One of the world's most sought-after live acts captured in picture and sound. This concert film documents the mesmerizing live performances from renowned German composer and producer Nils Frahm at the iconic Funkhaus Berlin.
ABOUT
When Nils Frahm kicked off his world tour at Funkhaus Berlin in January 2018 to bring his highly acclaimed album ‘All Melody’ to the stage, an ambitious journey was just to begin: Over the next two years, Frahm played more than 180 sold-out performances, including the Sydney Opera House, LA’s Disney Hall, the Barbican in London, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, and several big festival stages around the globe. Yet the stunning setting of Funkhaus Berlin, renowned for its vintage grandeur and outstanding acoustics, and also home to Frahm’s studio where ‘All Melody’ was recorded, had occupied a unique place in the artist’s heart.
Synopsis
When Nils Frahm kicked off his world tour at Funkhaus Berlin in January 2018 to bring his highly acclaimed album ‘All Melody’ to the stage, an ambitious journey was just to begin: Over the next two years, Frahm played more than 180 sold-out performances, including the Sydney Opera House, LA’s Disney Hall, the Barbican in London, Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, and several big festival stages around the globe. Yet the stunning setting of Funkhaus Berlin, renowned for its vintage grandeur and outstanding acoustics, and also home to Frahm’s studio where ‘All Melody’ was recorded, had occupied a unique place in the artist’s heart.
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In December 2018, Nils Frahm eventually returned to Funkhaus Berlin to host another set of four shows, tickets sold out within hours. Frahm’s friend and film director Benoit Toulemonde – a collaborator since 2011 – captured the concerts on film, only using handheld cameras, and employing techniques he had mastered for the concert series ‘Soirée de Poche’ which featured some of the world’s most popular artists.
‘Tripping with Nils Frahm’ is an illustration of Nils’s lauded ability as a composer and passionate live artist as well as the enchanting atmosphere of his already legendary Funkhaus shows.
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ARTIST
Nils Frahm is one of the most exciting sound explorers of our time. When it comes to defining the space between classical and electronic music, hardly any other name is mentioned as often as that of the Berlin-based pianist, composer and producer. His unconventional approach to an age-old instrument, and his eclectic and distinctive compositions has won him legions of fans around the world. Nils Frahm is renowned for his highly-developed sense of control and restraint in his work, as well as of breath-taking levels of emotion and personality. Numerous tours and concerts all over the globe have strengthened his reputation as both an exceptional instrumentalist and a fascinating live musician. His albums have garnered international acclaim from critics and audiences alike, and his live shows are regularly sold out. Following on from his first solo piano works and a collaborative record with cellist Anne Müller, Nils Frahm’s breakthrough album Felt was released on Erased Tapes Records in 2011. Two years later and after extensive touring, Frahm returned to critical acclaim with his album Spaces, expressing his love for experimentation and answering his fan’s call for a record that truly reflects what they experience during his mesmerizing live shows. In 2015 Frahm launched Piano Day, an official global body created with his closest friends to celebrate the piano via various innovative, piano-related projects and concerts around the world. That same year, Frahm’s first film score release, Music For The Motion Picture Victoria written for the one-take feature film by Sebastian Schipper, won the esteemed German Film Prize for Best Soundtrack. Following a Nils Frahm-curated weekend festival at London’s Barbican Centre, 2016 saw a collaborative score with Woodkid for Ellis, a short film by French artist JR featuring Robert De Niro. Other film work includes contributions to James Gray’s Ad Astra starring Brad Pitt and Julian Rosefeldt‘s Manifesto with Cate Blanchett. A few years ago, Nils Frahm became the proud host of Saal 3, an impressive studio in the historical 1950s East German Funkhaus building in Berlin. His highly acclaimed 2018 album, All Melody, was born out of the freedom that his new environment provided, allowing Frahm to explore without any restrictions. Following the release of All Melody, he took his live show around the world on a two-year-long tour, with over 180 sold out performances including New York’s Brooklyn Steel, Le Trianon in Paris, L.A.’s Disney Hall, the Sydney Opera House, several festival stages up to 40.000 capacity, and of course the prestigious Saal 1 at Funkhaus Berlin. Intended as companions to his last studio album, Frahm released his three Encores EPs in the course of 2018 and 2019, which are also available as one full-length release, titled All Encores, featuring 80 minutes of music. To celebrate this year’s Piano Day, he released Empty on 28 March — a collection of solo upright piano music originally recorded as a soundtrack to a short film he shot in 2012 with his friend and film director Benoit Toulemonde. The film is now available to watch on Frahm’s YouTube channel. In December 2020, Nils Frahm released the concert film Tripping with Nils Frahm, accompanied by a live album out on Erased Tapes Records. The film is produced by the newly-launched label and production company LEITER, in association with Plan B Entertainment. On top of that, LEITER is currently working on numerous other projects for
