Veronica Fusaro’s description of her musical journey reminds one of this AR Rahman quote: “Music is universal, indefinable, and infinite. It is a feeling, a moment, an expression.” Growing up in Thun, an old town in Switzerland with an extensive view of the Alps, Veronica did not have a particular moment or a person that inspired her to be a musician. Her family didn’t possess great musical knowledge. Music was around her and she picked it up. Her dad was a fan of Italian singer Vasco Rossi and, hence, she knew all his songs by heart. From her mom’s radio, she was introduced to Michael Jackson, Rihanna, Beyonce and other pop music icons. In her third grade, Veronica started playing the guitar. At 13, she wrote her first song. Now, at 22, she’s toured all continents except Antarctica and Africa, shared a stage with Mark Knopfler, and has released, last month, her third record, Sunkissed. Last month, she finished her first tour of India, which included a live performance in Bengaluru.
“I never really questioned why I am doing this. It was a natural thing for me to do,” she says, “I needed to talk about the things and music was a beautiful way to do that.”
Veronica’s music can be labelled soul or pop. But she’s still exploring new genres and experimenting with her music. “In my journey, I am still trying to find out what I really want to do.”
Writing process
Many of Veronica’s songs were written before she began touring. “For songwriting, you don't need to travel the world. The beautiful thing is that you can create a new world by writing a song.”
Most of her songs were born out of personal experiences. “It can be something that I see happening. It can be a story that a friend tells me.”
A sentence sparks in her mind. Sometimes, it’s a melody. She, then, rushes to her studio, takes her guitar and tries to build on it. Usually, one thing flows into another, becoming a full song. On other occasions, she gets stuck. “For ‘Hello Old Friend’ [a track from Sunkissed], I couldn’t find the chords at all. So, I was angry and put it aside. Half a year later, I revisited the song and I was like ‘Oh, that’s actually good’.”
Visualisation is an important part of Veronica’s process. “I make a mental sketch of the situation of the song. Where is it happening? What’s the temperature? What are the colours? Words cannot always describe the emotions. So, pictures help me to put myself in the situation, which help me to write better… It’s weird,” she laughs.
New experiences
Veronica reckons making music is self-centred. “When you are writing a song, you do it for yourself because it makes you happy.” But she believes her emotions resonate with others. “People are not that different even if it looks that way. And the magic of music is it describes the emotions. So, people will relate to the song.”
And, she has been meeting many people across the world, who have connected to her music. Over the last year, she has been a part of over 130 concerts in 20-plus countries. Travel, she says, helps her broaden horizons and learn about new cultures. “In South Korea, for instance, people give their cards with both their hands. It’s a beautiful gesture. In Switzerland, we barely look at each other’s eyes.”
In India, she finds the people warm and welcoming. Many of her social media fans are from here. Veronica, however, is hardly aware of Indian musicians. Even the name AR Rahman doesn’t ring a bell. But when told that he’s the composer of Slumdog Millionaire , she beams, “Oh yes! I do know him, then.” She’s unaware of the legend’s name yett has been touched by his tunes. It’s a testament to what Rahman’s idea of music being universal.
