Edita Karkoschka

Named after the Hayao Miyazaki film Nausica of the Valley of the Wind, the multinational four piece band Nausica inhabits a music world as cinematic as its namesake. Over the past few years they have steadily crafted an arresting and meditative sound, sitting at the cutting-edge of pop music.

Frontwoman Edita Karkoschka’s operatic lead vocals carrying an emotive quality reminiscent of PJ Harvey while the colorful guitar-lines of Tim Coehoorn, driven by Haim-like shifts, transform their songs into explosive powerhouses. Haunted by melancholia, – the lush and playful bass of Pim Walter combined with the electronic and acoustic beats of Jannis Knüpfer, – served straight up, frame an ever-present sea of hypnotizing, positive vibrations.

I feel it in my chest, fresh air – a vagabonds’ precious heir are not only words of their song Heidi, but according to their frontwoman, also describe the direction they are heading. Their music is sweet, with an edgy undertow. An pulsing energy that invokes a constant urge to dance.

It should come as no surprise that the members of Nausica are as different as their influences. With members hailing from The Netherlands and Germany, the band has managed to not only survive but thrive with multiple cultural influences.

After a warm response to their last international press releasing, ‘The Molecules Fall Closer’ in 2014, the band released a second EP in 2017 including the single’s “Hey You” and “Okay” and 2 more singles in 2019.

With the quartet’s love for visual experience, an ongoing collaboration with fashion designer and illustrator Sarah Knüpfer, began with the styling for their latest videos and has equally extended into their stage performances.

Reflecting Nausica’s international character, the band has toured throughout Germany, Italy, Belgium and Switzerland. In the Netherlands they’ve established a loyal fanbase after a string of high profile Dutch events including Valkhof Festival, Noorderzon Festival, Mañana Mañana and Le Mini Who. They’ve also supported Son Lux at the sold out performance in the MC Theater in Amsterdam, and Dutch band De Kift in Arnhem, and made a live appearance on Germany’s largest radio station, “1LIVE” and Dutch radio station “3FM”.

Black & White
music video, release 31th of May 2018

“NAUSICA INDULGE IN HAZY SHADOWS ON DREAMY “BLACK & WHITE”” – Atwood Magazine (US)
UK ARTIST OF THE WEEK ! – The Vinyl District (UK)
“IT’S AN UNASHAMEDLY RETRO ELECTRO POP SONG – THEY’RE TELLING ME FOALS, BUT I’M HEARING HELLA DEPECHE MODE TBH.”- Loud Women (UK)
“SINCE FORMING IN 2013, ECCENTRIC QUARTET NAUSICA HAVE WORKED FROM THEIR HOME COUNTRIES OF BOTH GERMANY AND THE NETHERLANDS, WRITING AND PRODUCING THEIR OWN MATERIAL.” – Zap! Bang! Magazine   (UK)
“…EXPERIMENTELE ‘NEON’-POPGELUID, GEMENGD MET EEN SOORT SURROUND-SOUNDS DIE IETS FILMISCH HEBBEN…” – The Daily Indie (NL)
‘ (…) A FUNKY AND SOULFUL POP INJECTION THAT WILL ACTIVATE YOUR LIMBS ON THE SPOT. RICHLY ARRANGED AND VIBRANTLY ORCHESTRATED. TOP SCORE!’ – Turn Up The Volume (BE)
‘AS THE SIZZLE OF SYNTHS AND THE THROATY SPLAT OF A GATED SNARE-DRUM GIVE WAY TO ECHOING ‘LAYERS OF GUITAR, ONE CAN’T HELP BUT ADMIRE FRONT-WOMAN EDITA KARKOSCHKA’S DEEPLY EXPRESSIVE PERFORMANCE ON THIS TRACK’ – Earthly Pleasures (NL)

Okay
music video, release 29th of September 2017

Hey You
music video,release 18th of April 2017

Live at 3voor12 radio,
21st of Sept 2017

Heidi
lyrics (fragment), 2015

I feel it in my chest, fresh air
Vagabond’s precious heir
I feel my feet getting tired and old
Hopelessly lost and found

Bohemians drop out there
Underneath the diamond stair
Next to a steep drop,- the cliff edge
Bohemia’s restlessness

Your street, your carpet’s paved
New lemonades are washing your face
Peace portals wait online
Hopelessly lost and found

Bohemians drop out there
Underneath – fresh, fresh air
Next to a steep drop, the cliff edge
Bohemia’s restlessness

And when I go, I let go
And when I leave, I leave you
I wouldn’t dare to, I wouldn’t dare to
Salving your conscience

And when I leave, I leave you
And when I go, I let go
I couldn’t care less, salving your conscience
Bohemian’s restlessness

Koschka & Heimprofi is a performance duo based in Arnhem (NL). Since September 2012, they have been working together and experimenting with the combination of live-cinema and music.

Their first performance was called ‘Bestattung Heimkehr’: surrealistic stories about nostalgia, loss of home and the melancholic feeling attached to objects that where once so important. During a concert performed by Koschka, Heimprofi generated live-video images that were projected directly on Koschka as well as on the walls of the room. The live-video images came into existence by holding objects and images in front of the camera. The bounding element in this project was a book as in; diaries, photo albums, agenda’s, journals etc.. By leafing through the book – in front of the camera – during the performance the audience was taken on a visual journey that connected to Koschka’s stories. Every song was enveloped or supported by a small visual universe that came into existence during the song and collided again. This growing and colliding transported the feeling of movement, not being able to hold on: people observe – images of death – symbols of gathering – abandonment drenched in a strong will and hope.

