Studio Powerplay, 24.08.2014

Pictures by Lukas Maul

 

 

       

 

       

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

       

 

Filling A Void

​It was a couple of nights before we flew to Zürich. I was out after our concert at mathias’ place where we played Staying Out There for the first time in front of friends. I felt good about it but in a weird way confused. I didn’t really feel that kind of ready to record like I did back then for Gone Too Far. I knew I was prepared, I carried these songs for quite some time with me and had spent intense weeks of rehearsing and practicing each and every song carefully, still I felt insecure and confused. I was aware that my creative process was very different to the one with Franz Schubert’s Winterreise and I think this was one of many reasons I felt that way. Back then when I was in Sweden, when I made my first steps into this unbelievable cycle of songs it felt like entering a huge castle with thousands of doors that led into thousands of different rooms and it was my turn, to discover these rooms on my own and make them my home. After a while I didnt feel lost and lonely anymore, I started to find my way, to get to know each room and where it would take me and in the end I started to feel at home. Looking back it was the most challenging experience I’ve ever had. Finding a new home means to start somewhere new and to say goodbye to where you stayed before. And although it felt right, the recordings to Gone Too Far created a void inside myself that needed to be filled. I wanted more. I gained trust in my abilities by leaving my comfort zone and now, staying out there, I need to take another step, to go further....It all happened so fast. Each and every song of Staying Out There felt like I’ve already been singing them all the time. Still something was making me insecure and maybe it was just the fact that I was excited and nervous as it was only my second studio album. That night after our concert I met someone who reminded me of something that Billie Holiday said: „ It has to have a meaning“ And sometimes all the practicing in the world can’t prepare you the way someone can by inspiring you and giving you this little push that you needed to feel alive.

Moments later I found myself in an airplane towards Zürich and there we were: Hans Strasser, Ingrid Oberkanins, mathias rüegg, Christoph Burgstaller and me– at the Powerplay Studio – with our magical recording days ahead of us! The people taking care of us, giving us the possibility to play and forget everything else, were the warmest and kindest crew one can wish for, thank you to Christian and Reto. The way they took care of us and the way they set the table for us every morning and evening moves me everytime I think of it.
We started with a Rilke poem...“Am I a falcon, a storm or a great song“  and step by step, trumpet player by trumpet player (Matthieu Michel, Juraj Bartos, Mario Rom), note by note, rest by rest we dived into our songs composed by mathias. We finished in Vienna at 4tune Audio Productions with Thomas Gansch, Dominik Fuss and Richard Köster...of which more later!
I don’t know how to describe these days, I only know that every song I sang filled a void in me and every morning before we started when I went swimming in the lake, I felt free.

„When I’m old and grey, I’ll think about this day“ Yours Lia!

Thank you to Lukas Maul for coming all the way to Switzerland and staying with us  - collectings these moments!