Foto: Andi Hofmann
Interview by Makery.Info with Simon Berz at Home Made 2025
Upcoming Shows:
1. 5. – 10. Mai 2026 Gewürzmühle ZUG
IMPROSITION Simon Berz Einzelaustellung
Simon Berz präsentiert eine mehrteilige Performance, in der er Sound, Tanz und bildende Kunst miteinander verschmelzen lässt. Aus Okinawa, wo er als Artist in Residence tätig war, bringt er Visuals und „visuelle Notationen” mit. Es sind Spuren improvisierter Musik, die wie Partituren wirken und erst im Moment entstehen. In der Gewürzmühle wird der Tänzer Gabriel Obergfell das Geschehen begleiten, während Ryu Oyama und Uechi UECHI gacha Kazuya den Künstler damals unterstützten.
Im Laufe der Ausstellung bespielt Simon Berz nicht nur den Lorzenraum, sondern auch die Aktionshalle mit verschiedenen Akteuren zu einem vielfältigen Programm, das das neue Werke entstehen lässt. Über mehr als zehn Tage hinweg verschränkt sich die Ausstellung mit Solo- und Duo-/Trio-Performances, in denen Klang und Bild gleichzeitig entstehen. Die Notationen werden körperlich „verkörpert“ – das Publikum kann zuschauen, mitgehen und mitlesen. Eine Einladung, Improvisation nicht nur zu hören, sondern auch zu sehen.
Sonntag, 10.5.2026, 12:00 Uhr Finissage | 14:30 Uhr Artist Talk mit Susann Wintsch | Lorzenraum
17. Mai – 5. Juli 2026 Gluri Suter Huus GSL Wettingen
IMPROSITIONS
SIMON BERZ & GÄSTE
17. Mai – 5. Juli 2026
Vernissage & Performance: Sonntag, 17. Mai 2026, 11 Uhr
Begrüssung: Philippe Rey, Präsident Kulturkommission Gemeinde Wettingen
Einführung in die Ausstellung: Catrina Sonderegger, Leiterin Galerie im Gluri Suter Huus
Performance: «SPALT» mit Simon Berz
Was geschieht, wenn Improvisation, Komposition und Notation gleichzeitig stattfinden?
Simon Berz (*1967) schlägt mit elektrifizierten Schlagzeugstöcken Bilder auf Papier – während er spielt, entsteht die Notation. Der Klang der Geste wird hörbar, die Bewegung sichtbar. Jede Linie ist zugleich Musik und Partitur, jeder Schlag zugleich Improvisation und Komposition. Die entstehende Notation wird von Künstler:innen wie Gabriel Obergfell, Timo Ullmann, Aki Maeda, sowie dem Filmemacher Andi Hofmann und der SRF-Korrespondentin Judith Huber neu interpretiert.
Die Ausstellung im Gluri Suter Huus Wettingen kennzeichnet eine besondere Rückkehr für Simon Berz, Wettingen ist sein Herkunftsort und Eduard Spörri war sein Grossonkel.
Oftnungszeiten über Freiertage:
Wir haben über Pfingsten und Fronleichnam zu den gewohnten Zeiten geöffnet.
Sonntag, 31. Mai 2026, 15 – 17 Uhr
Duo-Performance «Verkörperung» mit Tänzer Gabriel Obergfell & Simon Berz
Video-präsentation «BODY» von Filmemacher Andi Hofmann mit Sound von Simon Berz
Gespräch mit Gabriel Obergfell & Simon Berz
Samstag, 6. Juni 2026, 14 Uhr
Künstlergespräch mit SRF-Korrespondentin Judith Huber
Duo-Performance mit dem Künster Aki Maeda aus Okinawa & Simon Berz
Sonntag, 14. Juni 2026, 16 Uhr
Stones-and-Screens-Performance mit Videokünstler Timo Ullmann
Sonntag, 5. Juli 2026, 15 – 17 Uhr
Finissage & Performance mit Gabriel Obergfell & Simon Berz
Kunstvermittlung für Klein und Gross
Galerie im Gluri Suter Huus
Bifangstrasse 1
5430 Wettingen
glurisuterhuus.ch
Mi- Sa 15 – 18 Uhr, So 11-17 Uhr
New Releases:
Tectonic becomes more than a travel diary or a concept piece; it stands as a vivid, compressed portrait of a long‑running artistic inquiry, channeling the slow timescale of geology into music that feels urgent, contemporary and intensely alive.” soundohm.com
Yes, rocks like to dance too. As a whole, there are countless moments like these; I challenge anyone listening to sit still for more than a minute. Fans of percussive-centered work with unique instruments and field recordings from remote areas of the globe. Highly recommended!. ***** musiquemachine.com
Berz spins the amplified stones into dance-driven and even hip-hop textures, with some gamelan-tinged, ambient soundscapes. The outcome is genre-binding, playful, seductive, and quite addictive, directly motivating all kinds of physical movements. Eyal Hareuveni
Label: Karl (KR124)
Format: lim. ed. LP, coloured vinyl, handnumbered + DL card / download
EAN: 5050580866478
LC: 18598
Release date: march 27th, 2026
press contact:
dense promotion / Ed Benndorf
ed@dense.de
www.karlrecords.net
“Tectonic” is a concise portrait of SIMON BERZ’s geological sound explorations across continents over the last 15 years: drums, electronics, and a set of electronically manipulated basalt stones from Iceland.
