Inspired by Berlin's Strange and Colorful Spaces

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Friday, November 09, 2007

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Inside the Hansa Studio (Brian Wise/WNYC)

Since the 1960s, musicians from around the world have made pilgrimages to the legendary Hansa studios ("Hansa at the Wall") in Berlin. The recording studio's credits include major albums by David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Luciano Pavarotti, Nick Cave, and U2, among many others. In the fifth and final installment of our shows recorded in Berlin, we learn about Hansa's colorful past. We then travel to a very different space: the KulturBrauerei, a former 19th-century brewery where the acoustic folk-rock band 17 Hippies records their high-energy, danceable music. Finally: hear about the man at the helm of the Berlin Philharmonic: conductor Sir Simon Rattle.

Slideshow: Hansa Studios: Then & Now

Soundcheck in Berlin is supported in part by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.

Hansa at the Wall

David Bowie, Iggy Pop, U2 and Depeche Mode among other artists have come to Hansa Studios in Berlin to record some of the greatest pop albums of the last century. Today, we speak with Eduard Meyer, the engineer who worked at Hansa Studios during its 70's and 80's heyday. We ...

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Just Simon

To the world, he's known as Sir Simon Rattle. To the Berlin public, he's considered a real "Mench." If you ask the conductor himself, he'd prefer to be known as "just Simon." WNYC goes behind the scenes with the Berlin Philharmonic's music director, and hear from his friends and colleagues.

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17 Hippies Live

The 12-piece band 17 Hippies is one of Berlin's most unusual bands, making music that is a confection of various folk influences. They host us in their rehearsal space -- a former brewery turned artist studio complex -- for a conversation and live performance.

Web Only: The 17 ...

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