Melissa Perales

We are very excited and happy to announce a new season of KNISTERN in 2026 at @richten25_space ✨ We start on Sunday 07 June 2026 with: 👉🏽 Bex Burch (GB/Bln) @bex_burch & Mystery Artist, Berlin based, with Nuyorican roots, blending soul, jazz and R&B (whom we can only announce at the end of May) 👉🏽 Conversation hosted by: Tmnit Ghide (Eritrea/Bln) @teemnit Brunch by: Bad Apples @badapples.catering ~ The full series takes place on Sunday midday / afternoons — After experimenting last year with day and night formats, we realised the Sunday daytime vibe is perfect for the kind of musical hangout we feel Berlin is missing. Looking forward to spending some summer SUNDAYS with you. Further dates are: 05 July, 06 September, 04 October. Mark your calendars! 👉🏽 Presale tickets soon at link in bio. ✨ Knistern describes a crackling sound, and is also a metaphor for something that’s in the air between people, be it a crush or an argument. Something invisible that makes the relational space vibrate and spark. Something magical, intangible and not to be pinned down that is happening in the moment of relation to each other. The series Knistern each time brings together two artists and a musical idea they are currently working on. They present their current work in a short set, and then have space to share their musical ideas in conversation with each other, a music journalist, and the audience. What happens in the space between the two artistic approaches, and what happens between people in the room in the conversation? And also, what happens between the sound and the review, the thinking, the tuning in, the conversation? Knistern takes place in collaboration with Richten25, project space for improvised music in Berlin Wedding. What we love about Knistern is that it feels spontaneous and alive — something that exists only in the moment. Sometimes something lasting grows from it, and sometimes it remains a beautiful, fleeting encounter. ✨ Knistern is organized 👉🏽 @ago.12.ago @msoundtrack @sven_simulacrum 👉🏽 Beautiful design by @ghostwork103 Thank you to the funding by Musicboard Berlin GmbH @musicboardberlin

✨ From Competition to Solidarity ✨ How can we support each other in getting gigs — and beyond? Join us for an evening of conversation, exchange, networking, music & drinks around solidarity, collaboration, and sustainable ways of working together in music scenes today. 🗓 May 27, 2026 🚪 Doors: 6:30 PM | Start: 7 PM 📍 Riverside Studios Berlin 🎟 Free entry With: ✨ Jamila Al-Yousef @jamilaandtheotherheroes ✨ Melissa Perales @msoundtrack ✨️Ipek Ipekçioǧlu @djipek ✨️Julia Siemienowicz @90mil___ @leda_leda.leda 🎶 DJ: Calamidades Lola @pissandlove 🇪🇺 Co-funded by the European Union and @musicboardberlin !

Right-wing attacks are rising — including within music and cultural spaces. At the same time, scenes are under pressure: funding cuts, fragmentation, rising costs, and a shifting political climate. We want to come together to reflect, share, and connect. How do we respond as music communities? What does real solidarity look like right now? And how can we build alliances across scenes, differences, and struggles? This evening begins with invited voices and opens into a collective exchange — a space to map experiences, questions, and ways forward. Organized by Music Pool Berlin in collaboration with Moving Poets Berlin & sōydivision. #MusicScenes #CulturalSpaces #CommunityCare #Solidarity #Alliances CollectiveAction Grassroots MutualAid

Super proud of my Eldest Kiddo @elvisvos .. last week he presented his semester project in Visual Communication @udkberlin together with fashion students from Halle. His class created short visual films integrating the various fashion pieces - one Actor - their own visions. I always knew this kid would do great things .. and he never ceases to impress me even more - he has such a strong vision - and that can prove difficult sometimes and maybe even frustrating to capture it just right ~ but he always finds a way through ! This project had many moving parts ~ i hope he feels proud of himself and his project.

