Some call them goth, others attest to their guitar noise. Nobody has written that TINA BAUER as TERZ NERVOSA rather peels the in-between out of dreams. Until now. The Viennese artist – TINA not only snaps photos, but also spits with Ana Threat as PUKE PUDDLE in Viennese belt bows – has spoken. After two extensions, we find out why she sometimes identifies with a clown and why we should close our eyes more often.
I feel so nervous today. Do you know that?
Tina Bauer: Anecdote: You’ve got something over Puke Puddlemy musical project with Ana Threat, written. It was about strings that I smash into. I found this extremely funny because there is no guitar in the project to smash into and I just thought: how? Sorry for the diss haha.
Maybe I drank too much coffee. It’s all connected, of course.
Tina Bauer: Lifehack: Don’t drink too much coffee. That’s why my blood levels are so good. All the vampires out there that need a good drink…
Our body should experience much more gratitude.
Tina Bauer: Thanks to the hardware!
And to the software. do you dream a lot
Tina Bauer: Yes very much. Mostly they are complex, sometimes exhausting dreams. Sometimes it becomes difficult to distinguish between dreams and reality.
What did you dream today?
Tina Bauer: Unfortunately, I can’t remember tonight. The last dream I can remember was maybe a little too dark, to tell him.
Feel free.
Tina Bauer: My dreams often have to do with the perception of spaces. For example, I see my parents’ house, the environment in which I grew up. There’s like a million versions of it in my head. They differ visually and come with different feelings. I can clearly see the house, but I see it from different perspectives – as if the memories and dreams of my childhood are connected to the present.
Are you trying to put those memories into words?
Tina Bauer: No, I’ve tried, but writing down dream sequences and their visual representation seems impossible to me. However, dreams from the past often come back to me at some point anyway.
Is that why one sometimes doesn’t understand the words in your songs, but only the fragments?
Tina Bauer: I’m often more concerned with my own condition – a landscape changes, for example, depending on how I feel when looking at it. It might be the same with my songs.
That’s right, mood changes perception. Memories also change over time.
Tina Bauer: The subconscious feedback loop.
Dreams also lead to a feeling, even if you don’t always remember the content.
Tina Bauer: I can’t always remember what my dreams are about, but the intensity with which some linger is impressive. For example, if you wake up feeling horrible after a dream that you don’t remember and can’t decipher the feeling because you lack the story.
„Dreams are the show that the subconscious gives us.“
Like losing the key to the door you just locked.
Tina Bauer: Dreams are the show that the subconscious gives us. My music arises from the feelings that arise there. That’s why I often can’t say where my lyrics come from – they arise from an inner monologue.
A lot ends up in the subconscious, it just doesn’t always come out.
Tina Bauer: An example: In 2020 my subconscious decided to play me about 20 different pop songs from the last 28 years every day. It was like a hit parade of a lifetime with songs I would never actively think about but apparently heard at some point.
Can you explain where that came from?
Tina Bauer: It certainly had a lot to do with the external circumstances. If you think back to the lockdowns at that time: We were separated from society, only had our roommates …
Or yourself.
Tina Bauer: Yes, this state of being thrown back on myself reminded me of my childhood. During the summer holidays I was happy if I could be alone for a month. I liked mine space.
were you a loner
Tina Bauer: Hmm, loner.
Do you prefer to be by yourself than with others?
Tina Bauer: Not necessarily. Sometimes I need my dream world where only I am. It’s been like that forever. But it doesn’t have to be a dream world, it can also be the real world.
In Vienna’s underground you would have made a name for yourself with a goth aesthetic, Mio Obernosterer im skug Magazin written. When did you realize you were goth?
Tina Bauer: I only partially identify as Goth. Especially in the beginning, it gave me the authority to darken Letting out feelings theatrically. But I don’t live a bad goth lifestyle – also because it’s not just what I am, do or hear.
We’ve just picked up “Centre” from your last EP Tender Matter heard. The sound buries and yet lifts.
Tina Bauer: That’s the Pierrot spirit!
The Pierrot spirit?
Tina Bauer: Pierrot is a sad clown – a character I can identify with.
Do you identify with a clown?
Tina Bauer: Often, but not always. Part of my version of Pierrot’s story is about unrequited love. Pierrot wants to win his adored person over with a song. A story full of longing.
And tragedy.
Tina Bauer: Perhaps. But also hope!
do you like contrasts
Tina Bauer: Who does not?
There are people who don’t like contrasts.
Tina Bauer: I love contrasts.
Are hope and tragedy contrasts?
Tina Bauer: Maybe in the Pierrot spirit.
How do you interpret him?
Tina Bauer: That depends. That’s why I’m Pierrot sometimes – but not always.
How are you feeling today: tragic or hopeful?
Tina Bauer: Neither nor. There’s this meme by 30 Rock: Liz Lemon says: „What a week, huh?” and Alec Baldwin replies: „Lemon, it’s Wednesday!” That’s how I feel.
Luckily it’s almost the weekend!
Tina Bauer: Well, it’s Tuesday.
“It just has to feel right.”
You also work with pictures, you studied photography, among other things. Does that intertwine with your work as a musician?
Tina Bauer: I usually have precise ideas of how something should look. It just has to feel right. You can’t explain that – you know when it fits.
I’m interested in the point at which you know.
Tina Bauer: You try around until there is something is. Just like you know it from childhood. You create something of your own spacebecause it’s fun without thinking too much about something like external perception.
Wouldn’t it be nice to be able to think like a five year old again?
Tina Bauer: Rather stressful. You would be free-er in a certain way, but you are still very dependent on the environment.
Aren’t we anyway?
Tina Bauer: Nice! But as adults we have more agency and opportunities.
Do we still want to hear “Landscapes”?
Tina Bauer: I recommend closing your eyes.
We introspect!
Tina Bauer: You hear music, close your eyes and see pictures. This is essential for me.
Earlier we talked about pop songs. While they need videos to see something, here you would need: nothing!
Tina Bauer: However, there is a video for the song.
Yes, but without concrete pictures, right? Not like, say Britney Spears songs.
Tina Bauer: I wouldn’t have thought of Britney Spears right now.
Who were you thinking of?
Tina Bauer: To no specific person.
But that’s boring.
Tina Bauer: You’re bland haha.
Let’s leave it at that! I still say: Your music is a gift. It’s not a burger to wolf down, it’s the preparation for a feast.
Tina Bauer: Maybe my love for cooking is also related to my music.
Do you like to cook?
Tina Bauer: I like to load friends in and cook for her. I’m preparing for that, making folders with bookmarks, haha. Once I’ve decided what I’m going to cook, I pick out five different recipes for that dish and make my own version of it.
This is the essence: not a copy, but the creation! Whether it’s the music or cooking.
Tina Bauer: Both are about timing, layers, flavor, vibes, love, curation, …
Which recipe would “Landscapes” be?
Tina Bauer: A reinterpretation of a nostalgic dish from my childhood that takes three days to prepare.
Three days! Let’s finish with three sentences for the Hard Facts to Terz Nervosa raushausen.
Tina Bauer: A new EP is coming out this year Tender Matter Out. I play on January 31, 2023 in the Viper Room and on March 31 in the Cup in Linz. There is also a shared track with Dizziness, on his new album, which will be released at the end of April. And: It will soon be the first time Tert-Nervosa-Give t-shirts!
Tina, thanks for your time!
Marion Ludwig, Christoph Benkeser
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Links:
Terz Nervosa (Facebook)
Terz Nervosa (Instagram)
Tender Matter (Bandcamp)
Puke Puddle (Bandcamp)