Already on the past albums by Anja Plaschg aka SOAP & SKIN, idiosyncratic interpretations of well -known songs were found. With Torso, a pure cover album has now been published by her. We sat down with her and listened to some pieces.
Björk – “Hunter”
Soap & Skin: That was Björk with “Hunter”, wasn’t it? The album is Homogenic. Great love. I think I heard Björk with eleven for the first time and was totally fascinated. Also of her texts because she writes so associatively. I can do a lot with that because my work is always metaphorical. How can you not like Björk, I ask myself? This enormous will of expression is impressive.
Did you also start working in electronic productions very early?
My oldest brother showed me Ableton, so I was thirteen. He gave me a sample library. Then I started sampling and dumped into electronic music during this time: Aphex Twin, Autechre – this direction. The chamber music and the classic background that I have accompany me too. But a certain aspect of electronic music is like home for me: in the form of cold and ratio as a sound.
Patti Smith – “Gloria: In Excelsis deo”
Patti Smith! I was allowed to play in the Royal Festival Hall in London before her. It is a very formative experience – unfortunately negative – because I then noticed that she was not amused on my sound check. I love her hot, it didn’t destroy it. And it has triggered a lot of thinking processes since then. At some point I also found an understanding for me what that was like. I believe that as a woman in this generation, it just has to have been extremely hard to come into this position and I don’t want to imagine what she did. And when an eighteen -year -old is spreading and sounds of sound as support – maybe she just didn’t work well and it wasn’t her day. But then it was difficult for me.
Dire Straits – “Romeo and Juliet”
Help me, that’s not Bob Dylan, right?
It is the dirt streets with “Romeo and Juliet”.
There was an absurd request for me at that time to participate in “Romeo and Julia” in a theater staging as a musician and, as it turned out, also as a performer. The staging was designed in such a way that I am like the shadow of Julia: a second Julia on a musical level, always on stage with her. We have listed the piece over forty times and apart from the fact that it was a precious time and great experience to work on the theater, these regular appearances with my extreme stage fright, my phobia, have sustainably strengthened me.
Tocotronic – “Wait for me on the bottom of the swimming pool”
Nice.
Did you recognize it?
Of course, Tocotronic. A friendship combines us and I admire your work and perseverance, your resistance and your political message, which is so important. It’s just a great band and I am very grateful that I got the invitation to sing a duet with Dirk. The times when we played it live were beautiful.
Desireless – “Voyage Voyage”
I never hear that, unless you are somewhere and it runs by chance.
This is exciting when you consider that you covered the song so long ago and now again for Torso.
Totally. My version has shaped so over the years and has grown that I had the need to publish it again in this new version. Actually something that I would not like to do so, but it has changed so over the years. And what may not know that many: It wasn’t my idea to cover at all, it was for a film in which I also had my first small role: “still life” by Sebastian Meise, his debut. There it is the title song of the film that the protagonist also hears repeatedly.
Lana del Rey – “Tulsa Jesus freak”
Lana! But which number was that?
“Tulsa Jesus freak”. You also covered her on your current album – how did your choice fell on “Gods & Monsters”?
I am of course a fan. I already loved the song, but found the text so bad that everything had resisted to take over the one to one. I rewritten it and as a result I came to the bredouille. He is not on the vinyl because I would have needed a permit, but nobody was available. To my interpretation – I reversed the meaning, so I address a perpetrator and step out and triumph from the role of the masochistic self. It is a bit of a billing for me with a side that unfortunately also determined part of my life.
David Bowie – “Lazarus”
This is my absolute favorite song on the record. At “Star Gaze”, the interpretation tour of Black Star with Anna Calvi and Lætitia Sadier, we reinterpreted the songs of the album. Anna Calvi sang “Lazarus”. I have now decided to bring “Girl Loves Me” from Bowie to Torso.
What connects you to Bowie?
I have to honestly say I was never a big fan. But the last album just blew me away. It was like his last staging, the last costume that he got out of his closet – the requiem. Everything about this plate, the instrumentation, the texts, is great.
Florence + The Machine – “Seven Devils”
Is the Florence + The Machine? It is actually something I don’t hear. I recognized it because she has this distinctive voice, but it is somehow always too much. I also know that there are overlaps from listeners: inside that you like and like to compare it. The name Too Much would be wrong because I love music that demands everything. But the pathos is never broken by anything. It is very hot music, there are no contradictions.
The devil plays a role in the title and soon the film “The Teufels Bad” will be released in German cinemas.
The film is very barren, which I also think is good, because historical films are often very cheesy – the costumes, everyone is very disguised. It was the most intense project I had in my life. Also because I play the leading role and wrote the film music.
More about Soap & Skin
Anja Plaschg writes, composes and produces her music on his own. She was born in 1990 in Austrian Southeast Styria and grew up on a pig fattening farm. In 2009 her debut album Lovetune for a vacuum. Several studio albums, compositions for film and theater and acting roles followed. On November 21, 2024, the film “The Teufels Bad” was released in the German cinemas, for which Plaschg took over the leading role and composed the soundtrack.