VMI SPOTLIGHT INTERVIEW // Alina Peter – Musician, VMI Alumna & Founder of Fräulein Peter

Julia Brandstetter
5 hours ago
8 min read

photo: © Georg Cizek

In this VMI Spotlight Interview, we introduce VMI alumna Alina Peter. She studied Teaching Qualification as well as Music Performance at VMI, specializing in vocals in both programs, and graduated in 2022.

As the founder and frontwoman of the female-fronted Austrian dialect pop band Fräulein Peter, she has carved out her own artistic path, combining musical identity with personal expression.

In the interview, Alina Peter shares insights into her musical journey, her experiences so far, and her career after graduating. She talks about her development as a musician, her work with Fräulein Peter, and the experiences that have shaped her along the way.

Your band Fräulein Peter has carved out a distinctive place for itself in the Austrian music scene over the past few years. What makes your sound unique, and what stories or emotions do you want to convey through your music?

I think what makes us unique is the combination of female-fronted dialect pop, electric guitars and synth sounds, together with our multi-part vocals and the energy we bring, especially when we perform live.

Before pursuing your own musical path with Fräulein Peter, you studied at the Vienna Music Institute. What made you choose this path at the time, and what do you remember most fondly today?

I had already been thinking about studying vocals while I was still at school, so I started looking into several universities and institutes in Vienna. At VMI, you immediately got a sense of how personal and close-knit the atmosphere was. The people I met at the entrance exam and I instantly formed a really lovely group of friends. I had a great time at VMI. I learned a lot and also found my band there. Our drummer Mathias Bauer and our guitarists Felix Engelmeier and Kristian Stipsich studied there as well. I especially like looking back on the pedagogy days, the exchange with others during vocal lessons, and all the great conversations in the kitchen while drinking coffee and cooking.

How did your time at VMI prepare you for your journey as an artist? Was there a particular moment, project or encounter that had a lasting impact on your musical development?

I developed enormously, both musically and, above all, as a teacher. I discovered how much I enjoy teaching and genuinely made friends for life. We actually had the very first Fräulein Peter rehearsal at VMI. The line-up and the songs were different back then, but the original idea behind the project developed there. At VMI, I learned how rewarding it can be to work on a project together and exchange ideas with musicians from other genres. The first VMI Nights, which were still held at Blue Tomato at the time, were a particularly great experience for me. You could really feel the support and friendship within the institute: everyone celebrated each other’s achievements and was genuinely happy for one another. It was really wonderful to see and experience.

When and how did you form Fräulein Peter? What inspired you to start your own project and fully pursue your own musical direction?

I wrote my first songs when I was eleven. Later, I joined an original band in Vienna and was part of it for six years. We toured all over Europe with the project, had a record deal in the US and played around 30 shows a year. It was a challenging but also exciting and educational time for me. At the same time, it still felt a bit like playing covers. It was never my project and never my music.

Then, in 2020, the lockdown happened. We had to cancel all our concerts and the tour, and suddenly I had time to reconnect with myself and my dreams. At the time, as unfortunately is still the case today, violence against women was a major issue and became particularly visible during lockdown. That was when the song “Glatteis” was written, with the intention of taking a stand against violence against women. We recorded the song at home and had it mixed by fellow VMI graduate David Theni. Mathias Bauer helped me put together a band to record the song, and Fräulein Peter developed relatively quickly from there. We have been operating as a fully established project with complete production since 2022.

How did you find the right musicians for the band, and what do you look for when choosing people you want to work with in the long term?

As mentioned above, I met some of them at VMI and others through Mathias. For me, it is very important that we get along well as friends, share the same goals and dreams, and work together towards them. A band is like a relationship – except that in our case, there are six people involved. Regular exchange and good communication are essential if you want to work well together in the long term.

Every day, I am incredibly grateful to be able to work with such kind, professional and amazing people. We have so much fun together, and everyone gives their best for the project – and that simply feels great.

With several hundred thousand streams, radio airplay – including on Ö3 – and the release of your debut album “Hädi Dadi Wari,” you have already reached some major milestones. Which steps were crucial in turning a young band project into a professionally established and visible act?

We are incredibly grateful and proud of everything we have already been able to achieve and experience. We all have a very professional approach, and each of us is also very busy with other projects and commitments outside the band. So it was clear to us from the beginning that if we were going to do this project, we wanted to build it professionally and try to make Fräulein Peter as successful as possible. Of course, you can never know whether it will actually work out.

With Fräulein Peter, you have already celebrated some major successes, including performing on the main stage of the Donauinselfest in front of a huge audience as well as playing support shows for established acts. Which of these moments had the greatest personal impact on you, and why?

