Catching up with Deer Anna about playing RAKETEREI Festival
We caught up with BIMM University Berlin Hamburg, Vocals student Anna Hirschgänger, also known as Deer Anna to talk about her participation at this year’s RAKETEREI Festival that took place on the 26th until the 29th of March. The festival was organised by RAKETEREI, a community founded by Imke Machura, that focuses on supporting women and non-binary artists in Germany with their careers in the music industry.
How did the participation at RAKETEREI Festival come about?
I read about the festival in our weekly BIMM Hamburg Newsletter and it sounded like a really cool opportunity. I simply applied for the gig via email and got the confirmation that I could play a few days later.
What made you decide to want to play the festival?
What really stood out to me about the festival was how RAKETEREI focuses on supporting female and non-binary newcomer artists to help create more equality in the music industry. They provide a platform for community, networking, and the sharing of experience. And it´s always great to have the opportunity to play a live set and to share my music, even if it’s pre-recorded.
How did you find the overall experience?
This gig was my very first experience playing at a festival, so it was definitely special to me. Even though thanks to corona, it wasn’t a typical festival gig, I had a very good time overall. The audience was lovely, and I received very kind comments in the live chat during the performance.
How did you find the virtual aspect of a festival fully displayed online from an artist’s perspective and filming your performance prior to the festival?
It was pretty different from playing in front of a live audience. However, the recording itself was really fun and since I only had one take to play my whole 30-min set I was definitely not missing out on adrenaline. Moreover, when my performance aired, I could directly communicate with each individual viewer through the live chat and a lot of people shared the associations they had when listening to my music. So, in a sense, it was even more personal than playing in a club. And since everyone was also talking to each other in the chat it felt a little more like a ‘real’ live gig.
RAKETEREI is a community supporting women in the music industry: Why do you think it is important to have a community and network like this in the music industry?
I would say that as a female or non-binary artist your experiences in the music industry differ from experiences male artists may have. For example, in the way people are treating you, talking to you or even in the amount of respect and appreciation you get. Today female representation in the music industry, unfortunately, is often still disproportionately small in comparison to male representation. To realize that, you simply have to take a look at the line-ups of big festivals.
For those reasons, in my opinion, it is very important to have communities like RAKETEREI that create a safe space for those artists to talk about their experiences, to support each other, to learn from each other, and to show everyone what they are capable of. By that, they contribute to making the music industry a little more equal and diverse.
The magazine “Gilde der Abenteuerinnen” said about Deer Anna’s gig:
“To close the festival, RAKETEREI announced a surprise gig and went into a new musical direction with Deer Anna. Her songs and her voice have completely taken me in and all of a sudden, my head was “In the Clouds”. It was wonderful.”
If you missed Anna’s set at the festival? Then you can watch it here:
