There aren’t many musicians in Austria that are getting as much attention as AVEC right now. The woman behind the name is a young Upper Austrian musician who has been working on her career for some time. And unlike many careers that begin with a bang only to slowly fade away, this songwriter began with a whisper, publishing a few songs on the internet and working on her live show. And it looks like she is here to stay.
Appearing almost overnight on the Austrian Pop radar, like a shooting star this talented singer grabbed peoples attention and managed to make an international name for herself in a very short time. The starry-eyed 20 year old quickly moved beyond her FM4 music circle with a nomination for the Amadeus Austrian Music Award. If over 2 million plays of her song “Granny” on Spotify weren’t enough proof of her success, she was also thrust to the top of the Soundportal Charts.
AVEC also bears a few other resemblances with the astronomical phenomenon “shooting star”: They both appear suddenly and hold a certain magic. In the case of the heavenly object it’s the potential of a wish fulfilled, while AVEC touches the soul with her raw yet delicate voice.
DELICATE AND EMOTIONAL
Her songs are minimalistic, centred on her vocals and the guitar played by her childhood friend Andreas Häsuerer. It was the third member of the band, drummer Lukas Klement, that helped her find her name. AVEC means “with” in French, and that is why the duo Norah became AVEC.
The young woman who prefers to keep her real name a secret didn’t find her voice yesterday, though. It all began with a variation of the classic Austrian childhood: She didn’t have to learn to play the recorder, but the violin. Something she didn’t enjoy. But that didn’t keep her from music. As the child of country music fans she slowly developed a growing fascination with the genre.
A MUSICIAN SINCE KINDERGARTEN
Mainstream pop was never really her thing. It’s not too surprising that she still sees Taylor Swift as one of her biggest role models. Like AVEC, the American singer’s roots also lie in country, and she still weaves elements of that stile into her pop songs. Over the years AVEC also began to experiment with other more “serious” music forms as well. Jazz, blues and soul expanded her musical horizon.
Her lyrics are fragments of her autobiography, and are usually there before the music. Although AVEC feels at home in the world of prose, and has also worked on longer texts, she has truly found her calling in the writing of lyrics.
SUCCESS IN THE COUNTRYSIDE
The Upper Austrian never really expected to have any musical success, partly because she came from the countryside. When one of the songs she quietly uploaded to the internet began receiving airplay on FM4 she learned otherwise. At the end of 2015 she released her EP “Heartbeats” which brought her the nomination for Artist of the Year at the Amadeus Austrian Music Awards.
The next logical rung on the ladder of success would be the release of an album. Something AVEC has planned for early summer 2016. To come back to the shooting star motif: AVEC may be burning bright right now, but she is not likely to simply fade away. And who knows, maybe she will release something with a little bit of country.
Anne Marie Darok
(translated from German by Dave Dempsey)
Links:
AVEC (Facebook)