Madelyn Byrd (they/them, b. 1992, USA) is a socially-engaged, interdisciplinary artist, musician, and educator based in Berlin, DE. Using sound, writing, somatics, and digital mediums, they explore themes of connection, hydrofeminism, queer ecology, biophilia, grief, and the adjascent possible. They foster a deeply collaborative spirit to skew dominant hierarchies, flirt with failure, and give voice to emergent patterns of interconnection. Their research-intensive approach to practice balances play with scholarship, positioning them at the fringe of DIY communities and academia. Madelyn holds a Masters in Neuroaesthetics from Goldsmiths, University of London, where they researched the impact of collaborative imagination on measures of connection and hope in social praxis art. In 2024, they developed the curriculum for a Sonic Worldbuilding theory + production course that they’ve taught with Soundial (online) and at Kwia in Berlin. Their project ‘Chimera’, with collaborator Lou Croff Blake, embarks on projects that queer the boundaries around what it means to be a citizen of Earth, merging artistic embodied experiments with science and fantasy. In 2025, the duo’s speculative worlding manifests in projects at AADK's Cruce program (funded by The Goethe Institute’s Culture Moves Europe grant) and School of Commons’ peer learning program at ZHdK.


Slowfoam is Madelyn’s all-encompassing, experimental music moniker. As a producer and performer, Slowfoam draws on a wide-range of sound sources, deep-diving into paraworlds that encompass ambient, field recording, electroacoustics, drone, and spoken word. As a DJ, they move fluidly between-and-beyond genre to weave textural journeys that plunge into possibility and catharsis. Each set is a tenderly-crafted vessel from the aqueous deep — a reflection space for multifaceted moods, queer obfuscation, and collective ‘Weltschmerz’ resonances. In 2024, Slowfoam released their acclaimed debut LP, Transcorporeal Portal, with Somewhere Press. They have also released music with Mappa, Lillerne, Knekelhuis, Archaic Vaults, Oscilla Sound, amongst others. Over the past decade, they have performed and toured extensively, recently at Subbacultcha (NL), Cafe Oto (London), The Lab (San Francisco), Morse (Tokyo), and Morphine Raum (Berlin). Their discography has yielded features on Bandcamp, Electronic Sound Mag, DJ Mag, First Impressions, Pitchfork, Boomkat, The Wire Magazine, and Futurism Restated. Slowfoam is one of Musicboard Berlin’s 2025 scholarship recipients for their forthcoming album set to be released on Somewhere Press in 2026. Alongside slyn, Slowfoam co-founded Gravity Pleasure, a label and event series for flinta artists, aqueous sounds, collaboration, and solidarity.