Definitely our performance at Donauinselfest in front of around 40,000 people. The entire day was so special. Both in front of the stage and backstage, we were surrounded by so many wonderful people who shared our excitement and supported us in such an amazing way. It was a huge dream coming true for all of us. Seeing the audience sing along and participate was incredible.

But I also really love smaller, more intimate performances. When I notice that a song has touched someone in the audience, perhaps even moved them to tears, or when people are simply having fun and enjoying themselves, that makes me very happy.

What kind of less visible work goes into these successes, and which responsibilities do you take on yourself – booking, social media, PR, rehearsal planning, networking, etc.?

Phew, yes – there is a huge amount of work that people simply don’t see or notice. Since we don’t have a booking agency or management, we do all of that ourselves. You also shouldn’t underestimate the hours spent filming and, above all, editing videos, posting regularly, doing photo shoots and music video shoots, as well as the sheer amount of planning and thinking involved. You could genuinely work on the project around the clock.

Regular songwriting, studio sessions, recording, rehearsals and meetings also take up a lot of time. That makes it all the more valuable when we can divide certain responsibilities among ourselves and I can rely on so much support from the band.

Which experiences from your musical projects and career so far have shaped you the most? What have you learned about the music industry, life on tour and your own needs as an artist?

I think pretty much all of my experiences, both good and bad, have shaped me.

In 2021/22, I really got to know the Austrian music business for the first time, and I have to say that a few illusions definitely started to crumble and some beliefs I had held disappeared. As Josh likes to put it, I became “disillusioned.”

You realize just how much you depend on having the right connections and how many myths you may actually have believed – for example, that once your music is played on Ö3, you’ve made it, and so on. I came back down to earth relatively quickly, but that’s actually a good thing. It’s a solid place from which to keep developing!

Touring also helped me get to know myself and the people around me better and in a completely different way. We had a few issues at the beginning, but once we learned to recognize and communicate our individual needs, we were able to handle certain situations much better. We also introduced a few small rituals, such as coming together backstage ten minutes before a show to warm up, do our vocal exercises, and get into the right mindset for the performance as a group. That’s incredibly important to us as a band.

Since graduating from VMI, you have built several professional pillars for yourself as a singer, songwriter, bandleader, and vocal coach. What does your working life actually look like today, and how do you divide your time between creative work, teaching, organization and administration?

Phew, that’s a good question. Because I work in so many different areas, there is always a lot going on, and my calendar is constantly full – which I wouldn’t necessarily say is always a positive thing. That’s something I still need, and am allowed, to learn: consciously making more time for myself.

Overall, though, I have found a good balance and structure by now, allowing me to give each area enough attention. Of course, there are phases when one project needs and receives more attention than the others. I have learned to take some of the pressure off myself in that regard. I only have 24 hours in a day, after all, and I can’t give the same amount of energy to everything at once – and I don’t have to.

At the same time, the balance and variety in my work are exactly what motivate me. Ideally, though, I would love to hand over things like administration and organization and focus solely on creative work. But the other things are part of it too!

What advice would you give VMI students who want to start their own band or artist project? What are three things they should learn as early as possible?

Persistence is key. Making music is definitely a marathon, not a sprint :D Keep reminding yourself why you’re doing it, and write down everything you’ve already achieved. That can be incredibly motivating during difficult times.

Know what you want and where you want to go, and surround yourself with people who share those goals and whom you can genuinely rely on.

Don’t let opinions from people outside your project discourage you. There will always be people who don’t like what you’re doing! Haters gonna hate – you can never please everyone.

What can we expect from Fräulein Peter in the future, and which musical goals or dreams would you still like to achieve?

Our second album is coming out in early 2027, which we’re already very excited about. Of course, we’ll also be playing a lot of live shows. A tour through Austria and Germany is currently planned for early 2027, although we can’t reveal too much about that just yet. Keep an eye on our website and social media!

Both individually and as a band, we actually have several specific goals. These include performing at Burg Clam, Frequency Festival or Woodstock der Blasmusik, playing a sold-out tour, winning an Amadeus Award and, of course, having a number-one hit ;).

One of my childhood dreams would definitely be to perform with Christina Stürmer or play a show at Domplatz in Salzburg, where I attended my very first concert when I was eight years old.

But one thing that is particularly important to me personally is being able to continue making music for many years with my amazing band and the wonderful team around us, and to keep touching people with our music. When I receive messages from people telling me that one of our songs helped them through a difficult time, or when young people sing our songs in choirs or choose one of them as their favorite song for a school presentation, there is hardly anything more rewarding for me.