Hello. I am V!VE, sort of a story telling sound sculptor. 

 

So, music. I’d say I’m a self-taught song writer/producer/performer with a playful attitude towards chaos!

I make most of my music by recording vocals, instruments or just random sounds, and transform them into melodies and beats using various effects. And I have a special secret ingredient that spices up things: accidents & mistakes. Love them. Can’t live without them. (Also the fact that I haven’t studied music makes “no rules” a ground rule, inevitably.) Sometimes something sounding almost wrong, makes everything so much more interesting! Creativity is supposed to be fun! It’s similar to a child’s exploration of the world… Let me explain. I have always felt that all music already exists, revealing herself through the endless beauty of sound (I often improvise on the piano with a blindfold over my eyes, letting music surprise me.) That approach can only bring forth a feeling of gratitude instead of grandeur. Well, at least it’s supposed to… because to walk down the path of humility is a tough -the toughest- one. It goes against human nature. But it’s what makes it shockingly rewarding! 

My style, hmmm. It’s hard to pick a genre for my music, it’s probably best described as cerebral pop/ experimental / cinematic electro / art rock. I don’t know whether it’s the artist who chooses their style or if it’s the other way around, but I do know that it all starts with inspiration. It’s truly amazing how it can derive from anything! But it mostly comes from other people. I couldn’t make any art without being constantly inspired by others and their precious expression of uniqueness. I am thankful for all those music-magicians (famous or not!) that have influenced and inspired me over the years and still do! To name some: Tori Amos, Kate Bush, Björk, Susanne Sundfor, PJ Harvey, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Steve Reich, Cardiacs, The Beatles, Portishead, Radiohead, Jaga Jazzist, Sigur Ros, Aphrodite’s Child, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Nik Kershaw, underground hiphop scene, 80’s game-music and a whole lot of classical music (with Johann Sebastian Bach on the top of the list). And ofcourse all of my unbelievably talented friends whose names may not be on the top of any hit list but could easily have concerts in full crowded stadiums! 

The years of studying social sciences, art psychotherapy and social psychiatry can be reflected on my lyrics I think. They tend to be rather psychoanalytical, philosophical and spiritual. The world or artistic expression is what I call “The Big Magic”. Art deals with Beauty and it is intoxicating, to say the least. Symbols have always been my obsession, I need them in order to connect, to understand, to find satisfaction and meaning. And the ultimate meaning is always spiritual. Even though He is not mentioned straight forward in most of my songs, God is always the one behind my repeated patterns of searching for “katharsis“. I am not really a fan of denominations -no judgement though folks! Celebrate diversity!- I rather just be an anti-religious follower of Christ (I think anybody would wanna follow Him once they got to know Him a bit 🙂 ) Honesty is very important to me and I try to bring that forth in my songwriting, hoping people can relate and even be encouraged by my life’s struggles and victories. In my experience, exposure hides unbelievable power – pun intended! Nevertheless, as great as it can be to express one’s emotions and experiences through creativity, I don’t believe it is the ultimate purpose of being. Life is not found in achievements, it is found in relationship. I believe we were created by a loving Creator in His own image to be creative creatures ourselves and to experience an intimate relationship with Him and each other. Learning to live loved & love others, that’s my life’s moto, yet often times it feels like a lifetime won’t even be enough… At least He is patient when I am not, which is most of the time… But as I said before, I think art should also be fun! So being humorous, exaggerating, sarcastic, and -why not- silly comes naturally to me, both lyric- and performance -wise.

I thank you ALL for reading this, for supporting me and for staying tuned -it means the world to me! (that was a bit manipulative, I know… but my intentions are good 🙂

Over and out! …for now.

Wove you all. Stay connected. 

V!VE

(P.S. As for what “66” stands for, I think I’ll let that be a riddle! <—dear song by dear Nik Kershaw by the way!)