Laura Rafetseder

Laura Rafetseder, Singer Songwriter

"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. With her band the comrats she recorded the ep make me whole again in 2006. Laura & the comrats critically acclaimed debut cd" creating memories" was released in April 2010. At the moment Laura is taking a break from the band. In November 2012 she released her solo debut the minor key club on Lindo Records. A second album, swimmers in the arctic sea was released in autumn 2016. "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."

Profile

Instruments

Genres

Influences

Equipment

What is music to you? What does it give you?

it manages to make me ridiculously happy

What is your music dream?

get my stuff heard

Which is the most memorable song from your childhood?

my dad used to play piano all the time, dylan but also his own songs... so i guess it would b one of his. then again Eleanor rigby changed my life when i watched yellow submarine when i was eight.

What is the message you want to send with your music?

take a sad song and make it better

How do you feel when you perform in front of an audience?

if i connect with one or two and express what they feel in that very moment, im happy. ('when the music's playing, that's when it changes and no longer do we seem like total strangers')

What frustrates you most as a musician?

that people dont pay attention to the lyrics