POST ALPINA

POST ALPINA is the outcome of DNA_Semmering - an art residency I was invited to in August. The region has a bright history of intellectuals and artists spending their summers there. Unlike my fellow creative residents who came to explore the unknown I have a history with this place. I spent the first 19 years of my life there. As a kid my family would go on hikes on Rax and Schneeberg, the foothill mountains of the alps and in winter I would go snowboarding at the Semmering with friends. The mansion where we stayed in is a stone throw away from my old rehearsal room when I was playing in a grunge band as a teenager but also just some minutes away from where I was stung by a bee and barley survived. This moment changed my life forever because with the swelling came the entomophobia. I am a rather fearful person and in the past few years I have spent a decent amount of time understanding my childhood traumas and finding ways to self regulate my nervous system. Making music has become one of my favorite things to calm myself down. I have not been in this region for quite some time and when I was asked to take part in the residency program I hesitated but then decided to go and see how the same old environment would change in a different setting being joined by fellow creatives. But I would bring some of my favorite music gear with me so I can sit down and dive into layers of sound when the past gets too close. We would go on some trips but I would mostly stay at the mansion. I could feel the history in the walls. I would play some notes on the piano and let the tones ring out. I would witness everyone’s rhythms and in the evenings we would meet in the kitchen and talk about our background, goals and passions. When everyone would go to bed I would stay up feeling the anxiety creeping up that naturally gets me in those big old houses. So I would lie awake and listen to the sounds of the building and branches grinding against each other outside my window for hours. That was when I had the idea to capture sounds of the environment and film short videos of details of the residency. Back home I would spend weeks on sound design, arranging, composing and later rehearsing this 20 minute soundtrack of my time at the residency. Everything was done on the Digitakt II, a 16 track sampler which I have just bought before the residency, to learn all its new features and see how far I can go with it. I recorded myself performing it in my tiny bedroom studio – my happy place where I would go and experiment with sounds when life gets too loud. The last step was to combine the performance with the macro shots I have captured at the residency. POST ALPINA gives an intimate insight into my journey of confronting anxieties and ways of self-soothing. I am honored to be part of this beautiful project I am happy that it gave me a room to reflect and explore. I am happy about the outcome. Thank uuu DNA_Semmering!