Photo: © Ashia Grzek

Ashia Bison Rouge [USA/PL]

ASHIA GRZESIK CELLO VOCALS ELECTRONICS

This musician and singer-songwriter’s journey to forming a band took an unconventional path. Ashia Grzesik simply picked up her cello and built herself a setup of effects pedals. The result was her all-powerful tool for creating epic soundscapes. Above all, however, it is a tool for the relentless way she draws her audience into surprising labyrinths of the soul. Her songs turn the great wheel: small epics, inner psychograms.

Born in Wrocław, raised in the Pacific Northwest of the U.S., and now living in Berlin, she performs barefoot, cello in her arms, loop stations at her feet. She has collaborated with Cirque du Soleil and the Portland Cello Project, playing in clubs as well as sacred spaces. Her new album suggests she’ll bring a massive load of fresh ideas to the Nordsternturm. So confident that she even proves herself a match for Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ “I Put a Spell on You.” A powerful, versatile voice. At NCF 2024, she performed at Kunstraum Norten. Now she’s making the leap to the Nordsternturm, a former winding tower where glass, steel, and the history of a region converge. Few places are better suited to this music.