Being an independent musician today means navigating many roles at once: writing, producing, releasing, booking, promoting — often under increasing financial pressure and within a system shaped by competition and scarcity. Rising costs, limited resources, and unstable conditions make it harder to sustain artistic work in the long term.

This evening invites a shift in perspective:

What if we moved beyond competition and started thinking in terms of solidarity?

What would it mean to support each other, for example in getting gigs, and also across all aspects of being musicians?

Together with Jamila Al-Yousef (Jamila & The Other Heroes) and Melissa Perales, we open a space to exchange experiences, share strategies, and imagine new ways of working together — from songwriting and production to touring, promotion, and community building.

How can we share knowledge, resources, and networks?

How can we build sustainable communities of care and mutual support within and beyond the music scene?

The evening is designed as a mixed format: starting with a panel conversation, followed by facilitated small group sessions to allow for deeper exchange and co-creation, and closing with time for networking, music, and drinks.

Speakers

Jamila Al-Yousef is a Berlin-based cultural studies scholar, musician, theater maker, festival curator, and anti-discrimination consultant. With her internationally touring band Jamila & The Other Heroes she blends psychedelic desert rock with a message of collective liberation. Born in East Berlin on the day the Wall fell and shaped by her Palestinian heritage, her music channels revolutionary energy and diasporic stories into songs of liberation, empowerment, and healing. Singing in Arabic and English, she creates concerts that are wild, tender, and deeply political rituals of unity and defiance. Jamila combines her artistic practice with social justice work, focusing on power sharing, anti racism, empowerment, and awareness. As a trainer and consultant of cultural organizations, clubs, and festivals, she works with a power-critical and trauma-informed approach and centers the perspectives of those affected.

Jamila Al-Yousef has brought the idea for this topic and format to Music Pool, and also curates and hosts the evening together with us.

İpek İpekçioğlu, also known as DJ Ipek, has been one of the leading figures on the global ethnic-orient-electronic music scene for over 30 years. As a DJ, producer, curator, and queer activist, she divides her time between Berlin and Istanbul, combining club culture with cultural diversity, political stance, and artistic vision in her work. As resident DJ at the legendary Gayhane – QueerOriental Dancefloor at Berlin’s SO36, she has been helping to shape one of Berlin’s most important and longest-running queer dancefloors for decades. Her sets transcend boundaries of origin, gender, and identity, transforming every dancefloor – from underground raves to festival stages – into a space of freedom, resistance, and belonging.

Melissa Perales is a music curator, promoter, and consultant, and part of the team at Music Pool Berlin, where she supports artists through consultation, networking, and community-building. As founder of M:Soundtrack and curator of projects such as Café Chocolat and the DURCHLÜFTEN Festival at the Humboldt Forum, her work focuses on creating sustainable structures for independent artists, with a strong commitment to solidarity, inclusion, and marginalized voices. In this session, she joins as both host and speaker to share perspectives on building stronger support systems within the music community—from booking gigs to long-term collective growth.

Julia Siemienowicz is a multidisciplinary producer and community facilitator with a foundation in art criticism, art history, and research. She focuses on advancing cultural development through international exchange, cross-disciplinary collaboration, and intersectional dialogue. Julia is a member of The Palace Collective and one of the lead producers for The Palace Residency. Based in Berlin, she is currently leading the development of a 90mil – a multidisciplinary cultural venue dedicated to fostering artistic expression, community engagement, and cultural innovation.

DJ 

Calamidades Lola is a record hunter, DJ selector, and radio host from the Colombian Caribbean, currently based in Berlin, Germany. Much of the sound she shares, whether on the dance floor, in listening sessions, or on radio shows, is deeply influenced by her musical roots and migratory experience. She has performed at clubs, festivals, and art spaces across Europe. Calamidades Lola is resident at Refuge Worldwide, where she hosts a radio show called Ama de Caza, sharing her most recent finds on wax and inviting DJs, musicians, and researchers of African diaspora sound

Riverside Studios

Pfuelstr. 5

Berlin, 10997 Germany

Mai 28 @ 15:00 - 18:00

€15,00

Expert: Simon Hoffmann

Cellist ⎜ Improv ⎜ Systemic Coach & Counseling

Every creative journey is shaped by the stories we tell ourselves – the deeply held beliefs about our potential, our capabilities, and the boundaries of our world. These foundational narratives can either propel us forward or subtly restrict our artistic expression and personal growth.

