Barbara Panther plans debut EP and tour with Caribou

photo by Jon Bergman

Barbara Panther: dissecting her name is more telling than any comparisons to Björk or Grace Jones could ever be. Stemming from ancient Greek, “Barbara” means “barbarian woman”, and her surname — aside from obviously referring to the nocturnally predacious pussybeast — is evocative of pantheism, the belief that god and nature are one and the same.

Although “Panther” might also bring to mind a certain African-American revolutionary political party, Barbara will tell you her music “doesn’t sound black at all”. (If you’re wondering, she was born in Rwanda, grew up in Brussels and is now based in Berlin.) Then again, “sounding black” might be the words of a synæsthete, considering the whirlwindy title track from her debut EP Empire:

As her confrontational voice shrieks, “Your empire is falling / I think it’s time to let nature rule” — combined with haphazard beats assisted by maestro Matthew Herbert — Barbara creates a compelling vision of our societal collapse. If “witch house” is being used in earnest as a music descriptor, then hell, let’s take it to the extreme and fabricate a new sub-sub-genre just for this song and call it “pagan dancehall”.

The four-track EP is out next month, coinciding with Panther’s appearance at the Berlin Festival at the former Tempelhof Airport on the 10th of September with the likes of LCD Soundsystem, Hot Chip, Robyn and Fever Ray. In November she’ll hit the Autobahn for a German tour with City Slang labelmate Caribou. Empire artwork, tracklist and tour dates follow this exclusive Q&A that took place at the BLN.FM studio.

Expatriarch: You worked with Matthew Herbert outside of London to produce the album. What was the working dynamic like with him?

Panther: It was very smooth, very organic, and we understand each other musically. It went really, really well. I’m happy that I had that experience.

Some of your lyrics, especially in “Empire”, deal with nature overtaking our civilized world, yet your music has a technology-driven sound, so how do you reconcile those two opposing factors?

Well, you cannot deny the presence of technology. It’s moving very fast and it’s a form of communication. I like technology, but that doesn’t mean the message has to talk about it. But now I’m starting to feel guilty for using technology!

photo by Jon Bergman

No, I just think there’s an interesting contrast between the sound and the message. I’m not trying to put it down in any way.

I think both can work together. My view that nature is taking over, it’s just a reality. And so is technology. It’s kind of like going back and moving forward. Like a battery. Plus and minus.

I was wondering if you follow mainstream pop music. I’ve noticed an influx of females such as Janelle Monáe and Kelis who are using afrofuturist imagery. Have you noticed this as well? Is there something gathering force, or is merely an aesthetic choice prompted by Lady GaGa’s popularity? What are your thoughts?

I like futurism, but I’m not directly influenced by it, I don’t put an emphasis on it. But I do like afro-futurism. I think the two together is a very nice combination. There again we have the theme of nature taking over, and technology. I would like to give a Pygmy a laptop, for example, and see what that person would do with it.

I have noticed lately that a lot of artists are inspired by the imagery of the movie Metropolis. Also, on the cover of the new Christina Aguilera album, she has this huge binocular on one eye, and she looks like the robot coming alive in Metropolis. Or the Monáe girl, the thing she’s wearing on her head. Compared to these artists, though, I don’t think musically we are on the same page.

Neither do I, but I think it’s worth mentioning, just because you’re conscious of your presentation and how your message is delivered through your aesthetic. Now, how has your live performance evolved over the years? About a year and a half ago, it was with a live band. But your appearance this June at Haus der Kulturen der Welt was more or less solo. What can people expect for your show at the Berlin Festival?

Something good! I’m working on it at this moment. I’m a resident at the .HBC and I’m trying to keep it to the point, actually. But there will be musicians and some staging. I don’t want to say too much, but there will be visuals, and I will be working with technology! And costume changes. But I can’t say more.

And is there anyone else you’re excited to check out at the festival?

I think the lineup is fantastic this year. Fever Ray, Zola Jesus… Peaches is always fun. Maybe Tricky, LCD Soundsystem…

Your initials are B.P. — do you worry that the negative reaction toward the oil spill might affect your success?

Yeah, there we go! Of course it’s not a good thing to be compared with that disaster.

But it kind of fits in with the theme of the end of our civilized society. We’re killing ourselves.

Yes, actually. But I would clean the oceans. I do sing about oceans, about water. If you see my logo, it’s something that lives underwater, with coral and shells. I praise what lives in the ocean, so I think it’s definitely the opposite.

Expatriarch Radio #6 will feature audio from the interview along with an exclusive remix of “Empire” by Renaissance Man. City Slang will release the Empire EP digitally in Germany on September 10th and everywhere else the following week. Tracklist:

1. Empire
2. Voodoo
3. Deeper Purple
4. A Last Dance

artwork by Jesse Kanda

Barbara Panther live:

07.09 @ Cookies, Berlin (DJ set)
10.09 @ Berlin Festival, Tempelhof, Berlin
08.11 @ Feierwerk, Munich*
14.11 @ Central Theatre, Leipzig*
15.11 @ Übel & Gefährlich, Hamburg*
16.11 @ Enjoy Jazz Festival, Heidelberg*
29.11 @ Gloria, Cologne*
04.12 @ Fluc, Vienna*
05.12 @ Mousonturm, Frankfurt*

*supporting Caribou

Barbara Panther elsewhere: SoundCloud | Facebook | MySpace