Nils Frahm
Nils Frahm is one of the most exciting sound explorers of our time. When it comes to defining the space between classical and electronic music, hardly any other name is mentioned as often as that of the Berlin-based pianist, composer and producer. His unconventional approach to an age-old instrument, and his eclectic and distinctive compositions has won him legions of fans around the world. Nils Frahm is renowned for his highly-developed sense of control and restraint in his work, as well as of breath-taking levels of emotion and personality. Numerous tours and concerts all over the globe have strengthened his reputation as both an exceptional instrumentalist and a fascinating live musician. His albums have garnered international acclaim from critics and audiences alike, and his live shows are regularly sold out. Following on from his first solo piano works and a collaborative record with cellist Anne Müller, Nils Frahm’s breakthrough album Felt was released on Erased Tapes Records in 2011. Two years later and after extensive touring, Frahm returned to critical acclaim with his album Spaces, expressing his love for experimentation and answering his fan’s call for a record that truly reflects what they experience during his mesmerizing live shows. In 2015 Frahm launched Piano Day, an official global body created with his closest friends to celebrate the piano via various innovative, piano-related projects and concerts around the world. That same year, Frahm’s first film score release, Music For The Motion Picture Victoria written for the one-take feature film by Sebastian Schipper, won the esteemed German Film Prize for Best Soundtrack. Following a Nils Frahm-curated weekend festival at London’s Barbican Centre, 2016 saw a collaborative score with Woodkid for Ellis, a short film by French artist JR featuring Robert De Niro. Other film work includes contributions to James Gray’s Ad Astra starring Brad Pitt and Julian Rosefeldt‘s Manifesto with Cate Blanchett. A few years ago, Nils Frahm became the proud host of Saal 3, an impressive studio in the historical 1950s East German Funkhaus building in Berlin. His highly acclaimed 2018 album, All Melody, was born out of the freedom that his new environment provided, allowing Frahm to explore without any restrictions. Following the release of All Melody, he took his live show around the world on a two-year-long tour, with over 180 sold out performances including New York’s Brooklyn Steel, Le Trianon in Paris, L.A.’s Disney Hall, the Sydney Opera House, several festival stages up to 40.000 capacity, and of course the prestigious Saal 1 at Funkhaus Berlin. Intended as companions to his last studio album, Frahm released his three Encores EPs in the course of 2018 and 2019, which are also available as one full-length release, titled All Encores, featuring 80 minutes of music. To celebrate this year’s Piano Day, he released Empty on 28 March — a collection of solo upright piano music originally recorded as a soundtrack to a short film he shot in 2012 with his friend and film director Benoit Toulemonde. The film is now available to watch on Frahm’s YouTube channel. In December 2020, Nils Frahm released the concert film Tripping with Nils Frahm, accompanied by a live album out on Erased Tapes Records. The film is produced by the newly-launched label and production company LEITER, in association with Plan B Entertainment. On top of that, LEITER is currently working on numerous other projects for
the future.
Reviews
“The movie is wonderfully seductive, weaving images of Frahm at work with quick glimpses of his beautiful audience as they begin to let loose and stand up one-by-one during the show. Their hands can be seen reaching toward the sky in appreciation of the German artist’s angelic, intriguing music.”
The Upcoming
“It’s a bold choice to count on Frahm alone to provide enough visual excitement to fill a 90-minute movie. But watching him at work — and hearing the audience react whenever he hits an especially tricky stretch of moving between keyboards — is little like watching an athlete at the top of his game.”
Los Angeles Times
“Frahm is a master at delicately interweaving sounds together that don’t typically live in the same world. He offers this sonic language that really breathes as both prayer, sacrifice and brilliance in a way that he re-births to us what music and sound can truly be. (...) ‘Tripping With Nils Frahm’ is an excellent album that not only brings a sense of place as a live album, but fascinatingly articulates the unsaid in masterfully evocative ways.”
Clash Magazine
“The film is simultaneously intimate and grand, with shaky hand-held close-ups capturing the delicate moments of Frahm’s performances, while sweeping shots of a gleeful crowd provokes contagious energy we’ve all sorely missed in 2020.”
DJ Mag