With rock, classical and electro beats, German drummer Philo Tsoungui is smashing glass ceilings and encouraging other women to make their own kind of music.
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00:00This is one of Germany's finest female drummers.
00:07Rock music is of course a very, very white male bubble, and I really do get a lot of backlash.
00:16Filo Changi doesn't just play drums. She's out to change a few things, too.
00:21She composes and produces her own music.
00:24As a black woman, she's had to break through many glass ceilings.
00:27What keeps her going? And how does she fight for more equal treatment?
00:33I always feel like I would have needed myself as a role model 15 years ago.
00:39So I feel like I've got a certain responsibility, because I know there are people like me
00:44who are in search of people they can identify with.
00:49Why did this Berlin percussionist choose music festivals like the Beethoven Fest in Bonn for her pieces
00:55rather than, say, accompanying the American progressive rock band The Mars Volta on their world tour?
01:00More on that later.
01:04As a little girl, Filo started out on the piano.
01:07But she soon talked her parents into buying her a drum set.
01:10In her Berlin studio, she practices every day on her drums.
01:22I think rhythm in itself is a wonderful thing.
01:25And drums are the natural choice of instrument to express rhythm.
01:33Rhythm is the heartbeat. It's simply how life keeps itself alive.
01:38And it's also how many cultures open a door to the spiritual world in some way.
01:48And I think that proves that rhythm is somehow the closest we can get to human origins.
02:00Rock, jazz, classical and hip-hop – Filo is known for her versatility.
02:05The daughter of a Cameroonian father and German mother,
02:08she studied classical percussion and earned her master's at a pop academy.
02:12Now she's much sought after both as a studio and live musician.
02:16In 2022, she started playing drums for the American band The Mars Volta.
02:20But she constantly fends off clichés and prejudices.
02:27It's obviously not about playing the drums at all.
02:30I think that's an additional trigger.
02:32Because in the context of rock music, people would just expect a man behind the drums.
02:38And many guys apparently can't handle that I'm sitting there and can play just as loudly.
02:46Filo is expanding her creative horizons.
02:49She constructs electro beats, creates her own pieces
02:52and goes back to where it all began for her – to classical music.
02:56As a fellow of the Beethoven Fest in Bonn, she set out to reinvent classical.
03:01In one project, she improvises live on stage with a pianist and a DJ.
03:14In another project, she creates an immersive concert experience.
03:18Joining her on stage is the String Orchestra,
03:20an ensemble from Berlin that calls for greater visibility for black music makers in classical circles.
03:27Of course I know the symbolic power of it.
03:31I also realize what will most likely go down here in the hall this evening
03:35when not a single white person takes the stage.
03:38Because in classical music, that's just extremely rare.
03:48Six strings, a visual artist and Filo in an empty church
03:53put out live beats and re-sample the sounds they've played.
04:02This is the setting where she creates her compositions.
04:12This performance is a small step against the racism and discrimination
04:16which Filo still encounters in the institutions of Germany's music world.
04:20It's important to her that her works are performed by black musicians.
04:36For me it's about showing what you can achieve when you set your mind to it
04:40and letting people know they're not alone, even if they feel that way.
04:45There are always others out there with similar stories.
04:54As a musician on the drums and as an advocate for marginalized groups,
04:58Filo Chungy sets the beat and an example for the up-and-coming generation.