“WARTERAUM started out in Salzburg as an experimental multimedia project of M. Nyman-Sramkova in late 2015. The first little, local successes came in early 2016 with the first single "Align" and its DIY music video. At this time, as it usually goes, WARTERAUM was one big, anxious mess with no direction and it took three years to change it in some way. WARTERAUM makes futuristic Electropop with some 80s influences and leaves space for further interpretation. A one-woman-show inspired by nordic summer nights and brutalist architecture. The first single "Bergen" taken from the debut EP "Letters To Men That I Adored", which was released in early 2020 showcases the melancholic soundscapes you can expect from WARTERAUM. In 2021, WARTERAUM makes waves with “The New Wave” EP and its singles “Dark Dark Dark” and “The Liar”. Welcome to the future. “
Who inspired you to make music?
I got my first keyboard when I was like 4 or something, so I started messing around with music quite early, haha! I was always a very introverted girl and much to everyone’s surprise, I took part in a singing contest in my area when I was 10 (I performed “Nemo” by Nightwish) and came in second. That day I thought to myself “Ok, I really, REALLY want to become a singer when I grow up!” and that idea never went away, no matter how hard I tried to come up with a “more realistic dream”.
It was the last band I’ve ever been in that truly inspired me to actually go out and produce music by myself. You know, the band was very dysfunctional, we had a new guitarist every week and my former bandmates were like “Yeah, we’re gonna be the next big thing in Austria!” while drinking in the rehearsal room and doing nothing productive.
At the same time, I was studying multimedia design in Salzburg which got me into music production. It was just me, my laptop, GarageBand and a simple MIDI-Keyboard. I was much happier that way, nobody was telling me what to do, finally there was creative freedom that I never had in bands.
And that’s how WARTERAUM started in 2015.
What or who inspired you to "Coup d’État"?
I remember feeling quite cornered and hopeless when I wrote “Coup d’État”. Fed up with all current events, the state the world is in right now, etc. Somehow, I felt the need to create some “radical” and aggressive music to express my feelings at the time. For me, “Coup d’État” represents the soundtrack of an alternate universe of George Orwell’s “1984” (Which is, in my opinion, the greatest and most tragic love story ever):
Imagine Winston and Julia not submitting to the Big Brother, but instead they would go and overthrow the Party. I think that would be quite dope!
What is your creative process like?
Ok, this might sound crazy, but I get most of my song ideas during that weird phase of falling asleep, where you’re still a little bit conscious, but drifting off. I then try to get my phone and record whatever I can remember and usually it’s super incoherent.
Later, I reinterpret those incoherent parts in the DAW, arrange it and work on it until it resembles a song.
I use both analog and software synthesizers in my productions. I think it’s awesome that you can mix and match between analog and digital these days and the only limit seems to be processing power, haha! Sometimes I add guitars just for the sake of having them, because it is such a bad-ass instrument – You can distort the hell out of it and use it as a pad, or whatever. The biggest challenge is recording my vocals, I’m very insecure about them, so I’m trying to shake things up a bit by singing in my natural range, refraining from the so-called “baby voice” that I found myself using on my first two EP’s.
Currently, I do my mixing and mastering alone and that’s the part where the real nightmares begin, but I think I learn something new with every song that I “engineer”. Coincidentally, that’s the most interesting part for me in my process.
The inspiration for new music can come from anywhere, really. I love traveling and big cities, so it happened that some songs on my 2nd EP “The New Wave” were written in Moscow, Stockholm and Berlin.
"Coup d’État" has this Electro Pop-punk energy, could we expect more songs like that in the future?
I hope so! The upcoming EP “Warteraum 3” is on a similar wave-length – It’s very angsty and I think I achieved some kind of a sonic diversity on there, but I’ll let everyone else be the judge of that once the EP is out. I’m still working on the finishing touches! :)
There is a song called “Одиночество” (“The Loneliness” in Russian), which kinda sounds like this t.A.T.u. meets Berghain thing. Then there’s a space-travel-love-song-ballad “Rocket Science” which might be the cheesiest track I ever recorded.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
That’s a great question! So far, I’ve collaborated with Vexillary (US) on the song “Scent Of Torture” which is coming out on 30th July, Chain Complex (IRL) on “Hurting For Two” and a German producer who unfortunately quit making music in the meantime… I’m pretty much open to anything when it comes to collaborations.
But if I should choose only one person to collaborate with at some point in the future, I think I’d go with Mr. Jori Hulkkonen – His work is really admirable and I think there’s a lot to be learned from him!
What is the most useful talent you have?
Actually, I have quite an intense history in photography and graphic design. That proved to be somewhat useful when creating cover artworks.
I don’t think I’m particularly talented in whatever I do, though...
If you could change anything in the past, what would it be?
I’m a fan of the “everything happens for a reason” mantra. Tbh, I wish I would have acknowledged WARTERAUM as a serious project much sooner but I’m incredibly grateful for whatever happened until now.
Also, I cringe at my debut EP “Letters To Men That I Adored” every time I hear it. Like, the songs are ok, I didn’t know any better when I wrote them during 2015-2017, but the production is abysmal. I would definitely change that and try to do better. :)
How do you feel the Internet (especially Social Media platforms) has impacted the music business?
Well, it has its positive and negative aspects, like everything. But in general, I love the internet! It’s a powerful tool.
I really miss MySpace, for example. That was such a unique way of discovering new artists.
I never liked the concept of Facebook and the only social media platform that actually works for me is Instagram. But at the end of the day, you’re mostly bombarded with content and media that you don’t really need… It can be overwhelming in a way. I don’t know, I’m very bad at social media, haha!
Speaking of the internet, I think it’s important to point out music streaming. It is super convenient for most people and it changed the way everyone consumes music. A lot of problems would be solved if there was a better redistribution of streaming revenues, but that’s a whole different story.
I miss running to the next record store to get the new album of my favorite band, then listening to it non-stop for the next few weeks. I think you really got value for your money back then. And it was always an emotional process in a way, too.
Obviously, you can still do that now. But knowing that the same album is on streaming services for free, accessible anytime makes the experience different.
To end this on a brighter note, I think that crypto and NFTs could be the future for modern music. It’s really exciting!
Warteraum is...?
WARTERAUM is the only purpose of my life! :)
No, seriously, I think Warteraum is like a marriage of things that I always (secretly) loved: Keyboards, electronics, computers, nerdy stuff and visual art.
And in case you’re wondering why I’m calling myself “waiting room”: My artist name originated from being in a female art collective back in Salzburg – We always met in a waiting room of the central station and actually had a group chat named “Warteraum” and I always thought that it would make a cool band name. :)
What’s next for you?
Shows, more music, more music videos and all that jazz! Let’s see what happens at this point. :)
The plan was to release my third EP in December, but I think that early 2022 is more realistic – There will be at least one single release this year though!
Other than that, I’m working on a concept album, but that might still be a long way off.
