"SYMBIZ"

The world is their home, and bass is their language: Buddysym and Zhi MC, better known jointly as Symbiz, are without a doubt one of the most exciting acts in the worldwide bass music scene. And literally “worldwide”: at home in the creative Berlin Kiez of Kreuzberg, Symbiz have not only gone to town at home clubs and festivals, but played everywhere where bass is the lingua franca. Whether Russia or India, the Czech Republic or Uganda, England or Palestine, Venezuela or Belgium – their bass-heavy music brimming with Caribbean and African influences rouses dance fiends the world over.

Thanks to their high-powered live shows, centred on a specially built controller and rounded out by drum pads, Symbiz are mentioned in the same breath as such world-renowned bass acts as Major Lazer or Schlachthofbronx – and they live up to the comparison at every concert. Their repertoire is exclusively made up of their own productions, which – whether dancehall, trap or Afrobeats – release energy down below. The implicit political component of how the duo see themselves lies in this very melting pot of musical influences: where musical cultures mix, interpenetrate and naturally, as a result, give rise to a continuous stream of artistic innovations, there is of course no room for a static conception of culture bounded by geographic borders. As if it were a matter of course, Symbiz fuse their roots in Korea, Vietnam, China and Germany with music from Kingston, London or Accra. How well that works can be heard not only in their global collaborations and productions, or rather remixes for such diverse artists as Denyo (Beginner), Cassper Nyowest and DJ Vadim, but especially on their own releases. The two Broken Chinese EPs from 2016 and 2018 are packed with novel ideas, confronting us with a rather unusual language in the Western bass scene: Zhi MC intones his chants in Cantonese – and sounds so thrilling, mysterious and catchy that it doesn’t matter a whit whether you understand a word. The main thing is the vibe is right. And it is.
 
In addition to their work in the studio and on their own label, Yeeruh Records, Symbiz continue to pursue their passion for live performance – and ideally around the globe. So their upcoming Africa tour in April, organized by the Goethe Institut, should set their bass strings humming: First they’ll be spending two days giving a concert and a workshop in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, then on to live shows and workshops in Maputo, Mozambique. Harare in Zimbabwe, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, and Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, will also get a taste of the Symbizian bass treatment. So we’re curious to hear what influences Symbiz bring back from their travels and where their music goes from here. Soon we may be hearing African bass music with Kreuzberg influences.