-by Elizabeth Spouse (Development Coordinator / Curator at Improper Walls)

Philiam Shakesbeat creates conscious rap music. Coming from the DIY punk scene, where he played and sang and toured the world with a band for over ten years, he has adapted the ethics of said genre and adopted it in his latest project, where he raps about social consciousness, the state of the world and the importance of fucking shit up to make the world a better place. In his song he switches between Astrid Lindgren references and nods to Nietzsches nihilism and tries to acknowledge the own privilege in a discriminatory world, while questioning the own position he is in. After releasing his first full-length album in 2019, he followed with the releases of an EP in 2020 and a mixtape in 2021, where he collaborated with great artists such as Gazelle & the Bear, Kerosin95, NENDA or XING. Leiwand, oida!

Watch the Improper Session from Philiam Shakesbeat feat. DJ Olinclusive here. You can find a link to the full livestream in the description.

So, without further ado, meet Philiam Shakesbeat!

PHILIAM SHAKESBEAT: Hi I’m Philiam Shakesbeat and I’m playing Improper Sessions together with…
OLINCLUSIVE: Can I take a shit now? [sitting on Improper Walls toilet]
PHILIAM SHAKESBEAT: Together with…
OLINCLUSIVE: Olinclusive.
PHILIAM SHAKESBEAT: Hi [casual smile].

You said your music addresses “the importance of fucking shit up to make the world a better place”, which I really liked. In what ways do you think you’ve been able to stir things up? Is there a memorable example for you of a way that making and performing music has felt like you’ve been able to make an impact in a disruptive way that you feel is meaningful?
PHILIAM SHAKESBEAT: I think contentwise, a lot of it deals with destruction and starting over again. Ripping something up and starting over. Using a positive message to restart something. My songs have been used at protests, for instance- leftwing protests, I have to say, which is very nice. It’s very flattering, for one, and it also shows that we’re going in the right direction. We are actually going to release an EP together and one of the songs we are going to release also includes a Goethe quotation which says, “Alles, was entsteht, ist wert, dass es zugrunde geht.” Which basically means, everything that is created is worthy of being destroyed again. So this fits the emotion.
You also said you “played and sang and toured the world with a band for over ten years”...what’s the story there? Where did it take you? How did it shape what you do now?

PHILIAM SHAKESBEAT: The band took me to many different states in the world, from Ukraine to Great Britain, to Greece, I think 24-25 states in the United States as well. The shows in the US are especially memorable for me because they were very DIY. At the beginning of the show we never had a place to sleep and by the end of the show we ended up in, let’s say…we stayed in a bondage room once, for instance. We stayed with tweakers also, which is not something that I would recommend, in hindsight. Now with the Philiam Shakesbeat act and touring together, Oli and I have played it safe the last few years, I think. No bondage rooms anymore. But, I also have to add, I have given an interview in a bathtub once, but this is probably the most interesting place to give an interview [Improper Walls WC].

DIY means doing it yourself, but what does the title “DIY or Die” mean for you exactly?

PHILIAM SHAKESBEAT: From a very early age I created music on my own, or I really wanted to create music, and I got together with friends and just made it happen. Doing it yourself…we don’t have backing, we don’t have any labels behind us, so once you realize that, you can either not do anything or you just do it on your own. So we’ve decided to do it on our own. Which is the way to go and something that helped me realize how important it is to give back to the community, to create a community in a way, and to show other people how to be part of it. In that regard, to widen your horizon, your perspectives, to show some love to people you might not know and gain awesome experiences.

Is there anything else you’d like to add or tell our audience? This could be in regards to tonight’s performance - processes you’re currently working through to give us more insight to what we’re going to see today. Or simply what you’re working on these days that we should keep an eye out for.
PHILIAM SHAKESBEAT: We are currently finishing an EP, Oli and I are. Soundwise it’s a very nice mixture, but you are the sound guy, so maybe you can add to that.
OLINCLUSIVE: Uh yes, thank you.
PHILIAM SHAKESBEAT: Do you want to hold the microphone?
OLINCLUSIVE: No, I didn’t wash my hands. Soundwise, I wanted to experiment and try different things since I already had a feeling how the sound was with Philiam Shakesbeat. So I decided to try new things. Actually, I don’t want to spoil too much, but you’re going to hear one song from the new EP, hopefully, because it’s our Zugabe [encore], everybody say, “Zugabe”. And yeah, I hope you enjoy the show.
PHILIAM SHAKESBEAT: Yes, I also hope you enjoy the show. And it’s very nice for me personally, we started working together, Oli as my DJ I think two years ago and we started off just doing the live stuff together and at some point we started mixing a few songs for an EP. Then I think it was in late 2020, if I’m not mistaken, we created the first song together, and it’s very nice to see the working dynamic that we have grow. Honestly, to me, every time I arrive at his place I’m usually very exhausted after I ride my bike there after work because he lives…not in the center…but every time I leave, it provides me with great happiness.
OLINCLUSIVE: Weeeoooo! [claps and flushes the toilet]
PHILIAM SHAKESBEAT: [laughing] I go home and I’m very happy. Flush it down!
That’s worth a flush!
PHILIAM SHAKESBEAT: Yea, if we don’t have a do do do do [makes air horn sounds] we have to flush! But no, it’s a very nice collaboration and I’m really excited about it. Also, you should check out Osive’s other collaborations that he has now. Osive, the producer. Philiam Shakesbeat, the rapper.
Thank you both!

Improper Sessions is a new concert series in which we’re inviting musicians to play in the middle of an existing exhibition, with the entire evening dedicated to the musical act. It’s a platform for musicians to present their music outside of the standard concept of the concert stage or music video; a space where we can create something together, allowing for more sides of the musician to be seen.

Each performance takes place in front of a small audience and is live streamed. You can learn more about each musician/band via a short interview released in each Improper Dose following the concert, as well as an additional edited video that we believe will be quite beautiful, so make sure to check this out and be on the lookout for future acts!

IMPROPER SESSIONS presents PHILIAM SHAKESBEAT