"Where I was born and where I grew up, being an artist was like being totally insane." - An interview with Irmie Vesselsky

I usually don't like Austrian music. Because, let's face it: 99% SUCKS. OK, 99% of all music sucks, that's true, but there's something about Austria that makes the suckyness even suckier. I am not going to drop names - just turn on that Austrian "alternative" radio station and be prepared to empty your stomach. There are a few exceptions to the rule, of course. One of these exceptions is Irmie Vesselsky. A lady, her voice, her piano, and that's that. She is a master of a long forgotten craft called SONGWRITING. Her album Parentheses of Antitheses is a hidden treasure, and here's a few things she has to say...

What made you start playing music in the first place?

Music itself - and everybody who told me to never ever do it. Music was always there. But in fact, I really tried to ignore it... my parents and my surroundings, "friends" told me to do so. They all gave me the feeling that there was something wrong with me, spending all my pocket money on CDs or instruments and rather "talking to my piano" than to men. Where I was born and where I grew up, being an artist was like being totally insane. So I was a good daughter and functioned, and tried to be what they wanted me to be, and music was my way to escape. Finally a breakdown/burnout back in 2008 made me follow my inner voice, and made me go back to where I was and what I had. I remembered myself as a kid sitting at the piano for hours on end, trying to escape this world, and create my own. It was wonderful. When you're a total mess and have nothig left, anyone or anything to trust or to rely on, and nothing is left but a piano in the corner of your room - what else could you do but talk to her? She was always so almighty, so tempting.... so I couldn't do anything but follow her and let it all out.

What made you realize "I can be an artist, and I can perform live and it's good"?

Have I really realized that? Am I...? This reminds me of what Katherine Hepburn once said: "I think most of the people involved in any art always secretly wonder whether they are really there because they're good or there because they're lucky." I mean, when I started writing songs, I never intended to play them live, to perform them or have them recorded. No one but my cat was allowed to listen. (And she always preferred Bach to my own songs.) When I first played "Unheard" - my first song ever - to her, she ran out of the room, shrieking...

It's quite a long way from writing your own songs to performing them in front of an audience... how did this happen? Who encouraged you? What was your first time like?

It was a long process, and it all happened by sheer chance. Who encouraged me? Well, there was a small bar in the countryside where I used to live. The bartender once came up to me saying "You are going to be a star. I can see it in your eyes.... play for me!" I thought this man was totally crazy and avoided his bar for some time. He then showed up at my place wanting me to sing for him and persuaded me to do a showcase in his bar. It took me quite some time until I agreed. Then, my first time... I really can't remember. I mean, I remember being sick, being nervous days before the performance already. I was very insecure and shy, couldn't stand those people staring at me, and couldn't understand why they were here to hear me play at all. But when I started to play, I forgot everything around me. I was in my own universe, there was just the piano and me dancing together. The applause was like an alarm clock waking you from a sweet dream. That's all I remember. I didn't really know what I was doing back then. I think, I was a mess, but quite a good one, ha!

So, after that “good mess”, it seems like you are playing constantly now, at every chance that pops up. Does it ever get boring? Are you still nervous before a show?

First of all, I do not play everything - it has to feel right for me and for the promoter as well. Playing concerts never gets boring: there's always a different venue, a different audience. Also, the way I play shows might differ. So it's still exciting for me. Things that in fact do get boring are the time between soundcheck and stage time, and moving all the equipment, especially if there's no piano. That's a thing I wish I wouldn't have to do anymore. And yes, I still get nervous! But you know what? Sometimes if I don't, I really get squirrelly, because I think there's something wrong with me. And honestly, I never ever want to "get used" to stage fright or gigging at all.

For some reason I just can't get past the idea of taking your lyrics as something deeply personal. It might be fiction, it might be just words to a song, but... you know. Dare to elaborate?

I wish I could write about something I haven't felt, I haven't experienced in my life, but I really can’t. Sometimes I do start with a fictional thought, but end up somewhere I've been before, sometimes I start with an experience and end up somewhere else my mind is dragging me to. So maybe it's a bit of both, fiction and reality. I could tell you a thousand of stories to each song, and they would all be true somehow - but isn't it ultimately more interesting which stories the listeners themselves create in their heads? It would be less fun if I told them what they should see or hear in this or that song, wouldn't it? Feel it!

www.irmievesselsky.com