MERMAID & SEAFRUIT is the collaborative project of Magdalena Chowaniec and Markus Steinkellner. Together they take us on a ferocious trip through various musical styles. The straight forward vocals reflect on our society, body and gender politics and the emotional abyss of the contemporary subject. The tracks of the Polish-Austrian duo inhale the deep, corporeal bass of Grime, the snottiness of Hip Hop, the frenzy of Hardstyle, the confrontational
dynamics of Noise as well as the patient elegance of R’n’B and theatrical spoken word passages. The result is a hybrid, an intriguing and dystopian amalgam of contemporary club genres, shimmering in different emotional shades. Magdalena, who is mostly known for her work as a performance artist and Markus, who is active in the Viennese music scene since over a decade now, just seem to be the perfect match. As Mermaid & Seafruit they practice sensual activism, both edgy and kinky.
(Shilla Strelka for PW-Magazine, 2018)
“Mermaid & Seafruit are a live-act beyond and inbetween the binaries of
genre, like a very concerning threeway of glam-metal, hyperpop and hardcore gave birth to dark and electronic twins. The Vienna-based duo layers high-pitched live-vocals over five-octave-arpeggios and 180-BPM-gabber-kicks, only to merge into a two-minute interlude, a transcendental ballad and back to a break-infused halftime stomper. It’s a rave opera of grand feelings and high-speed ecstasy and although this has been an adjective-driven insanity of a description we fucking promise you these two alone are worth coming to this evening. Just listen to a single track and you’ll know we’re right.”
(Disorder – Fast and Nice, March 2022)
