On June 5, the five day contemporary city festival AUDRA will start in Kaunas. Opening act - electronic music creator from Germany, DJ, instrumentalist David August, who is known as a perspective modern music producer. David August started his creative path with a strict musical education, started learning the piano at 5 years old, later - with a guitar. The performer will present his new album VĪS in Lithuania.
David August has worked with Berlin symphony orchestra, remixed music for Max Cooper, Bunita Marcus and many others. The musician had concerts all around the world. Soon, he will add another stop to his performance list - the biggest Baltic contemporary city festival AUDRA.
VĪS - a sonic revelation and an ambitious, multidisciplinary artwork, a kinetic audiovisual live experience that the artist curates together with choreographer Franka Marlene Foth and visual artist Marcel Weber (aka MFO).
You are a musician, composer, DJ and author of successful albums. How would you define your music and yourself as an artist to someone who has never heard of you before?
D: I’d say I am an artist who always keeps curiosity open to discover new paths. What interests me the most is growing by using creative processes. It is where you create a connection to who you are in that moment, like a mirror. So there is always an aspect of self interrogation as a starting point.
Can you tell me about your early influences and how you first got into electronic music? Which artists or albums have had the most significant impact on your sound and why?
D: I was 15 when I first heard electronic music and was fascinated by its physical aspect. This physicality was probably my first inspiration of wanting to try something similar. Until then I was playing the piano with mostly classical repertoire and played the guitar in a small band. So what I was listening to until then was anything from Trip Hop, Alternative Rock etc. (also due to the influence from my older brother.) Electronic music felt different compared to what I was used to. Early inspirations in that field were the scene around Hamburg back in 2008.
How do you define success as an artist, and has your definition changed over time? When can you look back and actually feel it was a good release/live set/creation?
D: Success of an artist is probably to be at peace with him/herself and not deny or disrespect its own work at any time as at some point of your life, it’s exactly what you wanted to do. Acceptance and constant growth is success for me.
Usually I know that it’s a good piece of music, when I can still listen to it after a long time. When finishing music I never listen to it again, or I listen to it very rarely and only if someone else plays it. But in some cases I actually still like what I did, but I have to admit this only happened with more recent works.
What does living in the music industry feel like? What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced in the music industry and your music career in general?
D: I think I am not the only one noticing that the industry has changed a lot during the past years. For many things to the better, for others maybe not. It remains an absurd and at the same time inspiring environment to be a little part of – when moving in the right fields. It gives hope that there are some really lovely humans and great artists out there. Finding them, among this chaos, is maybe the hardest part of it.
A big challenge was for sure the pandemic. It just tore us apart so quickly and you realized what our community and work is based on. If we don't have physical connections, all this does not make any sense anymore. It made me appreciate collective experiences so much more. Being in a room with people who are all focusing on the same thing is a joy to be a part of.
Did you have to sacrifice anything for this path?
D: I guess all fields come with their cons and pros. My personal life for sure had to be put in second place sometimes. But lately I’ve been trying to balance it more and not reduce my life solely to music. There is so much more out there to experience and to live for.
What themes or messages, if any, do you hope to convey through your music?
D: That imagination can be a form of hope and change.
You will soon perform at the “Audra” festival. Can you tell us what will you bring to Kaunas - will we hear some new creations? Can you give us a sneak peek into any upcoming projects or releases you’re working on?
D: Yes, can’t wait. I will be performing VĪS, which is my latest album that came out in October last year. The live show is a theatrical performance, involving choreography and scenography. Music, movement and light all play an equal role in the storytelling.
It is somehow an alternative narrative we propose with the show, between the past, the metaphysical and utopian future.
Audra is a contemporary city festival. What does the word “contemporary” mean to you? What do you fit into this definition?
D: To me contemporary means to reflect the current Zeitgeist within your creative practices. Trying to understand who we are and where we should go as a society and translate that into music (in my case).