Who is Avice Caro?

Words by Sarah Morrison

Avice Caro is a solo fairytale-folk multimedia project, inspired by literature, philosophies, Russian folk-tales, and dream sequences. With an undeniably poetic and medieval aesthetic, Avice Caro stands out as a true beauty and craftswoman to her style of art.

Before drastic measures were taken within the music community and the rest of the world, Avice Caro released her newest single 'Tiny Table.' With such an uneasy time for music releases, this has created a confusing time for artists alike.

We spoke with Avice Caro on the foundations of their project, their love for literature and inspirations, and got into the gritty details of how isolation life has changed their everyday activities.

At what age did you start to become curious with the idea of writing music? Who was the first musician/band to inspire you to create your own music?

I’ve always had a fascination with literature, but my love of songwriting came much later. I guess I only discovered quite late that songs are a form of poetry and can have their own stories too. That all changed when I turned fourteen/fifteen (I think) and discovered Buffy Sainte-Marie’s ‘Illuminations’ record. I was just completely mesmerized by her haunting songwriting. She was the first musician I had encountered who used characters and stories to create a narrative in her songs and I just remember thinking ‘wow, there that’s it - I want to do that’. After religiously listening to that record for maybe a year or so I bought my first guitar and decided I would also have my go at it.

As an independent musician, how much harder is it to find recognition?

It’s quite hard from the technical side of things. Most of my music is recorded on my phone because I’ve never been good at using any kind of technology. I guess to some extent it’s fine, I do quite enjoy the muffled / echoey elements of my songs, but that means radio stations won’t play my music which makes it difficult to branch out to a wider audience.

Oh, and it’s also harder to get people to listen to it if it doesn’t sound polished off. Everyone around me seems to be releasing really vibrant music, while I keep feeling the need to explain to people that what I release is just melodies and ideas, you know, the bare backbone of it! That it’s all just a work in progress until one day I’ll be lucky enough to release the ‘real’ ‘full’ thing’, complete with beautiful production.

What sort of music community have you been able to become a part of? In what ways do they encourage and support you and other independent females/non-binary musicians?

I definitely feel like I’m part of a really strong community of women, being supported by various publications such as FEMME and Love Letters who are doing brilliant things for underrepresented women/non-binary musicians in the music industry.

What is your set-up like when you perform? If not now, would you one day like to have a full band backing you? 

At the moment it’s just me and a guitar which I find very restrictive- all I can do is maintain eye contact with the audience. I can’t move around or use my body to express some of the words I’m singing. 

Eventually, I’d like to get rid of my guitar and play around with the performance aspect of shows. I’d like to move more freely and get a short film playing alongside my sets, use some props, play around with colour, costume, texture, fabric - really push this multisensory / multimedia music project as far as it can go and produce something out of the world - something almost theatrical. Recently I’ve imagined what it would be like if I played a set alongside some field recordings of birds/water and had a set/backdrop while I play my music live. 

One day I’ll get a band together, but not a conventional band I think- maybe a violin / a harp / a dreamy synth / heavy reverb guitar / some echoey, haunting instruments - something divine/decadent. 

You use your childhood knowledge of fairy tales in order to paint obscure imagery of an almost naive and shy girl wanting to one day be ‘the main woman.’ What sort of stories did you grow up reading that inspired you to want to become the star of your own romance story? 

When I was a child I became obsessed with traditional Russian folk stories such as Vasilisa the beautiful, Sister Alenushka Brother Ivanushka, Marya Morevna, etc. and my fascination with them carries on till today. I love how they play around with animals, nature, the absurd, the fantastical and create a different world to the one we are living in today. 

Reading them is like experiencing a strange dream- you’ll find tales about weird old women who live in houses built on chicken legs, talking wolves, people lured into drinking puddles, little boys who turn into goats, giant golden eggs stuck in trees, and above all, in these peculiar tales you’ll also find a real, moralistic message that relates to everyday life. No matter how absurd the stories can get, there’s something in them that everyone can relate to. I want to do that with my music. Write something completely bizarre and weird that makes someone think ‘Hold on why am I relating to a tiny worm in the soil? What is this about a pigeon? Why do I feel something for this silly rhyme about an adulterous non-milkmaid coquettish chicken woman?’ 

I think there’s something so beautiful about transforming a boring idea or emotion into something outrageous, pushing the every day, the banal into the realm of fantasy where pretty much anything is possible. That way you can write and live without limits. 

