Q: Hey, can you tell us a bit about where you come from, and what made you want to start a career in music?
A: I am from a small town near Salzburg in Austria. Growing up I have always been drawn to music and playing instruments. My dad played the flute in orchestras and big bands before he became a GP, through him it definitely sparked the interest of music in me. I started playing the clarinet from an early age, and started learning the piano and guitar later on. At 14 I wrote my first piece, it was something very simple for piano, but it kind of got me into listening to film composers like Rachel Portman, Hans Zimmer, Thomas Newman and James Newton Howard and trying to imitate their music language in my compositions. Soon in my teenage years I knew I did not just want to become a classical musician, I wanted to become a composer for films and games. So I decided to study in Salzburg.
Q: And what other artists have you found yourself listening to lately?
A: I don’t like to limit myself so I listen to anything really. Right now I listen a lot to Artists from the Afrobeats Scene such as Melvitto, Wizkid, Burna Boy, L.A.X., etc.. Also it’s getting closer to Christmas so I tend to listen to old gems like Nina Simone, Mahalia Jackson, Elvis Presley, Louis Armstrong. I’m getting into Salsa Dancing right now so I also listen to a lot of Salsa Classics.
Q: Who were your first and strongest musical influences?
A: Coming from a background in classical music I listened to a lot of european composers and film composers growing up, such as Rachel Portman, Hans Zimmer, James Newton Howard, Thomas Newman, Antonin Dvorak, Mozart etc.
Production Wise I was always drawn to American Producers such as Timbaland, Dr. Dre, Quincy Jones, etc.
Q: You have just released your new musical project, ‘Persephone – Acoustic Sessions’. Is there a story behind it?
A: Me and Lowpines wrote this during one of the Lockdowns. I sent him the basic idea for the instrumentals, and he came back with this idea of telling the story of Persephone and Hades in the Song. He spent the weekend in Brighton and by spending a day at the beach, listening to the sound of the waves he was reminded of this old greek mythology love story and thought it might be a great way to start the lyrics for it. As the track is built like a Waltz it has this nice flow vibe to it, the lyrics Lowpines came up with just fitted perfectly. Lowpines and I recorded some guitar and ukulele on it, I added an upright bass and piano later on to glue it all together, we just wanted to keep this folky, soundtrack-like feel to it, as we are telling a love story basically.
Q: Can we expect a new EP or even an album from you in the near future?
A: No, right now I am very focused on my own Production Company where we pitch music for adverts, and my film composition career. I am working on a Single right now with Collaborators such as Celine Love, Julia Romana and Marlon Vetter, which will come out hopefully early next year, but I would not want to commit to a full album or EP right now. I have some Acoustic Sessions planned though – so you can definitely be excited for those ones 🙂
Q: What do you feel are the key elements in your music that should resonate with listeners, and how would you personally describe your sound?
A: Coming from all this work I have done in classical music and filmmusic, my style is definitely very dreamy and atmospheric. I like to tell a story with my music, and I love to hear it when people say they immediately have images in their head when they listen to one of my pieces. I always try and keep the sound as original as possible, using real musicians in the room rather than samples. I believe in music as a collaborative team effort rather than one person doing / ‘playing’ everything.
Q: Do you feel that your music is giving you back just as much fulfillment as the amount of work you are putting into it, or are you expecting something more?
A: well, financially right now its more of a burden to drive my own music forward in my career as its one hell of an investment, but the Feedback I got lately on my work has been incredible, and good work attracts more work opportunities so I am definitely in a good space right now with my career progression. Also, I have learned in the past months to not depend too much on validation on my art & my music from outside sources, as long as I am happy with the end product, as long as I have fun working on it, it fulfils and drives me – and that’s all that counts.
Q: Could you describe your creative processes? How do usually start, and go about shaping ideas into a completed song?
A: It depends. Sometimes I see an image, or video material and a melody immediately starts to pop into my head. I kind of like to envision a story, or a feeling to start write the music, playing around on the piano with some chords, trying to hum along some melodies helps, and then I just start recording it in straight away. I love collaborating with people as you bounce of each other – its so much more creative.
Q: What has been the most difficult thing you’ve had to endure in your life or music career so far?
A: Doing all the writing work but not getting the credit for it – ghostwriting & assisting on music projects can be tough and can make you very bitter in a way. I turned my back on writing music completely over lockdown, as I was simply fed up with doing that. Now I look back at it and think to myself that it has been indeed amazing opportunities that I worked on, I have learned an awful lot and when you start out as a composer & music producer thats what you kind of have to do in the beginning to gain experience. Now I can say I am thankfully past that stage and doing only my own projects.
Q: On the contrary, what would you consider a successful, proud or significant point in your life or music career so far?
A: Being noticed for one of my works that I put out, and through that getting more and more work in. I think as a musician in this time its the most rewarding in your early stages of your career to get recognized for what you do, and getting more work from that. When industry people recognize your style and sound, and come to you for music on their projects, that is simply amazing opportunities to have to progress further on your career path and get successful in this business.
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