“We just play together because we like playing together” – MIRA LU KOVACS and CLEMENS WENGER

MIRA LU KOVACS (5K HD, My Ugly Clementine) and CLEMENS WENGER (5/8erl in Ehr’n, JazzWerkstatt Wien) have a long-standing friendship that by now extends far beyond the musical spectrum. Although they have been on stage together here and there, there was no talk of an album for a long time. Until now. With “Sad Songs To Cry To” (Ink Music; release date: Dec. 2), the two have now released their first album together, on which they present new interpretations of pop songs and jazz standards in a wonderfully reduced, movingly melancholic and very intimate sound. In an interview with Michael Ternai, the two told us where the idea for this album began, how much they enjoy their collaboration and why Christmas is associated with melancholy for them.

The press release for your album says that it’s a “musical coping with the melancholy that sets in reliably around the Christmas holidays.” What is it about Christmas that makes you so melancholic?

Mira Lu Kovacs: This time brings with it incredibly high expectations. On these days everything should be as beautiful as possible, you should be as close as possible, everything should be peaceful. It is not so easy to fulfill these expectations. And it doesn’t take much for this time to quickly turn into something very stressful. You try to maintain order somehow, or you get thrown back into structures that you realize are actually wonky. Things never get simpler; they actually get more complex.

I associate the Christmas season – and completely non-religiously – with a time when things get quieter. At least from Christmas Eve on. Before that it’s madness. Funnily enough, you can never avoid the days leading up to Christmas being stressful. From then on, however, it is actually often calmer for me. And that forces you to reflect a bit and calm down.

We think that an album suits this time, which forces you in a loving way to become calmer or to turn to something that is calm.

You’ve known each other for a long time. And you have played together many times in the past. How did it come to the decision to make a joint album?

Clemens Wenger: We’ve known each other for about ten years, when Mira first played with Schmieds Puls at the Jazzwerkstatt Wien Festival. Although, if I think about it a bit longer now, it actually had to have been much earlier.

Mira Lu Kovacs: Admiring from afar, I have known Clemens for much longer. From the age of 15, I regularly went to concerts at Porgy & Bess and saw all kinds of things there. And often Clemens was sitting on the stage with his back to the audience at the piano.

Clemens Wenger: It became a real friendship through discussion and the joint exploration of music. Mira kept playing me new songs, which we then talked about in detail. The first time we really did something together was in 2019 as part of the festival Glatt&Verkehrt.

“In general, you can say that many things were created under the influence of Joni Mitchell.”

Mira Lu Kovacs: Which, funnily enough, actually stems from a development when we were talking about this beautiful orchestral album by Joni Mitchell, “Both Sides Now.” That was in 2013 when I put out “Play Dead” with Schmieds Puls. We really went into raptures over her and her arrangements and said we wanted to do something like that with Schmieds Puls stuff someday. The huge orchestra we dreamed of at the time ultimately turned into a smaller, but beautiful ensemble, with which it worked just as wonderfully. In general, you can actually say that many things were created under the influence of Joni Mitchell.

Clemens Wenger: Yes, definitely. She always whispers to us in some way. Then, when we worked on Mira’s songs, we also discovered that the way we put piano and voice together sounds very good.

Mira Lu Kovacs: But I have to say that Clemens gets a very special sound out of the piano. I don’t like it too much when someone sits down behind a huge grand piano with an internal monkey suit, starts to play and produces a crystal-clear pointed sound. Of course, that can also sound great, but when I do something myself, I always have something a bit muddier, softer, and warmer in mind when it comes to sound. And that’s exactly what Clemens delivers. He also prepared his pianino with felt for the album. That’s why everything sounds so wonderfully warm.

When I listen to you talking like this, the joint album seems to me to be a logical consequence.

Clemens Wenger: In a way, it probably is. But you also have to emphasize that there is no business plan behind this collaboration. This joint project is not something we have to live off. It has simply grown out of our friendship. Our only plan is to meet at the end of a year at least for a few concerts, to make music together and thus overcome the melancholy.

Mira Lu Kovacs: I am also looking forward to our train rides together. I can already see myself sitting there with a crumbly croissant and a cappuccino and playing Scrabble with you. I imagine that will be very relaxing.

Clemens Wenger: The fact that the album is coming out now just happened. We didn’t put any pressure on ourselves and said that it absolutely had to happen now. The Christmas photo, for example, which we have now posted on our social media channels, was taken two years ago. And we said to ourselves at the time that we would be able to use it at some point. Now the time has come.

Mira Lu Kovacs: The photo came about in such a beautiful way. We had time, I had a great photographer with me, and we knew that a good friend of ours had a beautiful Christmas tree in a beautiful living room. We decided to go to his place and that’s where the photo was taken. And then we also got very good white wine and Christmas cookies. A really very great trip.

Clemens Wenger: Yes, that’s how things come about for us.

I also find the song selection interesting. There is a song by Joni Mitchell, which is relatively obvious. On the other hand, there’s a number by STS, which I don’t necessarily associate with you.

