Coming to Berlin

A new text exploring Berlin’s broad musical and cultural heritage will be published by Velocity Press this Spring. ‘Coming To Berlin: Global Journeys Into an Electronic Music and Club Culture Capital’ aims to dismantle the reductive perception of the city as a techno mecca, and instead illuminate the diversity and richness of its nightlife.

‘Coming To Berlin’ collects stories and music from a city built on a tumultuous history, and constantly in flux in the present — with chapters combining “imagination, psychogeography, narrative, humour and horror” informed by the various migrants, settlers and newcomers who call it home. Interviews with Syrian refugees, club-goers, Love Parade founder Danelle de Picciotto, and former Factory Records envoy Mark Reeder recount the varying cultural movements that have lined the city’s evolution — from the ‘80s punk and art movements to the contemporary club culture for which the city is renowned today.

The book is written by Paul Hanford, who is also the host of the ‘Lost and Sound’ podcast. Publishers Velocity Press, meanwhile, are known for specialising in works on electronic music and club culture — their past works include The Secret DJ’s ‘Tales From The Booth’, Oli Freke’s ‘Synthesizer Evolution’ compendium, and ‘Bedroom Beats & B-sides’, a comprehensive history of the instrumental hip-hop and electronic scenes.

‘Coming to Berlin’ is published by Velocity Press in May 2022.