(C): Tomas Martinez Soldevilla, www.rawformat.org (2018)
Laura on Laura
"Once upon a time a little songstress fell in love with music listening to her songwriter dad's piano (he used to put music to anglo-american poets' poems), her mum singing lullabies and generally being raised on her parents records (dylan, stones, joni mitchell,...). At 8 an old tape of a radio show called „the roaring 60s“ made a lasting impression – she decided to become a revolutionary (the tape started with „hippies, beat, riots, revolution,...“ and sounded very exciting). She also went on to inhale pop music history, became a beatles freak at 13, wearing only grey (it was the early 90s,you know), reading emily bronte and climbing trees. At 14 though she hijacked her dad's guitar, learned how to play and started writing songs (well... she didnt write her own lyrics at first but exploited her dad's poetry books and put new musical clothes to w.h. auden, t.s. eliot and the like). The lyrics started to flow at 18, when she moved to vienna and took to the open mic scene there. Since then she released two "Laura & the Comrats" band albums and four solo albums.
"So much for that. As for my songs, they are an attempt to see through the mess that i make out of my life sometimes (and thus embrace it). i love catchy tunes as well as good metaphors and images, there's nothing better... a constant theme are dialectics and contradictions – good and bad, dream and reality, up and down, bitter and sweet.... always been fascinated by the contradiction of sadness and happyness in popmusic - cos the great songs touch a nerve, make you happy and sad, usually both at the same time."
"Once upon a time a little songstress fell in love with music listening to her songwriter dad's piano (he used to put music to anglo-american poets' poems), her mum singing lullabies and generally being raised on her parents records (dylan, stones, joni mitchell,...). At 8 an old tape of a radio show called „the roaring 60s“ made a lasting impression – she decided to become a revolutionary (the tape started with „hippies, beat, riots, revolution,...“ and sounded very exciting). She also went on to inhale pop music history, became a beatles freak at 13, wearing only grey (it was the early 90s,you know), reading emily bronte and climbing trees. At 14 though she hijacked her dad's guitar, learned how to play and started writing songs (well... she didnt write her own lyrics at first but exploited her dad's poetry books and put new musical clothes to w.h. auden, t.s. eliot and the like). The lyrics started to flow at 18, when she moved to vienna and took to the open mic scene there. Since then she released two "Laura & the Comrats" band albums and four solo albums.
"So much for that. As for my songs, they are an attempt to see through the mess that i make out of my life sometimes (and thus embrace it). i love catchy tunes as well as good metaphors and images, there's nothing better... a constant theme are dialectics and contradictions – good and bad, dream and reality, up and down, bitter and sweet.... always been fascinated by the contradiction of sadness and happyness in popmusic - cos the great songs touch a nerve, make you happy and sad, usually both at the same time."
Influences:
"Beatles, beatles, beatles, dylan, joni mitchell, fairport convention, sandy denny, billie holiday, nick drake, jackson browne, simon and garfunkel, michelle shocked, kinks, hollies, zombies, monkees, colin blunstone, dion dimucci, jesse winchester, mike nesmith, phil ochs, micky newbury, melanie, small faces, moody blues, yardbirds, donovan, don mclean, james taylor, emmylou harris, early joan baez, tim hardin, early elton john, billy bragg, counting crows, r.e.m., stephen duffy, peter bruntnell, wallflowers,all sorts of 60s pop, smokey robinson & the miracles, oscar brown jr., ben e. king, the drifters, martha & the vandellas, blur, pulp, portishead, frames, the coral, franz ferdinand, maximo park, ben folds, blind melon, springsteen, van morrison, csn&y, buffalo springfield, the who, 70s rock, colosseum, family, jimmy webb, peter green, robert johnson, leadbelly, john prine, vashti bunyan, loudon wainwright III, townes van zandt, steve earle, jackson c frank, ewan mccoll, dick gaughan, debussy, bach, cole porter, charlie haden, laura nyro, all sorts of songwriters...the bronte sisters, w.h. auden, d. thomas, steinbeck, faulkner, ingeborg bachmann, jack kerouac, marx, engels, lenin, trotsky... i wish i could be: a minor chord or a good metaphor... i love: the wind in the trees, whipped cream on my coffee, city lights at night, picking my nose, and the beatles..."
