ANIMALISTICS präsentiert: SOPHIA KENNEDY | DOLPHIN LOVE / Im Anschluss: DJ Set

In the organizer's words:

24.04.26
Darmstadt State Theater
Foyer of the Kammerspiele
20/ 21h

Presented by: ANIMALISTICS
Organized by: Staatstheater Darmstadt
Produced by: Kulturmanufaktur Darmstadt

SOPHIA KENNEDY
born in Baltimore, USA, grew up in Germany and began writing her own plays at an early age. She moved to Hamburg and studied film at the Hochschule für bildende Künste (HfbK), but dropped out and turned to music. Together with Mense Reents (Die Vögel, Egoexpress, die Goldenen Zitronen), she recorded her debut album, which was released in 2017 on DJ Koze's label Pampa Records and received international recognition. In 2019, she released the experimental album NOW on Malka Tuti as part of the duo Shari Vari with Helena Ratka. In 2021, Sophia Kennedy released her second album Monsters on the City Slang label, which was awarded the VUT Prize in the "Best Album" category in 2022. In May 2025, Kennedy's third album "Squeeze Me" will be released again on City Slang, on which the singer and her longtime musical collaborator and co-writer Mense Reents (Egoexpress, die Vögel, Die Goldenen Zitronen) offer a more disillusioned commentary on the status quo.

DOLPHIN LOVE
It always starts with the mood and the instrumental idea, the rest follows naturally. Production-wise, it comes from hip hop, yet the guitar is in the foreground, sometimes even more than the voice, which is treated more like another element. "I'm always trying to challenge myself and break new ground in my production style. To do things the other way around, to get out of my head. The same ways often bore me. Producing music for me is like quieting my mind and stopping to think.
In the real world, Dolphin Love has already brought his songs to the stage at various festivals such as Dockville, Fusion or Appletree Garden or shared them with Telenova, Benjamin Amaru and Zimmer90 as support. Always with "peace & love", because this is not only the ending of every post by Dolphin Love, but also the atmosphere that runs like a red thread through it.

D&J
Their sets combine driving club tracks with playful, melodic moments and a clear dramaturgy that focuses on energy and timing rather than rigid genre boundaries. Having performed at various festivals, the duo from Leipzig see themselves as part of the evening: closely interlinked with the line-up and the audience, with a feel for dynamics and atmosphere on the dance floor.