I often find myself indulging in folk stories and fairy tales in order to escape from everyday life, to dream a bit; I write them into my songs for the same reason.

You have a very medieval/romance aesthetic when it comes to your fashion and music videos, did any of this come from your Russian heritage? 

To be honest most of this came from my love of classical paintings of women and fantasy films. I love everything that is beautiful and sensual, for that reason I feel drawn to this feminine and dreamy aesthetic. 

You thrive on having full creative control over your work. Why is this important to you? Have you ever considered collaborating with other creatives for future projects?

Essentially Avice Caro is a project that combines all my readings, philosophies, tastes, experiences, loves, hates, fantasies, fever dreams into one. Having complete control of my work is very important to me because I have a real vision for what I want my little world to look like. I would only feel comfortable working with people who completely understand my world and my work. 

For that reason I would love to collaborate with my friends - I’m very blessed to be surrounded by such talented people. Their art is so unique and otherworldly, I’m so in awe at everything they do it’s so inspiring, so beautiful. I can safely say we’ve already built a little dream together, in terms of our friendship and it would be so lovely to see how things would work if we merged our artistic ideas. 

What type of camera did you use to film your music videos? 

Oh, it’s just an old camcorder I’ve had in my possession since I was 13. I’m very DIY about the way I work, making use of everything I have around me. Ideally, I’d love to have something more romantic but this thing is kind of a strange, slow, old device and I actually love it (sometimes). There’s something so satirical and silly to the moving images it produces. However, it does make everything all blurry but it’s all I have, and I’d rather be active and create something than sit around waiting for the ‘right’ materials to come to me. 

What’s been one of the best things to come from releasing your music? 

Probably my change in perspective of the world around me. Before I started taking my music seriously I was always in a rush, confused, didn’t know what I wanted, I felt useless, cynical about my future, thinking that my self-worth depended on things completely out of my control. But now I place more value on my art and feel more powerful as a person because of my little creations. 

What I mean by that is my music has given me a pair of rose-tinted glasses which I can put on and off depending on when I like. So much of what I write and create is one big inside joke, it’s all ironic in the most serious way possible so when I feel afraid or sad I’ll write something funny that will let me have a laugh for a bit. I think that’s very important, childlike dreaming and laughing as an adult when things get tough. 

So I know it sounds cliche but it’s been a really good outlet and has allowed me to slow down, be happier, and build a body of work that I can constantly look back on, develop and work on to remind myself of the sun when life gets rainy. 

Although there’s a holt on the music industry at the moment, have you considered any plans for when things pick back up? Have you been working on new material? 

I am always writing new material. I want to find a way of getting an album recorded because it’s almost funny how many demos I have at this point - probably over a hundred?  

Before I was studying full time but I plan to take a year out before I do a master's. This coming year will give me more time to work with my friends, make more art. 

I actually have many plans to push Avice Caro even further. I’d love to write a cookbook, make more short films, and also publish some of my poems / short stories. You know, really work on making my little world even more vivid and real.

What significant impact has the outbreak of COVID-19 done to your work?

Since a lot of my creative work draws from the people and places that surround me, the virus has had a terrible impact on the way I go about my life. It’s the little things that the outbreak has affected such as my daily routine, which consists of a morning walk and a trip to the library to pick up some books. My decision to self-isolate has also meant that I can’t communicate with my fellow creative friends in person anymore. It’s a very lonely and sad time. 

How long have you participated in the quarantine methods? 

In order to better make use of my time I’ve made a mental list of things that I wouldn’t be able to do if I weren’t in quarantine, this includes; baking, face-timing people I wouldn’t normally contact, reading entire collections of books, watching films, embroidery, etc. 

How are you managing with social distancing? 

So far it’s been quite a lonely experience, but I have found a somewhat silly solution to this problem! On March 20th I performed my first ever Instagram live-streamed show from my isolation chamber. I intended to perform a live set as though it were on a stage from the comfort of my home, where I am currently self-quarantining. My aim was to find a new way to make people feel less alone, stressed and bring people closer together online. I don't want this virus to kill the live music scene and I want people to still be able to enjoy listening to live music- although musicians aren't allowed to play live sets in venues due to risks of passing on the virus, there's nothing stopping us from taking to the web to broadcast it and interact with others.

I think musicians can adapt to the current climate, in which we are being made to rely more on technological rather than real-life communication and contact. Of course, it’s strange and weird but we have to make do with what this situation has given us. I think we have to remain positive and try to find ways to stick together.