M:Soundtrack at Schokoladen-Mitte�🙌🏽 duendita (neo-soul / NYC)�🔥 aka kelzz ( Soul house jungle) 🌺 Special Guest: Batila�🎧 DJ Robert Machiri aka Chi 📅 05.02.2026�🚪 Doors: 19:00 - 20:00 ~ Let Them Eat Cake! *Cake available from Mehfil Collective to all Guests ! Come Early! �🎤 Concert begin: 20:00- 22:00Uhr�🕺 DJ in the bar from 22:00Uhr duendita weaves Nuyorican heritage into an expansive, genre-fluid blend of soul, jazz, and R&B. Their work is tender and powerful, grounded in self-care, gratitude, and regeneration. A Strong Desire to Survive isn’t just a record — it’s an invitation to live, not just endure. Berlin has been one of their creative homes since 2019, and I’m so happy to welcome them back to this stage. @duendita AKA KELZZ is a UK-born, Berlin-based vocalist, songwriter, and creative force crafting genre-blending soundscapes rooted in alternative R&B, soul, house, and spoken word. A queer, non-binary artist, KELZZ uses their music as a space for liberation, vulnerability, and radical self-expression—centering Black and queer narratives often sidelined in mainstream spaces. @akakelzz Robert Machiri aka CHI is a sound artist, DJ, and collector of sound-related objects. His work sits between curatorial practice and multidisciplinary art-making, shaped by ideas of conviviality, art as pedagogy, and decolonial discourse. Through sound, music, and image-making, he explores processes of learning and unlearning. His main project, PUNGWE, is an interdisciplinary platform focused on African soundings and contemporary art discourse. @machirirobert Mehfil Collective is an emerging community food project that reimagines Pakistani cuisine through experimental fusion cooking. Founded by architect Shanzeh, it blends South Asian flavors with event and space curation, with a focus on accessibility and affordability. Beyond food, Mehfil collaborates with artists from the Global South to create immersive experiences that evoke home, nostalgia, and community through food and art. @mehfil.meh.fil And finally for a special treat my collaborator on Café Chocolat ~ Batila! His new Acoustic EP In light just came out ~ check it! @batilasound

*Como hija de inmigrantes, el miedo y la incertidumbre en Estados Unidos son muy reales. Pero ver a Bad Bunny usar su voz y su arte para transmitir un mensaje de unidad, orgullo y esperanza me llena de gratitud, al igual que a todas las personas que lo apoyan en este espectáculo de medio tiempo tan merecido. Gracias, señor Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, Bad Bunny, por representarnos y por tu mensaje, tu solidaridad y tu música. 🤍 👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽 🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺🙋🏽‍♀️🙋🏽‍♀️🙋🏽‍♀️🙋🏽‍♀️🌺🌺🌺🌺🌺At this moment, every ounce of hope — every act of pride, love, and solidarity — matters. Especially for immigrants, and especially for Latin American immigrants. As a Mexican-American watching what is happening in the U.S. from outside, I feel a constant mix of fear and grief. Being afraid for immigrants and their families is heartbreaking and exhausting. My father passed away in 2017. If he were alive today, I would make him go into hiding or bring him to live with me until it was safe again. I grew up with a quiet, constant fear that he could be taken away from my sisters and me. Even though he had U.S. citizenship (something I only learned after he died — as a child, I only knew he had a green card), my child’s mind understood one thing clearly: he was never fully safe. Being Mexican meant he could leave and never come back. I worried when he traveled — to Mexico, to California where he was raised in a migrant farming community, or out of state for work. That fear never left. Today, I worry about my family — cousins, aunts, uncles I don’t even know, and all their loved ones. I worry about my sisters and their children, all born in the U.S., some only half or a quarter Mexican — and still living with fear. To my white friends and family who are protesting, who stand against hate and choose love and solidarity for everyone: thank you. And thank you, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio — Bad Bunny — for your message, your solidarity, your hope, and your words. And of course, for the music. 🤍 #badbunny #superbowlhalftime #immigrants #togetherweareamerica #theonlythingmorepowerfulthanhateislove

Artwork by @dianaejaita CAFÉ CHOCOLAT x MAAYA What a belle rencontre 20 February@Maaya Black History Month Special Batila & The Dreambus host the next Café Chocolat Session, welcoming once again the incredible Mariam Koné @mariamkone.music singer & Songwriter from Mali DJ set by Asa Collective & more! Special Black Makers Market Discover, connect & support Black creatives, artisans and makers Photo exhibition by @m.tidou Soundtrack of this clip: “In Light” Batila feat. Etuk Ubong, Susan Augustt & Huguette Tolinga Out the same day — presave & support the new release @batilasound #Community #blackhistorymonth #livemusic #culture

Dear friends, chosen family, collaborators & fellow travellers 💛 Next Thursday, 05.02.26, I’m celebrating 30 years in Berlin — more than half my life in this city. 🏙️!! From kitchens to concert halls, film festivals to dance floors, from artist to mom to community builder… Berlin has held me through it all. So this is me seeing you and saying thank you. If you’re in town, I’d be deeply happy to share this night with you at my home base: Schokoladen-Mitte, the place that taught me what community really means. We celebrate with music, cake, and a beautiful lineup I’m truly honored to host 💫 M:Soundtrack at Schokoladen-Mitte 📅 05.02.2026 🚪 19:00–20:00 Cake & doors (by Mehfil Collective – come early!) @mehfil.meh.fil 🎤 20:00–22:00 Concert 🕺 from 22:00 DJ in the bar 🙌🏽 duendita (NYC) @duendita 🔥 Dos Cinco G (Berlin) @do25inco 🌺 Special guest: Batila @batilasound 🎧 DJ Robert Machiri aka CHI @machirirobert 30 years. One night. Many stories. Come celebrate with me. 🖤

