Storyteller

Surrounded by the mountains I grew up in a small village called Scharnitz in. Tirol, Austria, located right next to the border with Germany. Although I am not actively playing anymore, music has been part of my life from a young age. Playing the drums also led me to falling in love with the Marimba and the Vibraphone. Music never left me , but, instead, transformed from playing an instrument to a source of inspiration. Together with my broad interest in movies, I studied film in Salzburg and during that time strengthened my skills in camera work and storytelling.
Over the last few years I was working at sea as a Videographer travelling around the world. There are a lot of places I visited and enjoyed to explore, but certainly can’t name one as my favourite, because to me every place has something special. Austria will always be home, nevertheless with celtic roots through my father, I also call Scotland my second home and it will forever be a special place for me.
Friends and family would probably name travelling my greatest passion, but the mountains and the sea undeniably have a big part in my live. Starting as a hate relationship, hiking used to be my biggest nightmare as a child. Over the years and mostly because of spending so much time abroad it turned into pure joy and excitement. There are not many things in life that can beat the achievement of getting to the top of a mountain and of course the view. In contrast to conquering massive mountains, underwater is my place of peace and whenever I can, I spend ages looking for tiny sea slugs. Diving is a tool for me to discover an extraordinary world and I believe you could compare this with a camera being a tool for me to invite others to see through my eyes. Even if I tend to be indecisive about my favourite movie, book or song, I certainly enjoy portraying people the most. During my last contract on board a cruise ship I interviewed an inspiring woman named Serena in the Caribbean. Serena told me about how she got to where she was and how her life struggles had led her to invent a little sculpture named Chi-Chi. It symbolises „the big sister“ which is a very important figure to people from Curacao. She has a very high status in a family, due to her responsibilities in the house and for all the other siblings. It was very impressive for me to hear how something out of necessity translated into art. Serena built up her company and as she used to be a single mom having a difficult time to earn an income, she now uses her „big sister“ for other women on the island so they can also earn money for their families from home. Besides, she talked about coming to Curaçao on a boat and compared life with sailing. She said: „If there is a storm you should take down the sails and if there is no wind you have to calm down, wait and see.“ Her words will stick with me forever and did leave me thinking. I believe it means, no matter how bad or huge something seems, if you stay focused, positive and true to yourself, you will always overcome anything. For me this is a perfect example that you can always learn from others, regardless of where they come from and what their background is.
Years ago I played in a youth orchestra and it was always fascinating to me, how all of the different sounds complemented one another and how the instruments acted jointly although every musician played his or her part individually. In a way for me music and video are also two independent elements, but hand in hand they can have more power, more drama and more significance. Combining the composers with the storytellers will hopefully have the same effect. One by one we function in our own field but collectively we will create a meaningful story together.
I am grateful to be part of the DYCE project as one of the Storytellers. Not only because it is very inspiring to follow the creative mind of a composer transmitting something through music, but also to witness how initially imagined sounds eventually metamorphose into a tangible piece. It will be very interesting to observe the young composers, to find out how their vision originates, to see what will lead to the structure of the final composition and to perceive music in a different but distinctive way. Not solely through a piece of paper on a music stand, but through learning to understand the process behind the inspiration and finding the composers signature through hearing. In my view the project connects a lot of things I get excited about: music, art, different point of views and stories about talented individuals which need to be told.