BUSK 2015: Raffael Pankraz

Name:
Raffael Pankraz

Genre:
Road Junction Folk

Hometown:
Klagenfurt/Vienna 

Age:
25

First contact with music:
All throughout my childhood, I unconsciously absorbed the various LPs from my father, who had a record store, ranging from Jazz, Soul, Gipsy to Folk, Rock’n’Roll or House. Actively though, I started listening to Pearl Jam, Wilco or dEUS, when I was about 14. 

What I like about playing on the street:
It’s a completely different kind of atmosphere, surrounding me. There’s more movement, the colours are always changing, sudden interactions between musician and listeners appear and the way I sing feels more free. It’s never the same as well and it feels like, that there are more smiles on the street as in dark, smoke-filled concert rooms.

A concert that impressed me particularly:
That would be Bobby McFerrin live in the Burgarena Finkenstein in Carinthia about 7 years ago. I’ve seen for the first time, how different the tools of a musician can be. He worked, of course, with his unique voice and various instruments (including a rubber duck) but as well with the atmosphere of the place. Playing a concert is more than just singing and playing – it’s creating moments, that translate in different ways to the different senses we have. In one moment you could cry and in the next moment you suddenly laugh and you don’t know what’s happening with you. Something deeper is taking over. That’s what happened to me on this particular evening. 

Soundtrack of my current life in a nutshell:
Jacques Brel / Father John Misty / Sufjan Stevens / Elbow / Jon Brion / Vulfpeck / Gregory PorterWhat does it mean to be a musician?
To me personally, it means to be in a creative dialougue with my emotions. How can I make a sound out of what is inside me? I don’t write songs just for the sake of them being there, I want to find an honest way, my life sounds. And that can be different everyday.
It also means to have fun building something out of nothing as well as not stopping moving. 

What my family thinks of my choice to be a musician:
I feel very supported. Every member of my close family is somehow connected with music, if not a musician her- or himself. My family has inspired me a lot over the years in different ways.

A dream or impossible concert:
Difficult to say. My dream-concert would most likely be given by Tom Waits in my Living Room.
The impossible concert would be the eccentric, multifaceted Jacques Brel, whose appearance on stage would simply blow me away, since I’m already pretty much flabbergasted by just listening to one of his recorded live concerts.

An anecdote about music and human interactions:
Many songs I write are about or inspired by the people that I meet in my life or accompany me on way. One of the most touching moments I had with music though, doesn’t involve me actually making music:
I had a voluntary year on the Philippines where I worked in a so-called Boyshome. A place for streetchildren, orphans and children from difficult family conditions. Beside other activities, I taught the boys various instruments. We made a band with some of the boys and had many concerts over the time. Over the course of the year, I grew very close to the boys, but my relation with the superiors became worse for many reasons. Close to my departure from the Philippines, we were to play a concert for visitors, but the head of the Boyshome forbid me to play the concert together with the boys, which angered the band and myself. I was sad beyond words on that evening, since it was the last concert, we would have played together. So the boys had to play the concert without me in the end.
When the boys played their songs, they’ve always looked at me. And they were great. It was maybe the best concert, they’ve played so far and I felt, that they were playing it as a “Thank you”, addressed to me. When they were finished and the applause was over, they jumped down the stage directly towards me, hugged me and thanked me for being part of their lives.
I don’t know, if this story is comprehensible, but it was such a strong moment for me, I treasure it greatly.
And that’s what music is about for me. It’s a bond of interactions between people, who live completely different lives, but share emotions. 

Contact:
soundcloud.com/raffael-pankraz
www.facebook.com/pages/Raffael-Pankraz/142809629099576
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj7q_mu-JgI