Jungstötter is the moniker of singer Fabian Altstötter. As an adolescent in the tranquility of small-town Germany, he founded his first band, Sizarr, with two of his childhood friends. They soon released two records, which paved the way out of their hometown Landau to play shows throughout Europe, and as far as SXSW in Austin, Texas. Their sound was youthful but already displayed a prevalent knowledge of pop history.

Now Jungstötter presents his first album. LOVE IS was released via PIAS in April 2019. It’s a rollercoaster ride, with carts lined in velvet, always at risk of taking a turn into the abyss.

Web / Facebook / Instagram / Youtube / Spotify

The moniker “White” first appeared several years ago during the No Beijing movement, when Shouwang, frontman for the popular group Carsick Cars, formed the guitar sextet White Ensemble for a performance at the China avant-garde music festival “Sally Can’t Dance.”

During the same period, Shouwang also formed a rock duo called White 2J as well as the better known White, all as outlets for his more experimental ideas. No matter what form it has taken in the past few years, Shouwang’s “White Project” has remained one of the pioneers of and driving forces behind China’s underground music scene.

At 11, Phoenix’s Dad gave her a laptop for Christmas, and she quickly began making beats and loops in GarageBand, inspired by Foo Fighters as much as Eminem. “Music was an escape,” Phoenix says.

As a producer, songwriter, and performer, Phoenix has never been afraid to blaze her own trail. Her genre-mashing three EPs and one-off singles to date have drawn unexpected links between pop, hip-hop, and electronic sounds, and listening to them in sequence can feel like a thrilling plunge into a selection box of assorted musical treats.

Web / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp / Youtube / Soundcloud / iTunes / Spotify / SXSW

Formed in 2013, Hong Kong, David Boring is named after the unlikely hero from American cult classic graphic novel David Boring. Musical influences of the band include punk, post-punk, noise, no-wave and industrial. Signature with their dirty, experimental noise, male-female interlacing spoken dialogues and the occasionally violent live performances, DB explores the murky modernity with a ferocious postmodern skepticism, creating a dark, borderline claustrophobic world that either excites or traumatizes.

Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp / Youtube / Soundloud / iTunes / Spotify / SXSW

Chagall is an Amsterdam-born, London-based electronic music producer, songwriter, singer, performer and early adopter of the MI.MU Gloves interface. Through her use of these sensor enabled gloves and effective choreography, Chagall controls all electronic layers, vocal effects and interactive visuals with the movement of her hands.

With performances at e.g. SXSW, Amsterdam Dance Event, TEDx, MUTEK Montréal, Reepberbahn, Latitude Festival, STRP, Ableton Loop, Sonar +D, Boiler Room, Green Man and Nesta Futurefest Chagall is one of the most experienced users of the technology to date.

Web / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp / Youtube / Soundcloud / iTunes / Spotify / SXSW

Lows0n, was born after 1995 marking her as a new generation of Chinese musicians, which cannot easily be defined. Her style is somewhere between hip hop and a video game run amok. Her high energy levels on stage, mixed with her quirky but defined sense of fashion got her already a spot on the next season of the extremely successful “China got Hip Hop” and a gig at SXSW.

Instagram / Youtube / Soundcloud / Spotify / Weibo / NetEase / QQ / SXSW

If you’re sick of musical comfort zones, here’s a strong antidote. Catnapp is the guise of Argentinian artist Amparo Battaglia, the newest signing on Monkeytown Records. Doing her very own thing since many years, the Berlin based producer, singer/rapper and striking performer has (self-)released a couple of records full of boundless creativity and originality, taking whatever she needs from every electronic genre as well as pop and rap music.

Her new EP, titled Fear, surely is her most focused and on point release yet, but still boasts an untamed DIY aesthetic on five tracks ranging from grim slowcore trap to bright-eyed futurist R&B.

Web / Facebook / Instagram / Bandcamp / Soundcloud / RA / iTunes / Spotify

Formed around the campus of Sichuan Conservatory of Music in Chengdu in 2013, THE HORMONES exploded onto the scene with a brief brush of TV fame. But their participation in the popular China Song Contest soon led to some musical soul searching and resulted in a decided rejection of their image as female musicians in traditional media.

They redefined themselves and finally released their debut 招手 “Beckon” in early 2018 on FakeLoveMusic (China only). For many critics it was one of the best albums of 2018, representing a new kind of musical language in China, skirting the edge of pop but refusing to land solidly on it.

Armed with an infectious live show, THE HORMONES are now ready for their international debut with a worldwide release scheduled in summer of 2019 and a follow up European & Asian tour in the fall of 2019

Facebook / Instagram / Weibo / NetEase / QQ