Marxist Music Manifesto
"I do not want greedy corporations to make money with copyrights to things they did not even create, and no i don't want people having to pay for music, when they can listen to it for free. i want a world in which i don't have to sell my music to make a living and in which i dont have to bend and stretch my art until it becomes a market fitting commodity. i want a world in which everybody has the time and the means to be an artist and to consume art - by a radical shortening of working hours to only a few hours a day with full pay and by sufficient free childcare (to free up women to take part in the process). a world in which everybody has free access to art and music and in which the creative process is a collective one. that also has to include owning and democratically controlling the means of production - ie. public financing and ownership of music studios as well as free access to equipment. it means taking into public ownership big corporations like youtube and spotify that make millions of profits with music they did not create. i want a world in which artists and audiences are one. a world that gets rid of the capitalist music industry that sits on the back of the creative potential in this society like a big fat cat that is squeezing everything out of it. this has to be a socialist world. this will be a socialist world."
"Beatles, beatles, beatles, dylan, joni mitchell, fairport convention, sandy denny, billie holiday, nick drake, jackson browne, simon and garfunkel, michelle shocked, kinks, hollies, zombies, monkees, colin blunstone, dion dimucci, jesse winchester, mike nesmith, phil ochs, micky newbury, melanie, small faces, moody blues, yardbirds, donovan, don mclean, james taylor, emmylou harris, early joan baez, tim hardin, early elton john, billy bragg, counting crows, r.e.m., stephen duffy, peter bruntnell, wallflowers,all sorts of 60s pop, smokey robinson & the miracles, oscar brown jr., ben e. king, the drifters, martha & the vandellas, blur, pulp, portishead, frames, the coral, franz ferdinand, maximo park, ben folds, blind melon, springsteen, van morrison, csn&y, buffalo springfield, the who, 70s rock, colosseum, family, jimmy webb, peter green, robert johnson, leadbelly, john prine, vashti bunyan, loudon wainwright III, townes van zandt, steve earle, jackson c frank, ewan mccoll, dick gaughan, debussy, bach, cole porter, charlie haden, laura nyro, all sorts of songwriters...the bronte sisters, w.h. auden, d. thomas, steinbeck, faulkner, ingeborg bachmann, jack kerouac, marx, engels, lenin, trotsky... i wish i could be: a minor chord or a good metaphor... i love: the wind in the trees, whipped cream on my coffee, city lights at night, picking my nose, and the beatles..."
Marxist Music Manifesto
"I do not want greedy corporations to make money with copyrights to things they did not even create, and no i don't want people having to pay for music, when they can listen to it for free. i want a world in which i don't have to sell my music to make a living and in which i dont have to bend and stretch my art until it becomes a market fitting commodity. i want a world in which everybody has the time and the means to be an artist and to consume art - by a radical shortening of working hours to only a few hours a day with full pay and by sufficient free childcare (to free up women to take part in the process). a world in which everybody has free access to art and music and in which the creative process is a collective one. that also has to include owning and democratically controlling the means of production - ie. public financing and ownership of music studios as well as free access to equipment. it means taking into public ownership big corporations like youtube and spotify that make millions of profits with music they did not create. i want a world in which artists and audiences are one. a world that gets rid of the capitalist music industry that sits on the back of the creative potential in this society like a big fat cat that is squeezing everything out of it. this has to be a socialist world. this will be a socialist world."
Pressetext deutsch:
Singer/Songwriterin Laura Rafetseder gilt als "eine der authentischsten und stärksten Songwriterinnen des Landes" (C: Freizeit Kurier). Sie veröffentlichte auf Lindo Records vier Soloalben ("the minor key club" 2012, "swimmers in the arctic sea" 2016, "driven creatures" 2019 und "the early years" 2021) sowie ein Album mit ihrer Band Laura & the Comrats ("creating memories" 2010). 2012 supportete sie u.a. Billy Bragg in Graz. Songs von Laura Rafetseder erschienen u.a. auf Compilations wie Wien Musik 2011 (monkey) und Between the Lines V (Vienna Songwriting Association).
