Sonic Interventions Podcast

Sonic Interventions

Intervening Arts - Freie Universität Berlin
A podcast about the poetics of sound and its power to disrupt norms and transform society. The first season features artists and thinkers based in New York and Chicago. On each episode, host Dr. Layla Zami is in conversation with musicians, sound artists, and theatre-makers, with a special ear for postcolonial and/or queer sonic possibilities. A project by the Collaborative Research Center on Intervening Arts (SFB 1512 Intervenierende Künste) and the Performance Studies Department (Institut für Theaterwissenschaft) at Freie Universität Berlin. Special thanks to P&T Knitwear Bookstore and Podcast Studio and Eufoniker Audioproduktion.
Vocal dis/obedience
This episode features Anjeline de Dios, a cultural geographer and vocal artist from Manila, Philippines. Emma Lo talks with her about voices, disobedience, well-being, and sonic conceptions of space. They engage with how voices are shaped and how to connect with one’s own voice.
Sep 29, 2023
35 min
Archival silences
Season 2 engages with Asian (diasporic) perspectives and opens with artist-scholar Dr. meLê yamomo in conversation with Prof. Dr. Doris Kolesch, Dr. Layla Zami, and Emma Lo who curates this new season. In this episode, they discuss sonic relationalities and archival practices. Learn more about yamomo's projects 'Echoing Europe’, the Decolonial Frequencies Festival, and DeCoSEAS.
Sep 15, 2023
29 min
Chicago Field Trip
This episode discusses Nick Cave's exhibition Forothermore and features a conversation with scholar-artist Dr. Meida Teresa McNeal and curator-artist Danny Dunson. A timely meditation on listening, Black bodies, house culture and visual arts, enriched with sound excerpts from Dr. Zami's research field trip to Chicago.
Apr 19, 2023
25 min
Stimmbezirke (in German)
In this episode in German language, musician Natalia Kiës and photographer Elias Wessel discuss the project “It’s Complicated - Ist möglicherweise Kunst". The conversation facilitated by Dr. Layla Zami addresses information overflow, photography as painting, and the possibility for sound art to intervene into social media algorithms.
Mar 15, 2023
35 min
Music as Retroactive Reparations
This episode presents BRICKS (A 20-YEAR MUSIC TOUR OF REPARATIONS), and features playwright Charlene Jean, performer Mercy Kelly, and host Dr. Layla Zami. A conversation about decolonial spirituality, matriarchs, gentrification, Black time, and queer performance strategies, enriched with lively audio samples from the performance.
Mar 1, 2023
31 min
Sounds of Rest
Recorded on the historical site of the Weeksville Heritage Center, this episode welcomes Najee_ (interdisciplinary artist and yogi) and Erica Harper (VP of Learning and Engagement at WHC). The conversation with Dr. Layla Zami addresses restful practices and restorative sounds, African-American liberation history and the meaning of community. An episode full of emotions and information!
Feb 15, 2023
32 min
Lower Frequencies
Dr. Layla Zami is in conversation with fellow artists-scholars Mendi and Keith Obadike, a married Igbo Nigerian American couple who create music, writing, and art. In this first episode, they discuss alternate ways of listening that allow us to perceive something beyond the surface. Learn more about their work, such as 'Frequency' and 'Timbre', which were inspired by a lively African-American literary legacy.
Feb 1, 2023
25 min
Trailer
#sonicinterventions is launching just on time for Black History Month 2023! In each episode, host Dr. Layla Zami interviews artists and scholars who create and think about sound art, performances, music, audio walks, and other artistic forms. The first season centers projects based in New York and Chicago. Listen to our conversations and field recordings, and learn more by subscribing to our podcast.
Jan 16, 2023
53 sec