Live at the Volkstheater

Three daughters deconstruct their strings

Creative partners and good friends: The cross-national daughters in the form of Lisa Marie Vogel, Marie-Claire Schlameus and Katrine Grarup Elbo (from left).

(Bild: Camille Blake, Morr Music, Krone KREATIV)

Trio Toechter transform the fragile sound of classical strings into a sound amalgam that is located somewhere between pop, experimental art and film soundtrack. Tonight, May 3, they will play their first concert in Austria at the Volkstheater in Vienna. One third of the band, Lisa Marie Vogel, gave us an insight into the nature and activities of the up-and-coming combo.

Deconstructing string instruments such as violin, cello and viola and transforming them into atmospheric electropop songs using guitar effect pedals and technical aids is the main agenda of the experimental trio Toechter. Lisa Marie Vogel, Marie-Claire Schlameus and Katrine Grarup Elbo met through their musical training and founded this project five years ago to combine classical music with pop - but in a way that has never been heard before. "The basic structure of our approach is familiar from film soundtracks, but we wanted to find out whether the fusion of strings with pop music could also be created in a chamber music setting," Lisa Marie Vogel tells us in the "Krone" talk. She has been visiting family in Vienna for several days, and her two colleagues will follow today when the first Austrian concert takes place at the Volkstheater in Vienna.

Success with the debut
"We want to be more a part of the creative process, write the string arrangements ourselves and create our songs as we see fit." All three have plenty of experience in the world of music. In addition to their classical training, the individual members can also be found in the live bands of rapper Casper or Agnes Obel. The boundlessness of the Toechter songs certainly draws its inspiration from the diversity of their own tastes. Other motivators can be found in the London experimental music scene, film music and, above all, the classic Hollywood sound. The band's debut album "Zephyr", released in 2022, was already a hit with critics and fans alike. The initial shock of having founded the ambitious project shortly before the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic was forgotten.

Toechter do not have a constant home base. The musicians are scattered between Berlin, Copenhagen, Finland and Stockholm and are constantly changing professionally and geographically. This openness and unclassifiable vastness can also be heard in the compositions. The effects pedals are seen as a kind of fourth instrument alongside the strings. Vocals are not really at the center of the trio's activities, although the sometimes fragile, sometimes stable compositions stand out for this reason. A good two months ago, Toechter released their second album "Epic Wonder", which stands for cohesion and the holistic in the world. In a time of permanent division and the excessive separation of things, the three artists are particularly keen to buck this negative trend with their music.

An ode to miracles
"It's about the small and big miracles and the things that connect all beings in this world. We tried to be guided by the idea that there can be a holistic connection between everything in this world and wanted to emphasize that. It's about capturing a universal energy. Less about specific miracles and more about everyday things such as the formation of mountains, the birth of a child or a friendship that develops. But it's also about the miracle that happens in the room when the three of us play and improvise together. There are songs on both albums that were pressed directly from improvisation onto the CD without any post-production. It's important to us to emphasize what happened in the moment." Due to the geographical distance between them, Toechter have to plan their creative time together well.

"For us, it's always a bit like a boot camp," laughs Vogel, "we meet up for a week, are in the studio from morning to night, cook together and then go to the theater in the evening. The human element is incredibly important to us and the collaboration goes beyond just the music." The international combo chose the German band name for various reasons. On the one hand, because they are all daughters and share the same vision; on the other hand, it is a play on words that satisfies the love of community. "If you read the word quickly or take a quick look, Toechter looks like Together." The project not only internalizes the musical preferences of the three friends, it is also a playground where experiments and outbursts are deliberately allowed and even encouraged. "Whether one of us is on the road with a rapper or working with a symphony orchestra - all of these are inspirations that automatically flow into Toechter."

Tirelessly active
Production support for the current album "Epic Wonder" came from none other than Godspeed You! Black Emperor guitarist David Bryant. "The band has always been a great source of inspiration for us. They also experiment a lot and don't rest on a sound they've already made before." If Vogel and her partners have their way, the musical focus will be even more strongly on their daughters, despite their different places of residence, jobs and realities of life. It would be nice to go on a proper tour, for example. "That would be great, of course. We're pretty good at planning and could certainly put something great together if there was interest." For now, there are exclusive one-off gigs and a focus on the next album. "We'll definitely record something again in the fall." So a third Toechter album as early as 2025 is not out of the question.

Live at the Volkstheater
Tonight, May 3, Toechter will play live for the first time in Austria at the Rote Bar of Vienna's Volkstheater. Tickets for the experimental sound adventure between classical, pop and electronic music are still available at www.oeticket.com and probably also at the box office. Interesting and great things are definitely growing here.