Live at Blue Bird

Vera Sola: dark music through a kaleidoscope

She is a master of playing with darkness and melancholy: Vera Sola is coming live to the Blue Bird Festival in Vienna this day.

(Bild: Ebru Yildiz)

The renowned Blue Bird Festival enters its 20th round at Vienna's Porgy & Bess this week. It opens with the fantastic US-American Vera Sola, who adds a dash of darkness and mystery to her West Coast melancholy. In the "Krone" interview, she gives us a closer look at her work and creations.

When the foggy veil of November settles over the country, it's Blue Bird time again. The singer/songwriter connoisseur festival is taking place for the 20th time this year from 21 to 23 November in the popular Viennese jazz cellar Porgy & Bess and has once again shoveled a whole host of fantastic artists from all over the world onto the billing in its anniversary year, who will be taking the capital with a somewhat more delicate musical touch. One of the most beautiful gems in the well-curated line-up is the American Vera Sola. In April, she presented herself and her second studio album "Peacemaker" at the cozy B72 and impressed with a dark performance reminiscent of Lana Del Rey, even if her sound is more reminiscent of Calexico or Nancy Sinatra than the ultimate melancholy of the dark pop queen.

Music through a kaleidoscope
"I'm incredibly happy when people compare me to Lana," laughs Sola in the "Krone" interview, "I already know where this opinion comes from and see that it is expressed with great respect." On her previous albums, Vera Sola evokes an unmistakable informality to rural West Coast America. A bit like imagining the sun-drenched desert expanses from a European vantage point. "I have a great sensitivity for this region and am very much inspired by Dvorak's 9th Symphony. I'm half Canadian and even though it's not the same as Europe, I can relate to this way of looking at my music. Someone once told me that I write music as if I were looking at the American West through a kaleidoscope. It's exactly this surrealistic approach that I like."

A quick look at the person - Vera Sola is just a stage name, her real name is Danielle Aykroyd. If you're thinking of the "Blues Brothers" half and legendary 80s Hollywood comedian Dan Aykroyd, you're absolutely right. He is her father. Although she comes from an artistic household and discovered her love for music, painting, costumes and videos at an early age, Vera Sola is shy and sees her famous surname more as a burden than a career boost. "The name belongs to my father and not to me. That was always a problem for me. But I didn't want to change it because I love my family. So I created a person for my musical projects who carries and performs the sound." In 2018, she released her debut album "Shades", which she recorded and produced entirely on her own. It was only over the years that she was able to peel herself out of her sheltered cocoon and trust others more.

A long journey
A crucial piece of the puzzle on the road to success and independence is folk rocker and good friend Elvis Perkins, who encourages her to make music and has long played in Sola's live band when his schedule allows. The dark "Peacemaker" album, which is very personal in content, matures through the love of collaborative work. "I was so attached to my music in the beginning that I put up walls that didn't need to be there," she recalls, "I'm actually a pretty confident performer, but there's something in the music that makes me insecure and sometimes blocks me." There were several reasons why it took six years between the two albums. The pandemic put a stop to Sola's career aspirations, he first had to find a label (City Slang) and then he also had to put together a band that would work on the road and on tour. "The technically best musicians aren't necessarily the best ones for my sound," Sola realized early on.

She went on her first major European tour in 2019, but without a plan or destination at the time. "The routing was like shooting darts at the target blindfolded," she laughs looking back, "I don't know how many times we crossed the Alps because we were criss-crossing." Such chaos was refreshing, but also exhausting. With the necessary experience under her belt, the 35-year-old now approaches things much more routinely. Musically, she lets herself be guided. "My sound is an extension of my influences, tastes and sensibilities. When I played in Vienna in the spring, I visited the Leopold Museum and was completely blown away by the magnificent art. That again serves as inspiration for me, which might pop up again later. My music is sometimes a bit twisted and surreal, but then again clearly articulated. I let my feelings guide me and trust that this naturalness is the right thing. Whether it's folk, singer/songwriter, indie rock or Americana doesn't matter at all."

Both worlds connected
The distance between Vera Sola and Danielle Aykroyd has now been minimized. The success with her artistic alter ego also gives her more security to cope with the heavy burden of the name. "Vera made the music because Danielle couldn't, but now the characters are on the same level. I'm trying to unite them more and more because it's easier for me now and it feels more natural. When I started singing, I left my body and shared the music with the world as if through a channel. Today, I'm much more present myself and it's the same with my voice. The biggest goal right from the start was to combine both worlds and strengths and now I'm on the right track. It's a great feeling that automatically gives me more confidence for the stage."

Delicacies at Blue Bird
Vera Sola will open this year's Blue Bird Festival on November 21 at 8 pm and will also be performing songs from her brand new EP "Ghostmaker". The highlights of this year's festival also include Jessica Pratt, Edna Million, Porcelain id, Dan Croll and Wallis Bird, who is already well known in Austria. The last tickets for the popular festival in the heart of the capital are still available at www.oeticket.com.