Jury
Michael Müller
Co-founder Booking and Artist Agency
Michael Müller (he/him) is a Berlin native who was raised in the city’s infamous 90’s rave scene. He has steadily climbed the ranks of the region’s electronic industry. He used his experience working at institutions like WMF, 103, and Arena Club to assert himself as a real leader in the scene, springboarding to success as a co-founder of the booking and artist management company, Triangle Agency, as well as the founder of the now-lauded event series GroundedTheory.
Perera Elsewhere
DJ, Producer, Songwriter
Long before Sasha Perera (she/her), aka Perera Elsewhere, had established herself as a groundbreaking producer, adventurous DJ and in-demand songwriter, she was an avid listener whose early musical education was shaped by London's complex array of cultures. Now based in Berlin, Perera is still motivated by the possibilities presented by a rapidly shrinking global landscape; she's as fascinated by Chicago footwork, Tanzanian singeli and Turkish drill as she is by the local club scene's unrelenting pulse.
Anja Schneider
DJ, Label Manager, Radio Host
Anja Schneider (she/her) is a defining figure in both the German and international techno scene - DJ, label owner, and long-time radio host. After moving to Berlin in 1994, she began at Kiss FM, collaborated with Ellen Allien, and in 2000 joined Radio Fritz, where she hosted the cult show Dance Under The Blue Moon until 2017. She was a resident DJ at Watergate (2003–2005) and WMF (from 2005), founded Mobilee Records in 2005, moved to radioeins in 2017, and later founded Sous Music.
Tabea BUrk
Awareness Worker, Community Organizer, Door Selector
Bea (they/sie) is one of the newer faces in Berlin's club and culture world. They focus on the rethinking and implementation of awareness concepts in the club context and combine their background in social sciences whbith activist work in intersectional, decolonial social movements. Bea helps shape Berlin's subculture through various forms of community organizing and selection work for different Berlin clubs. She was part of the Tresor Academy of Subcultural Understanding, is co-founder of the queer art collective Trashkids and active in MAMBA Berlin.
Christoph Reimann
Music Journalist, Moderator
Christoph Reimann (he/him) is a journalist and host at Deutschlandfunk, where he leads the show Corso - Kunst und Pop. He also produces the program Regler rauf, Regler runter for ByteFM. His main areas of focus are pop music and gender issues. Additionally, he serves as a jury member for Musicboard Berlin and Initiative Musik.
Cristina Plett
Music Journalist
Cristina Plett (she/her) is a Berlin-based journalist specializing in club culture, music, and social media. As a freelance writer, she has covered the music industry - especially electronic music and pop - for outlets including Die Zeit, Tagesspiegel, and Groove. Today, she works as a social media editor at Tagesspiegel and regularly shares content about club culture on her own social media channels.
Dimitri Hegemann
Founder, Cultural Organizer, Label Manager, Spatial Researcher
Dimitri Hegemann is an entrepreneur, cultural organizer, label manager, spatial researcher and, as the founder of Berlin Atonal and the legendary Tresor Club, a pioneer of Berlin club and subculture as well as the German music industry. With projects such as Kraftwerk Berlin, Tresor Foundation and Happy Locals e.V., he promotes cultural spaces worldwide. In 2024, he founded the Academy of Subcultural Understanding to encourage young people from small towns to build local cultural spaces and strengthen democratic participation.
Wanda Gaimes
Founder Collective, Community Activist
Wanda Gaimes (she/her) Wanda Gaimes is a cultural worker and longtime force in Berlin’s nightlife and activist scenes – best known as the founder of Lecken, one of the city's first queer feminist raves. With a background in political studies and academic teaching, she bridges political education and nightlife, centering pleasure activism, awareness, and community building in her work. Wanda is a founding contributor to WHOLE Festival, where she has shaped the music curation and talks program and authored harm reduction and community care guidelines.
Asia James
DJ, Artist, Door Warden
Asia-James (she/her) Asia-James is a UK-born, Jamaican-rooted, Berlin-based multidisciplinary artist working across music, DJing, songwriting, theatre, film, modeling and event curation. While her talents are wide-ranging, she’s become best known for her global presence on club doors—especially in Berlin. Referring to herself as an “atmosphere designer and door warden,” her mission is to foster inclusive, diverse communities and create shared, unrepeatable moments within nightlife spaces. In 2024, she received the TAG DER CLUBKULTUR Audience Award for her personal commitment to Berlin’s club scene.
Carmen Herold
Cultural Manager, Curator, Speaker
Carmen Herold (she/her) studied Cultural Studies, East Asian Studies, and Postcolonial Studies in Berlin, Beijing, and New York. From 2015 to 2018, she worked at the Goethe-Institut Beijing, curating and coordinating cultural projects. She co-founded the music club Zhao Dai and later the festival Zhao Dai on Leave. She has worked as a moderator, writer and speaker, held roles at the Goethe-Instituts in Munich and Brussels, and has led the Goethe-Institut in Exile since September 2024.
