The singer-songwriter VICKY HALO comes from the Mostviertel and now mainly sings in German or dialect. In an interview with Jürgen Plank, VICKY HALO talks about a European tour as a street musician and why ABBA and musicals were formative musical impressions of her childhood. She also talks about collaborations within the singer-songwriter scene, about her very first songs and an initially playful approach to songwriting.
When did you write your very first song?
Hello Vicky: I learned different instruments as a child: flute, clarinet, piano and guitar. At the age of 13 I found the lyrics of my favorite songs on the internet, with chords. This made it easy for me to play and sing the songs I love at home. This has become an intense hobby of mine. Even when friends came to visit, we often just grabbed the guitar and sang together. When you’re 13, you fall in love quite often and quickly, and then we wrote a song for the girlfriend who wasn’t around because she was on a date. It was all fun and playful. I probably wrote my first song when I was 14 and then I got into a songwriting frenzy. That’s how I got into storytelling.
A few years later you won a talent competition.
Hello Vicky: That was around 2013. I submitted the song “I’ll learn to get up now” from my first EP, which I wrote when I was 16. The price was to record a song in a studio. For this I chose “My Love”. Until I graduated from high school, I tended to make my music behind closed doors, but I believed in it and knew that I would go out with it at some point and that it would be big and good.
You have at an event of Fridays For Future played and in one of your songs there is a line: “The sea level is rising”. How important is this socio-political, critical attitude to you?
Hello Vicky: The song you mention is called “Is do who” and it tells the story of a really bad relationship. I didn’t have the plight of the planet in mind when I wrote the song, but the line is more relevant than ever and action needs to be taken. It is important to me to look out for each other, to have mutual respect and that also applies to our planet. I make sure that the little things add up and that I make my contribution: separating waste, using public transport. Or see what you have in the fridge and cook something with it. Such themes resonate, but they are not the main messages in my songs.
What are your songs more about?
Hello Vicky: It’s more about issues related to relationships and my current life and I don’t see myself as a frontline activist. But when they asked me if I Fridays For Future want to play, it was very clear to me that I definitely wanted to. It’s a movement I think is important.
To what extent would you see music as a vehicle for messages: are there songs by you or by others that do this?
Hello Vicky: Absolutely. What is important to me with my songs: many arise in a moment when you sit down and collect yourself. What am I dealing with right now? It’s about topics and situations that simply challenge you. This results in great songs and a silver lining is always important to me. Even if the world is collapsing, I want to give a spark of hope: hey, maybe things will improve again after all! For me, optimism must prevail. Even in the face of devastating issues, an upward trend is needed. Music creates that for me all the time, for me it’s often tied to the singing. There are many musicians who have an incredible amount of feeling in their voice. Then maybe all you need is a piano accompaniment and I sit with one for three and a half minutes YouTube-Video and cry. That’s the music that inspires me and influences me.
“After that, I always linked traveling to playing on Open Stages”
You have combined music with being on the road and have been a street musician in Europe. How did that happen?
Hello Vicky: I was near Helsinki for work reasons and added two weeks of vacation. In the run-up I researched whether there were open stages in Helsinki. I quickly found what I was looking for and played there. It’s a cliché, but the Finns were sometimes very reserved and straightforward in conversation. But it was cool to see that people came up to me and hugged me after I performed. This response was very nice. After that, I always linked trips to playing on Open Stages. Then in 2019 I mapped out my train route from Vienna to Barcelona to see what the world had to offer.
How was this special tour for you?
Hello Vicky: Before that I wasn’t particularly practiced as a street musician in Vienna. I did it a bit, but I can’t say I was experienced at it. My start was in Vorarlberg and beforehand I found out about the permits for street music in the various cities. Sometimes you have to pay, sometimes you can only play in certain places. I have taken such regulations seriously so that I am not scared away when playing. So it was clear on which day I would be where.
Where have you been?
Hello Vicky: In Feldkirch, Bregenz, in Vaduz. There I had the most exciting guitar case in terms of coins. All sorts of currencies came together there. Then on to Switzerland and via southern France to Barcelona.
“If children stop and start dancing, you’ve already won as a street musician”
Is there an experience associated with this tour for you?
Hello Vicky: There are two special experiences: in Bern there are arcades on the main street, I played there, also because the acoustics were good. Suddenly a shop assistant comes up to me and I was afraid that she might drive me away because I was too loud. But she asked me to “Use someody” from Kings Of Leon to play. So I played it for her. Suddenly a school class was listening to me and during Bruno Mars’ “Just the way you are” the teacher gave the class a sign and the whole school choir joined in. That was crazy! The kids sang along in earnest and I had to concentrate very hard on playing so I wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the moment. When kids stop and start dancing, you’ve already won as a street musician. Then there is a connection.
I read on your website that you ABBA likes and is a musical influence for you. In your song “Just fall away” I have a musical arc from ABBA heard.
Hello Vicky: That’s very exciting, nobody’s said that before and I haven’t noticed it either. I got most of my music from my parents ABBA and caught musicals. There were also progressive rock bands, but they didn’t suit me as a child because I was a fan of them Spice Girls and from Tic Tac Toe was. The Spice Girls I still like, at ABBA it clicked for me because of the strong pop songs and because of the vocals. ABBA was the soundtrack of my childhood. My parents were big fans, they had every record, every CD.
There’s even one ABBA-Musical, would you like to sing in a musical?
Hello Vicky: I already have that. I was interested in that for a while, but I’m not entirely sure if acting is my thing. If it came up, I’d certainly give it some thought. I wouldn’t actively strive for it, but that would be exciting.
There are videos of you that show you together with other songwriters, for example with Claudia Heidegger or Raisa Kovacki, and soon you will be performing together with Agnès Milewski. How important is it to you to work with others, to exchange ideas in the singer-songwriter scene?
Hello Vicky: Before Covid, there actually was Vienna Songwriting Circle, we met there once a month, and in the evening there was a concert. I have actively experienced that people meet in this singer-songwriter community to write together. This is very exciting for me. It’s not where I write the songs that I have in my set. But it is the place to exchange ideas and learn from each other. Co-writing can be the coolest thing in the world because you’re writing from different perspectives and you have a counterpart, but it has to really click. If that doesn’t happen, it will be difficult. Something has to work, you probably need a common idea of what direction to take. I always think performing together is cool, you play your set and enjoy the set of the other acts. Helping and supporting each other is a panacea.
How do you experience the music scene as a woman: do you experience disadvantages or have you had unpleasant experiences?
Hello Vicky: I haven’t faced a situation that was really uncomfortable. I only go on stages where there is a nice togetherness. In fact, I sometimes have a problem with respecting boundaries, it’s a men’s thing: after a concert I leave the stage and I’m in the middle of the audience. I also like talking to people. But if it’s too good for a listener, he sometimes forgets the limit towards me. Sometimes I might need a little help because I can’t manage to say on my own: thank you for being there and for liking my music, but we’re not talking about whether I have a boyfriend. Sometimes kindness gets confused with flirting. This limit is sometimes exceeded. Not often and it’s not devastating, but I think it’s a women’s issue.
Many thanks for the interview.
Jurgen Plank
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Live:
Thursday, May 25th, 2023, Club 1019, Vienna, support for Agnès Milewski,
Thu 06.7.2023, Kongresspark, Vienna
Fr 18.8.2023, Superb
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Links:
Vicky Halo (Facebook)
Vicky Halo (Instagram)