Ditty

In the organizer's words:

The word "Ditty" could be translated into German as "Liedchen" - but Aditi "Ditty" Veena, who was born and raised in New Delhi, does not warble nice trivialities. Instead, the artist and climate protection activist deals with the "inseparable connection between music and nature", writing "gentle and poetic protest songs that urge us to take better care of our planet - and ourselves."

She delivers her lyrics in a calm, clear voice, switching from reciting to singing and back again. Laurie Anderson comes to mind, Kae Tempest or Patti Smith. Ditty dresses her songs in sparse, very haunting arrangements that create a lot of intimacy and suit her warm voice very well.

In addition to delicate fingerpicking on the acoustic guitar and restrained keyboard sounds, you can also hear birds singing, the sound of the sea or the occasional cricket.

Ditty has been living in Berlin since 2022 and has gathered a top-class band around him with drummer Andi Haberl (The Notwist) and Johannes Weber (Ilgen Nur, Jungstötter).

However, she recorded the five songs on her new EP "Skin" (Clouds Hill Records) in various places in her native India, whose musical tradition influenced the Beatles, for example, over half a century ago, and whose peculiarities have also shaped the thirty-something: "I grew up in a colonized country," she explains, "where I speak two languages and got to know a contradictory coexistence of cultures." So it seems plausible that the English-language tracks from "Skin" will be followed in the near future by another EP called "Kaali", whose lyrics were written in Hindi.

Regardless of which language she uses, however, Ditty's message is one of connection, mindfulness and emotion; whether she is planting trees, campaigning for clean drinking water or offering a new perspective on India with her songs, where "an indie scene is just coming to life."

Her song "Deathcab" (also a tribute to one of her favorite bands) helped her gain international attention through the Netflix series "Little Things".

And now that she is living in the heart of Europe, she wants to pick up where she left off in the coming months and bring her music, songs and message to the people more intensively and more than ever before.

A documentary film will be shown before the concert:

"Make Forest Not War" Documentary

https://youtu.be/mNPZ7gIVsvE

Our everyday actions as humans are causing serious and sometimes irreparable damage to our planet: the mountains, forests, rivers and oceans - resources that have evolved over millions of years. If they are lost, they will be lost forever. We must come together globally as humanity and stand by the Earth now. But above all, we must stand up for ourselves. We must finally realize that we are harming ourselves and our precious lives the most. Because the earth will survive, even if we change it. But not us and not life as we know it.

Ditty has always dedicated the majority of her work to "Mother Nature" and man-made climate change. In 2023, she embarked on the "Make Forests Not War" tour, which was an attempt to travel slowly and consciously and thus also became India's first CO2-neutral tour.

The musician traveled by train to 9 cities across the country, performing mostly in parks and gardens. She worked with local environmentalists to spark important conversations about climate change, ecology, community regeneration and transformation.

This very moving documentary by Indian director Akur is about this experience, but also about her thoughts and actions in general.