Today we’d like to introduce you to Marie Lang.
Marie, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I was born and raised in Vienna, Austria. I don’t remember a time when I didn’t want to be a singer, and I was really lucky to have had supportive parents. I started playing piano at five years old, and my mom would sit next to me for hours helping me practice. My dad is a music geek and has the most eclectic taste. We would spend weekends going through his record collection, listening to Prince, Kate Bush, the Beatles, Crash Test Dummies but also Jazz classics like Billie Holiday and Nat King Cole. After studying classical piano, saxophone and jazz singing through high school, I got a scholarship to attend Berklee College of Music, where I studied Vocal Performance and Music Business/Management.
My time at Berklee was amazing, because I met some incredible people and musicians and was exposed to so much great music. It was also then that I got into writing and performing my own music for the first time, as part of electronic pop duo mar|co. We got to perform all over Boston, New York City and also made it to Austin for SXSW.
After college I moved to NYC. One of my favorite collaborations is with house producer Pat Lok, who I met in the city. I’m really thankful to him for inviting me to join him at WayHome festival in Toronto and also for introducing me to Sammy Bananas. The song “Enough” on Sammy’s latest album, was my first feature as a solo artist, before I released my own debut single “Don’t Make Me” in October.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Growing up in Vienna, with its classical music tradition, it was difficult being taken seriously for wanting to become a contemporary singer. It wasn’t until Berklee that I truly felt like all genres would be valued and respected equally, and that was extremely liberating to me. I’ve always loved jazz, soul and R&B music, but even though it had now become accessible, I had to overcome the hesitation that came with discovering music that wasn’t part of my roots culturally, while being aware and respectful of its cultural heritage.
I still struggle with positioning myself musically, but I think it’s a really exciting time right now, where artist are making bolder choices in production and writing and successfully merge different genres. I’m really looking forward to exploring my own voice and style further and collaborating with more people this year.
We’d love to hear more about what you do.
I have been working on my own music for the past year and a half now and only recently made my solo debut with R&B ballad “Don’t Make Me,” which I co-wrote with Brooklyn producer Ian Bakerman. I was lucky to shoot my first music video to this song with the incredible Marcella Cytrynowicz and her team in LA.
After being part of electronic pop duo mar|co, I’m really excited to be working on my solo music, which leans more towards soul and contemporary RnB, while still keeping some electronic elements to it. I have a lot planned for 2019, as I am moving to LA and working on an EP.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My dad playing me Missy Elliott, when I was around 8 years old. He was like: “trust me, she’s gonna be huge” and I thought he literally discovered her, just because she wasn’t that big in Austria yet and none of the other kids at school knew of her. I would make mix tapes on iTunes and copy CDs for my classmates with anything I discovered back then.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://marielangmusic.com
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: http://instagram.com/marielangmusic
- Facebook: http://facebook.com/marielangmusic
- Twitter: http://twitter.com/marielangmusic
- Other: http://soundcloud.com/marielangmusic
Image Credit:
Ryan Noel, Esteban Roa, Clara Lysy, Eddy Leiva
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