Agne Buškevičiūtė is back for another try at the Lithuanian national final, and we had a chance to sit down with her after the taping of her live performance. Learn more about who Agne is as an artist and where she draws her musical inspiration from, how her song for Eurovizija.LT came together and so much in our interview below!
Thank you so much for making some time out of your busy schedule to talk with us today Agne! Why don’t we start our time together by having you tell us a bit about yourself?
I’m Agnė Buškevičiūtė, Lithuanian singer and songwriter. My professional musical path started in 2009 when I entered a music conservatory to study classical singing. Fun fact is that I chose this type of singing not because of classical music but because of the Finnish symphonic metal band “Nightwish” musical impact. In the same year I founded the operatic metal band “Flame of Aeon” with which I performed for several years.
Later I continued my classical singing studies at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre where I got a bachelor’s and master’s degree in opera singing. During my last year of studies I fulfilled another dream – I deepened my vocal knowledge in Finland at Sibelius Academy. Ten years ago I won 1st place in the TV show “Celebrity duets” and now I am actively working on my own music with Lithuanian and Norwegian music producers. I’m very happy that last summer I released my debut album “New Start”!
I feel like every artist has an “origin story” – that moment in their life where they realized they had a love for making music. When did you realize your passion for performing and making music?
For as long as I can remember, I always wanted to be just a singer, and I felt very early that singing is my calling. There were no musicians or professional artists in my family, I just always wanted to be a singer and always had the feeling that music is my path. My dad wasn’t interested in taking me to music classes, he was more interested in sports which I just hated at the time (but now he supports me a lot). So I secretly took singing lessons and later, when I was 15, I entered a music conservatory on my own and started studying professional singing. Also, at the same time, I founded an operatic metal band named “Flame of Aeon”. It wasn’t easy because I was looking for musicians for a year, then I had to look for rehearsal rooms and no one helped me. It was so difficult that, at one point, I even doubted if I would make it. But I did it, and our band performed quite a lot for a few years. It was a beautiful period of my teenage years. Only later did my mother admit to me that she didn’t really believe that I would be able to create a band, but she is extremely proud of me for not giving up and reaching my goal.
Though in regards to songwriting it was a completely different story. I’ve always wanted to write songs, but for a long time I thought I didn’t have the talent because I couldn’t hear melodies or harmonies. When I was 20 years old, I wrote my first musical motif. My husband was the first to believe in my ability to write songs and that support opened me up to songwriting completely. We wrote many songs for my debut album together with help from great music producers.
Your profiles all describe you as an artist who makes cinematic epic pop music – could you tell us a little bit more about what that means and where your musical inspirations come from?
My music is inspired by movie soundtracks, songs/musical motifs by Nordic and Scandinavian music creators, and “fantasy world” themes. Since childhood, I loved powerful, strong, orchestral music, fantastic, epic adventures and magical characters, so I listened to a lot of movie soundtracks. One of my favorite composers who had a great influence on my work is Hanz Zimmer. Especially his music for the movie “Gladiator”. This musical influence is felt in my work. Listeners keep saying that my songs would be suitable for movies. By the way, It’s my dream and I would love to have my music in a movie someday! That’s why I name my genre as epic/cinematic and pop contributes because the structure of the songs is closer to pop music. Also, the sound of my newest works is much closer to pop, but the cinematic vibe has not disappeared from them.
The only difference is that the Epic/Cinematic genre is prevalent in the world more like instrumental music, and the vocals appear only as a small musical part (usually chorus parts) but not as a full-fledged, song-structured main musical element of the piece. I think this already distinguishes me in the context of epic/cinematic music.
And on a topic other than music, what are some things that our readers might be surprised to learn about you – like hidden talents, secret hobbies, obsessions, etc.?
I don’t talk about it much now, but I’ve also been active in acting in my career. I had to create several main roles in TV series and TV movies. I have also played a small role in a movie. You can also find my acting showreel on my youtube channel, which contains my acting works. I really wanted to be a singer and actress, so I was actively working on it, but now I had to put it aside because I want to focus only on music. However, sometimes I create characters in my performances, so acting has remained in my life, just in a different form.
Also, movies and TV series are really a big passion of mine, at one point I even tried to write movie reviews, but I did it for a very short time. Cinema is programmed in my work. Epic/Cinematic sound came exactly from movie soundtracks and I am very happy to receive compliments that my music is suitable for movies or series. Cinema has not disappeared from my life, it has just changed its form.
Now I recall that you competed in the Lithuanian national selection last year for the first time with the song “New Start”. What motivated you to return this year and has your approach to the process been different this time?
