SADO OPERA
SADO OPERA is a Berlin-based music and art performance queer band. Performing in Berlin since 2012, they’ve become a fixture of the city’s underground scene with long-term residencies at clubs like Wilde Renate, where they DJed, performed, and curated queer-focused events for over a decade. They are also known as ambassadors of Ficken3000 and regulars at Sisyphos, Kater Blau, and Else.
Their sound blends classic house, garage, deep house, and disco, with recent tracks played at Berghain’s Panorama Bar. SADO OPERA has appeared at major festivals including Fusion, Melt, Sziget, Pop-Kultur, and The Great Escape, where The Guardian called them “all saucy, big-hearted joy.”
Featured in Rolling Stone, BBC Music, The Independent, and more, they reached a global audience when Conan O’Brien joined them onstage during his Berlin special on American television.
YE:SOLAR
At the beginning of the 21st century Random Rhodes, Steve Bass and Groovemaster7 began operating in Berlin under the name YE:SOLAR. Their goal was to perform improvisational music and create their own repertoire with one artistic vision – a combination of jazz, deephouse and electro. In 2007, Ye: Solar were nominated for the World Wide Winners Award at BBC RadioOne. They are also known for their collaboration with the iconic DJ Jazzanova collective. However, YE:SOLAR is primarily a volcano of energy at concerts. The formation serves a mix of jazz, electronics, hip hop and dub.
James Dole
Berlin based Jens Dohle is a man of many talents. An accomplished composer and arranger for theatre productions across Europe, classically trained multi instrumentalist, explosive live drummer for YE:SOLAR, Munk, Hot Coins, Sado Opera. Longtime collaborator with Danilo Plessow aka MCDE and Noema from African Shakedown fame. Remixer for Jazzanova and 4 Hero. There’s not enough room here to list his amazing work.
2018 ushers forth a new identity to his already enviable C.V with his first EP as James Dole (a jokingly anglicised version of his birth name). The 3 tracks here all showcase his ability to create a strong mood and use great splashes of melody and rhythm but without ever losing the groove. Written during a period of ‘introspection’ in deepest, darkest Berlin, each one tells a different story.
Ex is a moody monster of a track. It builds and builds into a pounding nightime symphony with a kind of epic-ness which hints at many years spent mining the highs and lows of music, love and life. Big room yet with a gut wrenching soul beneath the slightly flamboyant majesty. Made in East Berlin and well roadtested in the cities debauched nightclubs.
Fantasia shows off Mr Doles jazz and broken beat background with rolling, funky drums sashaying with hip hoppy live jazz keys. Then those signature euphoric yet melancholic synths appear halfway through the track to create an emotionally halcyon mood. WIBES.
The EP closes with Grande. Super melodic yet cinematic with amazing synth work and a sophisticated arrangement showcasing James’s well trained musicianship and artistry. An opus of melody and longing built for Italian arthouse films about unrequited love.