Pressestimmen:
"Die wunderbare Sängerin Laura Rafetseder hat sich zu einer der authentischsten & stärksten Songwriterinnen des Landes entwickelt. Eine Stimme in der man sich verlieren möchte." (Freizeit-Kurier)
"Eine Art Konzeptalbum zum Thema Einsamkeit. Aber auch wenn man nicht auf die sehr starken Texte hört, entfalten die faszinierenden Songs und Laura Rafetseders Stimme eine ganz merkwürdige Sogwirkung. "(Kurier über "Swimmmers in the Arctic Sea")
"Wenn diese Musik und ihre Schöpferin verwundet sind, dann sind sie gleichzeitig sehr stark, weil die Wärme und ja, der Humanismus dieser Musik, sich wie ein zu umarmender Baum, eine zum Anlehnen angebotene Schulter, wie ein plötzlich aufgetauchter Tanzpartner (...) anbieten. Das ganze Album ist eines, wo mensch hörend den Eindruck gewinnt, alles ist so, wie es sein soll, die Balance des Politischen und Persönlichen, von Form und Inhalt, nahezu perfekt." (Augustin über "Swimmmers in the Arctic Sea")
"Dank solcher Alben gilt Österreich zu Recht als Land hervorragender Singer-Songwriterinnen" (The Gap über "The Minor Key Club")
"Unser vielleicht schwerster Fehler 2012: Die "Vorgruppe" beim Billy Bragg Konzert in Graz sausen zu lassen und statt dessen im Foyer des Volkshauses gemütlich zu plaudern. Laura Rafetseder hat nämlich alle, die schon zu diesem Zeitpunkt im Saal waren, von ihren Qualitäten überzeugt. Rafetseders Stimme lässt einen nicht mehr los. (www.haubentaucher.at)
"Laura Rafetseder versucht nicht irgendwelchen aktuell erfolgreichen Strömungen zu entsprechen, sondern verfolgt ihren eigenen Weg. Dieser ist höchst eigenständig, ungemein selbstbewusst und mit einem hohen Wiedererkennungswert versehen." (Mica)"
Singer/Songwriterin Laura Rafetseder gilt als "eine der authentischsten und stärksten Songwriterinnen des Landes" (C: Freizeit Kurier). Sie veröffentlichte auf Lindo Records vier Soloalben ("the minor key club" 2012, "swimmers in the arctic sea" 2016, "driven creatures" 2019 und "the early years" 2021) sowie ein Album mit ihrer Band Laura & the Comrats ("creating memories" 2010). 2012 supportete sie u.a. Billy Bragg in Graz. Songs von Laura Rafetseder erschienen u.a. auf Compilations wie Wien Musik 2011 (monkey) und Between the Lines V (Vienna Songwriting Association).
Pressestimmen:
"Die wunderbare Sängerin Laura Rafetseder hat sich zu einer der authentischsten & stärksten Songwriterinnen des Landes entwickelt. Eine Stimme in der man sich verlieren möchte." (Freizeit-Kurier)
"Eine Art Konzeptalbum zum Thema Einsamkeit. Aber auch wenn man nicht auf die sehr starken Texte hört, entfalten die faszinierenden Songs und Laura Rafetseders Stimme eine ganz merkwürdige Sogwirkung. "(Kurier über "Swimmmers in the Arctic Sea")
"Wenn diese Musik und ihre Schöpferin verwundet sind, dann sind sie gleichzeitig sehr stark, weil die Wärme und ja, der Humanismus dieser Musik, sich wie ein zu umarmender Baum, eine zum Anlehnen angebotene Schulter, wie ein plötzlich aufgetauchter Tanzpartner (...) anbieten. Das ganze Album ist eines, wo mensch hörend den Eindruck gewinnt, alles ist so, wie es sein soll, die Balance des Politischen und Persönlichen, von Form und Inhalt, nahezu perfekt." (Augustin über "Swimmmers in the Arctic Sea")
"Dank solcher Alben gilt Österreich zu Recht als Land hervorragender Singer-Songwriterinnen" (The Gap über "The Minor Key Club")
"Unser vielleicht schwerster Fehler 2012: Die "Vorgruppe" beim Billy Bragg Konzert in Graz sausen zu lassen und statt dessen im Foyer des Volkshauses gemütlich zu plaudern. Laura Rafetseder hat nämlich alle, die schon zu diesem Zeitpunkt im Saal waren, von ihren Qualitäten überzeugt. Rafetseders Stimme lässt einen nicht mehr los. (www.haubentaucher.at)
"Laura Rafetseder versucht nicht irgendwelchen aktuell erfolgreichen Strömungen zu entsprechen, sondern verfolgt ihren eigenen Weg. Dieser ist höchst eigenständig, ungemein selbstbewusst und mit einem hohen Wiedererkennungswert versehen." (Mica)"