About

Singer, producer, composer and songwriter Berq was not allowed to grow step by step. As soon as his first single was released, the then eighteen-year-old was declared a child prodigy, praised by Herbert Grönemeyer and placed on the country's most relevant playlists. Between creative sessions in the basement of his parents' house, the stress of leaving school, moving to Berlin and appearances on Böhmermann or Inas Nacht, Felix's life lasted less than twelve months; between support shows for Schmyt or Ennio, festival concert stops, sold-out solo tours and almost 600,000 monthly listeners on Spotify, there was just one debut EP. Berq has risen to become a permanent fixture in the German music landscape - without needing ten songs, a degree, role models or even features.

When Berq realized that he basically “never wanted to be up there”, he was already “up there” - and was suddenly no longer so sure what Berq music should actually be and, above all, what it wants to be. Luxury problems, of course; but they can also weigh down a life - especially that of an artist who works on his visions as precisely, pedantically, with such attention to detail and ambition as Berq does. He sees making music as a boundary-pushing act in many respects, preferring to reinvent the wheel and crash several laptops under the weight of utopian, multi-tracked compositions rather than release even a half-baked song into the world.

Contrary to every rule of standard pop, Berq has exhausted counter-currents, turned classic arrangements and song dramaturgies inside out, made verses sound like hooks and transformed noises into powerful instruments that don't actually exist in pop music. Berq put crash cymbals on snare drums, held his recording device up to empty plastic bottles and banging doors, dragged analog instruments into elevators and parking garages, shouted at microphones from a distance and yelled at them at close range.

In contrast to the EP “Rote Flaggen” from 2023, Berq's debut album does not tell a self-contained story - its range of themes is too broad for that, too many things come together here: New and old, acute and timeless, truthful and partially fictional matters. Nevertheless, a few common threads run noticeably through all the texts: “berq” is an eloquent examination of bonding and separation processes; of various forms of being alone; of quick fame, panic attacks and the challenge of adult life.

“berq” will be released on October 25, 2024 via URBAN.