Steiner & Madlaina and Band

Since 2012, Nora Steiner and Madlaina Pollina have been performing under the name Steiner&Madlaina. Three years later, in 2015, they released their first EP. Since then, the two have become a fixed presence in the German-speaking female indie pop scene. They are Swiss women with a European identity; Madlaina Pollina has a half-Italian background, while Nora Steiner has a half-Greek background. Through their work and life across borders (the band is now split between Vienna and Zurich), they should not be underestimated as a local nostalgia phenomenon from the very beginning. The Swiss aspect in Steiner&Madlaina serves as a friction point where open-minded thinking, privileges, and responsibilities are tested and negotiated. (Almost) every album contains at least one song in Swiss German – the mother tongue, the home, and the personal. At the same time, each album also points far beyond that.

These albums include – after the first two EPs "Ready to Climb" in 2015 and "Speak" in 2017 (both released on the Zurich label Lauter) – "Cheers" in 2018, "Wünsch mir Glück" in 2021, and "Risiko" in 2023. In 2023, Steiner&Madlaina composed music for the film score of "Sophia, der Tod und Ich." In 2024, a digital-only EP titled "Ich kanns nicht glauben" will follow.

The band has been releasing all their albums in long-standing collaboration with the German indie label Glitterhouse Records. In 2025, the fourth album "Nah Dran" will continue this collaboration and simultaneously mark the 10th anniversary of the band.

A clear thematic focus, excellent songwriting, and a consistent musical development run like a red thread through these 10 years.

Nora Steiner and Madlaina Pollina not only present themselves as – but are also – friends who actively live the idea of an equal artistic partnership. In songwriting, behind-the-scenes work, and on stage, they aim to push and advance each other and their shared cause, while also allowing each other and everyone else to shine in the spotlight. Steiner&Madlaina are among the few duos that do not have a secret front woman or mastermind. Each writes their own songs and lyrics with different, unique qualities – Madlaina Pollina finds it easier to write lyrics in Swiss German and to create double entendres, while Nora Steiner excels at crafting tableaux, story snippets, and images that convey typical mood moments. What they share are the themes, the courage to address feelings, humor, and an empathetic value system that runs through all their releases. Their topics include relationships, love, class criticism, Switzerland and Central Europe, political European consciousness, Check Your Privilege, feminism, and the present. Their message is always: be appreciative of one another and make an effort (please, finally, more!) to make the best of things. Because neither have we been so fortunate nor so unfortunate that it wouldn’t be worth criticizing and changing the wrong things and appreciating and protecting the right ones.

Pop music has always been the medium in which the themes and phenomena of the zeitgeist can be best negotiated. Less cumbersome, angry, and exclusive than subculture, and not flattened to death like mass culture. In this context, indie, with its content orientation while remaining accessible, marks the sweet spot of this pop culture. In this sense, Steiner&Madlaina are an indie pop band in the truest sense, in their content, their impetus, and their sound.

Their sound has a particularly high recognition value – melodies, danceability, lyrics, and a hook that you sing along to, if not sway to. The will to musicality. Steiner&Madlaina often expand the classic band lineup. They themselves sing and play acoustic and electric guitar. As a band and close friends, the "Romantic Commission" is (almost) always present. However, strings, brass, or piano and keyboard are often found in their recordings and on stage. This broadens their musical range; while the first album included many acoustic, folk elements and the second leaned more towards guitar pop, the third album was rockier and more robust. Yet each album is a confident play with elements from jazz, rock, pop, nostalgia, singer-songwriter, and folk.

When Madlaina Pollina and Nora Steiner named their 2025 album "Nah Dran," they emphasized: this music and everyone who listens to it is close to us, it becomes intimate and personal, and we want it to be that way. But – being close also applies to those who are not there yet. You will get there, but there is still work to be done. And it is clear – these two reject stagnation. With everything they already are… Steiner&Madlaina want to go even further.