CHAPTER I · THE STORY
LAYERS
OF A LIFE.
Funk, hip-hop and house do not replace each other. They settle on top of each other, like records on a shelf.
01 · THE RESONANCE
FIVE DECADES
OF MUSIC.
Five decades of music are the resonance of this project. Funk from the seventies and eighties. Hip-hop from the nineties and two-thousands. House and deep house from the present.
But these styles do not stand side by side like genres in a catalogue. They are layers of a life.
For decades, records were played, music was collected, nights were lived, people were met, stories were kept and thoughts were written down. Some memories lay untouched for years. Others kept coming back.
02 · THE NOTEBOOK
THE SONGBOOK
OF A LIFE.
Observations became words. Words became songs. And at some point all of it turned into something that reads like a personal songbook of a life: an archive of stories, experiences, feelings and lessons.
The songs are not made because new content is needed. They are made because stories are looking for a form. A memory can become a line. A line can become a song. A song can become a character, and a character a whole musical world.
Not everything happened exactly as it is told. But it is how the world is seen.
03 · THREE WAYS TO REMEMBER
BODY. THOUGHT.
MOMENT.
The Soulcatcher leads back to a time when groove was physical. He carries the funk and soul of the seventies and eighties, not as a retro costume, but as an attitude. The face disappears, the silhouette remains, the bass takes over. Some memories are not told. They are danced.
B.Awesome carries the story on. Hip-hop never separated rhythm from life, and in the nineties and two-thousands the beat became a place for observation, attitude and language. B.Awesome is the stoic. He speaks calmly, about self-respect, setbacks, decisions and the art of not giving every noise a meaning. His lines do not want to teach. They want to stay.
Theo Nostos belongs more to the present. He is a DJ. His work begins where single songs turn into a room: light on water, a night, a rooftop, a boat. A moment you already sense you will remember later. And still the past is there. The funk lives in the groove, hip-hop in the sense of rhythm.
Other characters carry other sides of the same story. They are not separate biographies, but different ways to turn memory into music.
04 · LAYERS, NOT A TIMELINE
THE WAY MEMORY
REALLY WORKS.
This is a journey through five decades. Not in order, but the way memory really works: everything lies on top of everything else. A new bassline can touch a forty-year-old record. A synthesizer can bring back a night. A sentence, a person. A groove, a feeling.
- 1970sTHE DOOR
Disco, Saturday Night Fever, the first seven-inch singles.
- 1980sTHE ONE
Funk on the one. The first b-boys on linoleum and cardboard.
- 1990sTHE VOICES
The great R&B voices. Hip-hop becomes language.
- 2000sTHE FILES
Music moves to hard drives. The studio moves onto a screen.
- NOWTHE ROOM
House and deep house. Light on water, a room that changes for a few minutes.
05 · THE AUTHOR BEHIND THE CURTAIN
HE LETS
HIS CHARACTERS SPEAK.
Behind these characters stands a producer who prefers to stay in the background himself. He has a lot to tell. But not everything has to be told with his own face. That is what the alter egos are for.
He writes. Composes. Produces. Arranges. Discards. Decides. And lets his characters speak.
Their visual worlds follow the same principle. Digital tools work like make-up, costume, light and set design. They are part of the direction, not the story itself. Because the story began long before them: with records, with nights, with people, with a life that filled up with sound over decades.
FAQ
IN SHORT.
What is Pocket Funk Collective?
Pocket Funk Collective (PFC) is an independent music collective from Lübeck, Germany, for modern funk, soul, disco, house and hip-hop. The label releases 8 artist projects, each with its own sound and visual world.
Which artists belong to Pocket Funk Collective?
The collective includes The Soulcatcher, B.Awesome, Theo Nostos, Velvet Soul Society, Noah Keys, Elias Nocturne, Vincenzo Insieme and SIENTO. The best-known projects are The Soulcatcher, B.Awesome and Theo Nostos.
What kind of music does Pocket Funk Collective release?
The Soulcatcher stands for after-midnight funk, disco and soul, Theo Nostos for Mediterranean deep house, B.Awesome for German hip-hop. Also on the label: soul and lounge (Velvet Soul Society), piano (Noah Keys), cinematic music (Elias Nocturne), Italian pop (Vincenzo Insieme) and Latin rhythms (SIENTO).
Who is behind Pocket Funk Collective?
Heyko Hollwedel from Lübeck: independent music producer, creative director and storyteller. Born in the sixties and shaped by seventies disco and funk, the eighties b-boy scene and house culture. He develops every artist world and makes the creative decisions. More under Behind the music.
Are the artists real people? What role does AI play?
The artists are virtual characters whose images and videos are created with AI-assisted tools. Theo Nostos and B.Awesome are based on photos of producer Heyko Hollwedel, transformed with AI-assisted tools into other roles, styles, places and light; the other characters are freely designed and show no real person. The creative process combines musical storytelling, artistic direction and modern production technologies, including AI-assisted tools. The creative vision, artistic choices and final decisions are guided by Heyko Hollwedel. Which tools and contributions went into a track is documented per release. More in the creative process.
Where can I listen to the music?
Every artist is on Spotify, several also on SoundCloud, YouTube and Beatport. Links are on each artist page and collected at pocketfunkcollective.com/links.
Can I license songs or submit to playlists?
Yes. Licensing, playlist, press, DJ and collaboration enquiries go through the contact form at pocketfunkcollective.com/contact/ or to kontakt@pocketfunkcollective.com.
IN THE END
A BIOGRAPHYIN FREQUENCIES.
Today these memories become songs, and the songs become chapters. Seen this way, this project is more than a collection of virtual artists. It is the songbook of a life.