out to someone… a medical professional… a friend… a random Usama who is willing to listen. There are a number of online resources as well. I’ve compiled a short list and try to update it as regularly as possible: https://usamasiddiq.com/global-suicide-hotline-resources