“Wildflower” is our own story, say Marley Wildthing & Dušan Marko - INTERVIEW
Photo Rony Thilakan
“Wildflower has symbols of idealisation, of reality, of letting go and being ready to commit. Other songs are about falling in love, fighting own struggles, or the struggles that we as a humanity face with nature, but in the end all of the songs carry mostly optimism.”
Marie: Marley and Dušan, how did you get to writing songs, playing music and since when do you perform together?
Marlene: We started making music together right when we started dating – that was also how we met, actually. We automatically started performing together right away, Dušan was a big part of recording my first EP as “Marley Wildthing", in return I wrote some lyrics for his solo album Marco and also for Support Lesbiens. But we never really focused on working together so closely.
Dušan: And then the first lockdown happened, and it gave us time and space to finally create something together. We tried to make the best out of that difficult situation and eventually it brought us something magical, like this project.
Marlene: And I think it was a great lesson for us, both professionally and as a couple :)
Marie: Marley, you already have a footprint in the scene in Austria. How would you compare the music scene in Prague and in Vienna?
Marlene: Hmm that’s difficult, since I’m still more involved in the Prague scene. I think in Prague the music scene is more casual, I know several people playing in big bands and TV but they just mingle with everyone else. In Austria the music scene changed very much since I moved to Prague – suddenly radios played Austrian artists and they got a big push overall, and there is a big amount of indie and alternative musicians getting attention – music in German and English, with very original productions done by young creatives. Also there’s many possibilities to get financial support.
I love the music scene in Prague, but I miss the variety a bit. I know that it is there, people are creating good and inventive music, I would just hope that there would be more space for it in the mainstream media.
Marie: Your upcoming album was written and produced during lockdown. What are the stories behind the songs and what was your inspiration for this?
Dušan: My inspiration was Marlene, nature. I tried to be authentic, listen to my soul and not to walk down the same old patterns.
Marlene: Part of it is our own story, I would say. We processed in it problems we had in our relationship. Wildflower has symbols of idealisation, of reality, of letting go and being ready to commit. Other songs are about falling in love, fighting own struggles, or the struggles that we as a humanity face with nature, but in the end all of the songs carry mostly optimism.
Marie: Are your songs autobiographical or do they come from your imagination, or both?
Dušan: It's both. For me the pilot "Wildflower" is about imagining Marley as Wildflower, precious free creation of nature that cannot be possessed by anyone, but deserves love and respect.
"Driftwood" is kinda autobiographical, it's me being broken in the past, I was drifting, but now someone found me and fixed me. "Invisible Clouds" - "clouds" are the ego overshadowing my soul and I'm calling for them to disappear.
Marlene: Yeah, I would say that all of them are inspired by our own experiences, and enriched by imagination and metaphors.
Marie: Which of these have you chosen to play for (A)VOID sessions, and why?
Marlene: We chose to play Wildflower, cause it will be our first single and it’s the song we both feel most emotional about – since it’s about our own story together.
Dušan: And we created it equally together. Also, I feel like it works very well in a simple, acoustic setting.
Marie: Are there any artists you can name that influenced you? And how would you identify your conscious and unconscious influences on your upcoming debut album?
Dušan: Like I said I didn't want to walk down my usual path in writing, but you can never be completely not-influenced. I think for me it was just various styles I'm listening to and that's world music, jazz, indie and country.
Marlene: To name a few artists, I would say our mutual influences in pop music are Emily King and Maggie Rogers – both strong women, who produce their own music and therefor made us confident to also do our own production, also we listened to Amber Mark a lot.
Then for me, I was often seeking inspiration in the music of Eddie Vedder, the Austrian artist Soap & Skin (another female producer) and Alice Phoebe Lou. Being inspired means to me that I can listen to an artists creation, but then take only certain details that stand out for me, and carving those into my own songs - creating something completely different again.
Marie: How would you like for your album to be received? Where and when should people listen to it best?
Marlene: Those songs are not dancy songs, I think they are better listened to in a calm environment, with time and attention and good headphones. I think our EP in general can help with negative feelings, as it has a positive feel and optimistic message in each of the songs.
Dušan: Digitally, we would like it to be presented on YouTube, I take it as a platform where people really come and listen.
Marie: Do you listen to much music on Spotify, and if so, what are the top releases we should check out?
Dušan: Absolutely. I'm addicted to listening to music even more that doing it :))
For sure you should check out Amber Mark (Connexao EP) or Jordan Rakei (Origin)
Marlene: I love to discover local acts, Austrian and Czech ones. Lately I found beautiful music from Mira Lu Kovacs, Schmieds Puls, Soap & Skin and My ugly clementine (AT) and Teepee, Aiko, Vesna and I love you honey bunny (CZ). Also I have many talented friends and friends of friends who released amazing music lately – like Dashi Stardust, Haider Jafri, Ilaey or Dennyiah.
Marie: And finally, what are your plans with the release of this album and for life after pandemic?
Dušan: Play and write, enjoy life to the fullest.
Marlene: Oh yes, play for people!!! We can’t wait to present our songs, we’re already fiddling around with a live setup that involves looping, some backings but most importantly, us on various instruments creating harmonies and an atmosphere to dream and feel good.
Apart of that, we also have many many videos in planning and ready – music videos, live videos, some background on us and our music production.
