Soap&Skin

Anja Plaschg grew up in a small village called Katzendorf near Gnas in southeast Styria, where her parents have a farm. She has played piano since she was six. At the age of 14 she began violin studies and developed an interest in electronic music. She attended the Graz Polytechnic for Graphic Design but dropped out at 16 and moved to Vienna shortly afterwards. There she studied art at the Academy of Fine Arts in the master class of Daniel Richter, but at 18 dropped out again.{{cite web |url=http://www.mtv.de/music/19802241/bio |title=:: MTV {{!}} Biografie {{!}} Soap&Skin {{!}} music |website=MTV Germany |access-date=27 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090509230354/http://www.mtv.de/music/19802241/bio |archive-date=9 May 2009}}{{cite news |url=http://www.taz.de/1/leben/musik/artikel/1/oesterreichs-next-wunderkind/?src=MT&cHash=e2a3b1014d |title=Elektro-Musikerin Soap&Skin: Österreichs Next Wunderkind |first=Sonja |last=Eismann |newspaper=Die Tageszeitung: Taz |date=30 January 2008 |accessdate=10 June 2016}}

After only playing a handful of concerts she was already being dubbed a "Wunderkind".[http://www.spiegel.de/spiegel/print/d-62127297.html Stromstöße aus purem Jetzt.] Der Spiegel Nr.47, 17. November 2008, p. 172. In 2008 she played German singer Nico in the play "Nico - Sphinx aus Eis" by Werner Fritsch in Berlin and Vienna, performing several songs in it, including "Janitor of Lunacy","from her first EP.{{cite web |url=http://zuender.zeit.de/2007/18/soap-and-skin |title=ZUENDER |website=Die Zeit |accessdate=10 June 2016}}

Her first album, called Lovetune for Vacuum, was released in March 2009.[http://derstandard.at/?id=1234508609050 Christian Schachinger: Der Tod steht ihr gut] Der Standard 5 March 2009 It received excellent reviews and placed in the Austrian Top 10. The album also achieved chart positions in Germany, Belgium, and France. Music journalists have already claimed to see in her a new star of Austrian pop.Sebastian Hofer: [http://www.profil.at/articles/0910/560/235669/hoffnung-pop-anja-plaschg-soap-skin Hautnah] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706094226/http://www.profil.at/articles/0910/560/235669/hoffnung-pop-anja-plaschg-soap-skin |date=6 July 2011 }}. Profil Nr. 10 (40. Jg.) 2. March 2009, p. 115.

Plaschg's father died in 2009{{cite web |url=http://www.thegap.at/musikstories/artikel/for-father-forever-ago-1/ |title=Soap & Skin - Narrow - For Father, Forever Ago - thegap.at |work=The Gap |accessdate=10 June 2016 |archive-date=17 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217061757/http://www.thegap.at/musikstories/artikel/for-father-forever-ago-1/ |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4144373-planet-gear--soap-amp-skins-harmonium-piano-and-aero-organ |title=Planet Gear: Soap&Skin's Harmonium, Piano and Aero-Organ |website=Drowned in Sound |accessdate=10 June 2016 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304172247/http://drownedinsound.com/in_depth/4144373-planet-gear--soap-amp-skins-harmonium-piano-and-aero-organ |url-status=dead}}{{cite web |url=https://blipagency.com/soap-skin |title=Soap&Skin - bookings & management - BLiP Agency |first=Johannes |last=Lamers |date=10 June 2016 |website=Blipagency.com |accessdate=10 June 2016}} from a heart attack.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kngnjmS4-MA |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211220/kngnjmS4-MA |archive-date=20 December 2021 |url-status=live |title=Des Vaters |last=Anja Plaschg |date=19 July 2011 |accessdate=10 June 2016 |via=YouTube}}{{cbignore}} During this time, Plaschg stated that she suffered "serious depression"{{cite web |url=http://thequietus.com/articles/08250-soap-and-skin-mix-interview |title=The Quietus - Features - Quietus Mixes & Radio - |website=Thequietus.com |accessdate=10 June 2016}} for which she was hospitalized. The death influenced much of her second album, Narrow.

In 2010 she won a European Border Breakers Award for her international success.[http://ec.europa.eu/culture/our-programmes-and-actions/prizes/ebba-2010_en.htm "European Border Breakers Awards 2010"] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121209025707/http://ec.europa.eu/culture/our-programmes-and-actions/prizes/ebba-2010_en.htm |date=9 December 2012 }}, European Commission. Retrieved 21 February 2012

Her tracks "Brother of Sleep" and "Marche Funèbre" were used in the soundtrack for Universal Pictures thriller War Games: At the End of the Day in 2010. Her track "Wonder" from the Narrow album was used in Belgium in 2019 in the film All of Us, produced by Willem Wallyn.