SIMON BERZ is a transdisciplinary drummer, sound artist, and music educator based in Switzerland and Berlin. Working at the intersection of improvised music, sound art, and performance, and deliberately crossing boundaries between disciplines, his aesthetics are shaped by a sustained engagement with natural materials, particularly stone, and their sonic transformation through electronic manipulation. Beyond his performance work, BERZ founded BADABUM as an art label and a music school.
For the last 30 years, BERZ has been performing in Japan, China, Russia, the USA, Cuba, Iceland, Turkey, and across Europe. He has collaborated with artists including BILL LASWELL, BABY SOMMER, DAMO SUZUKI (CAN), JAMES TURRELL, JIMI TENOR, JOHN SINGLAIR, JOJO MAYER (NERVE), KONDO TOSHINORI, KIDD JORDAN, LAUREN NEWTON, LEE “SCRATCH“ PERRY, MAURO PAWLOWSKI (dEUS), NILS PETTER MOLVÆR, NIKI GLASPIE, NORBERT MÖSLANG, PAUL LOWENS, PFADFINDEREI, ROB MAZUREK, SKÚLI SVERRISSON, and he was the live drummer for APPARAT. As BERZ understands artistic practice as energy emerging from nature and through dialogue with people, his recorded output is intentionally selective, with one highlight being “Beats versus Breath” with KONDO and LASWELL (2023). Alongside a regular drumkit and electronics, he has developed his own instruments such as the “Lithophon” in which resonating stones are turned into amplified sound through water drops, and “Tectonic”, a set of Icelandic basalt stones shaped through electronic manipulation. These self-built instruments form the material basis for his performances, installations, and sound recordings.
“Tectonic” is also the title of BERZ’s latest work: a summary of his geological sound explorations across continents. From Iceland to Indonesia and Bali, from New Orleans to China, in caves and at shores, BERZ carried his millions-of-years-old basalt stones as both instrument and collaborator. On Java, he met Baron, a builder of stone gamelan instruments. At the Pacitan Tabuhan Cave (Indonesia) he performed with MISBACH BILOK and WUKIR SURYADI (SENYAWA) who work with corals as instruments. BERZ brought these encounters and “field recordings” to the Stöðvarfjörður studio in Iceland, where he recorded with his “Tectonic” set-up, drums, and electronics. The music was later mixed in Berlin by DIRK DRESSELHAUS (SCHNEIDER TM).
The resulting album moves from club-driven tracks to ambient passages, from gamelan-inspired textures to HipHop-like beat patterns. It resists easy categorization while staying direct and physical in its impact.
2024
NATURE Album by Simon Berz
NATURE, by Simon Berz 17 track album INFO/PRESS
Simon Berz improvised with found slate Phylitt stones from the french alps as morning ritual in the Swiss Alps during the pandemic. The recording NATURE documents the search for the infinite variety of sounds of these 220 million-year-old stones
In 2009, I found thin, ringing slate slabs in Haute-Provence in the south of France. This discovery led me to a new path in my work with found objects. The raw sound of the stones, combined with water droplets or electronics, has accompanied me ever since. The sound installation TROPF was awarded the 2011 work year of the Canton of Zug. Last year, I was able to present the new variant of the installation at Kunstraum Aarau 2023. The collected recording TROPF was released by DUMPF Edition Zurich. With the instrument TECTONIC (basalt stones from Iceland and electronics, 2015), I toured and performed concerts between Cuba and Japan.
Other new releases:
Our music is driven by the ongoing global disaster, expressing the last moments of human failure – a call to action for solidarity, for social and ecological responsibility