Big in Japan – wenn die Karriere im Ausland loslegt (DE)

Note: this talk will be simultaneously transcribed by a speech-to-text service, making it accessible for people who are deaf or hard of hearing.

Sometimes it takes a detour via Tokyo, Los Angeles, or Berlin for a music career to take off. Japan, in particular, has long symbolised an alluring, unconventional path into the global pop market. Alphaville even dedicated their hit »Big in Japan« to this phenomenon. Acts like Mouse on Mars likewise benefited from international enthusiasm – in Japan and the US – which, in turn, strengthened their reputation back home. Kat Frankie has flipped the script: the Australian artist is celebrated in Germany.

Kat Frankie releases intricately arranged art pop – most recently the a cappella project »B O D I E S« (Grönland Records): emotional, conceptually precise, and sonically rich.

Erol Sarp is a Berlin-based pianist and composer, and one half of the duo Grandbrothers. Together with Lukas Vogel, he merges piano and electronics into a distinctive sound, heard on international stages, at festivals, and in French film scores.

Jan Werner (Mouse on Mars) explores the intersections of experimentation, technology, and autonomy. Since 2025, he has served as Artistic Director of the Institute for Pop Music at Folkwang University of the Arts.

Aida Baghernejad is a freelance journalist and presenter based in Berlin. She writes and speaks about culture and gastronomy for Zeit Online, Tagesspiegel, Kaput – Magazin für Insolvenz & Pop, The Guardian, and others, and was a 2024 Thomas Mann Fellow in Los Angeles.