NOMAD Featured on Deutschlandfunk’s ‘Funky Places’
- NOMADlife.tv
- Aug 28
- 4 min read
It's an honour to be featured on Deutschlandfunk, Germany’s national public broadcaster, as part of their “Funky Places” series, highlighting creative spaces around the world where freedom of expression still thrives.
The segment, produced by journalist Dennis Kastrup, captures the spirit of NOMAD Studios in Montreal: a space that feels surreal and alive, filled with floating windows, analog machines, instruments, mirrors, and the open invitation to create. From our weekly ANTENNAE improvisational music rituals to our NOMADslow.tv stream of consciousness cinema, this feature is a wonderful portrait of the little universe we’ve been building at 129 Van Horne.
🎧 Listen to the Deutschlandfunk radio piece here:
Below is the full English translation of the original German audio segment, for those curious to dive deeper into the broadcast’s poetic vision of NOMAD…
Funky Places – Do What You Want: NOMAD Studios in Montreal
Deutschlandfunk, Corso – Art and Pop Culture
Translated from the original German broadcast (August 26, 2025)
Narrator:
Leonard Cohen, Arcade Fire, Grimes, and Patrick Watson all got their start in the Canadian city of Montreal. If that’s not a funky place, what is? The city offers plenty of clubs and creative spaces for the local scene to run wild. One of them is NOMAD Studio. Dennis Kastrup paid it a visit for us.
Arrival at NOMAD
Dennis Kastrup (Reporter):
An old two-story factory building, its façade black on the bottom and painted in vertical stripes of seven different colours on top. Behind the entrance, a small staircase leads up to the second floor.
Jason Rodi, a Canadian in his late 40s, is the president of NOMAD Studio, an open coworking space in Montreal. He’s wearing a loose shirt and flowing linen pants. It’s hot this summer day. Fans hum in the corners.
The loft-like space is the size of half a tennis court. Everywhere you look, there’s something unique. To the right of the entrance: a small booth with blinking LED lights, an old red phone booth, and a vintage popcorn machine.
A Living Mosaic of Creativity
Sofas, picture frames, and even a sleeping nook. Somehow, it all comes together into a harmonious mosaic. Directly above your head, floating windows hang in midair. Right from the entrance, the mirrored wall gives the place a surreal feel. Everything feels like a mobile of possibilities.
A Creative Shift
Rodi founded NOMAD about 15 years ago. Back then, he owned a globally successful company that specialized in immersive installations. But it all got too big, so he sold the company. He wanted to return to working creatively, with real people, locally. Today, creatives can rent coworking desks here for little money. The only time it can get expensive is if you book NOMAD for weddings or commercial events.
Objects With Stories
Desks are tucked into a corner opposite the kitchen. Around them: old books, vintage typewriters.
Rodi:
“That’s a 16mm projector my grandfather gave me before I went to film school. That was a long time ago, and it still works. Or this film reel here, from my NYU days. I must have stolen it somehow…”
ANTENNAE and Improvised Music
Kastrup:
Next to a wall of monitors used for video are a piano, an organ, a bongo drum, and a guitar.
Here, music is made. Every week, there’s an open stage. Musicians are invited to jam. They can use the instruments on site or bring their own. Everything is recorded and uploaded online under the name ANTENNAE, improvised music sessions.
Rodi:
“It’s improvised music with a rule: we stick to three words : atmospheric, psychedelic, and cinematic. If it gets too funky, we bring it back to those three.”
Slow TV and Streaming
Kastrup:
Tonight, five musicians have come to jam. Some of the resulting songs are later used as background sound for NOMAD’s in-house streaming channel.
Rodi:
“It’s a travel channel, an atmospheric travel channel, called NOMADslow.tv.
It can be streamed on Roku, Apple TV, FireTV, and other platforms. But it doesn’t aim to grab your attention like most channels. Instead, it encourages introspection. It helps you redirect your focus.”
A Window to Heaven on Earth
Kastrup:
The channel features hours of nature footage in breathtaking quality. Filmmaker Rodi captured much of it on trips to Morocco, Japan, France, and the forests of Quebec. Those videos flicker across monitors in the studio: desert landscapes, sunlit streams, lakes, and snow-covered fields.
Rodi:
“Many scenes are natural, but there are also urban shots. To me, it’s visual poetry.
It’s all documentary footage, of the real world, yet it offers visions of an ideal world.
A kind of Heaven on Earth.”
A Creative Refuge in a Challenging City
Kastrup:
NOMAD Studio feels a bit like that too. A free space for creatives in a city full of challenges.
Montreal struggles with a housing crisis and sky-high rents. Noise complaints are also a serious issue. Just recently, a long-standing club was shut down after a few complaints.
NOMAD offers answers to both problems, affordable workspaces and unique event space.
Full Moon Gatherings & Final Thoughts
Kastrup:
Whether it’s for parties, concerts, or discussions, there’s no standing still here. Once a month, at the full moon, the doors open wide. Anyone is welcome to dance into a trance together. And who knows, maybe at one of those events, Rodi’s next big idea will arrive at his feet.
Rodi:
“The ideas come to you. NOMAD Studio is like a magnet. The name isn’t even trademarked. NOMAD belongs to everyone.”
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