Yes, I am participating in Eurovision for the second time. At the beginning, I was not sure if I would try to participate this year. I said it all depends on the song and then the song suddenly came into my life. I believe it chose me and showed me a very clear direction. I participated for the first time last year, and I’ll be honest – I couldn’t avoid rookie mistakes. I wasn’t very happy about the performance because I couldn’t do everything the way I wanted. Nevertheless, Eurovision was an amazing experience and a very good school. I learned a lot, I did my homework and I come this year with a completely different mindset.
All preparations for the show are very intense. I work a lot with my team, we are looking for ways to better convey the story of the song on stage. I’m so wrapped up in it that sometimes I don’t have energy for anything else. I appreciate this period of life and try to get the most out of it. I am grateful for the opportunity to be on the Eurovision stage again.
Your song for this year is titled “Puppeteer” – can you tell our readers a bit about the songwriting process and the meaning or message behind your entry?
This time I’m coming to Eurovision with a song that wasn’t written by me. During one of the songwriting sessions in Norway, one of the songwriters suggested this song to me. Only after hearing the demo version of the song, I immediately felt very strongly that this song is something brilliant, but at the same time I was surprised that such a song was offered to me. The piece was written for a different style of singing than what I was singing at the time, so I doubted whether I would be able to sing the song properly. I also had to get permission from the other songwriters, so I had to prepare very well for the recordings before the final decision was made. The preparation for the recordings was intense, with its own challenges, quests, etc. I had to climb over some of my fears. I’m joking that I had set a personal recording record with this song – I even stood on the mic for 10 hours! I don’t know how I was able to withstand such a recording session, but when you really want to – you can do anything!
The song tells a story about love that creates addiction to another person and you allow yourself to be controlled by them. You kind of understand that something is wrong with such a relationship, but you still want to go into it. You pretend that you don’t see and hear the warnings and you are in that relationship because you can’t control your heart, you are ready to do anything for that person. The Puppeteer in this context is like a metaphor or allegory to show this kind of manipulative and addictive love. I think the relationship between puppeteer and puppet is a nice way to look at that kind of relationship when we fall in love with the wrong person.
Without giving too much away, what can our readers expect to see from you during your live performance?
My main task on stage is to convey the story to the audience in such a way that they feel it through themselves. I am working very hard on it and I want to convey the song as well as possible. My team and I are trying to prepare the show so that the audience can see exactly that relationship between the puppeteer and the puppet.
And of course the winner of Eurovizija.LT will go on to Eurovision for Lithuania so I wanted to ask, what are some of your earliest memories of the contest? Are there any songs recent or old that stand out to you from the contest?
Oh, I’ve been watching the Eurovision contest since childhood, so I remember many participants from different countries, probably since 2002. One of my favorite shows was 2004, Ruslana and her “Wild dances”. She made a huge impression on me, later I went to her concerts, bought her albums, etc. I also really liked the Norwegian band Wig Wam with the song “In my dream”, the band Vanilla Ninja from Switzerland with song “Cool Vibes”, the Hanna Pakarinen from Finland with her song “Leave Me Alone”, Loreen with “Tattoo” and many others…I could name them all day long.
I love the Hanna Pakarinen shout out – what an amazing host entry for Finland. As we close out, for those who want to connect with you all ahead of or after the selection– where can they find you and continue to support your musical career?
I’m always happy when people listen to my music, share it on social media and it’s always nice to receive public or personal feedback about which feelings my music gives to the listener. You can always write to me, I always write back if I can and I’m happy to chat with listeners. I am glad that little by little my social media is growing and a beautiful community of like-minded people is being created, so I invite you to follow me in the social media where I share all the news about my music, concerts, creative processes and life. Your support really inspires and motivates.
You can listen my music here:
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/4B9mHvCdWUqfnsau8LK46h
Or on other music streaming services that you use the most: https://lnk.to/Puppeteer
Check my Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@AgneBuskeviciuteOfficial
Also you can connect with me on my social media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/agne_buskeviciute/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@agnebuskeviciute
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BuskeviciuteAgne
Do you have any final words or a final message you’d like to send to the readers of ESCUnited?
Recently, my colleague asked me what Agne of the future would wish for Agne of the present. I think that this wish would also fit in this context: Don’t be afraid of anything – You can do anything when you really want to! Don’t overemphasize anything, play and enjoy life. The joy of life lies in the everyday little things and I wish you to notice those little things in your everyday life.
And of course, I wish you to have a good time with Eurovision, discover new songs you like and support your favorite artists with all your heart!
Thanks so much Agne – we wish you the best of luck in the Lithuanian National selection! 🙂
If #YOU want to support Agne’s pathway to Eurovision 2024 make sure you tune in to her semi-final on Saturday February 3rd and vote!
