The eclectic underground of Pop-Kultur

In the city though, there is one final push for the end of holiday activity with a festival that not only straddles both night and day, but closes the summer with an astonishingly vibrant array of talks, curated events and live music. Pop-Kultur is now in its eleventh year as one of Berlin’s leading advocates for the programming of diverse and multi-cultural talent.

Taking over a vast array of venues throughout Berlin, the aim of the organisers is to involve local communities and inspire thinking, which is why the week-long endeavour kicks off with a series of talks in the Wedding district’s silent green Kulturquartier. Somewhere in this former crematorium turned multi-media centre you might stumble across industry leaders, or young activists speaking on sustainable futures for independent artists, black perspectives within the German music industry, or the Female* Producer Prize (which ties neatly in with the festival’s commitment to booking at least 50% of acts who identify as women or non-binary).

There are live podcasts and structured readings, and on the first day of activity an initiative named ‘Sonic Crossings’ in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut. This particular aspect of the festival is a prime example of its global outreach, featuring resident artists from Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia, such as the alt indie-rock quartet Tape Visitors. Pop-Kultur’s aim of promoting ‘artistic exchange with the local scene’ was most definitely in full effect.

Christian Morin (one of the three curators) tells me about this year’s even more “artist-focused” and boundary-pushing spectacle – “for the first time ever” he explains, the talks have been given a “separate focus in the schedule” and the addition of a label market at Festsaal Kreuzberg. This collaboration with the Association of Independent Music Entrepreneurs (VUT) affirms Morin’s drive for equal artist and label “empowerment”; at the bustling venue, vendors are soundtracked by local musicians and there's a refreshingly direct line of communication between emerging songwriters and prospective labels.

When the music begins on the Friday, I stumble through the Franz Garden courtyard in the Kulturbrauerei complex. Some of the venues are open-air and so even passers-by without tickets stop to watch the young artist NYYA blast poppy RnB, and then flip to a cover of High School Musical’s "Bet On It" – it's the perfect metaphor for the unexpected that any attendee at the festival can experience. I walk to the Alte Kantine, a dive-bar of an underground venue where punky Italo disco duo Das Beat are striding round the stage, occasionally flashing their underwear and blasting poignant feminist monologues into the mic, met with rapturous applause.

This is the kind of festival where you can never be sure what you might see next. Along with Baile funk DJ sets and live dance tutorials, I witness a 60-piece politically active choir – ‘Chor der Statistik’ – who sing with euphoric energy about the end of the climate crisis. This is a prime example of one of this year’s exclusively commissioned works for Pop-Kultur, which Christian excitedly explains to me "you can’t see them anywhere else, it’s only here!" An ethos of original and site-specific showcasing is also supported by ‘Pop-Kultur Local’, the festival’s initiative giving four grants to local groups and spaces including DJs, sound ‘sanctuaries’ and champions of queer-safe spaces. It’s an admirable if beautifully chaotic attempt to break down barriers in music programming, providing not only punters but artists with a three-sixty festival experience.

Speaking to British indie-electronic band Ebbb before their set, frontman Will Roland tells me they were thrilled to be offered an hour-long gig in the iconic Palais main room, allowing them to test new music and extended versions of songs they were hoping the Berlin scene would embrace. Having arrived off the back of a Europe summer, drummer Scott Macdonald adds, “the last few festivals we’ve played have had this similar vibe, where there’s a lot of young people and volunteers or free entry, and as a result we’ve played some of the best gigs we’ve ever played, because people have been so chill”. This is exactly the atmosphere on the night, where Ebbb play to a won-over crowd of wavy-arm movers and head boppers, of stragglers finding home in their ambient yet driving beats.

Saturday’s timetable is equally manifold. I begin my evening in PANDA, one of the festival’s smallest venues at a 50-person capacity. Sat in a moon-shaped pool of pale blue light is East London’s Canty, SP404 and a mesh of guitar pedals to hand, creating a noise that instantly sustains attention. The haunting melodies and poetic meandering of this relative newcomer leave me mesmerised, for longer than I intended to stay. It gives me just minutes for to catch the ending track of local rap youngster Neromun – one of a number of German hip-hop artists profiled at this year’s edition, including the super poplar Apsilon.

Also playing away from home are the London-based but global band Los Bitchos. Signed to Berlin's City Slang since their debut, this show is a natural fit; while their electric guitarist bursts into fits of energised bongo breaks, the crowd boogies and cheers along to cumbia rhythms. Sitting down with their drummer Nic Crawshaw and bassist Josefine Jonsson, I learnt about the “up for it” energy and enthusiasm the German crowd has for their music, this gig being a particularly celebratory one as it's the year anniversary of their sophomore album Talkie Talkie.

The festival closes with a triumphant gig from Die Nerven. They rock-out the packed Kesselhaus with explosive drum and guitar solos, and an adoring audience. Yet again it's an example of the true appeal of this programme, which manages to bring together crowds both big and small to every show – always listening intently, always championing the music and the sheer variety of artistry on display. Over in the corner of the venue I spot a t-shirt that reads "Popular Music Won’t Save You"– Pop-Kultur might be an ironic title for a festival so committed to the alternative, but it’s one that’s certainly found its crowd.