Mira Lu Kovacs: It wasn’t that we sat down for days and brainstormed. It was even more difficult for us to limit ourselves to only ten songs, because there are many, many songs that we find very great. But I think it was also right that we limited ourselves in the selection, because otherwise it could have quickly become a bit arbitrary. So now it’s a very concentrated selection of songs, including a new interpretation of a song by me and a song by Clemens. The selection in and of itself was clear relatively soon, although there were one or two songs that we weren’t immediately sure about.

“A Case Of You”, for example, was Clemens’ suggestion. At first, I didn’t really dare to play this song either, because I think it’s just such a divine song. And it’s also not an easy one. That’s why I was a bit afraid to touch it. But, in the end, we did it. The song is so great. I love it. We already jammed it for a short time today. And we’ve played it so many times by now that we can handle the quite complex rhythms in the melody more freely.

Clemens Wenger: The frame was formed by these quiet numbers, which on the one hand lyrically and musically reach into the melancholy and sadness, but also transport hope and do something with you when you listen to them. That was actually the criterion for the selection. Another was simply our curiosity and the desire not to always do the same thing. We could have taken ten really sad jazz standards. But we were not really interested in that. We have a broad taste in music and that should be expressed.

Then Mira also felt like singing something in German. Whereby I was still cautious at the beginning with the song “Kalt und Kälter” by STS. I wasn’t quite sure if it would really work.

Mira Lu Kovacs: I think I remember that Clemens thought this suggestion was a joke at first. He laughed a bit in disbelief at first when he looked at the chords.

Clemens Wenger: But Mira knew exactly which text she was choosing.

Where was the challenge to break these songs down to this minimalist form without losing any of their essence?

Mira Lu Kovacs: In a way, the setup already dictated it. It was clear that we weren’t going to rent a big studio and record in separate rooms. Luckily, Clemens has a very, very nice and cozy room where his piano is. It’s different to be able to play and prepare your own instrument. I myself sing best or feel most comfortable when there is a homely feeling. I sat with Clemens in a padded armchair, which was very comfortable, usually with a cup of tea in my hand, and almost lounged there. I almost sang the songs lying down. It was a very intimate atmosphere. And together with the trust we have in each other, it makes for a setup that already provides a lot.

Clemens Wenger: The daring was, so to speak, the trust that we had in this very reduced setting. And it’s already the case that if you only have two individual components, you can hear everything. The quality of the album for me is that you hear this intimacy, and, in a way, you can also understand what you’re hearing. At the same time, you have to be able to relax insanely well in a setting like that, because otherwise you’re singing and playing with fear. There are no drums, no bass and nothing else playing on top of it. Every little thing is perceptible. And if you don’t have confidence in the setting, and by that I don’t just mean the technical, but also the personal, then it doesn’t work.

“But I think it’s cool that it’s something that many haven’t seen from me yet.”

Mira, I actually know you as an English-speaking singer. What was it like for you to sing in German? And did it require any effort on your part?

Mira Lu Kovacs: No, it didn’t take much effort. I have already had a few features where I sang in German. But I think it’s cool that it’s something that many haven’t seen from me yet. And I love surprising people, maybe sometimes outraging them. I think it’s funny because people react so differently. Either they like it, or they ask, “What?” in bewilderment. I understand that reaction too, but I like to get involved in things that don’t suit me on first impression. Like the song by STS. No one would have associated this with me before. But in that case, it was more because of the dialect and the musical style and not because I sing in German.

It was also the case that none of the German lyrics – except for the one for Clemens’ composition “Fort von hier”, which I wrote – were mine. Singing a text by Rio Reiser is something I always enjoy doing. And “Wenn ich mir was wünschen dürfte” by Friedrich Hollaender is one of the greatest German texts ever.

It always hits me a little differently when I sing German. And I notice, especially live, that it also hits people differently, because they understand the lyrics better. But no, I can’t pretend that it’s not a bit different. But that’s also because I’ve been speaking German for ten years longer than English.

To what extent do you see your joint project as something long-term that will continue alongside your main bands in the future?

Clemens Wenger: I bet that we’ll still be playing concerts together when we’re 70.

Mira Lu Kovacs: I think so too. I think we’ll even play a lot when we’re older.

Clemens Wenger: I think it is also fortunate for this project that we are not financially dependent on each other. Nobody has to ask the other to leave everything else to the side for joint concerts. We both have our bands and projects, which are our life and for which we burn. The beauty of this duo is that it doesn’t have to be able to do much in the economic sense. We just play together because we love playing together. That will always be preserved. And maybe one year or another it doesn’t work out, but that’s not a problem either.

Listening to you now, I can already feel a deep friendship that has developed. To what extent is this collaboration a bit of a welcome break from your full-time jobs?

Mira Lu Kovacs: Clemens said it before. With us, there is no economic plan or compulsion behind it. We don’t have to release an album by hook or by crook or play four or fifteen concerts. We don’t have to put out singles. We don’t have to do all that. And that already leads to a different attitude on all levels. That’s definitely good, because I think we already feel enough pressure as freelance artists.

Clemens Wenger: That’s exactly how I feel.

Thank you very much for the interview.

Michael Ternai

Translated from the German original by Itta Francesca Ivellio-Vellin.