Identities: What shapes us?
Status Quo: How are things now?
Paradise Now: How can we bring change?
WHO ARE MADANII AND L:LUCID?
MADANII and L:LUCID aren’t here to ‘fit in’. Based in Berlin, MADANII, an Iranian-German singer, alongside her production partner L:LUCID, blend futuristic synth riffs with booming bass beats and top it off with sounds from the Persian music world. Their mission statement is to push boundaries and rebel. Both in their music and outside it. Just like the DM’s DNA. Who decides what’s normal anyway?
For Dr. Martens Presents, they are documenting a subculture at the heart of Berlin’s creative community. In ‘ORI3NTATION’, a video series following twelve Middle Eastern and North African artists working in Berlin, MADANII and L:LUCID will explore how cultural appropriation and representation has affected their creativity and self-expression. The series is part of a special collaboration with Dr. Martens and will be released in parts from 25th November.
For Dr. Martens Presents, they are documenting a subculture at the heart of Berlin’s creative community. In ‘ORI3NTATION’, a video series following twelve Middle Eastern and North African artists working in Berlin, MADANII and L:LUCID will explore how cultural appropriation and representation has affected their creativity and self-expression. The series is part of a special collaboration with Dr. Martens and will be released in parts from 25th November.
DM’S CHATS WITH MADANII AND L:LUCID
We caught up with the Berlin duo to hear about their city, their heritage and their inspirations.
Where do you find your inspiration?
Inspiration can hit us from anywhere. An amazing production, a shared experience, our mood. The beauty of making music or art in general is that you can channel anything into your work.
What do you want to achieve over the course of your careers?
To find the right balance between staying true to our creative visions and being able to live off our music, between addressing issues close to our heart and allowing for fun and light-heartedness.
Inspiration can hit us from anywhere. An amazing production, a shared experience, our mood. The beauty of making music or art in general is that you can channel anything into your work.
What do you want to achieve over the course of your careers?
To find the right balance between staying true to our creative visions and being able to live off our music, between addressing issues close to our heart and allowing for fun and light-heartedness.
What are your favourite pair of Docs, and what Docs are you rocking at the moment?
L:LUCID: My favourites are the vegan Jadon platforms. They're also what I´m rocking at the moment!
MADANII: I love platforms 'maybe because I’m tiny' so I need to have the Jadons in my life. But I don’t like that L:LUCID has them too because now I can’t make up for the height difference!
Why do you find music such a powerful source of expression?
It is incredible what influence music can have on peoples’ emotions. If you find the right track you can run that extra mile, pull yourself out of bed in the morning, build the confidence to do that thing you’re about to do. We’re constantly in awe of the powerful emotions our own music can bring up in others.
L:LUCID: My favourites are the vegan Jadon platforms. They're also what I´m rocking at the moment!
MADANII: I love platforms 'maybe because I’m tiny' so I need to have the Jadons in my life. But I don’t like that L:LUCID has them too because now I can’t make up for the height difference!
Why do you find music such a powerful source of expression?
It is incredible what influence music can have on peoples’ emotions. If you find the right track you can run that extra mile, pull yourself out of bed in the morning, build the confidence to do that thing you’re about to do. We’re constantly in awe of the powerful emotions our own music can bring up in others.
What does Dr. Martens mean to you?
Subculture, Diversity & Edge. Dr Martens seem to have always been around. Growing up we remember seeing the cool kids we admired and old punks alike wearing them. Nowadays you can’t imagine the streets of Berlin without them.
What do you love about Berlin?
To us Berlin is kind of the epicentre of creative expression in Germany. It´s so diverse and feels like a home to all the outcasts. Especially when you grew up in small rural villages like the both of us, Berlin is the farthest you can get from that reality.
Do you find it important for your music and creativity to be linked to your heritage?
We don’t think it’s important per se but it’s something that just happens. Every artist is a potpourri of different impressions they got over the course of their life and every piece of art or music is seen through that unique filter of their personality. Cultural heritage is just one of the things that makes people who they are and so influences what they end up creating.
Subculture, Diversity & Edge. Dr Martens seem to have always been around. Growing up we remember seeing the cool kids we admired and old punks alike wearing them. Nowadays you can’t imagine the streets of Berlin without them.
What do you love about Berlin?
To us Berlin is kind of the epicentre of creative expression in Germany. It´s so diverse and feels like a home to all the outcasts. Especially when you grew up in small rural villages like the both of us, Berlin is the farthest you can get from that reality.
Do you find it important for your music and creativity to be linked to your heritage?
We don’t think it’s important per se but it’s something that just happens. Every artist is a potpourri of different impressions they got over the course of their life and every piece of art or music is seen through that unique filter of their personality. Cultural heritage is just one of the things that makes people who they are and so influences what they end up creating.
