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AVAWAVES: An introduction to the classical-modern crossover duo

We caught up with Anna Phoebe and Aisling Brouwer to get to know them a little better...

Author: Emma DoddsPublished 1st Mar 2021
Last updated 14th Jun 2021

AVAWAVES is made up of pianist Aisling Brouwer and violinist Anna Phoebe. After meeting under unusual circumstances, the pair quickly formed a bond and began writing music and performing together.

Speaking to Scala Radio, Aisling and Anna opened up about how they became AVAWAVES, their career highlights and what's next for the group - answering all the big questions, as well as discussing their stunning cover of London Grammar's 'Wild Eyed'. Read up on everything you need to know about AVAWAVES.

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Early life

Anna and Aisling explained that they both have slightly more intricate backstories than most. Anna went first, "I was born in Hamburg, and then moved to Hull, which was definitely part of my formative years because I went to primary school there, then I moved to Scotland. Then I came to London, and now I live here in Kent. Hull."

Aisling added, "We've both had very scattered youths, in a way. I was born in Belgium, in Brussels, and lived there till I was about six or seven, then moved to Holland, where I spent the majority of my growing up. Then my mum is Irish, so we spent a lot of time there, then I moved to the UK to study and lived in Brighton, Bristol, and London. And now I'm in Berlin."

Aisling then studied at Brighton, spending a gap year in Los Angeles during her second year and a Masters degree at Bristol, while Anna got her chops performing in the Scottish National Youth Orchestra and Camerata - but took a different path, as she initially wanted to be a politician, and so studied social policy and government at the London School of Economics.

While there, Anna would be up on stage almost every night, "I was spending every night in London at all the music nights, just jumping on stage with anyone who'd let me, and jamming along with them," adding that this allowed her to train "on the ground".

Origins of the band

It's always a lovely moment when you ask two people how they met and they smile and tell you it's a good story. "We met at the Indian Embassy in London," Anna confirmed, as Aisling laughed, "I love how random it is."

Anna clarified, "I was playing with my band I was doing I was collaborating with an incredible Bansuri flute player at the Indian embassy and I think Ash was there with some like some like work friends, right?" Aisling confirmed, "I was doing stuff I think for BBC at the time - I was in TV, and I'd gone along to this event. Someone I was working with said, 'There's this violinist that I think you'd really enjoy seeing'. I went along and I saw Anna perform, and I was just mesmerised - I was like, I need to talk to her, I want to see if we can collaborate."

After the pair began speaking, they went on a coffee date to get to know each other, as Anna explained, "The timing was really good because I had been mainly performing - I'd always been releasing music but concentrating on performing and touring, and Ash had been doing more TV stuff but had come from a performing background," as Aisling confirmed that she'd "pushed it away for a long time."

Band name

Anna explained how the name came to them, "We were thinking, 'Oh, is it, Ashley Brouwer and Anna Phoebe?' I was really clear that it wasn't just another collaboration for me, another 'Anna Phoebe' with or someone featuring, it felt like its own entity."

Adding that they'd both wanted a name that they felt represented them, with Ava being a nod to their Irish backgrounds, and waves illustrating their first album being written in a studio by the sea as well as sound waves as they both produced it.

"It just had this ring to it," she commented. "And it's this idea that when we come together, we create this world that we're part of, but it's almost its own thing."

First performance

Their first live performance together came not long after their first meeting. Anna hadn't even heard Aisling play the piano before inviting her to perform on stage - something Aisling was understandably nervous about, having not performed live for a while.

"We'd literally had one coffee, and not played together at all. And Anna was like, 'Right, can you learn these songs?' And I just kind of went, 'Yeah, sure'. And then I turned around and was like, 'What did I just say?'"

Aisling explained that the gig in question had been at The Assembly in Royal Leamington Spa - any readers who recognise the name of the venue will be aware that from the outside, it looks pretty small and unassuming, but on the inside is a glorious TARDIS of an art deco venue.

"I hadn't been on stage in years," she went on. "I was like, it's fine, it's a small, tiny gig, nothing to stress about at all. And it wasn't until we got there that I realised there were maybe 800 people! But it was good, it was great."

