How did your journey in music begin, and what inspired you to pursue a career in the industry? Can you tell us about your musical style and the genres that influence your work?
I grew up with the incredible music of mostly female artists like Tracy Chapman (I could sing all her songs without knowing the language at age 4) or Joni Mitchell. It was my parent’s favorite kind of music which was constantly playing around the house. So whether intentionally or not, but I guess you could say I’ve been raised quite well, musically speaking. I always had an affinity for performances and felt drawn to making music.
The moment I finally knew that I wanted to be a musician, was when I heard the song The Story by Brandi Carlile on German radio for the first time. It touched me on another level and the impact of that song shaped the vision of who I wanted to be, especially because Brandi was the first artist that I knew was out and proud. Although I didn’t know it before, but that was what I needed. I found someone I could identify with on so many levels.
Her visibility on the stage gave me the encouragement to pursue the urge to make music and go out on stage.
What's the story behind your latest release, and what message or emotion are you trying to convey through your music?
It has always been important to me to make music that contains both emotionally AND socially relevant lyrics. A few years ago, when a new far right party was formed in Germany (and with our German past, we know how dangerous far right folks are, because we all had it in our history lessons). I couldn’t stand the thought, that we still have to deal with this stuff, and as a result my songwriting became suddenly quite political. I had to use my voice. I could not remain quiet and pretend I didn’t notice these worrisome political events..
I also wanted to create visibility for queer women on stage, because, after all, that was what encouraged me to pursue my dream back then.
My latest release is called I Can’t Have You. I would always describe my music as folk music with real instruments, influenced by artists like Tracy Chapman or Joan Baez, BUT I also can’t hide my love and admiration for the music of the 80's. So in my own productions I am trying to mix up folk as a genre with iconic synth sounds characteristic for 80's pop, so that’s what can be heard on “I Can’t Have You”. Lyrically it's about an unfulfilled love story and how you sometimes have to decide whether or not to go down certain roads.
How do you approach the songwriting process? Do you have a specific method or routine?
Ever since I started producing or co-producing music, my songwriting changed drastically.
That’s especially because my producer Christian Lohr (who also produced Gianna Nannini, Joss Stone, Rolling Stones, Alphaville and many more) opened up a world, where creativity can spark in whichever way possible. There are no limits. I’ve been working with him for about 3 years now and he turned my former songwriting process upside down.
When we write, we always share an idea at first and let it develop by using different instruments on it. So it’s a whole lot of recording, deleting, recording again, until we get to a result, we are both happy with.
What challenges have you faced as an emerging artist, and how have you overcome them?
The probably most challenging aspect of making it as an artist for me, is feeding the monster called social media. For me, it’s particularly difficult to put so much time and effort into something, that basically doesn’t have a lot to do with making music in the first place. I don’t really think, that I’ve overcome it, but I keep on telling myself, that someday I’ll have 100 000 Followers on every platform and I’ll finally be at peace
Are there any artists or bands that have had a significant impact on your musical journey?
Too many to name, I guess… but here’s a few: Brandi Carlile is probably one of the biggest influences as her music kicked of my own will to write songs and make music on stage. I also always liked to listen to Joan Baez, Joni Mitchell and Tracy Chapman (no surprises here…) and I think you can find influences from all of them in my music. But as I mentioned before, I also love artists and big songwriters from the 80's and 90's like Cindy Lauper or The Hooters - and not to forget I am also a big fan of Celine Dion :D
How do you stay creative and inspired when working on new music?
I’m not gonna lie… there are always periods, where ideas won’t flow. On a day like that, the coffee machine is my best friend. The thing is that I’m more or less constantly working on new music, so I’ve got a serious amount of ideas on my phone, that I’ll grab and try to work them out. These can be verses or choruses, sometimes just a few lines and quite often not more than only one or two words, that seemed so catchy in themselves, that I wrote them down.. and believe it or not, but these often lead to the best results. I am also a flow person, which means I can be creative for several hours without taking a break… Which also means I don’t eat or sleep in these hours of creative flow - but that's alright when that's the prize for good music.
Can you share a memorable moment or highlight from your career so far?
There are quite a few, to be honest… Australia is definitely one of those moments, because we went there right before the whole world stopped due to covid. We played a tour in January of 2020, right when Australia was dealing with these big bush fires and we were right there. Most memorable moment of this tour was our show at Bundy Hall, which was a fundraiser for all the hard-working fire fighters, risking their lives to save others. We not only played a fantastic sold out show but were also able to make 10.000 bucks which were donated for this important cause.
In what ways do you use social media and online platforms to connect with your audience?
I know I just called this social media thing a monster, but that’s just me and my struggles to wrap my head around creating content and not neglecting these platforms. What I really love about it, is the closeness to your audience. You get direct feedback, can interact and can let them be part of the journey. So that’s my favorite use of it: taking everyone along on the ride, when I’m on tour and show what’s happening there. Not only on stage, but what it means being on tour as a musician.. maybe even in a different country, showing everyone what’s going on behind the scenes and basically just being real, because there’s already enough fake stuff on social media, which I don’t want to be part of.
What one inspirational quote or mantra do you believe in and where can people connect with you?
Never forget the importance of kindness because we are all connected.