East Styrian pop duo

Brofaction: Grandma is our great role model

On course for pop stardom as Brofaction: Nico & Laurin Greiter from Weiz

(Bild: Mathias Hawk)

40 years after Modern Talking, a successful pop duo is needed again. Nico and Laurin Greiter from Weiz are on their way there. The brothers are touring the country as Brofaction with a new album. Grandma, Ed Sheeran and pure life are involved in their success.

"Stories To Tell" is the name of the new album by the East Styrian brothers Nico and Laurin Greiter. The young musicians have plenty of stories to tell with their self-written songs. About spurned love, adventurous childhoods and big trouble.

"They stole everything from me on the Côte d'Azur, including my car keys. When I finally got the spare keys sent to me after a long time, my car broke down. It couldn't get any worse," Laurin remembers the unfortunate vacation, which became an inspiring song with a musical message.

"Always make the best of it, it'll be fine". Persistent optimism of purpose and positive life energy also flank the siblings' carefree careers. At songwriting camps at home and abroad, Nico and Laurin have honed the craft of writing hits and benefited from sponsors such as Ewald Pfleger (Opus) and Josh. "But the biggest supporter is and remains our grandma," says Nico, whose talent was once noticed on casting shows such as "Kiddy Contest" and "The Voice Kids".

92-year-old rock granny raves: "My boys will make it big" 
 The pair of brothers, who have mastered several instruments, have inherited their musicality from their rock granny. At 92, Ingeborg Pacyna from Leoben still eagerly strums the electric guitar in her band. Nico received his first guitar from the elderly bundle of energy as an 8-year-old. From then on, there was no stopping him. His brother discovered his love of music on the Fiji Islands in the South Pacific. He spent years there on a sailing boat with his parents and Nico. The memory of this dreamlike childhood is also immortalized as a song on the new Brofaction album.

Grandma Ingeborg Pacyna still plays in a band at the age of 92

(Bild: z.V.g.)

A rocky career path: playing for every fan
At the album presentation in Weiz, Grandma and her band were also carried away by this "brotherly magic". "My boys are going to make it big," exults the 92-year-old, a fan from the very beginning. In order to live up to their idolized grandmother's oracle, the grandchildren go all out. "We have invested around 50,000 euros in the new album, part of which comes from the Austrian Music Fund".

 A contract with a major Austrian record company has been safely dispensed with "because there are no longer any major labels in Austria anyway", states Nico, who also rejects requests for casting shows. "We don't want to bend ourselves for others, we stay true to our style and go our own way". The rocky road to pop stardom leads Brofaction on their first tour through Austria and Germany. "Our family roots reach all the way to northern Germany. That's why we promised our relatives that we would play family home shows in Hamburg and Hagen". We are not yet allowed to talk out loud about a planned visit to a TV station, "but if it really happens, we'll be a big step further in Germany too".

The pop brothers with their grandma

(Bild: z.V.g.)

Experience with TV shows and mega pop star Ed Sheeran
The two East Styrians gained experience with big TV shows in the spring with "Starnacht". "The show was a door opener that made us better known. We still get asked about it." As well as the fateful discovery by Ed Sheeran online. The British pop star shared a video of the brothers, which they had previously recorded on the social media platform Tik Tok, on his Instagram page. With an appreciative comment from Ed Sheeran, the "duet" was clicked millions of times.

The brothers would be delighted with a fateful push on the net. "We basically focus on ourselves and take a lot from pop stars like Ed Sheeran or Coldplay," says Nico, referring to the great role models. "It would be a lie if we didn't want to become as big as these mega pop stars."