ViennaCC, the Bohemia :
ViennaCC lives in Vienna, Austria the bohemian lifestyle. What is a Bohemia? A bohemia likes arts and despises philistinism. ViennaCC: "The world is full of inspirations. Why not enjoy them? I don't want stress! Who needs richness for being happy? Maybe life could be better on earth if all people would live a bohemian lifestyle and simply take it easy, take it as it comes".
ViennaCC publishes an album when he has finished work. There is no stress, it just got to be a good piece of work. This is why he runs his own labels and publishing company. So there is no pressure from major company's sales managers. He plays guitar including bass and keyboards. Only drums come out of the box.
Experience :
ViennaCC's musical style is indie / pop / rock / electronic. ViennaCC: "Jazz is crap for students and opera is headache music. I want to make art and music to entertain people. I often sing about love. That's worth living for. But also about people (Lomophotographer) and politics (Days Of Rage). If my music will survive centuries is not important for me because the present happens now, not in centuries.".
Started learning piano in the age of 6 and learnt guitar by playing to records, mostly Rolling Stones records. ViennaCC: "It was easy to play along with the Stones. Maybe that's why I have these Richard riffs in my hands! But I leveled up."
Played various styles with bands, from hardrock and punk to dancehall music. ViennaCC: "That was a great experience. We had about 300 songs in stock and had to play from disco to polka. And Rock Around The Clock or Happy Birthday five time if wanted by the crowd. And that from 8pm to 4am. And you learn to arrange the songs for the instruments in the band. Nice money, but it's a killing job."
ViennaCC has a long job experience in IT. He worked as a programmer, project manager, cost calculator, online content manager.
Now producing music, musicvideos, concert reports and interviews, not only for himself but also for bands.
Music - sounds like the Beatles would sound today :
Indie / Pop / Rock. ViennaCC: "I like beat music from 60s and new wave from 70s and 80s. A very strong influence. One day I asked myself: how yould these bands sound today? When I played a recording someone said, it sounds like the Beatles would sound today. So I found a good slogan."
ViennaCC's goal is to write and record simple songs that everybody play on acoustic guitar at the fireside as well as a school band or an orchestra.
ViennaCC: "I don't like songs that only consist of rhythm and effects. The song net, without effects and big arrangement, must be strong. Effects are interesting, but it should be a goodie, an addon, to a song production. For me it is too simple to record a song with guitar band arrangement. A guitar solo can be great played, can sound great, can be virtuoso. But that is not enough. With today's studio techniques I can work on every single note, give it accent, mix it in the background, filter it - and put effects on it. I like it rather overproduced than standard sounding."
And the voice. ViennaCC: "I like chorus singing, two or three voices. Sometimes I like howling. I have this howling in songs like "If You Wanna Dance".
ViennaCC often uses computer effects on guitar solo. ViennaCC: "When Jimi Hendrix came up, what was new in the sound? Well, it was the effects. From feedback to distortion. These effects are well known today. What can be new? With my IT background I came to computer effects. Why not use it on a guitar solo. So I crush the sound, play reverse tact, hack and resample the sound. That is something interesting."
Music Examples :
"Say Yes" and "Good As Can Be" are simply feel good pop songs.
"I Love You" is just romantic to say nothing but "I love you"
"Dreamgirl" is a popsong about a female being. On the CD cover there is the dreamgirl (and it's a tiny dog). By the way, she is really a female.
"What Happened Here" is about a crime scene. People standing around, detectives and witnesses.
"If You Wanna Dance" is melodious, but has these mono-stereo-effect on the toms, phaser-effect on percussions and a crushing guitarsolo. A combination of interesting (I hope so) songwriting and modern production techniques. ViennaCC: "I liked the chord progression surprising with a halftone down when entering the refrain"
"The Sun" is a bohemian song about nothing but being happy without stress and hunt for money. The refrain say: What I need is just the sun for lying in the shade"
"Baby Give Me One More Chance" is a story about a trip to Las Vegas. ViennaCC was honoured there by the International Society of Photographers for a photo he made. ViennaCC: "I had no idea how to arrange the song. then I hear a synthie song on the radio and that was it. I played with an echoed synthesizer and found a sound."
A song like "Why" is so melodious but nevertheless a rocksong. The composition is simple, but the arrangement is up-to-date. ViennaCC: "I wanted to record a simple beat song, but with modern studio techniques"
"Lady Smile" has a difficult chord progression. The interesting thing is that every verse is a surprise and a little different from the previous verse. The song has no clear verse - refrain - structure. ViennaCC: "I saw the website of a woman and liked her smile. I said to myself, that's a real Lady Smile. And the words started to flow. And the melody was simply there."
Video production :
ViennaCC produces music videos for some of his song. ViennaCC: "Music videos must be interesting to work on and there should be gags in the video. With my IT background I like computer effects, to play around with plugins."
ViennaCC also produces music videos and interviews for other bands, for no costs, to support music. ViennaCC: "But I only do it if I like the music."
