Singer, writer and sculptor of soundscapes,  she combines influences from electronica with disco, psych, folk and soul elements. CDR chatted to Josa briefly about her first experiences and musical journey thus far.

‍

‍

When and where did you first attend CDR? What do you recall?

When I was living in London a few years ago I had the chance to meet with Tony Nwachukwu. He invited me to come down to Plastic People. I loved the concept of CDR straight away - it was busy that night and people were listening attentively to everyone´s tracks.

‍

‍

How did you hear about CDR?

I first heard about it through a friend, Dirk Rumpff, here in Berlin who put my in touch with Tony.

‍

‍

How long have you been making music and how would you describe your journey?

I bought my first laptop, played around with a few samples, sang into my laptop mic. About 5 years ago I had a few songs together, bought a loopstation, a few shakers and put on a solo gig in a Berlin club.  I reached out to some other artists via myspace (ancient!).

That´s how I ended up collaborating with Ben Lamdin from Nostalgia 77 in 2011 and became part of his collective. The project has been teaching me much about musicianship and working with a bunch of superb jazz monsters! (https://soundcloud.com/tru-thoughts/what-do-you-know-1). German beatmaker Dexter, who remixed a N77 track, asked me last year to collaborate for the single of his psychedelic album. So I was on some lucky strikes to be able to work with these guys.

This year I finally took to focus on my solo stuff again- it was definitely the most challenging part of my musical journey so far. The tracks turned out to be less song based, more abstract, experimental, DIY and raw. I am so excited for them to see the light of day.... very soon!

‍

‍

Have you collaborated with, or hope to, any artists via CDR sessions?

I never have, but I met some really interesting artists through CDR and it´s great to exchange ideas that way.

‍

‍

Any other noteworthy CDR memories?

I was invited to play live with an experimental drummer at Chez Jacki, Berlin - Henrik Schwarz took part in the session and was djing later. It was a eclectic night and great chance to perform that Dirk Rumpff was giving us!

‍

‍

Please give a brief (as you set fit) description of your current production set up.

I use Ableton Live, but work analog a lot, using a microkorg, bass, wurlitzer, OP-1, shaker-beans that fall from the tree across from my flat.

‍

‍

Have you a favourite piece of equipment? Something you always return to or at the centre of your studio. Please could you tell us about it? When/where did you pick it up? What makes it special?

It used to be the loopstation for me, but I moved away from it. I develop my song ideas on my wurlitzer- it sounds quite rough, old as well as modern. You can play malets on the case and the keys, or play a classic piano soul tune. I love it because it´s so diverse.

‍

‍

Any projects or tracks you’re working on at the moment that you'd like to let us know about?

Check my Soundcloud as I will be posting some new tracks there in the next months. The solo EP will be out soon on the Berlin label The Gym, run by Brandt Brauer Frick, so I´ll give you a teaser beforehand. Promise! Here´s a mix I made recently

‍

‍

Finally, have you any advice for producers/musicians developing musical works in progress to play at CDR?

Just let people hear your music! My tracks were really far from being finished, but I still needed to hear them on a big soundsystem to move forward. Get stuff out there. It´s taken me too long to understand that...

You can keep tabs on the talented Josa Peit via her Soundcloud, Facebook and Website.

‍