Tag Archives: MFM Speaks Out

Kaleta and SoSaLa

“MFM SPEAKS OUT” w. Host Sohrab aka SoSaLa & Guest Kaleta

Have you listened to MFM SPEAKS OUT yet? Check it out here: https://mfmspeaksout.simplecast.com/episodes/kaleta-F6R_FegB.

Legendary Afrobeat guitarist and MFM member Leon “Kaleta” Ligan-Majekodunmi joins “MFM Speaks Out” podcast host Sohrab Saadat Ladjevardi, aka SoSaLa, to share his 50-year journey through music, activism, and survival. From growing up in Benin and Lagos to touring with Fela Kuti, King Sunny Adé, Shina Peters, and Lauryn Hill, Kaleta reflects on Afrobeat as both a musical language and a political force. The conversation explores Kaleta’s firsthand experiences inside Fela’s world, and what it means to carry cultural responsibility as an artist in diaspora. Along the way, Kaleta reflects on immigration, artistic survival, gun violence in America, and why music must always carry a message. This is a powerful, unfiltered look at Afrobeat’s past, present, and future — told by someone who lived it.

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Anne Wichman

“MFM Speaks Out” EP 33: Anne Wichmann on Infusing Electronics with Live Performance

“We cannot be in lockdown forever with this virus…we need events…we need art in our lives, and we need interaction with art and with music. More importantly, music cannot be taken for granted. We can make shows happen in a safe and positive way for everyone involved.”

In this episode of the “MFM Speaks Out,” Adam Reifsteck interviews Brooklyn-based producer and powerhouse performer Anne Wichmann about immigrating to the United States from Germany and finding a home in the New York underground Indie Electronica music scene. Topics also discussed include the issue of gender inequality in the music industry and creating opportunities in spite of a global pandemic.

Anne Wichmann is known for her edgy indie Electronic Pop project She’s Excited! With an appetite for intelligent and genre-bending music of icons like David Bowie and Björk as well as grooving Future Pop and Dark Electronica of artists like Billie Eilish and ODESZA, she listens to music defined by limitless imagination rather than genre. This bleeds into her versatile style of edgy and dark yet sparkling Electronic Pop that she merges with empowering and uplifting lyrics. She’s Excited! is a solo project, yet Anne collaborates with singers, musicians, producers and artists all over the globe.

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