On our interview menu we offer today: An exceptional great Austrian act called MYNTH. And yes, we have to admit we are always happy to discover some new music that we love from the place we are from as well.
Giovanna und Mario Fartacek talk to us about the beauty and difficulties of working with your twin, their debut album Plaat II. and about questions in Giovanna´s head about the finiteness of life or relationships and losing someone.
Other image by Elisabeth Anna
Header image by Matthias Hombauer
You played in a few other bands before, amongst them deadnote.danse, Then while Gio´s student stay in Norway new songs were born and with it Mynth, that had a completely new sound with a clear cut course and just the two of you as band members. Was this process of finding a unique sound mainly intutional and the result of this Norwegian influence or where there other important factors as well for you to find your new musical way?
Of course the experience living abroad in such a different (and beautiful) country such as Norway had an impact on me as a person and in fact also on the relationship between Mario and me as siblings. Twins are used to being together especially in our case cause we are sharing a flat in Vienna. I think the time being seperated was very important for both of us, genereally the possibility of being alone is very important. I had so much time thinking and enjoying silence there that sometimes in Vienna I try getting in that mood again, cause it really caused a balance in my life which I wouldn´t like to miss anymore. Besides Norway: We wanted to create a sound that focuses on the essentials and we tried to lower our soundlandscape to these. And there are some things you can´t really plan in life… I guess MYNTH happened at some point when we were reunited in Norway when Mario came to visit me. We recorded, talked and wrote songs during the cold winter nights.
The origin of your band name Mynth?
Actually MYNTH is a mixture between myth and mint but it has no deeper meaning. We wanted a short name which has a catchy caption. I also love the color „Mint“, it seems cool but somehow also has a touch of hope.
You have just released your debut album Plaat II. on Seayou Records. First of all, it´s a great album and second, the idea for the title comes from where?
Thank you! As you can see on the artwork (created by Florian Offner) there is a pattern that most people connect with the „Rorschach Test“ or also called the Rorschach inkbolt test which is a research technique used in psychology. There are different cards which show different patterns and things. Plaat || is the second card which shows two people. We thought this reflects the connection between Mario and me and twins.
How long did you work on it?
All in all almost one year.
What was the most difficult part in the whole album work process?
Getting in that cold and melancholic Norway- mood again during a hot summer in Vienna ;) Of course there were some other struggels, but today I would say an album process should have different emotional stages, because that’ s what makes an album special in the end.
Giovanna you said in an interview that working with your twin is in many ways more beautiful and in some more difficult. Can you specify the beautiful and difficult moments?
Yeah, I cannot imagine making music with any other person than my brother. I think the beautiful thing is as well sometimes the difficulty. I have moments where I can be a really difficult and stubborn person where only he knows how to handle me. Most of the time we know what the other thinks and when we are working on a song together there can be so much delight as long as we both like it but there is such great honesty in our relationship that it hurts sometimes and is really exhausting because when we don´t like the work of the other person we just say that it sounds like crap. We are both really bubbly characters so this can cause a fight very easily, I guess thats our fake Italian roots ;)
“I cannot imagine making music with any other person than my brother. I think the beautiful thing is as well sometimes the difficulty. I have moments where I can be a really difficult and stubborn person where only he knows how to handle me.”
You work a lot with feelings and emotions. Mostly things that are connected to personal stories or anything that you catch up from your surrounding?
Sometimes I don´t even know what I want to write about so I usually listen to the song several times and after I have roughly written a vocal line feelings pop up, sometimes more intense than other times. I also had those moments where emotions (also good ones) came up so that I had to cry while I was singing not knowing what was going on (PMS?- haha) No, but I am a meditative person and I have too many thoughts and questions in my head like the finiteness of life or relationships and of course also losing someone. I try finding my answers by writing conceptional lyrics which help me process my thoughts.
Favourite or most personal song on the album ( and why)?
For me its definitely „Ascension“. It was the last song I was recording during the summer in my parents house in Salzburg. I was coming home from a run and I knew that I would complete the recording of our album (vocals) with this song on this evening. I took my time and at the last chorus I was confronted with this happy-sad crying thing again. I guess I was just really proud and happy that we are one step closer to the completion of our debut album.
Your music videos are stories that visualize the songs atmosphere and not the lyrics, as explained by Rupert Höller, the video director that you often work with. The last one Lola was directed by him too, as well as by Bernhard Wenger. How do this video collaborations, that result in this really strong short movies, emerge; through your record label?
No, Bernhard and Rupert are one of our closest friends and companions over the years. They also made videos for deadnote.danse! and we like working with them. They both study at „Filmakademie“ in Vienna and always take their time to shoot with us. The strong pictures are a result of them listening to our music and try to picture those evocative and oppressive vibe that comes to peoples minds.
A little brainstorming with some of the song titles:
Who of the two of you is more VAIN?
This song is about emptiness but it just says vain. I guess our lifes are not vain at all at this point because we have a lot of good friends, family and people arround us that are going this way with us. We have crazy party nights and other things in our life going on so it never gets any boring. But there are moments when people just feel vain and sometimes this feeling can be benefical as well.
The best thing about being ALIVE?
Having time to spend with people you love. But maybe in heaven we will all meet again and make a big party. We don´t know if someday being dead is a good thing too.
What defines a FRIEND?
Someone telling you things that you don´t wanna hear.
The place you like to retreat and that feels like PARADISE?
I love going tot he Sauna and expecially after exercising. It makes me feel pure and reloaded.
You like going to concerts yourself. Last one that really impressed you?
I like it but I don´t go too often cause I need this special mood to really get into it. The last band I saw live was „The War on Drugs“ at Arena Wien, which was simply great.
Giovanna, are you still playing the accordion from time to time?
Unfortunately not, but I am pretty sure I can still play the polka. Umtataa
You once said that the music business is fast-paced and if a band is doing well for three years then this is a long time already. If you dream big, what would be the ultimate goal to achieve as musicians?
Our goal for now would be to just make music. We both have studied and are almost done with our master degrees, but in fact we wish to try what we can get along with making music full-time. We love playing live, so we hope that there are many more concerts in 2016 to come. The second album is already in the writing process and then we hope that the step out of Austria in a more international setting comes true.
www.facebook.com/mynthmusic
Downloads:
www.soundcloud.com/seayou/mynth-lola-radio-edit
www.soundcloud.com/seayou/mynth-urge-feat-c-black
Albumstream:
www.seayou.bandcamp.com/album/mynth-plaat-ii