Part 3 invites you to a deeper, more inquisitive exploration of these core beliefs. While building on the series, this workshop stands alone and welcomes all, regardless of attendance at previous sessions. We’ll dive into hands-on, curious research to uncover the origins of our beliefs and actively experiment with transformative approaches. Discover practical methods to reshape limiting perspectives into empowering insights, fostering a richer, more expansive creative life and a resilient inner landscape. Join us to transform the beliefs that hold you back into the insights that can set your creativity free.

Mai 19 @ 14:00 - 18:00

€22,00

Expertin: Jennifer Naumann

Content-Strategin und Kampagnenplanerin

In diesem Workshop bekommst du als Artist die Werkzeuge, um deine Social-Media-Aktivitäten strategisch zu gestalten – von der ersten Idee über die Content-Produktion bis hin zur Veröffentlichung auf den gängigen Plattformen. Theorie und Praxis gehen Hand in Hand: In Einzel- und Gruppenübungen arbeitest du direkt an deiner eigenen Content-Strategie.

Dabei entwickeln wir gemeinsam passende Content-Säulen, individuelle Formate und einen strukturierten Redaktionsplan. Außerdem besprechen wir, wie du Content-Produktionsslots optimal einplanst. Praxisnahe Mini-Demos zeigen dir, welche Tools dich bei deiner Social-Media-Arbeit unterstützen können. Am Ende hältst du einen klaren Fahrplan für deine Social-Media-Aktivitäten in der Hand, der dir hilft, deine Sichtbarkeit auf allen Plattformen zu steigern und deine Marke konsistent, authentisch und erkennbar zu präsentieren.

Zielgruppe:

Artists, die bereits eigene Social Media Accounts betreiben, Grundkenntnisse im Umgang mit den gängigen Plattformen haben und bereit sind, sich aktiv mit Strategie, Planung und Umsetzung auseinanderzusetzen. Geeignet für Newcomer ebenso wie für etablierte Musiker*innen, die ihre Selbstvermarktung auf Social Media professionalisieren und auf das nächste Level bringen wollen.

Expert: Amande Dagod

artist manager, booking agent, tour manager, and event producer

Thinking about exporting your music but not sure how it actually works?

If you’ve already released music, played some shows and are starting to receive interest from

abroad, this workshop is about figuring out what comes next. We’ll talk about what “export ready”

means, look at where your music might connect outside of Germany, and go through different ways

to approach building something internationally.

We’ll cover things like data and tools, online presence, playing shows abroad, showcase festivals,

and the practical side of touring. The goal is to give you a clearer sense of your options and the next concrete steps for developing

your project internationally.

There will also be time for questions, discussion, and a few exercises to help you reflect on your own project.

May 4 @ 2 pm to 6 pm - May 5 @ 2 pm to 6 pm €35,00

A workshop on artist bios, press copy, and taking control of your narrative

A two-decade practice of writing press releases and artist bios, distilled into two days.

Day 1 (3 hrs) — The Artist Bio. 2 pm to 5 pm

Day 2 (3 hrs) — The Press Release. 2 pm to 5 pm

This isn’t a writing class, and it isn’t an AI class. It’s a process: extracting the key narratives, building the architecture of your text, and finding the specific language — the palette — that reflects who you are and what your music is right now.

AI is not a shortcut here, and we won’t be using it to write. If you can write, you’ll write. If you need a scaffold, it’s there — AI solves a problem I couldn’t solve before: how to support artists who struggle with prose without turning the whole thing into a beginner’s writing class. What it also makes possible is a different kind of research: mining film reviews, art criticism, or any cultural reference point for the exact phrases and metaphors that embody your sound. And when you’re too deep in your own work to see it clearly, it helps you get a clear signal back.

Because whether someone googles you or asks an AI assistant, what comes back is a synthesis of every text that exists about you online. If you don’t write that story, the internet will.

Coach: Lukasz Polowczyk