UMA is German-Austrian married couple Ella and Florian. They are living and working in Berlin. She studied classical music and sang in choirs in the solitude of rural Austria. In Vienna, as part of the supergroup Go Die Big City! And solo as Jools Hunter, she was already working with spacey synths and decelerated beats. Florian grew up in German suburbia where he formed a Guns N’ Roses tribute band with a drum machine. Later he was part of the rather famous Mediengruppe Telekommand er. By chance they met, married and formed UMA in late 2011 as a one-off support gig for Silver Apples at the Red Bull Music Academy 2011 in Madrid that Ella was part of. That event was so inspiring that they kept making music.
Facts
“You can’t masturbate to nothing, there’s a picture to be drawn first” (A thousand Fuegos)
The possibilities are positively endless
Winter is coming
Questions
What is the biggest inspiration for your music?
Music & Movement
How and when did you get into making music?
Ella played music for nearly her whole live, and decided that playing wasn’t enough, when she discovered the world of Pop Music after she finished school and Flo was listening to „Welcome to the Jungle“ by Guns&Roses in 1987 when it rotated on MTV and just wanted to play guitar like Slash. He was 13.
What are your 5 favourite albums of all time?
Beck – Odelay
Animal Collective – Sung Tongs
Portishead – Third
Fever Ray – Fever Ray
Sonic Youth – Washing Machine
What do you associate with Berlin?
Space, so much space/ Hartz 4/ Tourists/ Beer / Sunrise!
What’s your favourite place in your town?
It’s maybe a bit boring, but unfortunately the plain truth is that we really like to hang out in our studio and Ella also calls her bed “The best place on planet earth, really”
If there was no music in the world, what would you do instead?
Flo would probably kill himself and then Ella would maybe just start to write! (some songs about it)
What was the last record you bought?
Florian: Doc Daneeka – Walk on In
Ella: Ralph MacDonald – The Path
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
Florian: Brian Eno
Ella: Hermeto Pascoal! (check out Music da Lagoa if you don’t know him!)
What was your best gig (as performer or spectator)?
Sonic Youth – Washing Machine Tour
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible Tour
How important is technology to your creative process?
It depends, sometimes it´s all it takes to get an idea going, sometimes it´s just there but does´t do much. But in general our music would not be possible without technology.
Do you have siblings and how do they feel about your career?
Flo is an only child so he can`t tell, but I (Ella) have a younger sister. I think she really likes what I am doing and is truly supportive in many different ways. First we are so different from each other but on the other side she is also my best friend and really close to me. So she knows me really well and seeing me/us grow/getting better and evolve is maybe the most exciting and interesting for her, which also works the other way around as well. She studied economy and I am just plain clueless what exactly she is doing, so I am right now really impressed that she started to earn lots of money with “I don’t really know what the hell she is doing”
Ok, I am gonna stop now, but it’s hard, cause she kicks ass, so I’d love to tell you a lot more about her!
Our Favourites:
Vanity
Depart
Links: Soundcloud | UMA | Facebook | Interview with UMA by Digital in Berlin
