Photos and interview by Stacie Joy
East Village-based singer-songwriter Franzi Szymkowiak and her band Lukka (Ashley Gonzalez on bass and Simon Fishburn on drums) return on Friday with Wendekind, an album exploring transformation, identity and the search for meaning between the personal and the cosmic.
Ahead of the release, we asked Franzi a few questions about the new record and the influence of the East Village on her work.
Tell us about Wendekind. What's the story behind the album and its title?
The new album is mainly about personal change, transformation, and searching for meaning somewhere between someone's inner world and the cosmos.
The title references the generation (my generation) born around the fall of the Berlin Wall in East Germany — children growing up during a moment of change. I thought it would be fitting.
How does the neighborhood influence your music and creative process?
Living in the East Village has always served as a creative input for me. There’s a creative energy here with so many bands playing shows at places like Berlin Under A or Night Club 101. Those kinds of things naturally pull you forward to do the same thing. I recently saw a ShowBrain show here at Tompkins Square Park with The Lemon Twigs headlining — truly inspiring.
The East Village can feel super chaotic, crazy, and so colorful at the same time. It sometimes feels like anything goes and anything can happen, so I feel that's the same with my music: No boundaries, anything goes, whatever channels through me.
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Lukka is headlining tonight at the Spare Room in gutter bk in Williamsburg. Details here.
Previously on EV Grieve:
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