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Luise Markert: ‘Ajana’ Is A Musical Expression Of My Thoughts And Feelings

Luise Markert, who performs in the solo project 'Ajana' reveals how she manages producing music all by herself with little or no help from others.

Luise Markert performs in the solo band Ajana and has released three studio albums.

The Coronavirus pandemic has ravaged world economies, thrown people off their jobs, caused health uncertainties, death and so much more holding a bleak future for the working and business class. Also, musicians around the world have suffered financial losses with no live gigs and sales and only a few lucky ones could make it.

Luise Markert, who plays in the solo musical project Ajana, reveals she is among the few lucky ones who were not severely hit by the Covid-19 restrictions as her solo project Ajana is a studio band and she used the lockdown in a positive light by hitting the studio and recording new music.

‘’Covid basically didn’t affect my music as Ajana is a studio project, so there weren’t any cancelled shows. I’ve been working on my fourth album the past years until now and the recordings are finished so far, just a little work has to be done from my side,’’ she said speaking exclusively to The News Pit.

I Was Lucky To Survive Musically, But Not Everyone Were As Lucky As Me

Ajana built a little home studio during the lockdown and had the convenience of recording her music at the comfort of her home and stated that she only sent her music for mixing and mastering to a different studio. She revealed that she feels lucky she was able to produce music during these times but felt sad that the others are suffering.

‘’Luckily I don’t have to make my living off music but I see that it’s a really difficult and devastating situation for a lot of people in the cultural sector, not only musicians, also promoters, technicians, roadies and so on. I really hope that after the corona virus the situation for all those people will improve but I fear that a lot will be gone.’’

Ajana continued, ‘’I built myself a little home studio so I can record from home which is definitively convenient, not only concerning the corona virus. It makes it a lot easier to work on the songs besides your daily life so to say. Mixing and mastering won’t be done by myself, I contacted a studio for that – but I hope and think that Covid won’t have that much influence on the production process as well.’’

Having A Solo Project Like ‘Ajana’ Is Good, As I Feel I’m In Control Of Everything

Not everyone can manage a solo band as all the work falls on a single shoulder which is unbearable as the years pass. However, Ajana revealed that she finds her solo project to be good and satisfying as she feels she’s in control and can call the shots.

‘’I’m in control of everything regarding Ajana. I write all the songs, arrange everything, write all the lyrics, I sing and play all instruments,’’ she said and continued, ‘’On my first two albums I had guest musicians playing guitars, bass and drums who played the scores, on my third experimental album I did all instruments and programming and on my fourth album I also played all guitars and bass myself.’’

When asked how could she manage all of these at once, Ajana smiled and said, ‘’Well, I practiced a little bit in the past years so I could record that, too – at least I gave my best. I programmed the drums. Would be great to learn the drums, too, but I think my neighbours wouldn’t be too pleased if I did,’’ she said with a hearty laugh.

She revealed that her upcoming album will see exotic new instruments and two guests vocalists. ‘’On my forthcoming fourth album there will also be two guest vocalists and some ‘exotic’ instruments – be curious.’’

Ajana Is A Musical Expression Of My Thoughts And Feelings

Luise revealed her love for metal music saying that it is ‘’very intense and a powerful genre’’ but Ajana can’t be defined to a particular genre as it’s hard to ‘’pigeonhole it and find a certain name to it.’’ She said that the band is all about expressing her thoughts and feelings and her music can be defined in the spectrum of Doom Metal with progressive elements.

‘’Ajana is not particularly inspired by special bands in the Metal genre or in general but the music expresses my thoughts and feelings so it’s hard to pigeonhole it and find a certain name for it. I don’t want to sound ‘like band X or band Y’, she said.

”The core of Ajana’s music could be described as Doom Metal with progressive elements and a lot of influences from beyond the Metal genre. My third album ‘Everywhere and Nowhere’ was an experimental album with electronic songs, influences from world music and jazz.’’ And continued talking about her upcoming album, ‘’My fourth album I’m just working on will be a Metal album again.’’

Ajana also sends a message to all her fans to stay safe and healthy during the Covid-19 pandemic. ‘’I wish everyone best health, stay safe and take care of each other,’’ she summed it up to The News Pit.