Today we are glad to introduce you to our artist of the day, German violinist and composer Johanna Burnheart. Her work is the definition of art, bringing a new melodic vision to life.
Her latest opus is a Remix EP titled “Burnheart Remixed”, a project that we consume every day as the 5-tracks record transport you into a musical journey like no other.
It effortlessly combines electro sonorities tinted by psychedelic colours, with intense synthesizers and a cinematic atmosphere.
We had a little chat with Johanna Burnheart to speak about her music and artistic process, meanwhile, hit play now and enjoy the unworldly productions of “Burnheart Remixed”.
Welcome to our redaction! Can you introduce yourself to our readers and tell us how you fell in love with music?
I am a German jazz violinist and composer currently living in London – I can’t say that I ever consciously fell in love with music as it has been part of my life since before I can remember. However, I had to stop playing violin for 8 months approximately when I was 14 because I got tendonitis in both arms from playing too much and the depression and helplessness I felt during that time very clearly indicated to me that I would probably not be very happy with my life if I didn’t pursue music. So here I am, doing well pursuing my passion luckily.
What are your main inspirations to write and compose music?
For my debut release, loss was my main inspiration for my compositions. On the pragmatic side it was also purely the need to get more gigs and express myself the way I wanted to be heard very specifically. I think this was all very specific to the time and I have not sat down properly to write and put something together since that time so I look forward to finding out what my next inspirations are going to be.
How would you describe your sound and your creative process?
I think in general my sound is dark and rich. My amplified sound on the violin has been a long road of exploring and producing essentially but generally I always strive to boost and concentrate on the low frequencies on the violin because those are my favourite.
My creative process changes a lot and is therefore not really easily described. I can’t really switch on my creativity whenever I like so I have to either wait for it to come on or just get on with the work I have to do because in the end sometimes it’s just like every other job – you have to get your work done even if you’re not feeling like it. Luckily it’s always still fun, it’s just not always feeling very creative.
Did the pandemic affect your work on both the negative and positive sides?
Financially I was impacted only negatively because most of my students dropped their lessons once everything was moved online and all of my gigs were cancelled of course which is all of my income. I am also an extra on film and tv productions frequently which is my secondary income which was also completely put on hold but that work actually returned much more quickly than everything else because big productions were able to get the testing together and resume work sooner.
On the other side, I suddenly had to think about how I would like to collaborate with other musicians remotely which is how I came to the idea of doing a remix EP with some of my favourite electronic artists. I also deepened my solo practice so I could do solo live streams which is always a good thing to do but in the end I definitely prefer playing live on stage with other people.
What can we expect from you in the future?
I have a new band set up now which is very exciting for me so I am working on getting new music together to record and get on the road with. So hopefully you can catch me performing in Europe these coming years a bit more and hopefully I can present a new record to the world soon as well.