Author
What's your band/ artist name? Can you tell us a little bit about you and your career/ projects so far?
Alev Lenz ! ‘Milky Way’ was born out of the search for healing and friendship, kinship and joy. A friend, Violeta Vicci, sensed my yearning and offered her healing instrument and writing. Together Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus were born. Soon after my friends closest to me, especially during the pandemic, offered their generous spirit and talent - all remotely! The stars aligned and Mercury was written with Nina Harries, Mars and Venus with Aisling Brouwer and Neptune with Shruti Kumar. Through joyful exchanges, the album title and our little slogan “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in concert pitch anymore!” formed and now ‘Milky Way’ holds all these thoughtful pieces, written on the 7 planetary frequencies and, my favorite part!, all outside of concert pitch ;)
How did you get into music and what were/are your influences?
My mum is an actor, so the stage was always close to me and throughout trial and error of the many art forms one can practice on a stage I stuck with music! Everything in my life has been an influence! The earliest music influences are probably Sezen Aksu and Chopin, Tracy Champman and Portishead. All brought to me by my maternal side of the family.
Which partners or artists have inspired/ accompanied you on your path and how?
Oh dear, so many!! We all accompanied our contemporaries I think, consciously or unconsciously. The most meaningful recent collaboration and inspiration on my path has been my work with Anoushka Shankar.
What has been the most formative experience in your career so far?
Again, so many! But again, if I had to pick one, working with Anoushka Shankar has been an incredible eye opener regarding craftsmanship, dedication, friendship and a new insight into my own cultural heritage and resistance.
Can you tell us about highs and lows of your music career so far and what you've learnt from it?
Well, the most recent low point would obviously have to be the pandemic. So many shows cancelled, so many ventures scrapped. The heightened sense and panic of "how to keep relevant" with social media screaming at your face was not the most nurturing experience. Mainly because the human contact was missing, like the soil to grow against was gone. But from it I've learnt , once again, to reach out, to talk to your friends and community. To help one another, to send water like trees can apparently send nutrients to other trees (no idea if this is scientifically sound but I love the thought of it). To be each other's soil and creative energy in a time where energy was so stagnant. And from this actually my most recent project "Milky Way" was born.
How did you hear about MusicHub and why did you choose our platform to distribute your music?
I heard about MusicHub during the virtual Reeperbahn Festival 2020 ! And I was like - uh I love this idea! It made a lot of sense to me for a right's organization to offer their member's (and other's) a service to upload music. Why not really! In the end most distribution services are now run by major labels as well and it is tough to find an independent service. I was intrigued and just needed the right project to try it with and so I did!
Check out Alev Lenz's release "Milky Way" on all platforms: https://listen.music-hub.com/W87G5P
What goals do you still want to achieve? What are your plans for the future?
Honestly, I just want to be able to continue. It is the greatest gift to manage, project to project, to find work and to work with the most amazing artists and makers. I'm happy with that, I just want to keep on going.
Watch the film "3 (Voices of a Record) about Alev Lenz:
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