Filming Virginia Ernst’s ‘No I Ain’t’ Video Wasn’t Easy — But It’s Beautiful (Sneak Peek Video)

virginia ernst august

Every time I meet Austrian singer Virginia Ernst, she seems to have another exciting thing happening in her music career. And every time, these things just get bigger and bigger.

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This time Virginia has a new single being released in September, and she has also recently been signed to the Universal Music Group in Germany.

“I’m signed now with this one track at the Universal Group in Germany, and I was surprised that they took this song, because I wrote it two years ago,” Virginia explained when I met her.

“I wrote it right after Rockin’ and ‘Soldier, and it had a really different sound under it then. The melody and the singing were the same, but I sent to a producer in L.A., who also produced Ellie Goulding, and it took him one year. And then suddenly the song was here and different, and I was like “Oh my God, this is fabulous”.

And, of course, once Universal heard the song, they wanted it.

“Universal told me they were really excited about the song, and they think it can be really huge. So that’s why we are releasing this song. It was actually a spontaneous thing, this song, and it’s going great so far. We’re releasing worldwide, and doing a big promotion to many radio stations. So I think I have a good chance to become international”.

And, just in case I didn’t quite understand what that meant for an Austrian singer, she explained:

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“For an Austrian who sings in English to sign in Germany is already a big thing. But I want to push it even more, and become known worldwide in England, Sweden, Norway, you know.  It’s a long way to go, but everything is moving in the right direction, and I have the feeling something huge is waiting for me.”

Once the single has been released, Virginia Ernst will also have a small tour in Germany in mid-September, with concert dates in Hamburg, Frankfurt and Berlin.

As for the video for the song, which she let me watch and I loved, that too was filmed in Germany and is a little different than what she’s done before. (Check the bottom of the page for her sneak peek video).

“It’s more house and dance-y, and the video is about a summer flirt, and what happens when the summer is over.”

But getting the video filmed wasn’t a no-stress thing apparently. In fact, it was downright stressful, as Virginia explained.

virginia ernst no i aint

 

“The video was designed and put together in a week, and we decided we were going to meet in Berlin. But the trip didn’t start so well.

My mom and me drove there, and it’s usually six or seven hours to Berlin. This time the traffic was awful, so we were driving for more than 10 hours. It was so exhausting.

Then we get to our Berlin hotel and, in the middle of the night, the fire alarm goes off. And me and my mom woke up having panic attacks – “What the heck is going on?”. So we go down to take a look, and I was looking all around to see if smoke was coming from somewhere. It didn’t. But everyone was panicking, running around and I said to my mom, “Okay, let’s go for the stairs”, which took us ages to find because it was just all elevators.”

Needless to say, when Virginia and her mom got to the fire exit it wouldn’t open, and they couldn’t get out. “And I was like, oh my God, what happens if the fire or smoke comes here now? There were 15 people at the fire exit in our pajamas, and the door wouldn’t open. Finally I just screamed “Push it” and we all pushed it, and the door popped open and out we got”.

And no, there wasn’t a fire. The hotel eventually figured out it was probably just someone smoking in their room. Yep. Just a cigarette.

Of course, when trips start like that, sometimes they end like that too. And that, of course, was how Virginia’s trip finished — with a two and a half hour drive outside Berlin to a film location.

“When we filmed the video we wanted to do it near a lighthouse, and the director decided he wanted to film it at the ‘golden hour’ (that time of the day when the sun is starting to set, and the light is golden and beautiful). So the last day, we had to drive a long way to a lighthouse that was in a quiet part of Germany. But, when we got there, there was just a camping place and we were told “Yep. And now we have to walk one and a half hours”.

Of course, the walk there in the middle of the afternoon wasn’t too awful, even with all the camera and sound equipment, and the filming itself was wonderful (as you will see when you see the video – it’s beautiful, and that ‘golden light’ is gorgeous). The worst, though, was when they set off back to their cars.

“It was in the middle of the night. And it was so dark, and in the middle of the woods. We had to walk back there, and the trees were like 30-50 meters high. I was so scared. And we just walked with the lights from our mobile phones until we got back to the cars.

But, when we looked at the video afterwards, it was so beautiful. So it was a good thing that we did”.

Virginia Ernst’s new single ‘No I Ain’t’ will be released worldwide beginning on September 2nd. I’ll have a follow up article to this one then, as the song is very cool and the video is gorgeous. You really need to see it.

Meanwhile, watch her sneak peek video below. And, of course, to keep up to date on all the exciting things happening to her, follow Virginia on Twitter Instagram and on Facebook.

 

About Michelle Topham

I'm a Brit-American journalist, former radio DJ at 97X WOXY, and Founder/CEO of Leo Sigh. I'm also obsessed with music, anime, manga, and K-dramas. Help!

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