Words: Róisín Warner

The Great Escape is extremely excited to announce our very own showcase at First We Take Berlin, part of Berlin Music Week, on Wednesday 4th September. The Great Escape Presents performances by Monophona, Norwegian LoFi electro pop starlet Sea Change, Icelandic pop band Samaris, dance crooner Josef Salvat and 90's Mancunian ideologists M O N E Y. They will be tearing up Berlin's Privatclub, from 20:00 but get there early, doors at 19:00.

We managed to catch up with electro-acoustic beat masters Monophona's Philippe "Chook" Schirrer to find out a little more about the band and what to expect from their show next week...

So this year you came down to Brighton and played for us at The Great Escape, how would you summarise your experience of the festival?
We absolutely loved it. It was our first time in Brighton and we really liked the city and the people. Plus we had two great gigs there, what else could we ask for?

Did you manage to catch any other bands whilst at TGE? Who were your favourites?
Andreya Triana, Darkstar and Unknown Mortal Orchestra . I guess Andreya Triana was our favourite.

Who or what are your biggest influences?
Since we come from completely different genres we all have our separate influences. I guess the one band all three of us absolutely love is Fink.

Describe the atmosphere of your music in one word.
Blue.

What the biggest highlight of your music career so far?
Speaking for myself I'd say playing at this year's Fusion festival.

How does playing shows in the UK compare with those in Luxembourg?
We haven't played very much in the UK yet. We had those two gigs at TGE and one in London, all three of them were great. We were actually quite surprised about how well our music went down there.

Have you played in Berlin before?
No but we have two gigs in Berlin over the next month. The first is Berlin Music Week on the 4th September and then the Prince Charles on the 21st. We're really looking forward to finally playing there.

What can we expect from your set in Berlin on the 4th?
Dancing elephants, maybe some strippers

We are always on the lookout for cracking new bands, do you have any recommendations for us?
Two acts from Luxembourg you should definitely check out are Mutiny on the Bounty and Sunglitters

What's the one song you wish you had written?
"Even Though You're With Another Girl' by Trentemoller

What's the first album you bought?
Milli Vanilli

What's next for Monophona?
At the moment we're working hard on our second album. We're hoping to finish it before the end of the year. We're also working on the soundtrack of a short animation movie.

Monophona kick things off at 8pm for the TGE Showcase on the 4th September at Privatclub. Don't miss out on elephants and strippers dancing to their "blue' atmospheric music.

Get your tickets for the event here: http://www.firstwetakeberlin.de/en/tickets.html