With this series, mica – music austria bundles the experiences and perspectives of women in the music business. Why “100 percent”? Because equality is 100 percent aspirational… and there’s still work to be done. This time in an interview with the Tyrolean saxophonist and composer Yvonne Moriel.
Which people/institutions/funding programs have helped you on your way in the music business?
Yvonne Moriel: There isn’t a special person or a program or anything like that, I actually found everything from different places. However, individual people have always helped me by showing me a new world and giving me confidence in my abilities or making it possible for me to show these abilities somewhere.
How and where did you gain experience in the music business? What were the biggest hurdles and how did you overcome them?
Yvonne Moriel: I was just trying to figure out what there is to do, how other people do it, and connect with people I think are cool and who inspire me. And then to work steadily towards it and not overestimate the results. Perfection often paralyzes. That’s pretty tough when you have high standards. You often have to swallow down your fear of whether it’s good enough and what other people think about it. But the reward is that by doing and doing again and doing something new, you really do get a lot better. What is common here is always the gradual course of progress, you mustn’t let yourself get carried away.
„Opportunities are so important in a career, they can mean so much…”
Where would you have liked (more) support?
Yvonne Moriel: I switched from classical to jazz and would have liked to have had more support, trust and opportunities to gain experience and develop further at the beginning. Opportunities are so important in a career, they can mean so much to the person who gets them. Small things can start a career – a mention, a recommendation, an invitation. But now I appreciate it all the more when someone gives me an opportunity, I remember that very well.
Did you have suitable role models in your environment that you could use as a guide?
Yvonne Moriel: No I did not. But I think it’s so good that self-confident, strong, really good and independent women are becoming more and more visible. That’s great for a number of reasons, but also because I’m of the opinion that the immediate environment often has the greatest impact on people and actions. I would also like to motivate and inspire people to find their own way. And then to walk it, even if you might have to build it first. That takes a lot of courage. It often seems much more sensible to take the path that everyone is walking or that is being preached to you as good and safe.
„I am always considered to be much younger and […] therefore taken less seriously.”
What role does age play for you?
Yvonne Moriel: It’s absurd how much importance is given to age. And that the general public believes that looking young is the ultimate and only goal in life (especially for women). And yet it says so little about a person, their life and their abilities! For example, I’m always considered to be much younger. And the only thing that gets me is that I’m taken less seriously. Because young women are often perceived as less competent and inexperienced, even unconsciously.
What would you wish for a more diverse music scene?
Yvonne Moriel: That when you meet, it is not age, gender or anything else superficial that immediately determine the inner image of a person, but the person who is standing opposite you is simply getting to know them in an unbiased and respectful manner. Then you don’t have to constantly prove yourself. And fewer values would probably be helpful too.
What questions have you been asked frequently that a man would never be asked?
Yvonne Moriel: How about all the men? Isn’t that exhausting? are they nice to you anyway? But why do you think, is it the case that there are just few/no women in ….. maybe there is something genetic after all?
++++
Links:
Yvonne Moriel
Yvonne Moriel (Facebook)
Yvonne Moriel (Instagram)