The fact that the young Viennese band Euphoniques is able to hit the right note with their music has been impressively demonstrated on their two releases to date – the debut album “Smooth” (2019) and the EP “Identity” (2022). What the six-piece troupe around the two bandleaders ELENA HOLZER (guitar, songwriting) and MARJORIE ETUKUDO (vocals) makes for their musical program is a rousing colorful mixture of soul, funk, (electro) pop, R&B and light jazzy borrowings, which scores with pure passion and highest musical quality. In an interview with Michael Ternai, the two talk about the beginnings of their band, their musical openness, the message of their music and about her concert at the Musikverein in Vienna on February 24th.
You play on February 24th in the music Society a concert. It’s rather unusual for a pop band to perform there. How did this concert actually come about?
Elena Holzer: There is this project between the music Society and the fountain passage. It’s called “Viennese Voices” and is intended to help attract a broader and younger audience to the house. Singers from various backgrounds were invited to the “Viennese Voices” to play their songs together with an orchestra. Marjorie was one of those invited singers. We didn’t think twice and quickly agreed and performed two of our songs together with an orchestra for the first part of this project. In the second part, the singers can now play a full-length concert with their bands. And that’s what we’re doing on Friday. We will be there that evening together with our guest Elisabeth Gansch Lower Austrian Tonkunstler Orchestra some of them play their own songs as well as classical pieces that we have edited.
A concert in music Society is definitely an honor.
Marjorie Etukudo: It’s an incredible honor. I think it’s the dream of every artist to be able to sing and play in a house like this. It may sound a bit silly now, but at the beginning of the pandemic, when nobody was doing really well, I secretly made a wish for myself. And the wish was, once in musicians club to perform. I thought it would be cool and beautiful to do that too. As luck or fate would have it, Gordana Crnko from Brunnenpassage contacted me and asked me if I might be interested in joining the project Viennese voices to participate Elena and I were immediately hooked and we’re really happy that it actually worked.
How did you two actually get together?
Elena Holzer: I knew Marjorie from before. We played together in another project before that. I was drawn to her voice and the way she performs from the first second. Later, when I was looking for a singer for my own songs, I immediately thought of Marjorie and asked her if she would like to sing some of my songs. Which she then did. That was almost the birth of Euphoniques.
Marjorie Etukudo: I can still remember the first concert we did together. It was immediately clear to me that I wanted to work together musically with Elena for a longer period of time. I liked the way she plays and works. I had only heard good things about her before that. It took a while before we actually found each other, but when I got in touch, I knew straight away that I wanted to do something with her.
At first you were traveling as a duo.
Elena Holzer: Exactly. At the beginning we were still a duo and recorded, sang and produced our songs at home on our own. This is how our first CD came about. At some point we thought it would be cool to invite other musicians too. I knew a lot. So first are Christina [Zauner; Anm.] and Byron [Cortes; Anm.] joined us. Since we mainly wanted soul and R&B beats for our songs, we went in search of a drummer who could play exactly those beats. I researched on the internet for a while and then came across a drummer in Brazil. He then delivered his parts to us more or less online. It was just as uncomplicated with the band photos and the album cover. Finally, the idea for a video came up. Marjorie knew a video producer who we then contacted. We produced the video for the song “Coming Back” with him. It basically took two hours to shoot and we actually intended to do it as part of a Facebook-story to use. Then we uploaded it Youtube high and were surprised that the clicks were in the thousands after a short time.
“We can do what we like.”
You are active in many other projects. Do you see Euphoniques as your two main projects?
Elena Holzer: Yes. For me it’s like that when I do something that also wants to be realised. That’s why I record all the songs I write. When you play a concert, it’s obviously a nice thing, but the positive feeling you get from it eventually fades away. I like holding things in my hands.
Was it clear to you from the start in which direction you were going musically?
Elena Holzer: If you decide to work with someone, you already have a basic idea of what to expect from that person. From that point of view, it was also clear to me where Marjorie and I were going. In general, however, I think that the question of a specific direction is actually not that crucial. If a composition is good, i.e. the core of a song, then it doesn’t really matter in which style you play it. At least I see it like that. For me it’s much more about which emotion and feelings a song conveys. And that must not be lost. As long as this does not happen, the fellow musicians can take every liberty.
Marjorie Etukudo: I find it very valuable that we can also try things out within the band and don’t have to force ourselves into this pigeonhole thinking. We can do what we like. Of course with the aim of creating an international sound. It is very difficult to find the right people to do such things with, because many are often interested in going in a certain direction. This is at Euphoniques not the case. The great thing about the band is that we make a mix of what we all like. Be it neo soul, hip hop or jazz. Now, with the gig at the Musikverein, elements from classical music are even mixed into our music. Such an approach is exciting, also for oneself, because one learns new things. You simply grow as a personality if you keep going to new shores.
“Our songs are already intended as pop songs.”
She conveys this openness very well. Your music is danceable and full of catchy melodies. They could be on the radio anywhere with no problems. And yet there is a lot going on in the songs. Sometimes even jazz sounds through.
Elena Holzer: Our songs are already intended as pop songs. We’re not a jazz band. For us it’s all about a clear musical statement. The starting point of every song is a composition. But yes, things are constantly evolving. So we have now with Christina and Gerald [Peter; Anm.] two pianists in the band who cover an incredible stylistic breadth and through their playing expand the sound of our music by a few facets. For example, we now want to incorporate even more cinematic elements into our new songs. Ultimately, however, we stick to our basic idea.
An interesting aspect of your band Euphoniques is that you all really have a very different cultural and musical background. Is that perhaps also one of the secrets of the band?
Marjorie Etukudo: Definitive. We are a very colorful band. And I think we also show in a beautiful way how culturally colorful Vienna really is.
There is also a certain contradiction in your music. In terms of sound, everything seems very positive, it conveys joie de vivre, in terms of lyrics it’s sometimes exactly the opposite. You are already very socially critical and put your fingers in open wounds.
Marjorie Etukudo: We are convinced that music can also be used to point out problems or grievances. We want to go with you Euphoniques not always just rooting around in wounds, but I see it as a task for artists, musicians and singers to also be a mouthpiece. It’s also about making people think. At least that is our claim. And it’s also nice when we succeed in getting through to people with our music and our themes.
A kind of unique feature of your band is that it is led by two bandleaders. An aspect that is not often encountered in this country. Do you see yourself in a kind of pioneering role?
Marjorie Etukudo: You can’t say that we really see ourselves in this role now. At least that’s not something that we consciously put forward and force. We work together primarily because we value working together and we respect each other. We’ve both had enough experiences with other people, both positive and negative, in the past, and those experiences flow with us. We work together because it just feels right. And when we can encourage women to do the same, it’s great and beautiful. We also show that two women can also work together without it getting complicated right away. [lacht]
Elena Holzer: If there is a common idea and people are motivated, then it works. In general, we all complement each other very well in the band.
How about a new album? Are you already writing songs?
Elena Holzer: Yes, we already have a number of new songs. They haven’t been recorded yet, but we will have three of them at the concert music Society introduce. One of the three is an instrumental. When and if there will be a new album also depends on how far we want to push the mix of R&B and classical music. It may well be that we do something with a classic sound. We are currently in the process of considering whether we want this at all and how such a project can be realised. We are still at the beginning.
Many thanks for the interview.
Michael Ternai
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Links:
Elena Holzer / Euphonics
Euphonics (Facebook)