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"Every poet is trying to find the truth in their art; my work leans more towards the silly side of life."
Berlin singer, Albertine Sarges, was on tour in London when Sassy asked to meet up and take this inspiration of a performer out to breakfast. Over a proper English fry up and a slice of apple pie, Sassy asked Albertine about her upcoming album and what led her to be the distinctly honest female performer she is today.
“I was born and raised in West Berlin and I still live in the city today. My parents are both super musical – they used to sing and play together. My father gave me a guitar when I was 4 years old and by the time I was 8, I was writing and singing my own songs. I was a very introvert child spending a lot of time on my own, singing.
I felt encouraged by the lifestyle of my parents – my father being a writer and my mother singing in a Russian choir - but our family has very strong judgments about the arts. They would criticise my work from a very early age. Once, when I was sharing a new creation, my father said to me “Please try saying something substantial with your music” and it broke my heart and now I hate even trying to be substantial. Every poet is trying to find the truth in their art; my work leans more towards the silly side of life.
Puberty really gave me a kick in the stomach. In school and university, I was considered the weirdo...Sometimes I’m just happy that I survived it. I found confidence but it took me a while.
Puberty really gave me a kick in the stomach. In school and university, I was considered the weirdo – no wonder, as I was walking bare feet with a poncho, I even brought my rat to school and I hid it in my hair, I was a weird kid! I lived completely in my own bubble. Sometimes I’m just happy that I survived it, everything went upwards after that shit time. I found confidence but it took me a while.
I don’t take myself too seriously, I like everything that’s goofy, whimsical, grandma-style. I’m very melancholic and romantic at the same time but the goofy stuff stands out and you have to have a lot of confidence to pull that off. You have to be very strong inside. It’s easy to attack the goofy and whimsical manner. This is one of the reasons I like England so much, the eccentricity is accepted a lot more here.
When a person close to you dies, life becomes a different thing...You become humble and more understanding of other people’s tragedies
It was years later, when my father died that I went into a darker place. When a person close to you dies, life becomes a different thing. It was like the universe opened up and you feel very lost because it’s too big to understand, there's no way back. It was the first thing I encountered that will never end - you are in constant infinity because death is forever. It takes a long time to understand that. You become humble and more understanding of other people’s tragedies, at least in my life this was true. I was a bubbly daydreamer, I was naïve and after my father died, I woke up.
I think this experience meant that I still have the high strings but I also have the low strings and I feel the bass notes. Now I’m thirty I understand that you have to live the happy times with the knowledge of the sad times and vice versa.
I really like ASMR (Autonomous Sensory Meridian Response), it’s supposed to calm your nervous system. The first response can make you feel a bit grossed out because it’s so intimate. But once you accept it as a practise, a genre, it’s actually very effective for relaxation. It’s a typical anxiety coping mechanism and for me, it’s been really helpful because I become quite anxious at night time when I’m trying to sleep or walking around cities.
ASMR can be thought of as quite sexual but for me, I’ve stopped thinking about the genre this way because actually most of the videos are very unsexy. There's a subgenre called Mukbang which is when people eat in front of the camera and I would love to start doing this myself, but with a comedic trait. I’ve been trying out more comedy within my set, I have a few stories that are pretty funny! *Laughs her infectiously friendly laugh*
I am an ardent feminist and it was very important that I produced this album myself, I didn’t want a guy to tell me when the guitar sets in. No way!
I’m blissed out about my upcoming album. I was extremely anxious about it but at the same time, I know I have something that I can be proud of. I am an ardent feminist and it was very important that I produced this album myself, I didn’t want a guy to tell me when the guitar sets in. No way! But I put a lot of pressure on myself to make a professional recording on my own. I’ve recorded myself all my life but I’ve never done it in an ambitious way so this is the first time I said I want to do a kick-ass album on my own. I went through moments of feverish, self-doubting cycles and so I took my time and now I am seeing that I can
cheer!”
You can follow Albertine’s work on Instagram @albertinesarges and catch upcoming performances by following her on Facebook
Portraits by @bxsassy