M:Soundtrack presents 👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽 First concert of the year at Schokoladen-Mitte! On Monday 02.02.26, we welcome Montreal-born singer and banjo player Kaïa Kater to Berlin, bringing together influences from Appalachia, the Caribbean, and her home in Quebec. This intimate winter concert opens the M:Soundtrack year with what defines the series: hybridity, storytelling, and musical border-crossing. Special guest Paper Beat Scissors joins the evening — an artist who also spent many years in Montreal and is now based in Berlin. @paperbeatscissors Kaïa Kater (Montreal) Montreal-born Grenadian-Canadian artist Kaïa Kater is known for her jazz-inflected voice, artful banjo work, and vivid songwriting. Her music draws from Quebecois roots, Caribbean heritage, Appalachian traditions, and the Canadian folk scene. Her new album Strange Medicine expands her sound with cinematic arrangements and guest appearances by Taj Mahal, Allison Russell, and Aoife O’Donovan. She has received acclaim from NPR Tiny Desk, Rolling Stone, The Guardian, and No Depression, and recently composed music for the film My Dead Friend Zoe starring Morgan Freeman and Ed Harris. @kaiakater Paper Beat Scissors (Berlin) Under the name Paper Beat Scissors, Tim Crabtree creates delicate, emotionally charged songs carried by a haunting voice. Originally based in Montreal, he collaborated with members of Arcade Fire, appeared on Rolling Stone’s cover CD, and was described by BBC Radio’s Bob Harris as “startling and beautiful.” His 2021 Spanish-language album La Mitad marked a new chapter in his songwriting, exploring intimacy, language, and connection through sparse and spellbinding arrangements. Date: Monday 02.02.26 Doors: 19:00 Concert: 20:00–22:00 Venue: Schokoladen-Mitte @schokoladen.bln Tickets on sale via sliding scale — link in bio. Kaïa Kater Tiny Desk: https://youtu.be/jmvz0ZdVphg Paper Beat Scissors: /paperbeatscissors

👉🏽 UPDATE 👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽 Melissa Perales @msoundtrack aka M:Soundtrack celebrates 30 years in Berlin — 28 of them at Schokoladen @schokoladen.bln , as part of the collective that gave me space to learn the craft, grow as a promoter, and support so many artists over the decades. This one is special. 👈🏽👈🏽👈🏽 If you’ve been part of her story at any point, please come and celebrate! 🙌🏽 starting a new decade of Berlin life with you. Come by early 7-8 pm -Let them Eat Cake! Cake by the fabulous Shanzeh from @mehfil.meh.fil LINE UP 🫶🏽 M:Soundtrack presents: duendita (neo-soul / NYC) @duendita Tender, genre-fluid soul rooted in Nuyorican heritage, weaving jazz, R&B, and deep care-driven songwriting. @duendita Do25inco (freestyle rap / Berlin–Mexico) @do25inco A high-energy fusion of hip hop with Latin rhythms, shaped by Sonidero culture and underground scenes worldwide. @do25inco 👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽 Special Guest: Batila @batilasound DJ @machirirobert 05.02.2026 Schokoladen-Mitte Doors 19:00 | Come Early For CAKE ! 🎂 >>> Concert 20:00 - 22:00 | DJ from 22:00 Tickets available in BIo - sliding scale! 👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽👉🏽SAVE THE DATE! Can’t wait to be in the room with you all. 🤘🏽 #30YearsBerlin #Schokoladen #MSoundtrack #BerlinMusic #LiveMusicBerlin

Too many moments in the last days so this is just a little inkling and a message that I was thinking of many but chose a path of quietness and being in the now with my family so belated wishes! I had precious moments with my peeps, lots of good food and drink, exhibitions, train travel +++ im really exhausted after this last half year and full with great encounters! Fantastic Music! New contacts! And blessed with Amazing events ( more to expand on this later! ~ please give me a moment to breathe, reflect, plan and be grateful for all that has been over this year and what is to come! And I am wishing you all some reprieve from the world and time to take care of you and yourself ! Because we are going to need your energy ! Your love ! Your passion ! To fight the power ( everywhere) 🕊️🍾🌺🙏🏽🫂 #Christmasdaze #WimWenders #Family +++

We had a great time and were able to share a few stories from our lives as event organisers and music lovers, learn what is fun, what is difficult and what is important to us, and discover a shared passion: the desire to take guests on a sustainable journey that is more than just a series of events. 🧡 @soundsystemtales NOW up on SoundCloud 🔗 LINK in BIO! Thanks @refugeworldwide for having us - it was a pleasure! ✨ With music by: @losbabyjaguars @babacommandant @serakalo_exii @jatun.mama @onomagemo @florence.adooni.official @ibelisseguardiaferragutti @frank_rosaly @johnnyschleierhaft @patthomasmusic Stella Chiweshe and others 🚨Make sure to join @cafechocolat.sessions at @schokoladen.bln this very Thursday! Have a great end of the year ✨🧚🎶