Koschka’s songs and her lyrics are directly connected to her experience as a foreigner, being torn between two countries. This search for „Heimat“ is a driving force to write and tell her stories. On another level, an inter cultural dialogue starts with the two persons themselves as Krista and Edita both live(d) in foreign countries, from that aspect their personal and artistic development is mixed in terms of relation to place, space and identification. Combined with Burger’s interest in the build surrounding it is exactly this psychological relation to place and space that they want to examine further in their collaboration.

Cast-Off Bits Of History lyrics (fragment)
Concrete buildings and piles of trash
You invited me
Flaking and fading and falling away
Like cast-of bits of memory

Hammer and sickle
This is where you hid the gold
Flaking and fading and falling away
Like cast-of bits of history

I will be your witness
Rising from the ruin
Urgently in need of
A deconstructed wisdom

Flaking and fading and falling away
Like cast-of bits of history

” . . . Die Protagonisten: Tinte und Büttenpapier, ein Spielzeughaus, Karton, eine Wunderkerze, Alufolie, Pflanzen, ausgeschnittene Papierfiguren und vieles mehr. Neben der Videokamera leistet ein guter alter Overhead-Projektor einen wichtigen Beitrag. Sich ausbreitende Tintenflecke bedrohen das Haus, eine Wunderkerze blitzt wie eine Sonne durch Karton, Pflanzen wachsen wie Scherenschnitte über die Projektionsfläche und die Wand des Raumes hinauf, der rote Kreis für Japan dehnt sich aus von Hand gemalt und taucht Edita in rotes Zauberlicht, während sie von Japan träumt. . . .”
Festival Schmiede, Salzburg Hallein 2012 (AT)

” . . . Die erste gemeinsame Performance der bildenden Künstlerin Krista Burger und der Sängerin und Pianistin Edith Karkoschka ist eine magisch-stimmungsvolle Live-Show. Während Edith Karkoschka mit Popsongs, gebrochenen Pianoklängen und Elektronika experimentiert, lässt sich Krista Burger von der Musik inspirieren und zeichnet assoziative Bilder, die auf die Bühne projiziert werden: so erscheinen Häuserfassaden, Regentropfen und Sonnenstrahlen, auf dem Rücken der Pianistin und Sängerin ranken sich Blumen empor, ein Gefecht von Linien und Netzen entsteht. Die Zuschauer erleben live, wie die mal elektronisch verstärkten, mal puren Klänge und die Live-Video- Projektionen sich gegenseitig beeinfussen. . .” –
Helios Theater, Hamm 2012 (DE)

” . . . Koschka is one of them . . . she blends the hues : singing folk tunes with a loop station, marrying a fragile song to the distortion of her keyboard, her voice alternating between the softness of a little girl and the strength of a mum, taking the audience by the hand to make them explore what she managed to synthesize from her musical culture and experience of life. It is a travel through impressions and time. … Slow motion illustrations and sudden explosions of colours and textures gave the visual pace to the soundtrack of our evening. Drawings from Russian tales met Chinese shadow puppetry, PiYing. Welcome to their world. The rooms was a gum bubble and none could define its exact taste. The audience just held their breaths until the next song. . .”
Jérome Shélhôm Navet-Cintract, Tapis Noir Leipzig 2012 (DE)

. . .„Koschka und Heimprofi“ ist sie ganz besonders gefordert, denn ihre Partnerin Krista Burger arbeitet im Hintergrund. Burger steuert Live-Video-Projektionen bei, die von Ediths Gesang und Klavierspiel angeregt werden. Projiziert werden sie auf Ediths Rücken, auf das Klavier, an dem sie sitzt und in den Raum darüber. Die Musik beeinflusst die Projektionen, die Projektionen wiederum beeinflussen das Spiel, bei dem Edith auch elektronische Verzerrungen des Klaviers nutzt, die sie selbst steuern muss. . . „Krista benutzt bereits gedrehte Filme, die vom Laptop kommen“, sagt Edith. „Die vermischt sie mit Bildern, die sie live filmt; und dann benutzt sie auch noch den Overheadprojektor, auf dem sie zum Beispiel grafische Elemente einbringt.“ . . . ”
Interview Südkurier, Friedrichshafen 2012 (DE)

„Cast Glass, an excellent young Dutch band that has mastered the art of low-key musicianship […] “ 

Volkskrant

Cast Glass is an art-pop band around composer Marco Mlynek and producer Marc Alberto and based in the Netherlands. Currently they’re working on new compositions from within a new formation.

In their debut release Cast Glass EP (rel. sept 2014), a collection of songs from 2011-2013 performed by a twelve-piece ensemble, Edita Karkoschka was the voice of the main band amongst Marco Mlynek (piano/ synth/composition), Marc Alberto (live electronics/EWI/sounddesign), Iris van der Ende (harp) and Max Hilpert (acoustic&electronical drums). The record resulted from a production process spanning that period, starting from arrangements of their songs for string-quartett and woodwinds. Produced and reworked by Marc Alberto into intricate concrete-like collages of live acoustic performances, quirky sounds and analog electronics. The dense production and orchestration does not serve technical display, it creates a stand-alone sound world that allows for new discoveries every re-listen. The child-like lyrics sung with soft vocal delivery that lights and opens up this world with a note of playfulness.

„[…]Cast Glass sings ingenious songs accompanied by extraordinary instrumentation of wind- controlled synthesizer, drums and harp.[…]“

NRC Next

Cast Glass – Ballroom (Official Music Video)
from Chris de Krijger on Vimeo.

Cast Glass – Grow Old With from Cast Glass on Vimeo.