Anna commented, "I think we Googled pictures. I was like, 'Oh, it's fine'. And then we got there like, 'Oh...', as Aisling added, "At that time, I wasn’t expecting to get as much of a kick out of being on stage again as I did, because I'd kind of resigned myself to being a studio person, I’m gonna live in a little cage somewhere and write lots of music in there. But once I was actually on stage and the adrenalin of it... I was like, 'Ahh, now I get it.'"

Musical inspirations and influences

Anna's main source of musicality comes from her mum, although her whole family were musically inclined, "Without a doubt, the family that I grew up in definitely opened my ears to lots of different genres and different styles of music.

"But also my mum plays violin, and she's a social worker. She always played in orchestras, and was quite strict about practicing. It's a mix of lots of things - it's like having music as a soundtrack to your life, and you don't have to listen to one thing to define you, you can pick and choose - there's so much choice."

Anna added that she was aware of the discipline that comes with learning to play classically, but her mum's choice not to pursue music as a career and instead keep it as a hobby really inspired her.

"Being a social worker is probably one of one of the hardest jobs, emotionally dealing with kids and seeing traumatic situations for children and their families. I saw that music was like an emotional catharsis, to balance out whatever else is going on in your life," adding that with the family moving around so much, her mother was able to have a social life through her hobby. "I think I probably had that combination that was probably quite a healthy approach to music."

Aisling said of her own journey to music, "It's always been about processing emotions and life in general. So whenever I was just getting to grips with something, I'd go behind the piano and write."

Having followed the classical route herself, Aisling began composing from a very early age, but found the structure of traditional lessons very restricting on her creativity, "I wasn't getting from it what I needed, so I'd always kind of go off-piste.

"In our house, there was also a lot of music - my dad was a violinist and we'd work together. I really found myself in film music quite young, which is probably a bit weird as a young kid and teenager.

"But that's where I really zoned in on, because instrumental music to me... What I really love about it is that everybody hears their own story in it. It doesn't prescribe what you're meant to feel when you're hearing that song."

Career highlights

Aisling confessed that in terms of AVAWAVES, she's most excited about their upcoming album, "Given the whole way it started, it's been amazing. But we also came so far from that meeting point, and we've really developed our sound and figured out what it is that is 'us' as a duo, and I think that really comes through in this next album."

Of her career generally, she commented, "I'm really happy to be back in long-form film at the moment. Film scoring has always been a part of my ambitions and what I do. I'm doing an amazing feature film now. So I'm excited about the next year, weirdly!"

Anna mused, "I spent my twenties touring at the very highest level in the world for the biggest-grossing band in the world, touring arenas on such a massive scale. I don't know if I'll ever do that again.

"Then through my thirties, having a process where I've changed from performer to composer and behind the scenes - taking all of that experience and finding my own voice. Moving forward, I feel much more emboldened and strong about what I feel like my purpose through my music is.

"But also working on things outside of music, using music as a way to communicate other people's messages. I'm working with KRAN - the Refugee Action Network, based here in Kent, because I live on a stretch of beach where people are risking their lives to come to this country. So my point is that I've been an outlier in lots of different areas, and now for the first time, all of these things are coming together."

What's next for AVAWAVES

The duo will be releasing their follow-up album to 2019's 'WAVES' this year, something that will come as a relief for both as they began writing it all the way back in January 2020. "It feels like we were so lucky," Anna gushed, "We had a writing session that was more of a jam session where we just record all our ideas, you know, and then it just all gets put into one folder. But then lockdown happened."

Of course, it caused the pair concern - but thankfully, they had the folder of the January jam session, so they were able to use it as a starting point. Spending a week together in between lockdowns in September, they were able to consolidate the ideas into an album which has, interestingly, been recorded together but separately...

"It's been challenging," Anna admitted. "Definitely. So for us, it'll just feel really good to get it out. I can't wait to play - we're obviously in two different countries, so we've been doing so many split screen gigs. The magic happens when we're in the same room together.

"Nothing beats that because those waves of connection, that's physics! It happens in the room, you can't get that. As much as you can try to do it on-screen, it's not quite the same. It's not the same."