In the very last stretch before the pandemic, I began playing organ with SAKILI, a Berlin-based roots-reggae and chanson project led by Antoine Villoutreix. We rehearsed in Pepe Rasmus Weissgerber’s practice room around Ostkreuz: a warm, lived-in Proberaum with that very particular Berlin mixture of music, craft, odd equipment, wood dust, friendship, and unfinished plans.

I never played a gig with SAKILI. My whole chapter with the band happened in that rehearsal room, where I tried to learn and play their complete setlist on organ. It was beautiful, but it was also daunting. Reggae is not as simple as it may sound from the outside, and at that time I was going through a very stressful period in Berlin. Eventually I left the band, and not long after that I left Berlin for good.