Börni Interview by Carol Wright Photographer: Joe Sciacca
Born and raised in Zürich, Switzerland, Börni found her passion for music starting at age three when she began singing and playing the violin, soon after turning to the piano and guitar. Throughout her adolescence, Börni sang in gospel choirs, wrote and performed her own songs in her first garage rock band, and quickly learned how to perform and entertain an audience, including performing on stage at just six years old in the prestigious Zürich Opera House. After visiting New York City, she felt a connection to American culture and started creating music under the name Vava Voom. Before long, she realized that although she still embraced the American lifestyle and culture, she was growing into her own identity as a fresh, unique artist — still maintaining her roots in her home country of Switzerland — and thus Börni was born.
You’ve been interested in music since you were three. When did music go from a passion to something you wanted to do as a career?
Heights”. More specifically, it’s a sort of long rotating list. But I would say currently it’s Sia, Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, and a few more.
A few years ago, I competed in the Swiss television show, “Musicstar,” where my performance led me to ink a record deal with Sony Music. This was definitely a course-setting experience in my life. Also, my first trip to NYC laid the groundwork for my love and aspirations to be in the American and world music scene.
What’s your songwriting process?
Who are some of your music inspirations? Well, I’ve always been curious about all types of music and was never afraid to try them. Anything from classical to rock to pop to alt to urban, I’d find what I loved about it and use that in my own development. That curiosity led me to the sound I have today, which is a fusion of all my favorite inspirations. The hip hop influence is definitely noticeable in “New 29
For me, the music usually translates a certain feeling. It will decide the mood of what the topic will be, for sure. Most of the time, the lyrics will be about something I’ve experienced myself or possibly others or the world in the current state, and then I’ll go from there. How does the music come along? I would say that’s definitely depending on how I feel at the moment or who is in the room with me to create. I usually start with an instrument, add a beat, and then try to come up with a vocal top line right away while It’s still fresh in my mind. I don’t think I’ve ever started with lyrics before I had the melody. I would write down topics, and when the right music was there, I would pull the ideas back up.
Tell us about your song “New Heights”. What inspired the lyrics and sound? Synematik, the producer of “New Heights”, came up with really dope melodies and the beat. Then adding drums to it, we knew we were on to something. I wrote the song with Synematik, Taylor Hill, and Lucius Page from the PageBrothers. We thought about what it took us to get to the point we were at the time. We all faced major obstacles and challenges in life and overcame them when it would’ve been so easy to just give up. We kept pushing and remained focused on making progress. And that’s what the lyrics are actually about. “New Heights” was inspired by the struggles that I or anyone else who has a dream goes through. Those struggles either make you or break you, and “New Heights” is about what is possible when you don’t give up. How involved were you in the music video creation for “New Heights”? How did it feel to see
