Thursday, October 31, 2024

I won the "MORGENSTERN" preis!!!!!

cannot believe that I get to say this, but two weeks ago I received the "Morgenstern" Price from "Land Steiermark" & "Kleine Zeitung" and I am beyond grateful for that.


In May, the newspaper Kleine Zeitung announced the competition for the "Morgenstern Prize" and thanks to my mom, I applied for it. I honestly never thought that I would get this amazing price, but 1-2 months later I received the amazing news that I was gonna get it.


The jury had the most amazing statement, why they picked me:

Deutsch:
Schon der Name führt auf die falsche Fährte: Fraeulein Astrid trägt zwar die antiquierte, aus misogyneren Zeiten herrührende Bezeichnung „Fräulein", zeigt aber nicht nur mit der leichten orthografischen Änderung, dass sie aus anderem Holz geschnitzt ist, als das Gelsenkirchener Barock aus der Hans-Moser-Zeit. Das liebliche Fräulein ist Vergangenheit, das Fraeulein scheint eher die Funktion eines Nom de Guerre zu haben. Wobei der Kampf, den Astrid Hirzberger führt, sanfte Mittel im Arsenal hat. Das Fraeulein beweist sich auf seiner 2024 ersten EP „My Therapist says you‘re an Asshole" als bereits gereifte Musikerin, Komponistin und Sängerin, die das Songwriter-Genre zwischen Elektronik und Neofolk zwar nicht neu denkt, aber mit Geist erfüllt. Zwischen genrespezifischer Empfindsamkeit und sphärischen Klängen und messerscharfen Beobachtungen aus dem Alltag pendelt sich dieses Werk ein und zeigt schon jetzt Züge einer in ihre Mitte findenden Künstlerin, ohne auch nur einen Hauch früher Saturiertheit zu tragen. Fraeulein Astrid ist mit ihrem Zugang, ihren künstlerischen sehr heutigen Strategien (etwa über die sozialen Kanäle) jemand, der sich als wahrer Morgenstern profilieren konnte. (Jurybegründung)

English:
The name itself leads you astray: although Fraeulein Astrid adopts the outdated, misogyny-rooted title “Fräulein,” the subtle spelling change signals that she’s cut from a very different cloth than the Gelsenkirchen Baroque of Hans Moser’s time. The sweet, demure “Fräulein” is a thing of the past; this Fraeulein seems to carry a “Nom de Guerre” of sorts. Yet the battle Astrid Hirzberger fights employs gentle tools in its arsenal. On her 2024 debut EP, My Therapist Says You’re an Asshole, Fraeulein Astrid proves herself a mature musician, composer, and vocalist who, while not reinventing the songwriter genre between electronic and neofolk, breathes spirit into it. This work settles between genre-specific sensitivity, ethereal sounds, and razor-sharp everyday observations, already showing traits of an artist coming into her own, with not a hint of premature complacency. 
With her approach and very contemporary artistic strategies (such as social media channels), Fraeulein Astrid has emerged as a true Morgenstern.



Huge thanks to everyone who was involved in the process - receiving this prize means the world to me and as an independent solo artist 10.000€ is a huge amount of money, which I will happily invest into my debut album ahhh!!

photo credits: Lena Baloch



Monday, October 14, 2024

"my therapist says you're an asshole" EP LIVE SESSION OUT NOW!

 



For the past years I decided to step back from music videos, because it was just too much extra work for me, I didn't have the creative head space left or the extra money. But as my debut EP "my therapist says you're an asshole" came out this May, I knew that I also wanted to honor my personal little milestone visually. I have been working on this idea for many months and I am super proud to be finally releasing this video. Many hours of work, brainstorming sessions, talking to people, location scoutings, costume concepts, building doors, looking for second hand toy snakes etc. went into this project and I am very proud of how it turned out. I had this idea of playing every song on the EP while creating a little world for each song. The day of the videoshoot was such a cool experience for me, because I had these insanely talented people around me and my best friends were the sweetest "helping hands" I could've wished for. 

The biggest special thanks go out to Chris and Dom for helping me with turning my ideas into reality and helping me with the creative process.
Felix for the mental support, being an amazing drummer and also taking care of the live sound, mixing and mastering.
Raphaela for letting me borrow her beautiful hand sculptures, creating the stunning outfit applications and door applications.
My dad, uncle and Felix for building these super cool doors! BG/BRG/MG Dreihackengasse for letting us shoot in one of their gyms!

credits:
video concept & idea: Astrid Hirzberger 
all songs written and produced by Astrid Hirzberger 
video producer: Chris Pilch, https://leftkiss.com 
video producer, cut, color grading: Dominik Hofer 
dop: Tim Zoidl 
b camera operator, 1st ac: Onur Arslan 
behind the scenes: Minna Rothbart 
costume design / set design / hand sculptures: Raphaela Miklauc 
set design assistant: Natascha Miklauc 
outfit concept: Raphaela Miklauc & Astrid Hirzberger 
outfit applications: Raphaela Miklauc 
live mixing & mastering: Felix Paschke 
production assistant: Florian Thausing 
production assistant: Martin Moser 
production assistant: Rosi Pernthaller 

extra thanks to: 
BG/BRG/MG Dreihackengasse https://www.3hacken.at 
Printhouse Films  https://www.printhousefilms.com 
Kaiserschnitt Film https://kaiserschnitt-film.com 
Banana Rental https://banana-rental.com 
Lichtwerk https://lichtwerkgraz.at/ 
Leon Merkel for audio equipment 