In 2011 she created the song "Goodbye" together with Apparat. It was used in the final episode of the fourth season of Breaking Bad and later as the title song of the German Netflix-series Dark.{{Cite web |url=https://www.br.de/puls/themen/popkultur/wichtigste-songs-dark-100.html |title=Wenn Lieder eine Story erzählen: Die sieben wichtigsten Songs aus Dark |date=19 July 2019}}[https://www.kleinezeitung.at/kultur/medien/5328787/Dark-ab-1-Dezember_Premiere-fuer-duestere-NetflixSerie-mit-MusikPremiere für düstere Netflix-Serie mit Musik aus der Steiermark], Die Steiermark (Newspaper), German, 28 November 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2018[https://www.kleinezeitung.at/steiermark/5332004/Steirerin-des-Tages_Magierin-in-MollMagierin in Moll], Die Steiermark (Newspaper), German, 3 December 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2018

In 2012, she debuted as an actress, playing the role of the supporting character Carmen in the Austrian movie Stillleben (English title: Still Life).

Two tracks, "Italy" and "Safe with Me" are used in the Italian film Sicilian Ghost Story (2017), written and directed by Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza.

Plaschg's third full album, From Gas to Solid / you are my friend, was released on 28 October 2018. A music video for "Heal", one of the tracks from the album, was released on 7 August 2018. The track "Italy" has been used in the 2022 Corsage film.

On 14 September 2021, Plaschg announced that she would be playing several concerts in 2022.{{Cite web |title=Soap&Skin |url=https://soapandskin.com/ |access-date=27 June 2022 |website=Soap&Skin |language=en}} The announcement contained a list of three shows, as well as a note from the artist stating that in the meantime she will be "diving down 300 years along [her] European ancestors exploring the arid surface of trees and roots of trauma, evil, pain."

File:Soap&Skin & Stargaze am Haldern Pop Festival 2019 - 04 - Foto Alexander Kellner.jpg

Albums

• 2009: Lovetune for Vacuum (Couch Records/PIAS Records) – Austria #5, Germany #47
• 2012: Narrow (PIAS Records) – Austria #1, Germany #53
• 2018: From Gas to Solid / You Are My Friend (PIAS Records) – Austria #3, Germany #68, Switzerland #82
• 2024: Torso (PIAS Records)

EPs

• 2008: Untitled (4-track EP) (Couch Records/PIAS Records)
• 2009: Marche Funèbre (3-track EP) (Couch Records/PIAS Records)
• 2013: Sugarbread (3-track EP) (PIAS Records)

Singles

• 2009: Spiracle (7" vinyl) (Couch Records/PIAS Records) – Austria #45
• 2009: Mr. Gaunt PT 1000 (Couch Records/PIAS Records) – Austria #60
• 2009: Cynthia (Couch Records)
• 2012: Voyage Voyage (SOLFO Music)
• 2015: Mawal Jamar (SOLFO Music)
• 2018: Heal (PIAS Records)
• 2018: Italy (PIAS Records)
• 2018: Surrounded (PIAS Records)
• 2019: Safe With Me - Instrumental (PIAS Records)
• 2019: Surrounded (Planningtorock Remix) (PIAS Records)
• 2019: Drag Shift (Denovali Records)
• 2020: What's Up? (PIAS Recordings Germany)

Film music

• 2024: The Devil's Bath

• 2012: Stillleben (Still Life), as Carmen{{cite web |url=http://www.freibeuterfilm.com/WEBSITE-Stillleben/cast.html |title=STILLLEBEN - Ein Film von Sebastian Meise |website=Freibeuterfilm.com |accessdate=10 June 2016}}
• 2016: Die Geträumten (The Dreamed Ones), as Ingeborg Bachmann
• 2024: Des Teufels Bad (The Devil's Bath), as Agnes

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons}}

• {{Official website}}
• [http://www.solfomusic.com/ Solfo Music]
• [https://www.bbc.co.uk/music/reviews/pbcg Review of 'Narrow' on BBC Music]

{{Soap&Skin}}

{{Authority control}}

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Category:1990 births

Category:Living people

Category:21st-century Austrian women singers

Category:English-language singers from Austria

Category:PIAS Recordings artists