We're recording our very first album «HUNGRY TO LIVE»
We’re absolutely thrilled that our debut album «HUNGRY TO LIVE» will finally be released this year!
We were in the studio last December, recorded ten tracks and now we’re in the middle of the postproduction process. There’s still so much to do before the album is finished: things like mixing and mastering but also the cover artwork, the actual pressing of CDs and vinyl and more.
And now we need YOUR SUPPORT!
Raphi grooving away 
The whole team in the studio 
Caro having a blast 
Vicky going with the flow 
Our wonderful horn section: Madeleine, Kaya & Daniel 
Clara in the zone 
Clara & Christoph (our amazing sound engineer) 
Everyone hanging out together 
Madeleine in deep thought
About us and our upcoming album
Who are we, you may ask? We’re THE THRILL SEEKERS - «Vienna’s most thrilling swing sensation!»
We’re a jazz quintet from Vienna, Austria and what makes us special is our focus on female empowerment, an authentic vintage sound and gorgeous three-part harmonies. Be it soft and dreamy or powerful and punchy: we want to show how diverse and exciting jazz can be. We just love sharing our pure joy of music with our audiences - and making them dance!
For years our band leader Clara Montocchio couldn’t help but notice that she tended to be the only woman in every band she was in. So in 2022 she decided to start a band with some of her favourite female jazz musicians. Since then we’ve been growing together musically and on a personal level and were lucky to be able to play more and more concerts in Austria and all over Europe. In 2025 we finally decided to record our first album!
ABOUT THE ALBUM
Our album HUNGRY TO LIVE will be made up of mostly original compositions in the style of the swing era, as well as a few select arrangements of some of our favourite jazz standards (focussing on female composers like Bernice Petkere). While we draw our musical inspiration from the mid-20th century, our lyrics deal with themes of modern life like feminism, freedom, friendship, inner strength and the ups & downs of romantic relationships. In order to create a warm «retro» sound we recorded all the instruments together in one room at WESTBAHN STUDIOS in Vienna, which really helped capture the energy of our live performances.
OUR BAND MEMBERS:
CLARA MONTOCCHIO is our founder and bandleader as well as lead singer, composer and arranger. She is a passionate Lindy Hop and Tap dancer and loves making things with her hands like baking or crochet.
MADELEINE JOEL plays alto saxophone and is from Upper Austria. She has a real weakness for sour gummybears (but only the vegan kind!), loves Hildegard Knef and lights up the room with her positive vibes.
CARO LOIBERSBECK is our pianist and passionate backing vocalist. She also secretly plays the trumpet (sshhh - don’t tell anyone!) and her laugh is absolutely infectious.
VICTORIA KIRILOVA plays the double bass and also sings backing vocals beautifully. She’s from Bulgaria, loves travelling and never lost that childhood spark of wonder.
RAPHAELA FRIES is our drummer and really brings the beat into the band! She makes the best pasta salad ever and always has an open ear and a shoulder to cry on.
We also invited two awesome guest musicians: KAYA MELLER on trumpet and DANIEL HOLZLEITNER on trombone.
The recording, mixing und mastering is all being done by the wonderfully mad genius CHRISTOPH BURGSTALLER.
This is what we need backing for:
We’ve already recorded almost everything in the studio but there are still quite a few things that need to be done in order to finish our album:
Mixing, mastering, cover artwork, photos, the actual pressing of CDs and LPs but also things like PR, merch production und music videos - all these things cost a lot of money…
AND THAT’S WHERE YOU COME IN: We’ve prepared some really great goodies for you!
You could get signed CDs and LPs, a personalised AUDIO MESSAGE from all of us, extremely cool SOCKS, combi-packs with CDs or LPs and socks or your very own HOUSE CONCERT in your living room, garden, etc.
… and who knows, maybe we have a surprise or two up our sleeves :)
We’d like to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your generous support and can’t wait to finally share our album with you and the world!
Love, The Thrill Seekers