Veronica Fusaro: high-flyer at the Baloise Session

Veronica Fusaro is only 21 - and will open the Baloise Session on October 19. We met the young Thun native, who now presents herself and her music all over the world - the high-flyer is well received everywhere.

It was in Basel that Veronica Fusaro dared to perform in front of an audience on the street for the first time. "Basel was far enough away from Thun and there were plenty of spots for street musicians. I was 15 or 16 at the time," she recalls. Just five years later, she returned to Basel to play the opening night of the Baloise Session together with Sunrise Avenue on October 19. The 21-year-old has made it into the line-up of one of Switzerland's most renowned music events - musicians such as John Legend, Lauryn Hill, blues legend Buddy Guy and reggae icon Jimmy Cliff will be performing on subsequent evenings this year.

To be mentioned in the same breath as these international artists is remarkable for a 21-year-old Swiss woman. For insiders in the Swiss music scene, it is a logical consequence - they have had Veronica Fusaro on their radar for some time. TV producers, journalists and award judges are already arguing about which of them discovered her first.

"But that actually did me good. After that, nobody was interested in me anymore. I was able to make music without anyone talking to me. And I was able to find my sound."

There are already legends surrounding Veronica - but let's stick to the facts: It all started just six years ago in her music cellar at home in Thun. Veronica Fusaro began writing songs there at the age of 14 and then took part in various young talent competitions. At 17, she also took part in the second season of the TV show "Voice of Switzerland", but was eliminated in the third phase. "Sure, I was disappointed back then," she remembers today, and then says: "But it was actually good for me. After that, nobody was interested in me anymore. I was able to make music without anyone telling me what to do. And I was able to find my sound."

Which she did soon after: at the M4Music Festival in 2016, her submission was crowned "Demotape of the year", then Veronica was voted "Best Talent" by SRF 3 radio and nominated for the Swiss Music Awards the following year. Last year, she already proved herself live on the stages of many festivals - from Rock Oz'Arènes to Moon & Stars, Stars in Town Schaffhausen and the Gurtenfestival, she performed in all parts of Switzerland or was a supporting act for Passenger, L.P. and others. In February, she performed at the Swiss Music Awards - in the big Hallenstadion and in front of a large TV audience.

An "inconspicuous, unapproachable quiet woman" who dares to go anywhere.

The young woman with glasses stands out. This is thanks to her strikingly good music and her simultaneous inconspicuousness. Veronica Fusaro is seen as reserved and unapproachable - an image that she refuses to accept, as she says in an interview with event: "I like talking to people, so I'm not the most reserved".

Her friends tend to describe her as quiet. But she is not aloof and introverted. Where does this image come from? "Maybe it has something to do with the cover of my current EP," Veronica suspects, "...because I'm not smiling on it?" The EP is called "Ice Cold".

However, the icy coldness is broken with irony, because on the cover Veronica is holding an ice cream that is already melting and dripping. "Anyone can read whatever they want into it. That's the beauty of it." In conversation, Veronica doesn't come across as unapproachable - and not at all shy.

In fact, she is the Swiss newcomer who hides the least and dares the most. Veronica Fusaro travels the globe to present herself and her music confidently all over the world. She took part in jam sessions in New York, gave showcases in Los Angeles and was even invited to lunch there by the Swiss consul. Veronica played at up-and-coming festivals such as Waves in Vienna, the Reeperbahn Festival in Hamburg and the Great Escape in Brighton, England. Shortly after the Swiss Music Awards, she flew to South Korea, where she was invited to the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.

"I make music because I simply need it."

In September, she will take part in the Music Matters festival in Singapore, and a visit to Australia is also planned later. Her busy manager Stefan Schurter was there in July to prepare for this - and her new single will be released on October 19. "I make music because I simply need it." So Veronica Fusaro is not sitting in her basement in Thun waiting to be discovered. But she is not fighting doggedly for fame either. She hasn't lost her passion: "Music is the most natural thing that happens to me while I'm writing. I just do it because I need it and can't do without it!"

Veronica Fusaro sees her record launch at the Cafe Bar Mokka in Thun as the highlight of her career so far. "Because I've always wanted to play there ... and of course the gig at the Hallenstadion. That had always been my dream." She now has a new dream concert venue: "I love New York - and it would be great to play at Madison Square Garden one day." Anyone who has met Veronica Fusaro is convinced that this is not out of reach for her either.

BALOISE SESSION
19.10 - 06.11.2018, Messe Event Halle Basel
TICKETS