Station 1 / NEXT STATION: 
idea: Astrid Hirzberger 
set design & hand sculptures: Raphaela Miklauc 
set design assistant: Natascha Miklauc 
song written & produced by Astrid Hirzberger 

Station 2 / LOST HOME: 
idea: Astrid Hirzberger 
doors: Johann & Manfred Hirzberger, Felix Paschke 
doors applications: Raphaela Miklauc 
song written & produced by Astrid Hirzberger 

Station 3 / AFTER ALL THERE IS NOTHING REAL OUTSIDE OUR PERCEPTION OF REALITY: 
idea: Astrid Hirzberger 
video clips: Astrid Hirzberger 
song written by Astrid Hirzberger, produced by Astrid Hirzberger & Fridolin Krenn 

Station 4 / TWO YEARS: 
idea: Chris Pilch 
song written by Astrid Hirzberger, produced by Astrid Hirzberger, Benno Hiti and Paul Wurm 

Station 5 / I'M GLAD WE DON'T HAVE TO PRETEND TO BE FRIENDS: 
idea: Astrid Hirzberger 
all snakes are either bought second hand or borrowed from friends. 
special thanks to: Kerstin, Ulli, Selina, Thomas, Paula, Diana, Katrin, Hannah, Gabriel, Niki.
song written & produced by Astrid Hirzberger 

Station 6 / EXPECTED END: 
idea: Astrid Hirzberger 
set design & hand sculptures: Raphaela Miklauc 
set design assistant: Natascha Miklauc 
song written & produced by Astrid Hirzberger

Friday, May 3, 2024

MY DEBUT EP IS FINALLY HERE

 


I cannot believe that this day is finally here. My debut EP "my therapist says you're an asshole" is out TODAY!!!!
I am incredibly proud of myself and every single song on this EP. It features some very old songs (I wrote EXPECTED END 2018 and LOST HOME 2019) and also super new ones from 2023.
This EP shows my evolution as a singer, songwriter, musician and producer. I am insanely grateful for the people that I got to work with on this EP and that have helped me with all the work that comes with releasing music. Especially as a solo artist, it can be quite overwhelming, to do this all by yourself - I am very glad that I've let other people help me - without them I wouldn't have been able to release this collection of songs.
I hope that, whoever listens to my songs, feels either heard, understood or finds a new perception of looking at certain things.

HUUUGE THANKS to Felix, Benno, Paul, Frido, Issi, Marie and Sabrina (RAIN management) and Mathias!!!

I am beyond excited to be playing my EP release shows on the 18th of May in Graz and 23rd of May in Vienna.  Would love to see you there!

You can download (and also donate) to my EP over here:

I'll also bring CDs with me to every concert I play and will have them online soon aswell!

Tuesday, April 30, 2024

AFTER ALL THERE IS NOTHING REAL OUTSIDE OUR PERCEPTION OF REALITY

 


This is the third (and last) single I'll be releasing from/before my Debut EP (which comes out May 3rd ahhh!!!!) I wrote this song in November 2022, after I've had my first panic attack (which I realized after that) - I'd just freshly moved to Vienna and some things felt a bit overwhelming to me. This song is for everyone who goes through shitty phases/situations - just make it your "main character moment". At least, this helps me. A huge thanks goes to Fridolin Krenn for co-producing and mixing the song and Mathias Garmusch for mastering it!

lyrics:

It’s your main character moment 
Staring out the window 
While sitting in a bus in Vienna 
On your way home 
‘Cause everyone else got too drunk 

It’s your main character moment 
Standing in a crowded room 
At a concert all by yourself 
‘Cause no one else wanted 
To go with you 

This is not a panic attack 
This is not the way I had it planned 

It’s your main character moment 
Getting a cold hearted text from your ex 
‘Bout forgetting something 
At their place, asking when you’ll pick it up 

It’s your main character moment 
Sitting at a family dinner wondering 
If they’ll ever see you 
In the way you would like to be seen 


This is not a panic attack 
This is exactly the way I had it planned




Wednesday, February 14, 2024

"NEXT STATION" is out now!!!

 


This Friday, 09.02., the second single from my upcoming debut-EP "my therapist says you're an asshole" (May 2024) came out. The song's called "NEXT STATION" and is quite the opposite story from "TWO YEARS". 

While "TWO YEARS" reflects a past relationship and the opposite person not handling everything too well, "NEXT STATION" is the self-reflecting part, where the protagonist realizes that they weren't the best partner, either.

Big credits also go to Paul Wurm, Issi Schmidt and Benno Hiti for helping me with some of the production, Benno & Paul for doing the mix and Mathias Garmusch for mastering the song! Also big thanks to Felix Paschke for helping me with filming these clips!



lyrics:

I tried to go

I tried to show

What you don’t know

I told you so


I made you cry

I saw you fly

Once I was gone

Who pulled you down



Try to think of a solution

For this fucking situation

As I try to grab your hand while

You get off at the next station

Staring at the well-known faces

Judging me for my dumb choices

Thinking of the many places

I will never



I held you close

That’s what I chose

I felt your pain

Through happy rain


I still don’t know

What you went through

I wish I’d cared

I know you know



Try to think of a solution

For this fucking situation

As I try to grab your hand while

You get off at the next station

Staring at the well-known faces

Judging me for my dumb choices

Thinking of the many places

I will never