Maria Burger is OSKA and as such the woman from the Waldviertel writes songs that are so rich in naturalness and charm that they spark a magical attraction. Her first album “My World, My Love, Paris” is a 12-song declaration of love to the power of music, with which stories and messages can be told so fabulously. A talk about family, the love of music and the perks of being a latecomer.
As a songwriter you are a talent. Do you know where this gift comes from?
I just love writing songs. That’s because I grew up in a family with a mom who has this love of songs to the extreme. We listened to a lot of music when we were kids. Mom played us a lot of songs and talked about them, the Irish ballads and the folk songs. After everything was in English, she also told us what it was all about. So I grew up with this love for music.
With this understanding, you also used your first full album to show your full range as an artist. How easy was it for you to choose the songs?
It went faster than the EP “Honeymoon” last year, when it took me a long time to find my sound. I knew more about the album, but a lot of new songs have been created in the last two months. I had an urge that I still want to capture this moment that I’m in right now, not just put old songs on it. That was very important to me.
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But there are also songs on the album that are older.
I wrote “Hallucinating” four years ago, but it was always clear to me that this should be the last song on my first album. It took me a long time to write the opener, I missed it and only wrote it a month before the release of the album.
In the mentioned opening song “Too Nobody” you can find everything that makes you musical. The acoustic guitar at the beginning, the strong folk influence that fades into beats and sound…
Yes. That was also important to me in terms of the topic, because it’s about what a song is worth. It’s that feeling that music is being produced on an assembly line, but it’s important to focus on what it’s really about. About the music and the love for it.
It is not only produced on the assembly line, but also listened to. A song has to have an effect after a few seconds, otherwise it doesn’t have a chance for the Spotify playlist, from which an artist has nothing financially. You are an artist who learned through your mother that songs can also unfold slowly and need their space. As a musician, is it possible to detach yourself completely from the music business and its mechanisms?
I think this problem has always existed. There is a song by Gillian Welch called “Everything Is Free” which is about people writing songs out of an inner urge and thereby exposing themselves to the danger of being exploited. I think the two camps, the artists and the labels, have always existed. Taylor Swift released a song that was ten minutes long and it charted. She re-recorded her album because she no longer had the master rights. I think that’s great because she opposes this machine. In principle, of course, it is difficult to deal with these market laws, especially when you are just starting out. And you’re a little part of the business. The bigger artists have more power to change things. Many do too. I have a feeling that maybe something will happen, maybe not. The problems were always there, but things have changed now.
The value of music, the value of an album, used to be much higher than it is today, right?
My love for the album certainly comes from growing up with the music at the time when the album still held such importance.
Do you feel that showing 12 sides of yourself is enough to conquer new audiences?
That will turn out. I look forward to playing live. But I do believe that you can reach people. There are enough people who want to buy an album to support their favorite artists.
For you, music is about people, about relationships, but also about the world, how we deal with the fact that we rob the planet more than we give it. How it must be itching for you to bring up all these topics?
It’s been burning under my fingernails for a long time, but for years it was so difficult for me to process it in songs. It’s about the how. It was important to me that I didn’t point my finger and make everything bad. I am also part of the whole. That’s why the album’s title track, “My World, My Love, Paris,” is so important to me, because it touches on that. I wrote the song at the beginning of the pandemic, was in Ireland and came back to Austria just before the lockdown. To put it bluntly, there was a doomsday mood at that time. So I got involved in this scenario. How would I feel if the world ended now? What conversations would you have? So I imagined the story of a pair of lovers going out on a boat and having this last conversation. And ask yourself: Could we have done something differently? Based on Edith Piaf’s song “Non, je ne regrette rien”, I ask if we’ll stand there and say “I don’t regret anything”. Or do we have to say together: “Sorry, my world, my love, Paris”. Paris represents this beautiful planet that we live on and don’t take good care of. I felt like I was getting involved. This collective responsibility was important to me. But responsibility starts small, in the family. And often you have the feeling that you can’t change much on your own.
They don’t use the index finger, but it’s dangerous not to come off as a know-it-all. Because we are all part of the problem, but also part of the solution. How do you manage not to be drawn to one side or the other?
I dont know. That’s a question I’m totally preoccupied with. It’s also easier for me to write about it when it’s not my perspective, but the story of a couple in love. It’s difficult to find the balance.
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After your music has such a feel-good character, you could forget about the lyrics, which are at least as important to you. Can you live with people saying they like your music but not really knowing what they’re singing about?
The job of writing songs is such a beautiful thing because you can’t feel like you can do anything bad unless you want to. I want to give people a good feeling with my songs. If you don’t understand everything, that’s okay too. If someone else draws something different from a song than I do, then it’s something nice. It doesn’t affect my writing because I do it for myself. For 15 years I’ve been sitting there thinking about texts, getting involved in stories.
What does success mean to you?
I have two goals. I want to write a song that’s really good (laughs), in the sense that I can look back and say, yes, the song was really good. And the second goal is to be able to make a living from it. That I don’t have to be scared of existence. That it’s my job. That would be success for me if I can do it and not have to worry about ending up on the street. I don’t need to be a superstar and I don’t need to be celebrated. For me it’s cool when people say that they like my songs.
How much are you looking forward to the concerts now, which was only possible to a very limited extent in the past two years?
I’m really looking forward to it. I’m lucky that I’m releasing the album now that a lot seems possible again. It would have been extremely bad for me if I had released an album and not been able to present it live. I was lucky with the timing. I know what my year is going to be like and I know what a privilege it is to be able to present my album live.
Finally, one question remains: Why is there a cover version of Crosby, Stills & Nash on the album with “Helplessly Hoping”? Was that your mom’s favorite number?
No, I discovered the song at some point. That has been with me for years. And then I had the idea that I would like to sing a song on the album with my four siblings. Because it’s a song that works in polyphony and is based on that, it became “Helplessly Hoping” – and that’s very nice for me.
How proud is the family of you?
I’m the youngest. As hippie as my mum is, with five children she naturally wanted everyone to have a good job and have a good life. I did have the feeling that I was allowed to make music as a latecomer because I have a network of people who would catch me if it didn’t work. My siblings are very happy and my mom is happy too. I think everyone is happy because music is so important to each and every one of us. The fact that I also make this my profession makes sense for everyone.
OSKA “My World, My Love, Paris” (Nettwerk)
Source: Nachrichten
