Popakademie Sessions Season 8 - Alumni meet current students

The venue for the eighth season of the Popakademie Sessions is the Q6/Q7 Sports Bar in Mannheim, which has been uniquely transformed into an indoor plant jungle. Combined with futuristic lights and various references to the history of the Popakademie Baden-Württemberg, this provides an exciting location for the creative performances. As in previous seasons, the main sponsor of the video format is the video platform YouTube.

Kiki Ganzemüller, Manager, EMEA Music Partnerships at Google: "The Popakademie Sessions are an important means of promoting up-and-coming talent. We are delighted to support the eighth season and to bring together the genre diversity of past years with the talents of the current generation at the sessions. The 20th anniversary Popakademie edition will be a very special highlight for me."

Alex Wolf, Head of the Institute of MCI Practice & Corporate Communication at Popakademie Baden-Württemberg: "We are delighted to be able to continue our cooperation with YouTube for the Popakademie Sessions now in its eighth season. The anniversary format, in which alumni perform with present students, shows not only the musical diversity of former and current students, but also the solidarity of the student body."

Singer Yale with her band and rapper Luis Baltes will kick things off. The latter is from the Popakademie class of 2006 and is a rapper, singer, songwriter, beatboxer, producer, DJ, remixer - but above all an entertainer and full-blooded musician. He has been part of the national and international music scene since his teenage years, has written hits for various artists and is a member of the group 5 Sterne deluxe.
Inspired by nightlife, YALE's songs paint pictures of what happens after dark. There are no taboos in her lyrics - whether personal experiences, the problems of a young woman or interpersonal relationships. Her credo "It's okay to be over it" runs through her work - whether live with her band or in the studio.
In their feature, YALE and Luis Baltes deliver a firework of catchy melodies and freestyles.

Mark Moody and Clara John meet in the soloist session. Mark Moody is at home on stage and gives free rein to his almost limitless inspiration with classical and techno improvisations.
Clara John is a singer-songwriter and describes her music as dream pop with retro synthesizers and ambient sounds. In her songs, serious themes are softly packaged. This is expressed above all in lovingly arranged choral movements and intertwined text and rhythm elements, which she performs with the help of a loop station. Combined with Mark Moody's techno improvisations, the result is a rousing electronic feature.

The last session of the eighth season consists of the band JUPYTER and alumna listentojules. listentojules is a singer-songwriter and guitarist based in Munich and Mannheim. With her soulful, groovy and jazzy sound, she transcends genre boundaries.
JUPYTER consists of Alex, Steffen, Paul and Ruben and is an up-and-coming band from Mannheim whose indie pop with neo-soul influences captivates audiences. Their music is like a beer in Berlin's Mauerpark, the ""newly in love"" feeling, the tear after a goodbye - in the middle of the tension between heartache and joy of life.
In this feature, listentojules and JUPYTER present a harmonious duet that invites you to dream.

The eighth season of the sessions is designed and produced by Marvin Bünning, Sophia Haid, Tomke Janssen and Julius Scheuermann as part of the project factory of the Music and Creative Industries master's program at the Popakademie. The project is also supported by Velvont, a boutique agency for content strategies in Berlin. Dominik Thumfart, graduate of the Music & Creative Industries Master's program and Managing Director at Velvont, acts as project manager for the sessions.

Since December 10, 2023, the sessions can be viewed on the Popakademie's YouTube channel.