Ganz Wien

Leyya

Haus des Meeres, 1060 Wien

Spending a night in a zoo is what childhood dreams are made of. It indeed is a striking, pacifying, awe-inspiring experience. Leyya singer Sophie walks around the marine creatures in their aquaria and it feels like time comes to a halt when she sings about “living too fast” and the absence of a bloodflow. The jellyfish continue with their seemingly random movements while Leyya start into their hit “Zoo” (of course). Sharks and rays dance around the electronic pop duo, a moray comments inquisitively, the sea horses remain indifferent. But who knows, maybe they secretly like a little music at night?

Camera: Alexander Korec, Michael Luger, Patrick Maurer

Editing: Sarah Brugner

Sound: Maximilian Walch, Marco Kleebauer

Photos: Nikolaus Ostermann

Special thanks: Haus des Meeres

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Kimyan Law

Stadlau highway junction & Lobau, 1220 Wien

Tall, attired in artist’s black or grey, dark skin and bright eyes, wearing his hair as an Afro, the electronic music producer Kimyan Law is a striking appearance in Vienna. Especially as he was born and raised near the outskirts of the city, where he was the only mixed-race child in school. There were moments of exclusions and solitude. However, Kimyan Law found places and sources that helped him through these formative childhood and teenage years. Those were nature and music. “I grew up surrounded by all these little sounds of trees and animals, the weather”, Kimyan Law reflects in his Zen-like voice. “So when I tell the story I try to replicate certain level of detail and an organic feel.” His Fractal Drum’n’Bass music inspired by organic sounds and subtle fragrances of nature is among others played in noisy clubs in big cities. A striking contrast, just like the freeway cutting through woods and lakes.

Camera: Sarah Brugner, Michael Luger

Editing: Sarah Brugner

Sound: Kimyan Law

Photos: Ina Aydogan

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EsRAP

NMS Deublerstraße, 1210 Wien

“We rap a lot about migration”, Esra explains. Ten years ago, when she was still in school, she formed the rap-duo EsRAP together with her brother Enes. Today they are back in a secondary school in Floridsdorf to teach kids the basics of rap. Most youngsters here in the outer district of Vienna have a migration background and they listen closely when Esra talks about her own high school years in Austria as a girl coming from a Turkish family. Writing down her thoughts and feelings helped Esra to emancipate herself and find her voice. And that voice was in rap! So Esra and Enes invite the kids to reflect on their life, write and rap about it, before they go wild in the schoolyard with their performance of “Der Tschusch ist da”.

Camera: Sarah Brugner, Michael Luger, Fabian Ressl

Editing: Sarah Brugner

Sound: Markus Wallner

Photos: Ina Aydogan

Special thanks: NMS Deublergasse

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Golnar Shahyar

Old villa, 1170 Wien

Born and raised in Teheran Golnar has never dreamed of becoming a singer. It was just not possible in Iran with its many restrictions for women. At 16 she moved with her family to Toronto, where she later studied Biology. However, music has always played an important role in Golnar’s life, it just took the now Vienna-based artist some detours to – literally speaking – find her voice. And wow, what a voice that is! The vocalist, composer, lyricist and multi-instrumentalist rediscovers and reinterprets Iranian/Oriental folklore and traditional music, but next to Farsi also sings in English, Kurdish, Turkish, Spanish, Sephardic or her own fantasy language. Golnar draws upon a century-old musical tradition, mixes it with jazz and pop and stays an improviser at heart. Or as she puts it: “I have always been an improviser in my life. I am not just talking about music. It’s a mentality.”

Camera: Sarah Brugner, Michael Luger

Editing: Sarah Brugner

Sound: Mahan Mirarab, David Ruhmer

Photos: Ina Aydogan

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Alicia Edelweiss

Mariahilfer Str., 1060 Wien & Nordbahnhof, 1020 Wien

It all started with a journey. “After having finished school I knew that I wanted to travel, but I did not know how”, Alicia Edelweiss reflects on her beginning as a musician, “until I’ve met people who travelled without money.” And from travelling without money it was only a small step to busking on the streets of France, Portugal or Spain. Since then a lot has happened in the musical career of the Austrian singer-songwriter with Welsh and Basque roots. However, Alicia Edelweiss has always treasured the hippiesque, roaming spirit of these early days on the streets. Not only are her outfits and make-up striking, but also her performance has something circus-like to it. Alicia Edelweiss loves to dance and hula-hoop. And inspired by Freak Folk she knows how to take her audience on a musical journey to wondrous worlds.

Camera: Sarah Brugner, Christopher Herndler, Michael Luger

Editing: Sarah Brugner

Sound: Florian Bach

Photos: Franzi Kreis

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5K HD

Construction site, 1100 Wien

“We don’t make it easy for ourselves”, Mira Lu Kovacs from the 5-piece-band 5K HD explains. Nor they do for their listeners, whom they confront with a sound that is too immense for the limitations of genre categories. Also there is no frontwoman or frontman. Mira Lu Kovacs is the main singer, but when performing she stands on one side, trumpet player Martin Eberle on the other. Although Mira Lu Kovacs has an incredible voice it’s not meant to stand out among bass, drums, keys or trumpet. The five found each other in the jazz and impro scene, but go beyond it with their project 5K HD. “Anticapitalistic,” bassist Manu Mayr describes their attitude, “there are patterns that please a lot of people. We try to escape those patterns.” 5K HD create cinematic, noisy soundscapes with pop appeal, just to break down into moments of pureness and transcendence. Somewhere between heaven and earth lies also the construction site where 5K HD perform their new track “Happiness”.

Camera: Sarah Brugner, Clara Gottsauner-Wolf, Michael Luger

Editing: Sarah Brugner

Sound: Markus Wallner, Manu Mayr

Photos: Andreas Jakwerth

Special thanks: Werner Hinterleitner (Dywidag)

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Paul Plut

Franziskanerkirche, 1010 Wien

Paul Plut grew up in the Styrian Alps, right next to the hillside. “When I walked outside I saw nothing but mountains”, he remembers. What may attract some as a picture-perfect traditional alpine idyll can also be limiting and burdensome. Paul Plut eventually left his hometown and now lives in Vienna, where he crafts songs of powerful intensity with minimalistic arrangements, a deep, dead-serious voice, and lyrics about religion, landscape and death. As the son of a protestant theologian Paul likes to investigate and question the foundations of religion in his songs. To play them live he often goes right where belief becomes manifest: in churches, where Paul Plut’s words resound from century-old walls.

Camera: Clara Gottsauner-Wolf, Raoul Kopacka, Michael Luger

Editing: Sarah Brugner

Sound: Christian Hölzel, Paul Plut

Photos: Max Manavi-Huber

Special thanks: Pater Felix (Franziskanerkirche)

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Felix Kramer

Kongresspark, 1160 Wien

Ottakring is a compressed version of Vienna. Multicultural on the one side, traditional on the other, with wealthy areas, social housing blocks and non-descript residential neighbourhoods within close proximity. Ottakring is also Felix Kramer’s home. The young songwriter has spent pretty much his whole life around Kongresspark, Wattgasse and the famous Manner wafer factory. Felix has a great eye for stories happening around him, especially for those that “just miss a happy ending”, as he puts it. His characters are often overwhelmed with the possibilities of our time and confronted with the fact that things in life sometimes just go wrong. However, Felix’ timeless and nonchalant way of singing and playing makes even failure enjoyable to listen to.