How do you create music that works equally well on the dance floor, in a sound laboratory, and within a collective space of memory? For twenty years, Praed have been constantly seeking new and surprising answers to this question. The duo was founded in 2006 by Raed Yassin (vocals, synthesizer, sampling) and Paed Conca (clarinet, electric bass, electronics) and in its approach feels closely connected to Berlin’s Echtzeitmusik scene (real-time music), a vibrant community that continually redefines musical boundaries through improvization and experimentation.

Yassin and Conca focus primarily on pop music from the Arab world, Egyptian shaabi, elements of jazz and psychedelic rock, as well as sound collages. They playfully deconstruct the conventions and routines of these genres and reassemble them using electronic means, always keeping the physical energy of sound at the centre. Praed essentially make dance music, characterized by hypnotic rhythms and a complexity that addresses issues of cultural transfer as well as memory, identity, and collective experience. Dancing in Echtzeit aptly describes this approach: between Berlin and Beirut, avant-garde and pop, experimentation and ecstasy, a form of music emerges that, above all, is meant to be experienced together in real-time.

Before Praed’s concert, a panel discussion expands on this approach and turns the spotlight on Berlin’s musical ecosystem. DJ, label, and studio owner Rabih Beaini and musician Tony Elieh discuss with transdisciplinary performer houaïda the conditions under which experimental music is created in Berlin. What scope for creativity does the city offer? What challenges shape the work of musicians, labels, and independent venues?

Following this, Sherryaeri presents a genre-fluid DJ set primarily featuring music by artists they feel are rarely heard and who should be in the spotlight more often.